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Footy is a cruel game to those who stand still and are reluctant to adapt.
The game’s amalgamation at a national level saw the league reach out to the four corners of the country and enhance the quality of the sport. The dynamics of the league changed forever with teams adopting new strategies in relation to recruitment and game plans to maintain competitiveness as the league expanded.
The teams that did this succeeded and have continued to do so decades later, while those that stood still, keep enduring the ramifications years later.
Ironically, the clubs that have suffered as a result, are those that once stood above the rest.
Collingwood, Carlton, Essendon and Richmond are often referred to by sections of the media as the ‘big four’ due to their big supporter bases and attendance records.
Built on strong foundations, these clubs became powerhouses with loyal members, on the back of an enriched history with successful periods throughout the ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s.
But now in 2016, is the perception of the ‘big four’ all that it once was?
It is quite interesting to analyse how these clubs have been significantly impacted over the past decade.
At one stage in 2013, all four of these clubs were inside the top eight, with the AFL licking their lips at the prospect of a dream finals series. Yet, it seems as though these clubs are better at selling false hope than they are at executing the gameplan come match day.
Granted Collingwood, Carlton and Essendon all won Premierships in the ‘90s, and Collingwood’s most recent Premiership in 2010 shook all of Australia, as the Magpies escaped the ‘Colliwobbles’ stigma.
However, for a club as big as Collingwood, six years without a premiership is a long time, and it is not as though there is one right around the corner either.
The premiership drought for each of these clubs is rapidly increasing year on year as the perception of the ‘big four’ slowly fades. New generations of supporters really don’t care for rivalries based on suburban boundaries from teams that continually deliver mediocre performances.
It has been 21 years since Carlton lifted the cup and now 16 years since Essendon won a piece of silverware.
Not to mention Richmond’s 36-year drought.
These types of droughts were once unfathomable.
One only has to look at the 2017 AFL fixture to see that these clubs are no longer as profitable as they once were. These four Victorian clubs only appear in five games on a Friday night. Collingwood is the only one of them to have a home Friday night game when they host the Bulldogs in the first round.
Richmond’s anticlimactic performance last season has seen the AFL strip the Tigers of their Friday night games in 2017, compared to last season, when the AFL thought the Tigers would be a ratings machine.
The showdowns between these four clubs have almost become dead rubber matches, where even their own supporters lose interest, not bothering to attend.
There is always a big groan from footy fans when they hear that Richmond and Carlton are drawn to open the season.
While it must be acknowledged that it was the two clubs that initiated this concept and not the AFL, this disapproval conveys a strong message in relation to the amount of credit these clubs still have.
The neutral footy fan wants the prime time slots to go to genuine contenders who they know will provide an enthralling contest, regardless of the amount of premierships or supporters they have.
Hence Collingwood, Richmond and the like, have only one case to fall back on – their supporters.
One if not the only thing that seems to strengthen for these clubs each year, is their supporter bases, which ultimately adds credit to the argument of these clubs being considered powerhouses.
The AFL has the fourth highest average attendance in the world for football codes, which is quite impressive considering there are only 206 games played each season in comparison to the 380 played in the big European football leagues.
Where these clubs lack the talent on the field, they make up for it in the stands. While supporters would rather see a win and exciting football played, the amount of bums on seats and eyeballs on TVs provides a clear indication of the success of the AFL’s fixture.
Each of these clubs maintain a strong membership base that sees them be regarded as profitable by the AFL for their ability to draw decent crowds on a weekly basis. One would think that the ability of a club to draw decent crowds regardless of their position on the ladder would be enough to be perceived as a powerhouse club.
Albeit a club cannot simply rely on an enriched history, for living in the past has its own ramifications.
Footy is forever continuous, as new generations and supporters will be drawn to clubs who are successful in the now and not by the Premierships in the display cabinet.
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