- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
It has now been a week since the now even more controversial Australian rules football figure Mark Jackson ferociously attacked not only the renowned journalist Mike Sheahan but also the AFL and its current players.
Sports losing their proverbial souls is an issue facing almost every major sport. Be it football, basketball or even boxing, veterans of the major sports and lifelong fans have now for years been urging their sports to stray from the path of commercialisation.
But like many of its international counterparts has Australia’s own game also lost its soul?
In recent years the AFL has controversially made a variety of rule changes to the way the game is played. These changes have fuelled heated debates between fans, analysts and coaches.
They have turned the game into a more polished and refined sport, one where according to Mark Jackson athletic ability and statistical analysis are viewed as more valuable rather than playing with raw passion and talent.
Many of the game’s now veteran supporters and former players also feel that the current state of the game is one of softness and shamanism. Jackson also claimed that many of the players today and in particular the forwards are “imposters and should be charged with fraud” due to the way they play the game.
A bold and distastefully blunt statement no doubt, but it is hard to fully disagree with the statement given the poor shooting ability of many forwards today. The manner in which they hand the ball off from 40 or sometimes less metres out from goal does make one question their ability.
What is in need of urgent attention are the claims from Mark Jackson and Sam Kekovich that the AFL is too “city centric”.
Has the AFL lost touch with Australia’s rural areas, places that have produced many of the game’s stars and represent what it is truly about? Results from a recent fan survey showed that it is perceived by many fans that the AFL is now being operated like a “profit centre for shareholders”.
If this perception is not swiftly subdued then the ramifications could greatly impact the future of the game. To make matters worse for the AFL, concerns that the game is becoming too Americanised and solely focused generating the greatest profits have spread to the league’s most struggling clubs.
Tension has arisen between these clubs and the AFL’s hierarchy over disputes involving who should fund player payments and the clubs desires to eradicate the controversial wealth tax.
Given that the AFL, like the community, has recognised that there are issues in that area makes the recent ventures into international nations a controversial issue.
It is clear to see that there was genuine concern that Jacko’s game, our game and Australia’s traditional game is in need of a serious review.
No sport in Australia’s history optimises what it means to be an Australian more than Australian rules football, but is the game currently on a path to becoming less Australian? If so something must be done as it would be a travesty of the greatest proportions to formally admit and acknowledge that the AFL lacks integrity and has lost its soul.
Who’s in your ultimate team? Pick the best team and compete with other fans for daily prizes on Draftstars. For the best odds on the game try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Think. Is this a bet you really want to place? Set a deposit limit.