We’ve had our first taste of AFLX, and in terms of divisiveness it was the sporting world’s answer to pineapple on pizza. Here’s five quick takes from me on the AFL’s newest experiment.
The game badly needs more balance
I sat down to watch and live blog the first AFLX tournament on Thursday night thinking there was a pretty good chance that I would actually enjoy the AFL’s new take on the game. I was wrong.
Was it less congested? Yes. Was it high scoring? Yes. Did it showcase speed and skills? Yes again. But did all that make it better? No, not at all.
I’ve never so much appreciated just how balanced sport needs to be in order to provide an engaging contest. Yes, everyone loves to see their team kick a goal – but only because it is something that’s actually reasonably hard to do.
AFLX strips away virtually every contested element of the game, creating a sport that is basically basketball if the hoop was more than six metres wide and infinitely tall.
It’s not at all a bad way for clubs to get some skills and ball-movement practice in at pre-season time, because it will lift endurance and injuries are extremely unlikely given how little contact there is. But that’s not much fun to watch.
It’s very telling instead that some of the most re-watched moments of the three AFLX tournaments were the few where it actually got physical. I could watch Braydon Preuss ragdoll Tom McDonald fifty times in a row. I may have done so already.
I’m probably a bit more on the side of appreciating the physicality of footy than the speed and skills necesarilly, and I’ll happily admit that AFL footy often balances far too much in favour of the former especially if you get two grubby teams playing in the rain.
However I reckon we could all agree that you need to have both, not just one, to make a watchable game. Speed isn’t impressive if the only thing you have to compare it to is more speed.
For that reason I suspect this is the last we’ll ever see of this exact incarnation of AFLX – on Thursday night it sounded like Gillon McLachlan probably already had half a dozen rule changes ready to go. If this was AFLXW, coaches would’ve received a memo on Friday morning.
AFLX has some good ideas though and I do believe there’s a place for it in the AFL calendar. So let’s look at what changes could be made to make that happen.
(Photo by Mark Brake/Getty Images)
Five things that need to go
Silver balls – these crossed the line into super-gimmicky the minute they were announced and proved to be a terrible idea, lacking the visibility of the AFL’s standard red and yellow Sherrins.
They were turfed halfway through AFLX Adelaide and it was decided on Friday morning not to bring them back for either of the following tournaments. Good riddance.
‘Zooper’ goals – I’m not convinced AFLX needs anything more than the standard goal and behind, but if it does then the concept of how it occurs definitely needs to be re-thought.
At the very least move the arc back out to 50m so that kicking one actually requires a special effort, and cut the ridiculous name.
Kick-ins after goals – Jarrod Pickett kicked a ripping, exciting goal on Friday night, the exact kind of play that AFLX seeks to generate.
There was literally no time to enjoy it whatsoever except in the very moment of it happening. If you happened to be looking away at that split second, you missed it.
No time-on and a kick-in after a goal means no time at all to celebrate a goal, no chance to replay it. Which makes kicking so many goals in the first place kind of pointless, really.
Mid-match interviews – Let’s never cut to the stands for a quick chat with so-and-so in a sport that moves this fast again. You’d have a 30-second interview and come back to find someone has put three goals on in that time.
At-the-ground commentary – I can’t imagine anything more frustrating at a sporting event than having someone on the loudspeaker through the entire match telling me what I can see right in front of me with my own eyes. A recipe for a migraine.
(Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Media/Getty Images)
Two things that need to be brought in
Time-on – In combination with no longer having kick-ins after goals, let’s put a bit of time-on back into the game.
I agree it doesn’t need to be there for stoppages, that’s fair, and there’s not many of them anyway, but time-on after goals and during serious injuries is needed to give us all a chance to breathe.
More players – Seven players just isn’t enough to create any kind of contest when it comes to getting a clearance or marking the ball, and those are two things that we just cannot do without.
I’d say start by lifting it up to ten players per team on the field – that does fit with the X in AFLX, after all, and on a smaller ground, should make things a bit more contested without clogging things up.
That might need to be upped further if the balance still isn’t quite right, but it’s a good place to start.
How to fix the format
The Sydney Sevens and the Brisbane Tens reminded us all a short while ago how badly the idea works, so I don’t know why the AFL decided to follow their lead in the “shortened game but it actually goes longer” trend.
Sure, a ‘game’ of AFLX only goes for twenty-five minutes or so when you factor in the halftime break, but when you play seven of those games back to back it actually drags on longer than a conventional AFL game, negating what is supposed to be one of the key drawcards.
The NRL did the same thing with Auckland Nines up until this year where they scrapped the event entirely. That should’ve been a pretty big warning sign to the AFL letting them know that this isn’t what people want.
It would be like if you had T20 cricket but matches were only ever played in blocks of four back-to-back at the same ground in a single day.
The crowd at the Sydney edition of AFLX really drove the point home – this is supposed to be the AFL’s tool for expanding into the land of the rectangular stadium, but you could get a bigger AFLX crowd by hosting the tournament in my backyard.
So how do we fix it? My idea is – four ten minute quarters per game (including time on for after goals and during injuries only), two games per night in a double-header.
What I’d really love is to see that format turned into a January competition where IPL-style independent teams comprised of recently retired veterans, state league stars and the best of the league’s under-18 crop go head to head.
Think about it – you’d have the draw card of watching much loved players in action once again (come on Boomer), while at the same time giving future stars of the game some early media exposure, as well as the chance to train with, be mentored by, and play against men.
That’s the kind of dynamic that works so well in the Big Bash League, which is clearly what the AFL is trying to copy here, and I reckon it’d be a winner in AFLX.
I realise this might be a bit too much change at once though, and a more realistic format for AFLX in 2019 might be as double-headers of 40-minute games in the pre-season replacing all or part of the ‘JLT Community Series’.
AFLX does, after all, have some qualities that make it a good pre-season hitout and with a few of the changes above, could be watchable enough to make this work too.
(Photo by Mark Brake/Getty Images)
Title wins a good omen for 2018?
Alright, enough talking about how to change AFLX – to finish off, let’s go into the murky waters of asking whether or not we actually learned anything about the AFL’s eighteen clubs this weekend.
I’m not convinced we did, other than that Braydon Preuss is a demi-god whose father is Zeus and whose mother is a tsunami, but I already knew that.
However, I’m prepared to say that the winners of the three AFLX tournaments can probably take it as an omen that 2018 will be a good year for them, if only because I already thought these sides were set for big things.
Adelaide, well, it doesn’t require much evidence to support the idea that they can be good in 2018, because they were very good in 2017. Does recruiting Bryce Gibbs outweigh the loss of Charlie Cameron, Jake Lever and (temporarily) Brodie Smith? I don’t know, but I’m excited to find out.
Melbourne are possibly the team I’m most bullish on for the upcoming season in terms of who can improve the most from last year, and I’ll be absolutely staggered if they don’t make finals. A top four contender – I’ll talk more about them later this week.
As for Brisbane, well, they’re not in the same class as the other two teams mentioned here, but I do have high hopes for them in 2018. I reckon they’re set to improve a lot – probably not into finals territory, but I’m confident they’ll avoid the bottom four at least.
Also just quickly – really liked the look of Stefan Giro, Willie Rioli and Aiden Bonar, and as a North fan I’m ready to say get excited about Paul Ahern, and move over Neville Jetta, Shaun Higgins is the most underrated player in the competition.
Perry Bridge
Guest
#I ate pies For me 'conservative' is very much our AFL media who every 3 years seem oblivious to the AFL International Cup - which I follow and support and very much enjoy and cover for another site - and this event often sees international players who by necessity MUST play an abbreviated form of the game suddenly have access to 18 a side full oval footy for the first time. The issues you refer to - I agree with you on a number of them. However - even for 18 aside there have been local league pre season lightning premierships for years - I remember playing one out at Glengarry (between Maffra and Traralgon) back in 1988. So a format that allows this sort of event isn't a near idea. The particular format applied over the weekend - I agree re the lack of ruckmen, lack of contests, perhaps 9 aside would create just enough extra contest and create more of a need for a ruck contest. What it does do though - it reminds me of a few years back - the concept of a 'charter' : https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/afl/visionary-charter-to-manage-evolving-changes-to-afl-rules/news-story/8c99bc228b1625c6c19803948108eac6 For me - 9, 12, 16, 18 a side is neither here nor there. I look at 2 of the original rules: #3: A goal must be kicked fairly between the posts without touching either of them or a portion of the person of any player of either side. & #9: When a ball goes out of bounds (the same being indicated by a row of posts) it shall be brought back to the point where it crossed the boundary line and thrown in at right angles with that line. The latter is being attacked from all sides presently and I'm not pleased about that - as the 50/50 restart via the boundary throw in is integral to the game as played since the time when you no longer had to wait for the ball to land. The former is talked about often enough to make me nervous - our goals are the most pure (must be kicked, can't be deflected - and so more pure than a soccer goal on both counts). So for me looking at the AFLX - and I also hate the loss of the neutral restart after a goal. But I'm not too fussed about the lightning premiership 10 min halves format. I would've gone along if not for sons cricket on Fri evening - but that said, I'd probably still prefer a road trip to somewhere like Wangaratta to watch a practice match even with 10 on the bench.
I ate pies
Guest
"I reckon there’s just a bunch of conservative folk who haven’t experienced anything like this before who are leading the anti-chorus..." Are you referring to politics there or traditionalist footy fans? If it's the former it's quite a bizarre link to make. Personal politics aside I didn't enjoy the lack of a contest, the lack of any importance to kicking a goal, the 10 minute halves, the silver ball, the lack of a ruckman, the kicking in from out of bounds, the shortness of the ground, the bastardisation of our wonderful game. I like footy how footy's played. I don't think there needs to be an abbreviated version of a game that's already done in 3 hours. The real version of footy is exciting and fascinating in its uniqueness. I've also played 9's; it's ok for a bit of fun, but I always missed kicking long and proper marking contests. It's ok, but it's not the same.
Perry Bridge
Guest
#Anon First question - how many people do you know are in the OzTam ratings Panel? Because all in all - this is the OzTam survey breakdown Metro total 5,250 (Bris 1000, Syd, 1475, Melb 1475, Ade 650 and Perth 650) Rgional 3,198 (Qld 812, Nth NSW 700, Sth NSW 570, Vic 651, Tas 285, WA 180) and the NatSTV (subscription TV) is 2,120. A grand total of 10,568 households. No just what the socio-economic demographics are is any body's guess. Keep mindful that with a national population of 24 million that 24,000 people is 0.1% of the population. So - the survey for OzTam might be like trying to decide the federal election on just 0.1% of the vote nationally - - you'd be laughed out of the room. re the Giants/Suns - some of the main 'abnormals' early days have been around the stadiums and training facilities. The year to year distributions to the AFL clubs generally cover the TPP. There is an equalisation component that in particular compensates clubs given a less 'visible' fixture (i.e. clubs that aren't Collingwood or Essendon or Richmond or Carlton). So if the Giants are receiving say $21 million - it might be around $5mill that you could quibble, not the total amount. The fact now is that there is higher AFL participation in NSW/ACT and also in QLD than there is in SA (based on AFL Annual report 2016). Keep mindful that without decent pathways over the years we'd've missed out on Victorians who moved to QLD such as Voss and Akermanis. And my North Melb have a big ruckman from Townsville called Brayden Preuss. The Swans over the years have provided us NSW native captains in Kirk, Kelly, McVeigh, Jack, Barry, Bolton (ACT) and back to Denis Carroll. Between the Swans and the Giants - what will they deliver us over the next 20 years? AFLW - from 2012 to 2017 AFL participation has increased by 700,000 (comps and programs - minimum 6 wks duration) and in that time female participation has increased by 327,000 - driving almost half the growth. This IS a good thing. Not everything is 'top down'. Over the last 3 years alone the number of dedicated female teams has risen from 629 in 2015 to 1690 in 2017. This has helped drive priority for Australian Football facilities funding at grassroots levels (which 10 years ago was being diverted to soccer because of their female participation - ironically in the FFA Annual report of 2016 the quoted 20% female participation across their 'outdoor' - via club & miniRoos. The AFL now quotes 27% female participation). This is a good thing and even if the AFLW is used as a high level 'loss leader' for a few years - it's a price I'm more than happy for the game to absorb so long as we keep junior registration costs as reasonable as they are (contrast to soccer and their ridiculous junior costs to pay for 'professional' coaches.).
13th Man
Guest
I think what AFLX needs is more players say 18 a side plus 4 on the bench and needs to be played on an oval not a rectangle. That would be a better spectacle...
Aligee
Guest
In fact Daryl Adair on twitter has posted some photos of the crowd on the camera side - go to feb 17th https://twitter.com/DarylAdair He makes the comment .... And the view to my left of the invisible (to TV) crowd at #AFLX Why were we all shepherded into one side of the ground?
Aligee
Guest
Daryl Adair all round sports fan and Sydney sports historian posted some photos of the crowd all squeezed in on the camera and shady side - believe what you want. FWIU Sydney FC complained of the opposite and were shunted to the sunny part of the ground and were not happy to make it look good for TV
Stalking Fred
Guest
If you believe there was nearly 10k there I have a bridge to sell you .
anon
Roar Pro
I think it's appalling. It's like trying to sell baseball to new markets with wiffle ball. It's like what Vince McMahon is doing with the XFL, except that's going to be based on the real thing only less time outs and allowing harder hitting. This doesn't capture the essence of AFL in any way. Everything about it with the goals named after an unhealthy children's snack, the silver balls, the smoke machine going off after regulation goals, the trumpeting by Gill that he will take this game to the world before even a silver ball even being kicked -- is crass, cheesy and smacks of the disdain the AFL has for it's dyed in the wool audience. It's time for the AFL administrators to come clean about what they are spending on these projects. There seems a total lack of transparency with regards to these pet projects like AFLW, AFLX, games overseas, propping up GWS/Suns to the tune of several hundred million dollars since inception. The AFL are merely administrators of the game. The don't generate any revenue the clubs do. The AFL doles out money and spends it any way they see fit. I'd like to see a report each year relating to each division of the AFL. Treat a division like AFLW as a separate entity for reporting purposes to the clubs/public. Give us an honest account of how much has been spent on the Giants/Suns since 2010 and how much revenue has been generated (and don't point to the 9th game as an example of extra revenue generated because TV rating in the northern states are pitiful).
Perry Bridge
Guest
#I ate pies What do you not like about the concept - broadly speaking. Do you dislike a reduced side format? (the AFL didn't dream that up - it's been done via necessity by the ever growing AFL community in Europe and UK, Nrth America, Asia-Pacific) Do you dislike the execution of it? Yes the silver ball was cringeworthy. Zooper goals can be debated. The lack of ruck work and last touch out of bounds - all can be debated. For me - having played a 9s pre season tournament a few years back - it was great fun for players (but we had 9s, more contest and centre ruckwork) and a really good lead in to the following praccie matches. So - I reckon there's just a bunch of conservative folk who haven't experienced anything like this before who are leading the anti-chorus. At the heart of it - for a first hit out before any of the JLT games - it's just a bit of fun. No serious injuries. And even North had a bit of fun with it by putting Preuss out there against Melbourne (ripper tackle on McDonald).
Perry Bridge
Guest
#Cousin Claudio Well - the AFL actually has a first dibs 45 year lease with the MCG that the AFL pays royally for. That said - the State Govt by virtue of money and greed have seen fit to pursue meaningless international soccer matches during the AFL season. re the AFL GF though - I'd suggest the AFL have the venue locked away - hosting the GF final parade on the Friday before (a pub hol in Vic now) as well as various ground preps and rehearsals etc. I don't believe the FFA has any such arrangements with any venue - heck - we've seen in the past their ineptitude when it came to pre booking venues for the mens GF - remember the Etihad fiasco a few years back when the FFA communicated the wrong dates to the AFL when the AFL were preparing their fixtures. Now - given that the AFLX fixture had actually been locked in already - it was only last week that the W-League Semis were played so as to confirmed the venue for the GF. So - if the FFA persists with a floating fixture then it either has to do like cricket - and have venues locked up for the entire season (which keeps the AFL off the MCG, SCG etc....we've already established this) - - or - - they are subject to a competitive market place. Whether it be RL, RU or AFLX or Gaelic or Gridiron or Ultimate Frisbee - it's a free market is it not? That's not money and greed. That's just getting by.
Cousin Claudio
Roar Guru
Money and greed and disruption to their competitors. http://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/live-aflx-day-three-from-allianz-stadium-sydney/news-story/992c93166112d0b3b8a605ea9799a865 You can get any ground you want if you pay enough money. They say they are all for women’s sport by bankrolling AFL-W, but the way they treated the A-League women its all about greed and money. Imagine if the NRL played a trial game on the MCG the evening before the AFL grand final.
I ate pies
Guest
#MAFLGA
I ate pies
Guest
Good on the club for treating it with the respect it deserved. Naughton looked good and so did Smith (I've said it for a while that I reckon he can play). The most exciting prospect at our club is clearly English though; his mobility and kicking skills for his size are outstanding. He'll be like another midfielder. I expect he'll get some game time this year. Redpath was as mediocre as he's always been.
Harsh Truth Harry
Roar Rookie
yes it does, we didn't ask for this circus. Surely Gilligan Mclachlan is the only CEO who can make up a game on the fly for his own amusement? He needs to be sacked. The AFL is now Gilligan's Island.
Harsh Truth Harry
Roar Rookie
Gilligan Maclachlan just thinks he can make it up on the fly using the public as guinea pigs. He is treating football fans with contempt with this ill though out farce. Get rid of Gilligan before he saturates and dilutes our great game with his circus versions.
The_Wookie
Roar Guru
thats the funny thing about the Hindmarsh stadium issue - there was a two day break between AFLX and Adelaide United ad the ground turned up rubbish. Allianz had AFLX the night before and was fine. People want to blame anything, they should be blaming the ground maintenance and ground managers. Its not unknown for the MCG or Etihad to stage 3 AFL games across a weekend, and its not unknown for "AFL grounds" to have soccer fixtures played on them mid AFL season, or an origin match midweek. Theres no exclusivity for these places.
The_Wookie
Roar Guru
No such thing as an A-league ground. Ground used by the A-league maybe, but as all these stadiums are public venues - except Docklands, which is fully owned by the AFL - then the Government or ground manager (the same in the case of Hindmarsh stadium) can rent it to whoever they like.
Perry Bridge
Guest
#Cousin Claudio Q "And why are Victorian Rules deliberately targeting A-League grounds." A1. It's Australian Football playing by the rules of Australian Football - can you comprehend that? A2. so Allianz is a soccer stadium?? The FFA have put how many millions into the venue? Q."Adelaide’s home ground and Swans home ground was not being used on both occasions" A3. You DO realise that it's still cricket season - the AFL is not able to play on the MCG, SCG, Gabba or Adelaide Oval while they are still in cricket mode. There are Sheffield Shield matches at both the SCG and Adelaide oval starting Feb 24th. Typical soccer whining feeling that the 'world' is against them and blaming conspiracy theories - - rather than having even the remotest idea that NONE of the codes operates in a sporting vacuum. Q. "Allianz Stadium the night before the A-League Womens’ grand final?" A4. you've never noticed venues like Etihad or the MCG host big soccer/rugby matches one day and AFL the next - this happens a lot at venues that know how to do it - - no conspiracy. It's not like it's a FIFA WC with a 4 week 'clean' stadium leading in.
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
Because the entire point of AFLX was to branch out into rectangular stadiums; there's no logic in using the SCG or Adelaide Oval if they wished to explicitly use a rectangular field. I don't think there was any malicious targeting of A-League games, let alone grounds. Besides, it wasn't like the demanded to utilise the grounds on the same days as a-League matches. They'd have been some detailed logistical planning before anything was agreed too. I feel as if you're just trying to kick up a big fuss about a sport you don't seem to like, for a particular reason that eludes me.
Cousin Claudio
Roar Guru
Why dubious? Please explain why AFLX is targeting A-League games? Adelaide's home ground and Swans home ground was not being used on both occasions.