AFL players want All-Star game
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The AFL’s leading players want representative football to be put back on the calendar in 2013 in the form of an All-Star game.
The AFL Players’ Association put the proposal to AFL football operations general manager Adrian Anderson on Thursday, requesting a response within a month.
Under the proposal, the pre-season competition would be reduced from a four-week format to three weeks, followed by an All-Star weekend and various other practice matches between AFL clubs, then a rest in week five on the eve of the home-and-away season.
Star players Brett Deledio (Richmond) and Patrick Dangerfield (Adelaide) both told Nine’s The Footy Show they would be keen to play in an All-Star game if it was introduced.
An AFLPA spokesman told AAP on Thursday night that a meeting had taken place earlier in the day and a number of options were being explored.
“We’re unable to discuss any specifics at the moment,” the spokesman said.
© AAP 2013The Crowd Says (27) | Page 1 of Comments
Have Your Say
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- AFL, all star game, State Of Origin
June 8th 2012 @ 8:52am
BigAl said | June 8th 2012 @ 8:52am | Report comment
Ha Ha ! – if these guys are so keen let them organise a game amongst themselves – because no one else is interested
June 8th 2012 @ 10:09am
The Cattery said | June 8th 2012 @ 10:09am | Report comment
I can’t help thinking the players are keen as mustard, till the reality of additional training sessions hits home, and all of a sudden, on the eve of the big game, players are pulling out with sore thumbs and “general soreness”.
June 8th 2012 @ 10:34am
Lucan said | June 8th 2012 @ 10:34am | Report comment
What additional training are we really expecting? Do All Star teams in any sport have intense training sessions?
When we had the Hall Of Fame match those training sessions were more or less a pub catch up for players, with bottles of Powerade in place of pots of beer.
June 8th 2012 @ 10:31am
Lucan said | June 8th 2012 @ 10:31am | Report comment
Some people want it, some don’t. That’s the reality. Hardly a case for “no one else is interested”.
June 8th 2012 @ 5:03pm
BigAl said | June 8th 2012 @ 5:03pm | Report comment
The only people who want it are the players who are asked the question – and then only in the instant of time that they give an answer.
And, if you think it should be played in a Legends/Hall of Fame format, using current champion players . . . and expect it to be taken seriously ??? . . . I just can’t think of anything further to say on the matter …
June 8th 2012 @ 2:35pm
Timmuh said | June 8th 2012 @ 2:35pm | Report comment
A few will be interested to simply seeing the best players on the ground at the same time, but its is difficult to see anyone actually caring about an All-Star game regardless of how the teams are made. Its certainly no substitute for rep footy, but if the players want it, let them have it. I can imagine it geting a decent crowd the first couple of times, but not for long.
The clubs are highly unlikely to allow their best players to be out of club control in the pre-season anyway. After the first time its played, I can see pull-out rates being huge.
June 8th 2012 @ 9:47am
Gr8trWeStr said | June 8th 2012 @ 9:47am | Report comment
If they want to go for the ‘All Stars’ option then I think the NRL model would be best and have popularly selected Indigenous and non-Indigenous sides.
Personally, I’d prefer a State of Origin based weekend as has been suggested previously on The Roar, preferrably the one suggested by Michael DiFabrizio here, http://www.theroar.com.au/2012/05/11/the-players-are-right-bring-back-afl-state-of-origin/
June 8th 2012 @ 12:54pm
cos789 said | June 8th 2012 @ 12:54pm | Report comment
Wouldn’t be enough depth in an AFL indigenous side to be competitive.
June 10th 2012 @ 8:58am
Dingo said | June 10th 2012 @ 8:58am | Report comment
Not too keen on the “Black against White” concept myself.
June 10th 2012 @ 9:49am
yewonk said | June 10th 2012 @ 9:49am | Report comment
of course its far from a black vs white concept in nrl version.
June 8th 2012 @ 11:04am
strummer jones said | June 8th 2012 @ 11:04am | Report comment
What about the SANFL versus the AFL? That would be fantastic.
June 8th 2012 @ 11:56pm
amazonfan said | June 8th 2012 @ 11:56pm | Report comment
The SANFL would be destroyed. They simply aren’t on the level of the AFL.
June 8th 2012 @ 11:14am
Emric said | June 8th 2012 @ 11:14am | Report comment
I thought the AFL had done everything they could to kill off rep footy?
June 10th 2012 @ 11:58am
Lazy Ted Failyou said | June 10th 2012 @ 11:58am | Report comment
The people voted with their feet and wallets. The last time they did it, everyone stayed away.
It is a waste of everyones time.
What I don’t get is the players want more breaks, less games but then they conjure up this concept. An exhibition match mid season. What the f#$%?!
June 10th 2012 @ 12:46pm
The Cattery said | June 10th 2012 @ 12:46pm | Report comment
spot on – just listening to AD again about trying to stretch the season over 24 weeks to fit in two byes – demanded by the players – if they have a choice between two byes or one bye and a silly game – which one are the players going to go for?
June 10th 2012 @ 1:06pm
Emric said | June 10th 2012 @ 1:06pm | Report comment
The NZRU is currently treating the North V South game in very much the same matter. Unless hype is built around a game and the top players are grantee to be playing there almost no point.
June 8th 2012 @ 12:53pm
cos789 said | June 8th 2012 @ 12:53pm | Report comment
The only format I can see working for an AFL all stars is if they make it
Melbourne All Stars (from the 9 Melbourne based clubs)
vs
Interstate All Stars (from the rest plus Geelong or Hawthorn)
June 8th 2012 @ 1:41pm
Dan said | June 8th 2012 @ 1:41pm | Report comment
Sure i heard someone say it was going to be a ‘school yard pick’ system, with 2 captains elected and making the side pick by pick….. wtf.
June 8th 2012 @ 4:19pm
The Cattery said | June 8th 2012 @ 4:19pm | Report comment
Yeh, one of the players put that forward as an idea.
It can all be dismissed, as I explain below.
June 9th 2012 @ 1:49pm
yewonk said | June 9th 2012 @ 1:49pm | Report comment
i had an idea
what we are looking for in a state of origin is the best players in two teams, equally divided or their about. but state of origin cant deliver that. what about this?
Representative club teams with no geographical base.
get two legendary coaches get them together and tell them to come up with the two best teams of players in the current competition.
they will have to work together to divide the players as equally as they can without wanting all the best players on their team.
they should then work dividing the rest of the competitions lists the same, this would be for future annual series given players forms will vary from year to year.
they should work together with goal of having the two teams of the best footballers in australia.
but they should then go away on their own and come u with a character defining ethos for there rep club which they will need to sell to the public as to why there rep club should be supported.
any new drafts should themselves choose a which rep club they wish to play for at the start of their registered career in the afl.
three weeks after grand final one game on the Saturday night one the following Wednesday one on the following saturday all three games in different cities all done in a eight days.
the public from all over australia will divide into two groups of supporters depending on which team there favorite players are in or which coach or ethos they like.
manufactured? yes but only initially the culture of a national non geographical derby will work.
questions?
June 9th 2012 @ 1:49pm
yewonk said | June 9th 2012 @ 1:49pm | Report comment
i had an idea
what we are looking for in a state of origin is the best players in two teams, equally divided or their about. but state of origin cant deliver that. what about this?
Representative club teams with no geographical base.
get two legendary coaches get them together and tell them to come up with the two best teams of players in the current competition.
they will have to work together to divide the players as equally as they can without wanting all the best players on their team.
they should then work dividing the rest of the competitions lists the same, this would be for future annual series given players forms will vary from year to year.
they should work together with goal of having the two teams of the best footballers in australia.
but they should then go away on their own and come u with a character defining ethos for there rep club which they will need to sell to the public as to why there rep club should be supported.
any new drafts should themselves choose a which rep club they wish to play for at the start of their registered career in the afl.
three weeks after grand final one game on the Saturday night one the following Wednesday one on the following saturday all three games in different cities all done in a eight days.
the public from all over australia will divide into two groups of supporters depending on which team there favorite players are in or which coach or ethos they like.
manufactured? yes but only initially the culture of a national non geographical derby will work.
questions?
June 8th 2012 @ 11:55pm
amazonfan said | June 8th 2012 @ 11:55pm | Report comment
What’s wrong with that suggestion? It could be really fun watching the captains pick the teams on national tv.
June 8th 2012 @ 4:21pm
The Cattery said | June 8th 2012 @ 4:21pm | Report comment
I’m just reading about how the AFL is trying to work out how they can give the players two breaks next season (rather than the current one).
If the AFL are to do it, it means using smaller venues in the opening round because cricket has the MCG until the 3rd week in March, inclusive.
In other words – forget about the players doing anything extra – clearly it’s pie in the sky, regardless of what a few of them will say when put on the spot.
On the question of the extra week off for players:
Cricket Victoria (CV) has first call on the MCG outside current
AFL season dates, meaning if the season is extended, the venue will
not be available.
“Absolutely we support it,” Demetriou said of the move to two
byes.
“There’s a strong likelihood that it will (come in) for next
year,” he told Melbourne’s SEN radio.
“We could open the season, which I think we are going to do,
with some big cracking games at Etihad Stadium, Richmond-Carlton
and the like.
“We’re working on something that would allow us to start a week
earlier without the MCG, because it’s unavailable because of the
potential for the Sheffield Shield final.”
In this year’s opening round, the Richmond-Carlton clash drew
78,285 fans to the MCG, while the Hawthorn-Collingwood game a night
later attracted 78,466.
Etihad Stadium’s capacity is about 54,000, meaning if similar
blockbusters are fixtured in an earlier opening round next year,
crowd numbers will be cut dramatically.
June 8th 2012 @ 4:33pm
The Cattery said | June 8th 2012 @ 4:33pm | Report comment
In the meantime, it’s in the U16 and U18 national championships where all the action is re rep honours – these are the games that really matter – which go a long way to deciding the futures of aspiring AFL players.
The U18 championships are on currently, and we’ve had some surprises already with NT defeating Vic Metro for the first time and Qld defeating WA for the first time.
The U16 championships have been extended this season to include the Flying Boomerangs and North-West WA teams, to be coached by Andrew McLeod and Phil Narkle respectively.
They’ll be in the same division as the South Pacific and World XVIII teams, competing in these championships for the third time.
2012 NAB AFL Under-16 Championships fixture
Round One
Saturday July 7
Western Australia v South Australia at Blacktown, 12pm
Vic Country v Vic Metro at Blacktown 2.30pm
Sunday July 8
WA North West v South Pacific at Blacktown, 9.30am
Tasmania v Queensland at Blacktown, 12.15pm
NSW/ACT v Northern Territory at Blacktown, 2.40pm
World Team v Flying Boomerangs at Blacktown, 5.30am
Round Two
Tuesday July 10
Vic Country v South Australia at Blacktown, 11am
Western Australia v Vic Metro at Blacktown, 1.10pm
Wednesday July 11
Tasmania v NSW/ACT at Bruce Purser Reserve, 10am
Queensland v Northern Territory at Bruce Purser Reserve, 12pm
Flying Boomerangs v South Pacific at Blacktown, 4pm
World Team v WA North West at Blacktown, 6pm
Round Three
Friday July 13
Western Australia v Vic Country at Blacktown, 10am
Vic Metro v SA at Blacktown, 12.10pm
Saturday July 14
Northern Territory v Tasmania at Blacktown, 9.30am
WA North West v Flying Boomerangs at Blacktown, 9.30am
Queensland v NSW/ACT at Blacktown, 11.30am
South Pacific v World Team at Blacktown, 2pm
June 9th 2012 @ 12:05am
glacier said | June 9th 2012 @ 12:05am | Report comment
Why don’t the AFL All Stars play against the Irish Gaelic Football side? It could then be sold throughout the world as the best v the best in world football talent, achieve monumental international ratings and increase AD’s bonuses ten fold for conquering the diaspora (and not just Cyprus).
June 9th 2012 @ 12:13pm
Cameron said | June 9th 2012 @ 12:13pm | Report comment
Well the Irish side can at least play Australian Rules next time around instead of Australia having to play a virtual game of Gaelic football every time the two sides meet.
June 10th 2012 @ 12:37pm
Brewski said | June 10th 2012 @ 12:37pm | Report comment
Speak to the Irish, they claim they are playing Australian football, the tackle and game stopping due to the mark are not in Gaelic, they are pretty big adjustments.