Therefore, it’s a penalty on the day too for the player involved – - but, requires a level of concensus by the officiating umpire and perhaps either of one other on field umpire or via comm’s to the umpire advisor in the stands with a replay facility.

And, only for blatant infringements…..i.e. clocking someone who themselves will be off the ground and out of the game.

re send off rule. I dont like the idea becuase unless its blatant – Barry Hall and the umpire fully sights the incident it is never that straight forward especially on the size of the ground that footy is played on.

We have 18 positions man on man, incidents happen at times accross the board, unlike the rugby codes where teams line on their side of the ball and all the focus is only where the ball is positioned it is easier to pick up a fight.

So in the end , if a fight occurs near where the ball is being played they are likely to be sent off, whereas if a behind the scenes ‘fraca’ occurs, no-one is watching. This would be inconsistent, the video picks up most incidents in post match review.

If we were to implement a send off I’d follow the soccer example of a yellow card and then a red card. Whether the player would stay off for the entire game or just 10 minutes like the sin bin is another question.

Redb

….and those don’t really mean much for seasons 2010,11 and 12 with 2 new teams coming in.

have read your comments on each point, and Pip’s, and made my own.

The question then is -

what do WE think are the big 10 that need review??

for me to start it off:

1. limited send off rule – - perhaps not allowing a player short scenario, but, allow a player to be expelled for the rest of the game (but, perhaps requires agreement by central umpire plus umpires advisor in the stands)

2. limited video review……ump’s a mic’d up anyway, no issue given the re-start time after a goal, that an ump advisor in the stands could run a quick review or be called upon to have a quick look if the umps are uncertain. Although, the normal processes do usually work pretty well.

3. tackle rule – - no free kick to the tacklers if more than 2 fellows are applying the tackle. Thus, a fellow on the ground, if 3 or 4 opponents bury both him and the ball, the only possible results are for an illegal tackle, or play on.

4. 9 point super goals……I like them…….they ain’t traditional, but, I love the 3 pointers in basketball. It’s a qualitative measure.

5. I’m not a fan of the bucket of balls…..i.e. means too many brand new balls get used all through a game and doesn’t permit the ball to get ‘played in’.

bever
I think Elbusto is a Tasmanian who has disowned his heritage.

Explains it all really.

the AFL is NOT a NRL half owned by a news-media organisation. The clubs are not privately owned franchise/billionaire playthings. They are owned by the members.

The AFL is a peoples game and the AFL administration runs the game for the people. It sounds a bit banal….but, essentially that’s the case. i.e. it’s not beholden to the whims of a tri-continental SANZAR style grouping, or an IRB or FIFA or what-have-you.

The fans ARE the game. Without Australia and the fans. THe game stops. It’s not like soccer which can mismanage over and over and because of the overseas behemoth of the world game is effectively assured to always be re-incarnated here if nothing else than via immigration.

The fans feedback has often been sought (via the AFL website).

However, the clubs also get their wishlist, and to suggest that Freo and WCE wouldn’t both put forward a desire to host a Western Derby, or that the Crows and Port wouldn’t both put forward a desire to host a ‘Showdown’ would be complete folly.

And that is where the fans get what they want which gives the clubs what they want which gives the fans what they want………a self fulfilling proohecy.

Geez I hope your not in business.

Redb

This game sells out the ‘G’ 4 weeks before the game. Geelong, Bulldogs, most clubs except Carlton could not guarantee a packed MCG.

re blockbusters, debries, you miss the point massively . The fans show they want these games or else they wouldn’t turn up.

the only way to fix would be to play each other twice, that cant happen may as well give the fans what they want.

I want to play Carlton and Collingwood twice each year, dont give a fig about Port Adelaide or Fremantle.

Redb

Not against the idea. The benefit though of interchange is that the game is still running hard from to start to finish rather than watching a bunch of tired footballers like the old days when the score would often blow out just simply due to fitness.

2 BRING IN EXTRA TIME FOR GRAND FINALS

I’m a traditonalist, but this is a no brainer.

3 BRING IN A DRAFT LOTTERY

No need just remove the priority pick. Over hyped aspect of the game especially when we area talking about the bottom 1-2 teams not the fight for the premiership.

4 FREE AGENCY

In a limited form, age, time at club? Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water.

5 BRING BACK STATE FOOTBALL

Absolutely, bring the REAL big V.
VIC v SA or WA initially , NSW and QLD in time, QLD maybe strong enough already.

6 SCRAP THE PRE-SEASON COMP

Defintely not , great opportunity for games to be spread around the country.

7 BRING BACK CURTAINRAISERS

Why not. Be good to see VFL, QAFL, SANFL games before some AFL matches.

8 GET RID OF THE HANDS-IN-THE-BACK RULE

Not sure if the umpires did this anyway towards the end of 2009. Not significant, might make top 30 changes but not top 10.

9 PLAY ON GOOD FRIDAY

A Friday Night or twilight game would work.

10. REVIEW POST DECISIONS

No need. Posters are part of footy. It’s funny you get 1 or 2 incidents per year hardly enough to justify a rule change nor is it just for the sake of copying other sports.

———-
Redb

I penned an article last year I think suggesting that International Rules could be the game most likely to challenge soccer…..except that the AFL wouldn’t really want that and the GAA might not,…

but, the obvious point that the game sits inbetween soccer and rugby and the world is full of square cornered pitches and cross bar goals.

for us AFL types….the round ball just doesn’t ‘do it’ for us. Probably just too predictable, i.e. the roll of it.

Limit interchange at AFL level to stop the amount of rugby type stacks on the mill.

Seriously think about playing only 16 players per side to open up play more.

I know its not really possible but i would like to see some sort of FA cup style Australia wide comp maybe mid week.

play on good friday.

That leaves the tackler with the problem of making a split decision whether to make the tackle or not
– i.e. squibbing it ! – now that would be a good look for the fans and coaches !.

It’s a real recipe for inconsistency of interpretation by the unpires and fans, and frustration by the players & coaches.

another – just make it the first annual GF rematch of the previous season,

BUT – the big thing is, Essendon and Collingwood fill the stadium each year. It well and truely ain’t broke.

Tampering with the fixture to remain number 1??….what, so that explains daylight b/w 1 and 2?? Who is 2?? the NRL?? the main alternative – the NRL style floating fixture. After all, they are trying to fix 16 teams into 26 rounds with 24 matches each. There fixture is equally unbalanced. Surely they are tampering with their fixture too.

re the fixturing, the reality is that the AFL gets so many requests from the clubs. Logistically, random just can’t work for several reasons – - including the limited number of AFL standard venues in Melbourne, and the desire (generally) to avoid clashing with other codes (eg ARU and AFL generally work together to avoid clashing).

There are so many arguements for and against various things, like, who get’s Friday nights? A reward of sorts for teams who did well the year before…..

2. An even draw demands 30 rounds, or 34 rounds in an 18 team comp – that’s impossible for the AFL. so the minute you start talking about 22 rounds, it’s compromised – it seems to me that regardless of what you do to 22 rounds, it’ actually very hard to make it more compromised than it already is. We’ve learned to live with it and understand that it’s a long hard road to a premiership, regardless of who you end up playing.

But apart from that – there are some practical reasons for ensuring a few things happen in a 22 round draw, e.g. Perth teams playe each other twice, Adelaide teams twice, and Carlton, Pies and Dons play each other twice, etc. Some years that will mean an easier draw for one or the other, but in other years it might be the reverse – but it doesn’t matter to be honest.

1. Anzac Day
First of all, congratulations on Essendon and Collingwood making a spectacle of a football game on a day where everyone has a day off with two of the most heavily supported teams in the competition squaring off against one another. Who would have thought that would be successful .

The Anzac Day Cup should be fought between the reigning Anzac Day cup holder and the reigning premier. Where they are the same club, it should be a GF rematch. This means every player at every club gets an equal opportunity at playing in the biggest H&A match of the season. It will also practically guarantee you will have 2 teams at the top of their game play on the day and “honour the Anzacs” (TM) unlike recent history where to a lot of supporters, Anzac Day meant 11th v 15th.

So, starting next year, it’s Essendon v Geelong. Now, assume Geelong beat Essendon, but the Bulldogs win the flag, in 2011 it is Geelong v Bulldogs. The club keeps the cup for a year, the Anzac medallist actually means something instead of being the best player from a couple of average clubs in an average game, and everyone who isn’t named Eddie is happy.

Fixturing
It boggles the mind that the self-appointed number 1 sport in AFL needs to tamper with the fixtures to remain number one. The season fixtures must be random, or at the very least, determined by a formula based on the prior season’s standings.

No more of this “We must have 2 derbies/showdowns”. No more “Rivalry Round” (a.k.a. a nice way for the AFL to congratulate themselves for record attendances twice a year). No more quabbles about Collingwoods lack of travel.

Of course the fixtures can be tweaked to ensure there is always one game in Adelaide and Perth, and that teams playing late Sunday aren’t also playing the next Friday, but apart from that, I see no reason why the AFL has to massage the fixtures into something that corrupts the integrity of the competition.

Having something on the line would be good.

and whether that was two pools (eg Vic, WA, Tassie and Sa, QLD/NT, NSW/ACT) – - 3 pool games and the top 2 play off for the national champion….and seeding reclassifications for the next year. Actually, you might actually do the pools as 1,3,6 and 2,4,5. i.e. finishing 3rd is okay because you get to play 6th, finishing 5th is better than 6th because you only come up against 2 and 4 and nont 1 and 3 or something like that. I dunno!!!!

Also, just fitting into the calendar, which these days demands a week break at some point, and having 3 more potential match ups – it just makes it all a little too difficult.