Andrew Demetriou did his mid-season round of radio interviews over the weekend, which usually delivers some kind of insight into the future direction of the competition.
This time was no different, with the debate over bringing forward the start of the season getting another airing.
The problem has been the same for some time.
The players, through the AFLPA, have been asking for two byes in the home and away season. This would require the season to last one week longer.
The MCG, however, can’t be used by the AFL any earlier than it is because cricket have claim to the ground should Victoria win hosting rights for the Sheffield Shield final.
Bringing the end of the season back a week is do-able, but as we know from the past two years, there are clashes with other sporting events around the country when this happens.
And that traditional “one day in September” suddenly starts to fall in October.
The way around this is to avoid the MCG in Round 1, which is what Demetriou threatened to do last week by hinting that the league would move the season opener between Richmond and Carlton to Etihad Stadium.
The hint can probably be described as tongue-in-cheek, or as some form of scare tactic. The fixture draws well above Etihad’s capacity so it’s unlikely to actually be moved.
But on Triple M over the weekend, Demetriou was open to the idea of letting cricket have Etihad should they need a venue.
“I hadn’t thought of that,” he claimed. “But yes we could [offer it]. Etihad Stadium is a first class venue and they’ve played cricket there before.”
“If they wanted to play there we could make it available for them and we could play at [the MCG].”
Now, whether Cricket Victoria would view the plan so positively is another story, but you get the sense one way or another the AFL will make it work. In 2012, they played one game – the first Sydney derby – on that earlier weekend, at the very least they’ll try something similar in 2013.
But is the season long enough as it already is? Do we need an extra weekend of footy? Do we need an extra three straight weeks of less games?
On the first two questions, the AFL are definitely pushing the boundaries. The blowouts witnessed in the second half of last season turned many off, although the ultra-competitive nature of this season’s ladder may prevent a repeat of that.
Perhaps the best way to put it is unless the AFL breaks up the club-versus-club cycle – which, just quietly, State of Origin is capable of doing – then the current season length is just right.
It’s the last question, though, where things get tricky.
Many supporters are less than thrilled about shortened rounds of footy, and it’s been that way since the advent of the split round, but player welfare should be paramount.
With the speed of the game increasing, partly because of AFL rule changes, we need to listen to players on issues such as these.
For this reason, I’m supportive of allowing the season to start a week earlier, but that’s only on the proviso the AFL don’t get carried away beyond that.
Not that long ago the league was super-keen on extending the finals series also – and they haven’t fully killed off that idea, either, despite the fact it makes zero sense when you actually break down the implications of it.
Basically, it’s no secret they want to carve even more weeks out of the calendar to claim as their own.
While that makes sense from a commercial perspective, the AFL need to listen to the people that without whom, there would be no game – the players and the fans.
amazonfan
Roar Guru
"# The players are training anyhow. So the potential for injury is always there. You hear about players going down in preseason all the time." You do realize there is a massive difference between an actual game, played for real stakes, compared to training or a meaningless preseason game? It's absurd that you would actually think they are comparable. "# They play 5 or 6 pre season games on top of the minimum 22 game season, not including finals" But even including finals, no player would contest more than 30 matches, and that includes preseason games. You're asking players to contest 34 H&A games, plus finals. Even if no preseason games are held, it's still more than what any club would contest now. Furthermore, the reality is, that even if a club were to contest 30+ games in a calender year, almost none of its players would play all of the games. It's far too taxing, which for some reason you don't seem to accept. "# Kevin Sheedy himself has already said it is possible and desirable." Well, yes, however there is a difference between possible and probable, or even likely. Is it desirable? Absolutely. Is it possible? Yes. Will it ever happen? Probably not in a million years. "Increase bench and reduce length of quarters." That could help. However there is still one major problem. The AFL doesn't have access to enough grounds for long enough, thanks to cricket. "# The conference system is idiotic American nonsense. It is not compatible with Australia." The conference system has only been suggested in terms of structuring the draw, however the competition wouldn't actually be divided into different conferences, like in the US. There would still be the one ladder, and the finals system wouldn't change. Anyway, this doesn't have to do with lengthening the season, so I don't know why you would bring it up. The fact is that there is nobody in the AFL who are even considering playing 34 games. Not only is it physically too difficult (contrary to what you might imagine, the players do have a job and it's pretty tough), but even if they figured out a way to overcome the physical difficulties, they don't have access to the relevant grounds for 34+ weeks.
NeeDeep
Roar Pro
OK - the AFL wants everyone to play 22 games, which means based on an 18 team competition, we need 198 games played. The players throug the AFLPA want 2 byes during the season. I hate it when the ladder at the end of a round has some teams on different numbers of games played, so 2 weekends during the year with either no footy or a state of origin game(s) Obviously the AFL wouldn't be happy with either of those, but at worst we have a 24 week season which is only 1 round longer than the current arrangement. I agree with a few of the early comments that this whole notion of "set" fixtures - ANZAC Day, Carlton v Richmond season opener and the Queens Birthday - is hogwash and compromises the whole idea of the competition being equal. Why should particluar clubs be entitled to these potential money spinners and others denied the chance to ever participate? And before we get the whole ANZAC Day belongs to Collingwood & Essendon, becasue they pioneered it, argument - don't bother. If that was the basis for the setting up of the fixtures, then we should be seeing North Melbourne every Friday night & Sydney would only ever play on Sunday! So, the solution for the season opener is easy enough - games at Docklands, Subi, AAMI, Canberra, Launceston, Skoda, Kardinia Park, Metricon and so on, until the MCC comes to the party. Carlton & Richomnd can still have their MCG game, but it'll be round 6, or 13. To give each team 2 byes during the course of a season, you would need to have 36 slots - 18 teams x 2 byes . This would mean 3 weeks of 6 games, like we have this season, or you could also go 9 weeks with 7 games - ie. a rolling roster of 4 sides having a bye, each week, over a 9 week period. I reckon teams would prefer to play somewhere bwtween 6 to 8 games, before having their first bye and would ideally like to build up for the finals over the last 4 or 5 rounds. As such, the byes could be worked into rounds 8 to 17, with 4 teams having a week off, on a rotating basis, until each team has had 2 weeks off. If you got your first bye in round 8, you'd get another in round 12 or 13 and if your first break was round 12, then you'd get the last one in round 17. Rounds 1 to 7 & 18 to 23, would be 9 games, with the in-betwen rounds being 7 games a weekend. Just a different idea and sort of along the lines of HK Jack's suggestion - simple answer!
Redb
Roar Guru
Makes a huge difference being live.
Jack Russell
Roar Guru
I don't think it's that remarkable - it's a result of games being screened live. In the 21st century, people just don't accept delayed sport. FTA networks are finally starting to catch on. What's remarkable is that it's taken this long and that those TV networks actually have people paid to know this.
Christo the Daddyo
Guest
As much as I love football, it's a winter sport. In my opinion the season is already too long. April - September is a good length I think.
HK Jack
Guest
One round, two rounds, three rounds, four rounds This one has a cricket ground, this one has a footy ground Say, what alot of grounds there are! Yes, some teams are blue and some are old. Some are sad, and some are bad. Now, can we just have the grand final replay in the bloody opening round please? “Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.” - Dr Seuss (apparently!)
Australian Rules
Guest
"Utter tripe"...(giggle) Hooli, you didn't acknowledge the cricket problem. Before you consider any of Brewski's points, having access to an oval is the starting point. As it stands, most pre-season games are played at Etihad and other regional grounds. Any ideas?
Strummer Jones
Guest
Yes, it is great having it live on Friday nights into Sydney.....I just need to work out how to get it on my digital radio now!! Its quite clever (annoyingly) that the AFL cuts off digital radio broadcasts so that (I am guessing here) you cannot turn the telly down and listen to the radio (if you listen to "wireless radio" the broadcast is out of sync with the TV, and the same with downloads off the AFL website).
Brewski
Roar Rookie
If the length of games is decreased, the squad of players increased, cricket was willing to give up some more of it's season, and midweek games became a regular thing then a full H&A season may be possible. That is quite a list though.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
I reckon they're keeping that one up their sleeve for next time.
JamesP
Guest
Just quietly, how good has it been to have live Friday night footy into Melbourne (and NSW/QLD) - and also nearer to live in SA/WA on FTA? Despite foxtel simulcasting, 7's ratings are also up which is just plain and simply remarkable. I remember watching the Saints v Tigers game a couple weeks back and went to check the scores on-line (having been so used to the game being delayed), before realising it was live. Full marks AFL for finally twisting 7's arm. Yes I know Foxtel ratings also include regional areas, but the majority would be metro, so when you add those to the 5 city FTA, the results are simply unbelievable. I am sure someone (Wookie?) can do the analysis.
JamesP
Guest
Don't know about a similar drop in revenue. Yes there would be less games, but due to less overlap there would be higher average crowds and TV ratings. So drop could be less that expected. I'd argue shift one of the 5 games on Saturday to Monday nights and watch the ratings go through the roof.
Michael/Brisbane
Guest
Game was screened in Brisbane.
Hoolifan
Guest
Utter tripe. # The players are training anyhow. So the potential for injury is always there. You hear about players going down in preseason all the time. # They play 5 or 6 pre season games on top of the minimum 22 game season, not including finals # Kevin Sheedy himself has already said it is possible and desirable. Increase bench and reduce length of quarters. # The conference system is idiotic American nonsense. It is not compatible with Australia.
The_Wookie
Roar Guru
yeah it was the best result all year for the swans to date. Next best was the opener at just over 80k.
The_Wookie
Roar Guru
Thats what I get for doing these things at 4am. I didnt add adelaide figures in for the game.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
The whole 103k was for Sydney only? I didn't know that. That's a huge number for 7Mate - you'd struggle to find anything on 7Mate getting those sorts of numbers in Sydney.
Strummer Jones
Guest
Game wasn't screened in Brisbane. The 103,000 all belongs to Sydney, so good thing it was a great game. Hopefully 50,000 of them were recently arrived migrants heading to the Western suburbs to start a new life of hope, prosperity, and Aussie Rules.
Strummer Jones
Guest
No, I think double it to 34 games so that everyone plays each other twice. Also, make it a Top 12 so that the finals extend over 7 weeks. With NAB cup thrown in, that's only about 5-6 weeks without Aussie Rules a year. I know that's a bit long (the 5-6 weeks) but the players need at least some time to visit family and friends.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Radical. Corresponds to a 22% decrease in matches played, and most probably, a similar drop in aggregate revenue.