Raging Against The Machine- The Season Opener and all that is wrong in the AFL world

[The Adelaide Connection]

It may be that Marcus Adam's fine china ankles have put me in a more cantankerous mood than usual, but I am interested to know what people think are the biggest injustices we should be fighting city hall over. For me it is the fixturing and first on my hit list is Round 1, game 1.

Nothing takes the air out of my "footy's back" bubble than the "traditional" Richmond v Carlton season opener. The game has a history of being ranker than gutter mustard and a complete unwatchable snoozefest. The 2018 edition just might prove to be the worst.

The AFL persist in scheduling the "blockbuster teams" in these prime time slots, despite the ratings showing that timeslots (not teams) now bring in the big numbers (and having two teams in form is just the icing on the cake). It is the neutrals, not competing teams fans, that really drive the numbers. Nine out of the top ten highest rating HandA fixtures from 2017 were Friday nights (Anzac Day #1) and I bet if they released the full figures it would be almost twenty-one Friday nights featuring in the top twenty-two.

The damage of being locked out of these fixtures (or not receiving an equal share) commercially (crowd numbers, ability to woo sponsors, exposure and growth of brand, etc.) is quite catastrophic. I can't find it but there was a PWC report produced that I believe quantified just how much damage to a teams bottom line being locked out of these fixtures does (and how the compensation clubs receive is monumentally inadequate).

The shifting goalpost rhetoric around how a club "earns" these fixtures will ensure the same clubs never receive their fair share. It switches from performance based, to crowd based, to supporter base based (mouthful), to being a big club that just pulls better tv numbers. FWIW the Dogs v GWS game was the #4 highest rating game (we actually had three in the top 10)- that's right, a little Victorian club versus a club without a supporter base somehow scored the fourth highest rating for the year.

I don't know how we fight the AFL on this except by inciting tidal waves of fury via social media and the like. If we didn't fire our banner guy I am sure he could have worked out something scathing and comical. I know PG has a fair crack, but he is fighting short-sighted, bonus chasing execs who have a whole bunch of other presidents (whose clubs get a good deal) patting them on the back.

*Takes deep breath*

So what are the issues you think are the most important to take up placards against?

[Bulldog Joe]

I have always considered the fixture the single greatest impediment to the growth of the smaller clubs.

Without the prime slots there is less exposure and therefore fewer supporters and inferior sponsorship outcomes.

Until they develop an even handed approach which shares these prime slots they is no equalisation and the smaller clubs will continue to be accused of being charity cases.

Under the current system the financial performance of the Western Bulldogs has been stellar.

[Sedat]

Add 2 teams and reduce the season to 19 games - problem solved. I'd much rather water down the overall talent pool at the highest level than continue with the horrible fixture inequalities that 18 teams into 22 rounds creates.

[Bulldog Joe]

Add 2 teams and reduce the season to 19 games - problem solved. I'd much rather water down the overall talent pool at the highest level than continue with the horrible fixture inequalities that 18 teams into 22 rounds creates.

It is not just about who you play. The financial inequality is created by when you play and granting prime slots like ANZAC Day to the same 2 teams is effectively an open cheque in terms of sponsorship and marketing.

[Sedat]

It is not just about who you play. The financial inequality is created by when you play and granting prime slots like ANZAC Day to the same 2 teams is effectively an open cheque in terms of sponsorship and marketing.

I get that but playing every team once and once only is a good start to reducing these inequities. They will still be there with ANZAC Day etc.. but at least there won't be travel inequities or fixturing inequities, such as one mid ranged team playing the top team twice and another mid ranged team playing the wooden spooner twice. That stuff compromises the actual integrity of the competition.

[bornadog]

I get that but playing every team once and once only is a good start to reducing these inequities. They will still be there with ANZAC Day etc.. but at least there won't be travel inequities or fixturing inequities, such as one mid ranged team playing the top team twice and another mid ranged team playing the wooden spooner twice. That stuff compromises the actual integrity of the competition.

Personally I wouldn't like to see less than 22 games per year, however, there are inequities created by the AFL.

There should be a fixture drawn up on a rotating basis so clubs play each other twice over a number of years. There should also be a system worked on on who gets a Friday night match. To me it needs to be divided up equally. It will never happen.

[boydogs]

Personally I wouldn't like to see less than 22 games per year, however, there are inequities created by the AFL.

There should be a fixture drawn up on a rotating basis so clubs play each other twice over a number of years. There should also be a system worked on on who gets a Friday night match. To me it needs to be divided up equally. It will never happen.

Different clubs want different things, making everything equal won't make everyone happy

[Twodogs]

Everybody plays each other twice is the only solution. We come up with new ways of doing things (clutches of matches, matches in non AFL areas, cut down on preseason training (players will get fit enough playing) and get rid of the preseason.

It's the only way and eventually that's what we will decide. Nothing surer, all the other ideas, while good, does nothing address the basic inequality of a compromised draw.

[Sedat]

Everybody plays each other twice is the only solution. We come up with new ways of doing things (clutches of matches, matches in non AFL areas, cut down on preseason training (players will get fit enough playing) and get rid of the preseason.

Imagine being a Norf, Gold Coast, Brisbane or Carlton supporter last year and having to endure another 12 weeks of the season. Easier to add 2 teams (one of them in Tassie), drop 3 games to get virtually the same fairness.

[Testekill]

It's annoying because we instantly lost our only marquee match for Good Friday because of poor turnout even though the bulk of the blame should always go towards the home team (which was North) while the rich clubs only get richer.

Essendon has ANZAC Day and Dreamtime at the G

Collingwood has ANZAC Day and Queen's Birthday

Richmond has the season opener and Dreamtime at the G

Cats & Hawks have Easter Monday

Demons have Queen's Birthday

[bornadog]

It's annoying because we instantly lost our only marquee match for Good Friday because of poor turnout even though the bulk of the blame should always go towards the home team (which was North) while the rich clubs only get richer.

Essendon has ANZAC Day and Dreamtime at the G

Collingwood has ANZAC Day and Queen's Birthday

Richmond has the season opener and Dreamtime at the G

Cats & Hawks have Easter Monday

Demons have Queen's Birthday

I though the turnout wasn't too bad with 44,000 plus there on the night. Yes should have been closer to 50k, but it was Easter, and lots of people go away.

[Happy Days]

Losing the game on Good Friday was the point at which I decided to give up on grappling with the consistent inconsistencies trotted out by the AFL to explain all of their policy.

There's no point because there is an explanation for anything, no matter how backward it might seem when juxtaposed with the very last piece of communication on the same issue given by the AFL.

Footy is a monopoly and any idiot can run it, so cogency and transparency don't matter. It's why preposterous projects like ham-fisted expansion into footballing wastelands can occur while footy heartlands like Tassie get left to starve and die, or areas of legitimate growth like women's football can be presented so half-baked.

None of it matters, because the game will continue to rake in dollars because it's the best game in the world and pretty much heroin to the majority of Victorian sports fans. And as long as it makes money, then those lucky enough to fall upwards into positions of power can continue justify all of their stupid decisions and their ridiculous salaries.

Seriously, it's selling football to people who love football. Any idiot can do it.

[Twodogs]

Imagine being a Norf, Gold Coast, Brisbane or Carlton supporter last year and having to endure another 12 weeks of the season. Easier to add 2 teams (one of them in Tassie), drop 3 games to get virtually the same fairness.

I'm not averse to that idea either. I've got a romantic attachment to the idea of H & A but I guess everyone playing one another once is still fair.


We must address inequities in the competitions draw. It has to be fair and equitable or what you are running is an expo or exhibition not a competition. It's effectively a tournament we run every year with some of the competitors having weighted draws which advantage them (like seeds in tennis) while other competitors are primarily there to make up the numbers.

[The Adelaide Connection]

This is going to be a Nostradamus like call:

When Tom Boyd goes forward he is going to be grappled and held out of every contest and he will be lucky to get a single free.

I think when this happens (and it will) we as a club have to finally say enough is enough. We need to make a monster edit of the last 20 games he has played and every contest where he has tried to lead up at the ball or has been under a long, high one with a defender. Forward it to the umpires department asking for clarification and, if nothing happens, leak it to the media.

If Riewoldt or Buddy got the same treatment they would kick 10 goals from free kicks every week. Defenders know which players than can get away with it for.

[Ghost Dog]

The MRP has never been settled, causes confusion and annoyance every year.
They have to start just leaving the rules alone. No other game keeps fiddling with core rules and the insecurity is hugely annoying.
Endorsing Damien Barrett's one sided views through the AFL website.