Mike@Bonbeach Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 Hi Here in Victoria AFL is seen almost as a religion. Even now in the out of season there are stories and articles both in the newspapers and on television. Is it the same in other states? Some observations. The main season is called home and away, yet all teams do not play each other twice. There are only 16 teams so why can't they play each other twice, is it a fitness problem?. Do they have such tall and wide posts because the kicking isn't as accurate. When a player is banned after the Match review panel the team benefitting from the ban won't be the team he offended against, shouldn't they have yellow and red cards as in soccer, so the the team he offended against gets the benefit. Just me thinking out loud, nothing nasty intended. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toots Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 It's very popular here in Tassie too. NSW and Qld are more into NRL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 It’s a huge deal in Vic. SA it’s big news also. Although we only have 2 teams so not quite a much news. Its got a following elsewhere but for some reason RL seems to be popular on the east coast. I’ve really embraced footy. Love it. Am a season member of the Crows and go see the women and SANFL games too when we can manage it. Son and hubby play also Hubby grew up playing it so is very happy to be back in the land of footy. Players can run a lot of KM’s in a game. It’s not like soccer where a 90 game may only see 40 or so minutes of actual play. Recovery is a key thing and one game a week is ample. The season is a set length so they play enough games to fit, including a bye and finals. That means some teams play each other twice depending on their ladder finish the year before. The kicking can be very accurate but given they are often kicking on the run and high, I think the posts and the points system etc make perfect sense. Cards were mooted but it’s not a popular thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 It’s a great sport to watch live (or on TV) IMHO. So much action and goals kicked etc. It’s my favourite team sport to watch now alongside RU. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toots Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 17 minutes ago, Toots said: It's very popular here in Tassie too. NSW and Qld are more into NRL. Tassie doesn't have its own AFL team but most people here seem to support one Victorian team or another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parley Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 There are 18 teams in the comp not 16. You would need 34 weeks of home and away plus finals to have everyone play each other twice. It is not possible. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicF Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 My Aussie OH reckons soccer is boring because they don't kick enough goals. He was of the opinion that the goals should be made bigger and they should get rid of the goal keeper. I've never really been a soccer fan but didn't really understand what he meant until we moved here and I started watching AFL. The very first match I saw the opposing team won in the very last seconds with a kick at the goals that had an odd bounce and went in for 6 rather than 1. It's a completely different game requiring a completely different skill set to soccer and really can't be compared. You should try kicking an Aussie rules ball through Aussie rules goal posts before commenting about it being easy. Just as an example I can kick a soccer ball through a soccer goal with reasonable accuracy (I'm a 43 year old woman with no interest or experience of soccer) but I can't even kick an Aussie rules ball, let alone get it where I want it to go. As for fitness the players have to be exceptionally fit. As Snifter says the players cover a lot of kms in a game - they even have stats showing the number of kms the players have run in a match these days. The AFL pitches are significantly bigger than a soccer pitch, the players cover much of the pitch during the game and each 20 minute quarter can last more like 30 minutes as the time is stopped when play stops. You know the joke about how soccer players spend 90 minutes pretending they are injured and rugby players spend 90 minutes pretending they aren't? Well the AFL players are more like the rugby players than soccer players. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith and Linda Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 2 hours ago, Toots said: Tassie doesn't have its own AFL team but most people here seem to support one Victorian team or another. And there's me thinking Tasmanians were an all right type of folk! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith and Linda Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 3 hours ago, Mike and Connie said: Hi Here in Victoria AFL is seen almost as a religion. Even now in the out of season there are stories and articles both in the newspapers and on television. Is it the same in other states? Some observations. The main season is called home and away, yet all teams do not play each other twice. There are only 16 teams so why can't they play each other twice, is it a fitness problem?. Do they have such tall and wide posts because the kicking isn't as accurate. When a player is banned after the Match review panel the team benefitting from the ban won't be the team he offended against, shouldn't they have yellow and red cards as in soccer, so the the team he offended against gets the benefit. Just me thinking out loud, nothing nasty intended. Mike I am not an AFL fan, in fact find it as unexciting as football (soccer) but I was interested in the fixture point of your post and found this http://www.afl.com.au/fixture/fixture-explained the tall posts are there as an aid to better judgment of inner/outer nothing to do with accuracy of the kicker something like the net in soccer so one knows for sure if the ball went in/out. I do think the match review thing is far far superior than soccers single ref seeing/not seeing and being hoodwinked. (too much cheating with no penalty in soccer spoils the game for me...hand of God for example) its not a question of the over team getting a benefit rather the offenders team getting penalized remember the next game could be a more important match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wa7 Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 5 hours ago, NicF said: My Aussie OH reckons soccer is boring because they don't kick enough goals. He was of the opinion that the goals should be made bigger and they should get rid of the goal keeper. I've never really been a soccer fan but didn't really understand what he meant until we moved here and I started watching AFL. The very first match I saw the opposing team won in the very last seconds with a kick at the goals that had an odd bounce and went in for 6 rather than 1. It's a completely different game requiring a completely different skill set to soccer and really can't be compared. You should try kicking an Aussie rules ball through Aussie rules goal posts before commenting about it being easy. Just as an example I can kick a soccer ball through a soccer goal with reasonable accuracy (I'm a 43 year old woman with no interest or experience of soccer) but I can't even kick an Aussie rules ball, let alone get it where I want it to go. As for fitness the players have to be exceptionally fit. As Snifter says the players cover a lot of kms in a game - they even have stats showing the number of kms the players have run in a match these days. The AFL pitches are significantly bigger than a soccer pitch, the players cover much of the pitch during the game and each 20 minute quarter can last more like 30 minutes as the time is stopped when play stops. You know the joke about how soccer players spend 90 minutes pretending they are injured and rugby players spend 90 minutes pretending they aren't? Well the AFL players are more like the rugby players than soccer players. Making the goals bigger and no goalkeeper would then make it an easier game ( like afl ) Kicking a afl ball through the posts is a piss of cake. All very well kicking a soccer ball through the posts if no goalkeeper stood there.............. I like afl but unless it's a close game it can be a bit boring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wa7 Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 6 hours ago, Parley said: There are 18 teams in the comp not 16. You would need 34 weeks of home and away plus finals to have everyone play each other twice. It is not possible. They should bin the stupid pre season comp and then it's very possible to play each other twice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vickyplum Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 (edited) 17 minutes ago, Wa7 said: They should bin the stupid pre season comp and then it's very possible to play each other twice. I know it's not the same sport but there are 20 EPL teams and they manage to play each twice, plus finals etc etc. not that I am interested in AFL or EPL I should point out Edited November 1, 2017 by vickyplum 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skani Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 2 hours ago, vickyplum said: I know it's not the same sport but there are 20 EPL teams and they manage to play each twice, plus finals etc etc. The EPL is played over 9 months. Because of the climate in Australia, AFL is a winter sport played over the cooler 6 months of the year (late March to late September). Any serious extension of that would be stretching the friendship a bit much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vickyplum Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 52 minutes ago, Skani said: The EPL is played over 9 months. Because of the climate in Australia, AFL is a winter sport played over the cooler 6 months of the year (late March to late September). Any serious extension of that would be stretching the friendship a bit much. Ah thanks, didn't know that, but makes a lot of sense! ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parley Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 Also AFL is such a hard game each team has 2 byes scheduled through the season to give the players some rest. So to play everyone twice would require 34 home and away games plus 4 weeks of finals plus 2 or 3 pre-season games to get ready for the new season plus 2 byes and you would have a season of about 43 weeks. This would obviously require the cricket season to be significantly reduced to free up the grounds but more important totally impractical from a health and safety aspect of giving the players a long enough off-season to recover and rest. As it is the players only get a couple of months off before starting pre-season training again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike@Bonbeach Posted November 2, 2017 Author Share Posted November 2, 2017 So if it is such a hard game and the poor dears can't play a full home and away system why don't they get rid of a few of the Victorian / Melbourne teams, allow a team in Tasmania and NT then they can really call it AFL. Alternatively reduce the size of the current league by having 2 leagues, with promotion and relegation. It may be a "harder" game but they do have a big number of "subs" on the bench, and a break between quarters. And I would be a bit peed off if the AFL suddenly decided to play one of my teams matches abroad, didn't 2 teams play in NZ last year and I understand that there is a home and away match taking place in China this year. Think of the cost to an ardent supporter to follow his team to China. I hasten to add that I am not anti-AFL, in fact I play golf twice a week with two retired AFL players and you couldn't wish to meet two nicer fellows, and some of the stories they tell of the goings on on the field before the days of multi referees and camera coverage is enough to make your eyes water, such as going out on the field with the intention of putting opponents out of the game. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StokieDoug Posted November 2, 2017 Share Posted November 2, 2017 26 minutes ago, Mike and Connie said: So if it is such a hard game and the poor dears can't play a full home and away system why don't they get rid of a few of the Victorian / Melbourne teams, allow a team in Tasmania and NT then they can really call it AFL. Alternatively reduce the size of the current league by having 2 leagues, with promotion and relegation. It may be a "harder" game but they do have a big number of "subs" on the bench, and a break between quarters. And I would be a bit peed off if the AFL suddenly decided to play one of my teams matches abroad, didn't 2 teams play in NZ last year and I understand that there is a home and away match taking place in China this year. Think of the cost to an ardent supporter to follow his team to China. I hasten to add that I am not anti-AFL, in fact I play golf twice a week with two retired AFL players and you couldn't wish to meet two nicer fellows, and some of the stories they tell of the goings on on the field before the days of multi referees and camera coverage is enough to make your eyes water, such as going out on the field with the intention of putting opponents out of the game. Mike One of the reasons they don't have a full home and away program is because of the distances teams have to travel, particularly the teams not based in Melbourne. I would be interested to know for example how many km's a Perth based team travels over the season. You say think of the cost to an ardent supporter if they follow his team to China, it probably isn't much more than a supporter travelling from the East to West coast or visa versa. When I first came over to Melbourne I wasn't particularly intersted in AFL but it has grown on me over time and the 2017 Grand Final was a joy to watch as Richmond hadn't won it in such a long time. I think the current league structure is working fine, if it ain't broke, don't try to fix it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parley Posted November 2, 2017 Share Posted November 2, 2017 1 hour ago, Mike and Connie said: So if it is such a hard game and the poor dears can't play a full home and away system why don't they get rid of a few of the Victorian / Melbourne teams, allow a team in Tasmania and NT then they can really call it AFL. Alternatively reduce the size of the current league by having 2 leagues, with promotion and relegation. It may be a "harder" game but they do have a big number of "subs" on the bench, and a break between quarters. And I would be a bit peed off if the AFL suddenly decided to play one of my teams matches abroad, didn't 2 teams play in NZ last year and I understand that there is a home and away match taking place in China this year. Think of the cost to an ardent supporter to follow his team to China. I hasten to add that I am not anti-AFL, in fact I play golf twice a week with two retired AFL players and you couldn't wish to meet two nicer fellows, and some of the stories they tell of the goings on on the field before the days of multi referees and camera coverage is enough to make your eyes water, such as going out on the field with the intention of putting opponents out of the game. Mike What sport doesn't involve travelling overseas pray tell. Rugby Union go to NZ, South Africa and Japan in the Super 14. NRL travel to NZ I think. A League has a NZ team. It is not compulsory to travel overseas, but it is about growing the game. Have you noticed Man U, Liverpool etc travel out to Aus for pre season ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike@Bonbeach Posted November 3, 2017 Author Share Posted November 3, 2017 Parley How many EPL matches are not played in England/UK during a season?. I still thinks it's an expense most supporters could do without. Have exhibition matches by all means but having a home and away match in a different country?, I would have better things to spend my hard earned on. I've got friends who are past AFL/VFL players and are entitled to finals tickets yet refuse to travel 35 kms because of the cost of tickets at the MCG., so travelling to Asia is a definite nono for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parley Posted November 3, 2017 Share Posted November 3, 2017 You sound a bit like that grumpy old bugga from One Foot In THe Grave. No has to travel to watch their team play. The majority only attend home games anyway. But for some fanatics they love travelling to follow their team and it is a mini holiday to go interstate to watch them play. I know some Richmond supporters who go to Cairns, Sydney, Parth etc and all part of the fun of following the team. A weekend in NZ would be great for a lot of fans. But don't worry it is not compulsory. I expect you wouldn't get out of your armchair in front of the telly to go to any game anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike@Bonbeach Posted November 4, 2017 Author Share Posted November 4, 2017 Sounds a bit like the pot calling the kettle black. Keep your personal comments to yourself, Parley. At the grand old age of 77 I'm probably a lot more active than you are, even though I have no clue about you or your inclinations. There, just like you have done, I have made a comment about you. 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bound4Tassie Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 On 01/11/2017 at 01:49, Toots said: Tassie doesn't have its own AFL team but most people here seem to support one Victorian team or another. Although Hawthorn has a strong affiliation and play a few games in Launie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bound4Tassie Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 Not as fit? What a joke ! Easy to kick the bal through the goals? On the run with a bloke tackling you? Um no. Have you seen these guys get clattered and the just get up and carry on. They play with broken ribs and all sorts! Soccer players roll halfway down the field after the mildest trip. They would need 6 months stress leave after 10 minutes of playing an AFL game!! ? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toots Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 4 minutes ago, Bound4Tassie said: Although Hawthorn has a strong affiliation and play a few games in Launie. A few Richmond Tigers banners were flying when the finals were happening too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parley Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 North Melbourne also play a few games down in Hobart. I'm not sure whether the crowds would be big enough to support a team week in week out though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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