Has anyone else lost faith in the AFL?

[Rocco Jones]

In WWE terms we remind me of the 80's tag team The Rockers. Have decent support levels and the administration figures they'll still hold some appeal even if given poor time slots and rarely allowed to win. Basically a profitable B league team.

I really hope Bonts doesn't put Stringer through a barber shop window.

[Happy Days]

Came here to say, after the handling of the Ray Rice sage "well at least it's not the NFL".

Then I remembered the one week, non-AFL imposed suspension of Nathan Bock. And its virtual silence on the several sexual assault cases over the past few years.

The AFL is terrible.

[BulldogBelle]

The demise of the AFL is happening as the fans loose their understanding of the game. People don't understand the draw, are constantly confused by different interpretations of the rules, and are flabergastered by the tactics of the modern game. The most disappointing thing is that the AFL doesn't care. They are no longer sports administrators but the producers of a tv show. So long as there is a tv audience on pay TV, then the AFL protects it's main income stream. At the live games, the teams loose out, not the AFL, when you only get 15000 at Etihad.

The worse thing is that while the AFL gets enormous revenue from TV rights, nothing else matters. The expansion teams are about increasing the TV audience, not about getting people through the gate. The TV rights are worth more when there are more games to televise, hence GCS and GWS.

The AFL is a TV show.

[Webby]

People don't understand the draw.

I agree. First thing, however, is that it's not a draw, it's a fixture... Because it's fixed!

A competition has no integrity when everyone is not playing everyone an even number of times. Secondly, a competition is not commercially fair when certain clubs are afforded more "blockbusters" than other clubs. In the EPL, every club gets to host Man United once per season. In baseball, every club in the American League gets to host the Yankees. (Obviously more so for clubs in their division).

The AFL is so compromised from both a competitive and commercial viewpoint, it's not funny. It's become very contrived and very plastic. It's got to be either 34 rounds or 17 rounds and the DRAW needs to be DRAWN out of a barrel. Not fixed.

That way, they'll find that the competition grows because it has credibility. No gimmicks, no contrived outcomes. Just a credible product.

[bulldogtragic]

2 brave people. Or 2 taking the piss I wonder?

[BulldogBelle]

And I didn't even mention the byes!!! How stupid. Why not just play a split round over two weekends? To easy??? Not confusing enough???? Aarrhhhh

[LostDoggy]

2 brave people. Or 2 taking the piss I wonder?

You'll always get some people willing to drink the Kool-Aid!

[mjp]

A competition has no integrity when everyone is not playing everyone an even number of times. Secondly, a competition is not commercially fair when certain clubs are afforded more "blockbusters" than other clubs. In the EPL, every club gets to host Man United once per season. In baseball, every club in the American League gets to host the Yankees. (Obviously more so for clubs in their division).

The AFL is so compromised from both a competitive and commercial viewpoint, it's not funny. It's become very contrived and very plastic. It's got to be either 34 rounds or 17 rounds and the DRAW needs to be DRAWN out of a barrel. Not fixed.

That way, they'll find that the competition grows because it has credibility. No gimmicks, no contrived outcomes. Just a credible product.

Are you seriously holding up the epl and MLB as examples of 'fair' competitions?

Wow.