Have you heard about high ticket prices, cost of food, rolling mauls, the lack of attacking play, defensive coaches and bad decisions?
In fact, not only have we heard about it, it seems that’s all we hear about from AFL fans.
The truth is, our game has been hijacked by the Joneses. If you haven’t heard about them, well the truth is they have nothing to do with AFL vocabulary.
Yet what they are is a theory and if you have ever been sold to, the theory may have been applied to you.
What our game has become is a convoluted mass coverage and we are all being sold on the negatives of our game. Simply, if they think it is true, then it must be true.
When you turn on the radio, TV or go online, we too often hear, see and read too much negativity.
The effect is people are being sold that the great game of AFL is bad, boring and unattractive when it isn’t. Sure it isn’t perfect, but is it all that bad?
Unfortunately, because we see every game – rather than just the game of the round like in the past – we see some worse games of footy.
Right now, we have 10 teams that can shape the top eight. Whether your team is one of those or not, that is a great thing to have at Round 15.
On the weekend, we saw Brisbane win against the odds, playing attractive football and beating a team everyone thought was going to win and win easy.
Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs are not going to make the eight, but if you weren’t excited about that game and the future both teams have, then you were watching something different to me.
In that game, we saw the emergence of a star in Marcus Bontempelli. His last quarter was everything a football fan wants to see in a young player making his mark on the competition. He is what makes you go to the footy as a Bulldogs supporter.
The Showdown was exhilarating and breathtaking. It had everything down to the last kick of the game and it was what football is all about.
However they were overshadowed by Eddie McGuire and his tears of compensation for Sunday night. A great weekend of football and some great games were hijacked by a man and his quest for money.
Sunday night football is dead and let’s leave it at that. But the fascination to talk about one negative of a great weekend of football overshadowed some individual and team brilliance.
The price of football has become a contentious topic. We seem to hear and read more about it than ever before. Yet if nothing was said, would we be complaining? Has the influence of the media and other people sold you that football is too expensive? If so, welcome to the Jone’s Theory.
Rolling mauls have become the ‘it’ word. The great game of AFL is becoming more like rugby.
Really. Who says it is? The people on the rules committee? Kevin Bartlett? Those in the media? Those that pen their names to articles that many people read and can be influenced by?
When I watch AFL I see 44 men contesting the ball as hard as ever. I see them do everything they can to win games and execute skills under enormous pressure. The last thing I count is how many rolling mauls a game has.
An article was published that average scoring was down across the AFL. As a result, we get sold that there is less attacking play and all we do is defend.
The truth is that the game has evolved and to win premierships, defence is just as crucial as attack.
When we analyse games of football, we highlight and put under the microscope the inability of a team to defend, but then we demand that the game is all about attack no matter what.
We all want perfection and what everyone else has. But the reality is, AFL is never going to be perfect and we can’t have nine games with no mistakes or ugly periods of play.
However we have the opportunity over the next 13 weeks to talk about the great things we do have and can be sold on. The more we do that, the more people will go to games to support their teams and before long, little issues will simply be overlooked.
clipper
Guest
Are you sure about that one Lazza? Many people can't fathom Grid Iron and non Cricket nations are utterly perplexed when it comes to Cricket.
Joel Clarke
Roar Pro
Add in free agency and let the party begin
Truth
Guest
Will always support my club. But it is the neutral games that are unattractive. Too many teams with a thin pool of talent in the bottom teams. They may turn out a close game, ie. dogs v Melb, but at the start of the round that game is just two bottom eight struggling teams. You can take a look at his round, north v hawks could be good, and if GC hits top gear, their clash against collingwood looks good. But other than that, it is either two teams that are having a poor season and in terrible form, or one-sided affairs. I could be wrong and a couple of games could be close, but 7 of the 9 games (unless your team is involved) do not look inviting, or worth cancelling plans for. There isn't enough top level talent to support 18 teams, the gap between top and bottom is huge, the gap between 6th and 13th is just as big. And it will continue this way.
Flick
Roar Rookie
Your right, we are not American god forbid, we are Australian, and we have our own code of football and we call it Australian football.
Baz
Guest
Yes it is.
Lazza
Guest
We're not America. People around the world watch and understand American sports.
Flick
Roar Rookie
Its is not, it's correct name is Australian Football, not Australian rules football and has been for over 100 years. Your post about foreigners not understanding the correct name makes no sense, American football is not soccer.
Lazza
Guest
AFL controls the entire sport not just the professional game so the names are interchangeable. It’s correct name is Australian Rules Football. Since the AFL is trying to grow the game overseas you shouldn’t confuse foreigners by calling it Australian Football. They’ll assume you’re talking about the Socceroos and the ALeague.
Joel Clarke
Roar Pro
That's the point. We have so many 'media' people all trying to be the king and influence people and their views. If there was only positive media about the game, would be interesting to see where it would be at.
Flick
Roar Rookie
Correct, if you are lucky enough to play AFL, you are playing the game of Australian Football. Having said that, in some quarters the game is marketed as AFL and i guess it does stand for Australian Football League.
Mick Ash
Roar Rookie
Absolutely spot on - the game has never been in better shape, and the amount of negativity is madness. It's just media saturation where each commentator is trying desperately to be 'heard', or seen to be some kind of wise old sage bowing their head to popular opinion.
TW
Guest
Eddie is a very high profile Club official - He thinks because his club attracts bigger crowds, funding etc he is in a special position to dominate the game. As an example it appears that the game between the Magpies and the Suns on the Gold Coast may be a record crowd -Last week ticket sales were pointing in that direction but the Suns were beaten last weekend so may not happen. It will be a power struggle "behind the scenes" between him and the new AFL boss Gil Mclachlan -.Interesting times ahead.
margar
Guest
I totally agree with this article! AFL & club membership & games is still the best value for money entertainment. I have reserved seating to 11 home matches, share the experience with partner and friends and look forward to a day out every fortnight in the winter. Games are exciting and I love the expectation that, with few exceptions especially this year, anything can and does happen! So sick of the whingeing clubs esp McGuire who thinks (and probably does) own the league. Get over it! Sunday game did not make you a mozza, there are up to 10 clubs that would kill to have a 40+ thousand crowd.
Flashgordon
Guest
I agree. We're virtually being told what to think. Still enjoy the game as much as ever. A few more Lions wins would be nice, though!
TheBlackCat1859
Guest
AFL is a league, not a game. The game is Australian football.
Momentbymoment
Guest
I totally agree with this. The amount of negative energy that is thrown around is mind blowing. I long for the days when cola was a drink, academies were a good thing and sports commentators didn't run football clubs.
Joel Clarke
Roar Pro
Seems pretty good to me.
Conrad HC
Guest
There's quite a bit we whinge about but, in the end, my $459 per year for membership, reserved seat at home, one away match and a Grand Final ballot guarantee is a pretty good deal.