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‘Tis the season to be really greedy and request all sorts of frivolous things.
Rather than doing that in the real world, here are my selfish wishes for the AFL in the next 12 months.
» Women’s AFL league on The Roar
» All the teams and squad lists for the women’s AFL
» Complete 2017 women’s AFL fixtures
1. The AFL goes one year without changing the rules
The last time the National Basketball Association in the US has changed the rules governing the NBA was ahead of the 2006-07 season. That’s ten years ago!
AFL HQ can’t go ten weeks without talking about tinkering with the rules of professional Australian rules football.
It’s ludicrous.
This year’s rule changes – and the fact that I can start a sentence like that is damning – have resulted in the third man up being banned, more scrutiny being placed on ball carriers in high tackles, the re-policing of the deliberate rushed behind rule, and a slight modification to the protected area rule.
That’s four things. Though none of them are fundamentally game changing, they are large enough to warrant a whole lot of hang-wringing and arguments.
Just let the thing be, please.
2. The AFL Women’s league is a success
I don’t write this as a wish in the sense that I think it’s going to go poorly; the hype surrounding the competition, and the media attention it has garnered, suggests it is going to be a hit.
This is me sending my best wishes, because success in this domain will go a long way to solidifying Australian rules’ status as Australia’s game.
3. Sam Mitchell and Matt Priddis finish top five in the 2017 Brownlow medal
We’re allowed to be selfish at this time of year, right? As soon as the glistening stallion Nic Naitanui was felled on a dark, dreary Friday night in August, I’ve feared for West Coast’s short-term prospects.
The team is all in, and without their primary ruckman – the best ruckman in the league when he’s up and going – I thought the prospects of challenging for a flag were greatly diminished.
Then Sam Mitchell joined the team and my mind started to change.
Upon reflection, and after watching a bit of his tape over the past two years, I’m starting to think Mitchell and Matt Priddis could form one of the league’s most potent one-two midfield punches next year.
Then earlier this week, it emerged Naitanui was targeting Round 16 for his glorious ascension from an ACL injury hell.
In West Coast’s last premiership year, Ben Cousins and Daniel Kerr finished first and second respectively in the 2006 Brownlow medal count.
A man can dream…
4. An even more even season than the one we just had
The 2016 AFL season was great, even though the top eight was locked away in Round 8 – the earliest time that’s happened in AFL history.
Before the season got underway, I wrote that it was looking like the most even season in a decade, and so it was.
But guess what? Next year is looking even more egalitarian.
Hawthorn and North Melbourne will probably fall back a little from their 2016 positions, while the Gold Coast Suns, Fremantle and Essendon will have designs on moving up the ladder.
Melbourne and St Kilda have shown they are building nicely, while Port Adelaide face a make or break year in 2017.
Brendon Bolton showed he’s capable of turning water into cheap wine, although Carlton’s list profile is now looking more like what it should have last year, so they will probably tread water or fall back a bit.
Only Brisbane look moribund as we sit here today.
As a result, we could end up with an eight-win team finishing in 16th spot on the ladder next year.
Oh yes. I can’t wait.
We’ll get to this in a lot more detail in the new year.
5. Nat Fyfe shreds
A broken leg kept him out of action for most of 2016, and to make up for that, I want to see Nat Fyfe shred.
I want to see him average 30 touches, 15 contested possessions, four contested marks, eight tackles and kick 30 goals.
I want to see Nat Fyfe do his best impersonation of Patrick Dangerfield’s 2016 season.
I want to see him get frustrated at a tagger – let’s say North Melbourne’s Sam Gibson – and suplex him in the middle of Subiaco Oval.
I want to see Nat Fyfe shred.
6. Labour peace
In all likelihood, the AFL and AFL players will enter 2017 without a new collective bargaining agreement. This is not good, because a new agreement was supposed to be in place before June 30.
The last official news we’ve heard was that HQ isn’t speaking with the AFL Players’ Association.
The stakes are high because I suspect this is the last extra-normal broadcasting pay day that the AFL can realistically expect to receive.
It is right to tread lightly when it comes to the players’ wishes for a fixed share of revenue, but right now, it appears they’re barely walking at all.
It’s not great, and the prospect of a protest of some kind surely grows by the week.
7. A year without major injury or illness
Once again, ‘tis the season, and in the spirit of the occasion, my final wish is for the AFL diaspora to have a lean run on the injury and illness front in 2017.
Jarryd Roughead’s 2016 ordeal looks to be over, thankfully, but we’ll enter 2017 with a heap of elite talent on the sidelines due to long-term injury.
Let’s all hope for a year with as many of the AFL’s stars on the field as possible. Merry Christmas everyone!