The first weekend of September is a great time of year for a few reasons.
(1) If you live in the Canberra region like I do, the start of spring brings eternal optimism;
(2) Commencement of footy finals – flowering plants and fresh-cut lawns give off the recognisable scent that come September we have reached footy’s business end;
(3) Generally the end of the Bledisloe Cup (or other nightmares); and
(4) Father’s Day. As a Dad you face the potential of stray shell in your scrambled eggs and marshmallow in your flat white. But amidst the highs and lows of the well-intentioned Sunday morning breakfast in bed, generally a footy tragic would have some say on the remote for the Saturday evening / Sunday afternoon over the course of the weekend.
So, opportunity presents itself for the blokes to sit back, relax and watch the first week of footy finals, without contending with Rapunzel or Elsa.
Courtesy of the bye round, this weekend for an AFL fan somewhat channels the old Bruce Springsteen song 57 Channels (and Nothin’ On).
“We switched ’round and ’round ’til half-past dawn
There was fifty-seven channels and nothin’ on”.
After such a wonderful month leading into the finals, where the fight for the top four at times felt like a nuclear arms race for the highest percentage, the make-up of the top eight was not determined until Collingwood significantly shook up Hawthorn in the second last match of the year.
The season had momentum, excitement and people were hooked. The ageing yet redoubtable Hawks, the attacking murder of Crows, the new brash Sydney and their mini-me GWS, the Jekyll and Hyde West Coast, the injury-hit Bulldogs who keep finding a way, and the North Melbourne retirement village.
Even if this was a glorious ‘reverse marketing’ strategy from AFL HQ to get Australians to watch how bad our current Wallabies side are, they are also caught in a week off in the Rugby Championship (I think many would call this the mercy rule).
The Age’s Rohan Connelly has already focused in depth from a purely football dynamic, this week likening the strategy of having a bye as taking a ‘sledgehammer to a walnut’.
Like a good cop drama, it is a case of follow the money and you will find the answer to the question at hand. In this instance the AFL have become paranoid around the integrity of their product with gambling, with mass “restings” of players from Fremantle and North in the final rounds over the last few seasons.
This is not a football problem – if coaches want to rest players at the end of the season to freshen up that is their perogative if they are in a position to do this. After all, their hard work has rewarded them with that opportunity. History would suggest it isn’t a recipe for premiership success in any case.
While filled with good-will to take a deep breath before plunging into finals, I would argue that the AFL’s attempts to have a week off before launching into its month of premium product has been curtailed significantly with the following road-blocks.
– GWS are embroiled in illicit drug taking innuendo, again highlighting the hopeless nature of the current testing policies – difficult to understand and hard to see how it helps potentially vulnerable players or clubs.
– to fill the void with no on-field action, media trading gossip has show-cased Tyrone Vickery and Travis Cloke as apparently the greatest things since sliced bread.
– the promotion of the women’s game has shown that behind the great news of a footy pathway for women, most players will be paid $5,000 and have to fork out their own private health insurance. Hardly persuasive to give up the day job let alone take up a handy second one.
– Also, did I say no footy?
So, yes we had some exclusivity around the All-Australian, and even a ‘scoop’ announcement on some grand final entertainment from the AFL CEO, but as a fan the experiment should be put to bed.
Put simply, the game sells itself.
Back to the Boss:
“I can see by your eyes friend you’re just about gone
Fifty-seven channels and nothin’ on”
Hope all the dads out there enjoy their day.
Qlder
Guest
As the father of 3 grown up children I was "on call" all day for FaceTime messages. In years gone by they would have known to call at halftime or after the game. So, no rest really, especially after mowing the lawn because they have all abandoned me :( So I watched rugby league and some soccer. What a sad weekend.
Penster
Guest
Uncle Rupert thinks it's a wonderful idea - came up with it himself - and bugger the supporters.
The Original Buzz
Guest
I enjoyed the bye week. The EJ Whitten match was alright, it supports a worthy cause and is worth a chuckle. The Women's match was great, I really enjoyed the level of play, I hope they televise it next year. It was good to have a weekend away from AFL, I am now refreshed for some good finals footy. For those footy tragics like me, go to a local match and support a local team. In SA, we had the SANFL finals this week and an all-stars vs indigenous game. It was a good day out for those who went and it supported a good cause. There are also the amateur leagues playing. The way I see it, all teams get to freshen up players that are a bit sore or showing fatigue. I think it will up the standards a bit. As for killing off momentum, that is the same for all teams so there is no advantage to anyone there. This would be an ideal opportunity to hold all the Medal presentation nights and any other gala events the AFL throws on. Keep the EJ game and a women's game round on the bye week. It keeps the drip feed going. Maybe the teams could hold a meet and greet for the ticket holders to have the chance to talk to the players and coaches. Just an idea. Keep the Bye week, I say.
Milo
Roar Rookie
You could say Im a rusted on footy supporter having followed the game since black & white TV. But I actually didn't mind the break. Enjoyed the game on Friday and even had a relaxing father's day with the family rather than rushing to turn on the TV. I did eventually turn on the TV to see the Zebras outplay the Borough but all in all, I thought it was a good lead in. Perhaps if they're considering making this permanent then Id suggest getting the Brownlow out of the way on this weekend may be a good idea. That's actually when it used to be held - straight after the H&A series.
Agent11
Guest
Storm game was also supposedly a sell out although with 5k seats empty, not sure what that was about...
Craigo
Guest
Sat TV #AFLWomensGame #WhittenOval Seven 465k (Mel 387k Ade 78k) 7mate (Syd 17k Bri 21k Per 40k) Yep, those Sydney and Brisbane ratings would match the Men's AFL games in those cities. Go Girls!!
Craigo
Guest
Looks like the most watched sports on TV this year will be 1. Rugby League. 2. Women's AFL 3. Men's AFL.
Axle and the Guru
Guest
I watched the Port Melb vs Sandringham game on TV, it was good to watch, good umpiring and a good attacking game of football.
Harry Houdini
Guest
Yep, pretty good ratings, but no FTA for the NRL on saturday night. The womens AFL game peaked at 1.05 million
Swannies
Guest
Another excellent decision Gill. We'll make sure you get a 10% pay rise for this and upgrade to Jaguar.
Don Freo
Guest
It's been an absolute delight to watch a team with proper guidance get to four finals series in a row. What is your disappointment? You Hawks guys seem to find satisfaction only if other people are sad. You are going to be further disappointed there. Freo delights me. You are going to have to look to your own side for sufficient joy. Chin up. Joy is available in this great game.
AR
Guest
They're incredible numbers. Must have been a good night for ratings with no AFL on. The AFL Women's game had an average FTA audience of 746k. Again, incredible numbers.
AR
Guest
"perennial finalist" Yes, a whopping 4 years in a row. And weren't they impressive each time!
Don Freo
Guest
Of course not. A series without perennial finalist, Freo, is way more disappointing. Were you disappointed went Freo went out last year? I understand that.
Don Freo
Guest
At least some of the Freo players are finally coming back from injury. 18 of them playing for Peel this afternoon. 3pm on 7Mate. Worth watching just for Balic, Yarran and Morabito.
Rocko
Roar Guru
Typo fail - ten goals up !
dave
Guest
My team is not playing in the finals so the footy season is effectively over for me but I have no doubt I still would have had a browse at the games this weekend out of curiosity and probably would have jumped aboard one team or another for the remaining games. This week off has effectively ended the footy season as i have already entered that awkward stage where I'm wondering what i used to do on weekends when not planning my day around football matches. Dammit gill Its too soon for that.
mr flibble
Guest
Thanks for the article Martin. All week, I was prepared to weigh the arguments for and against a pre-finals bye - until Friday night, when there WAS NO FOOTBALL. And Saturday. And Sunday. Re the AFL protecting the integrity of the game - teams don't win the flag from outside the top four for two reasons: 1/ as the 5-8 sides go thru the finals they meet teams who finished ever higher on the ladder than them for good reason (they're better); 2/ the fatigue factor of playing consecutive physically draining games. It's not the AFL's (direct) fault that the very evenness of the comp. has diluted the first factor but allowing teams 5-8 an extra week's rest may well negate the second. We'll see, but if, say, the Eagles or Crows get past the prelims the extra rest will be a big factor. In the ensuring uproar, the most interesting thing will be to see if Eddie - who's team, of course, didn't make the finals - has something to say (yes, that was a gratuitous poke at McGuire). P.S. what happened to Saturday re-runs of Journey to the Centre of the Earth and Gilligan's Island - or am i showing my age?
AR
Guest
"I suppose it was always going to be the most disappointing finals series ever as soon as it was clear Freo was not going to be playing." I thought 2014 where Freo went out in straight sets...or 2015 when Freo got walloped out as Minor Premiers, would have been more disappointing.
Kev c
Guest
Cant beleive this shit who does Mcglachlin think he is why keep changing things ,if it aint broke dont fix it ,your destroying the game by all thes changes and on top of that thursday night footy ,thanks gill how bout the country people, remember thats where a lot of footballers come from ,so they have to take a say off work ti get to the game and then get accomodation mid week