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AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan has scrapped the idea of putting names on jumpers after a trial in Round 5 this season.
McLachlan said the font size of the names wasn’t able to be seen at the ground or on TV because of the “style and cut of the jumpers”.
“They (jumpers) are tighter than ever and they’re cut in around the arms, they don’t have sleeves,” he said.
Ok Gil, thanks for pointing out AFL jumpers don’t have sleeves. However last time I watched a soccer match, I don’t recall the names being on the sleeves! It amazes me how basketball manage to get the names of players onto singlets given the ‘cut’ of a singlet.
The solution is straight forward – increase the font size. Yes, either the number or the sponsor’s logo beneath it have to be reduced in size to accommodate this.
Perhaps this is the real reason the names have been binned – there’s not enough room on the jumper for the name in a readable size and the sponsor’s logo. Commercial realities mean there is no way the sponsor’s logo is going to downsize or disappear. I guess jumper sponsors must bring in more dollars than any potential spike in sales of jumpers bearing names.
As for when this issue might be revisited, McLachlan was fairly blunt, “I won’t be revisiting it in my lifetime, I don’t think.”
20 round season
As the AFL season hits another momentum killer – yet another split round – there have been calls for a shorter season of 20 matches, most notably from North Melbourne president James Brayshaw.
This season there have been two split rounds plus three weekends of reduced matches, meaning the the 22 game home-and-away season has been spread over 25 weeks.
The AFL Players Association had called for two byes to give the players an extra break, but the players don’t seem to be getting the time off over a bye week as they use to, meaning the two byes has drawn the season out longer without giving the players rest.
I’m not sure all clubs would be in favour of a shortened season due to the revenue drop from one less home game. TV networks would not want a reduction in their current number of games for broadcast.
There may have been an opportunity to switch to a 20-game season and not adversely affect the broadcast agreements in 2012 when the AFL first moved to an 18-team competition and nine games per round. Prior to 2012, 22 rounds of eight matches meant 176 games for broadcast and 20 rounds of nine games would have meant 180 games. There would have been no drop in the number of games for the broadcasters, but that opportunity has probably passed.
A public holiday
The Victorian Labor Party, currently in opposition, has promised to introduce a public holiday on the Friday before the AFL grand final if it wins the state election.
Is this good news for footy fans? Would the holiday allow more fans to get to the grand final parade, which already occurs during school holidays?
What would the day be called? AFL grand final eve holiday? Is it right to have another public holiday for a sporting event?
Like the Melbourne Cup, would the holiday be for the Melbourne metro area only, with regional areas taking the holiday the day before local grand finals?
Do fans want a holiday prior to the grand final or would they prefer the Monday off to continue with the celebrations or commiserations?
Is this just reinstating the long-lost September public holiday of Show Day by another name?
So many questions, but most Victorians would be happy with a day off during the long, barren, public-holiday free months between the Queen’s Birthday in early June and the first Tuesday in November.
Finally…
Rumours are circulating Tom Jones will be performing at the AFL grand final. Seems about par for the acts the AFL hire for the big day.
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