I should start by saying that I’m a fan of the NRL first and only a casual fan of AFL, so all of this is from a relative outsider’s perspective, but since part of the reason for the existence of the AFLX is to convert people like me, I feel I’m in a good position to comment.
When I was a kid some representatives came to my school and I ended up signing up for AFL Auskick. A modified version of the game played on a smaller field was the perfect way to get kids like me playing the game in my small Queensland town that only had grounds for the rugby codes and soccer. I aged out of it and ended up playing rugby league, and I support the 13-man game to this day, but those few years with an Aussie Rules ball in my hands back in the early 2000s – along with the Lions winning grand final after grand final – are why I still have a fluctuating interest in the AFL after all these years.
When I first heard about the AFLX, I thought it was genius. I listened to the guys on NRL360 talk about the danger it presented to the NRL and grassroots rugby league, but I was excited. The biggest threat to the NRL is its own complacency – that’s an article for another time – not the AFL. Not only would the competition with rugby league be good, but I might also get some cool footy to watch.
Unfortunately, after what I just sat through, I don’t think rugby league has anything to worry about. Obviously there would be growing pains after the first year, but the second edition felt like a step backwards. Developing a rectangular version of the game and playing it over one night only at an oval stadium in Melbourne is just pointless. The 23,000 that showed up this year would fit right in across town at AAMI Park, a stadium actually designed for this kind of sport.
For better or worse, this is the format to make a push up here in Queensland and New South Wales, but it can’t do anything if it’s not even here. The all star-ish nature of the teams is a step in the right direction from last year as it gives people the opportunity to see the best players the sport has to offer regardless of the form of the local team – if there even is one or if they support them.
Here in Queensland, for example, the Lions and the Suns aren’t exactly a shining advertisement for the AFL, but bringing the best of the best here? A lot of people would leave their homes for that. I’d go to Suncorp Stadium for that. I know interstate crowds weren’t that great last year, but it was a start, and with a few improvements to the products it would only have grown from there.
The biggest problem, though, isn’t that the game isn’t here; it’s what has become of the game itself. The reason I’m in favour of a smaller teams on a rectangular field is that I firmly believe that size of the ground or the teams doesn’t matter; you play wherever you can with whoever you can. Auskick is miles apart from the AFL in terms of gameplay, but it’s still fundamentally football. Losing a grand final by 17 points because the other team’s ‘Gatorade game changer’ kicked a 20-point goal is not. If the intention is to get sports fans who aren’t necessarily AFL fans to care, this kind of stuff is not the way to do it.
As I said, this is perfect to move into other areas, but however you modify the game, it still has to be football that you’re bringing, not a circus.
On one side we have the argument that football is perfect as it is and doesn’t need to be modified. On the other side, the AFLX apparently has to have all the crazy rules to justify its own existence. The truth and reality is somewhere in the middle. Footy can be played wherever there is some grass, from the MCG to my backyard, 18 on 18 or three on three, but you don’t need to set up a circus tent in the process.
Rob
Guest
Tried to watch the "highlights". Got less than 30 seconds in before i stopped. Garbage.
J.T. Delacroix
Guest
Hopefully, like everything else that reeks to high heaven, this dreadful, foolish, garish, side-show will disappear into the mists of history. But of course, having said that, I just know it won’t. In the age of rubbishy ‘entertainment’, it’s bound to stay. Very sad. A savage indictment on society in general.
Brendon the 1st
Roar Rookie
Crazy idea, but why don’t we take the game of aussie rules, play it on a rectangular ground, with less players but all the same rules. For kids, remove the tackling. Done. I don’t like gimmicks
Axe
Roar Rookie
Hi all, I am new to the roar and this is my first post. I have enjoyed reading everyone's opinions and find them interesting. I grew up in Tassie where AFL has a strong history and I loved the game, playing until my early 30's. I even got good enough to get drafted and played a couple of seasons with St Kilda in the early 90's. During that period my whole life revolved around the game. I moved away from family, gave up jobs and relationships all for my next footy adventure. The point I'm making is that the game meant everything to me. Sadly this is no longer the case. The way the powers to be have have tinkered with the rules and the evolution of the modern game over the past 10-15 years has diminished it's appeal for me. In my day you got told if you can't kick with both feet you will never make it. Now there are only a hand full of players in the entire league that kick with both feet well enough that you can't tell which is there preferred side. Comentator's often use the term "the skill of the modern day player" when someone uses a dribble kick or kicks a checkside/banana pass but the reason they do that is because they can't kick both feet! When the game went fully professional I expected these basic skills to improve. Goal kicking is the prime example. Full time players should have all the time in the world to practice goal kicking yet conversion rates from set shots are terrible. AFLX is the next level of deterioration of our once great game. The AFL has poored in buckets of money to create a game far inferior to the original product. I can only assume they are aiming it at parents who wrap their kids in cotton wool and don't want them to play a contact sport. The smaller grounds, low intensity, low impact, 20 point goals are not doing the game any favours. I could go on but I think I have had enough of a rant. I know this post has been mostly negative so I hope you don't think I'm completely off the game. I could never abandon something that I once loved so much. But i do find myself getting more and more frustrated whilst watching " the modern game". Thankfully there are still great games to enjoy and last year's grand final was brilliant. Hope we see plenty of games like that this year. Cheers Axe.
Jakarta Fan
Roar Rookie
I'm an AFL Fan-atic. I played the game, love the game, and watched AFLX. Sooo disappointed. Couldn't get excited. When I watch AFL don't dare ring me, I won't answer. Last night I kept looking at my phone and hoping it would ring. No atmosphere, a few tricks and a couple of interesting moments, but I was bored. Here in Jakarta I want to show my local mates what a great game we have in Oz. Forget it, AFLX is not the answer. Now how about a real interstate carnival pre-season, that would get the excitement up!!!
Nick Symonds
Guest
Richard Hinds on Twitter: Only caught a few minutes. But safe to say #AFLX is to Australian Rules what parliamentary question time is to democracy. Sad seeing a great game sell its soul so cheaply.
Nick Symonds
Guest
What some people are willing to do in order to avoid watching AFLX: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DukUEZNUUAADOZF.jpg
Doc Disnick
Roar Guru
The AFL Dreadnought trained its guns away from League years ago. They are now firmly fixed on soccer.... at the grassroots level. I'm sorry to say, but people like you the AFL has very little interest in. Make no mistake: this product is not about becoming a commercial success (not in the short term anyway) for the AFL, rather a platform to attack football at its grassroots. Long term sustained success, at any elite sporting level, requires three critical elements: 1. Opportunity 2. Infrastructure 3. Career Pathway Smaller playing numbers, a smaller playing surface and less contact opens up opportunity to the masses, especially here in NSW and QLD for a variety of reasons. Infrastructure becomes instantly available via soccer and league grounds. Career pathways the AFL already does well, unlike the FFA. In many ways, they have the opposite problem, i.e. the AFL with grassroots opportunity and the FFA with career progression. The AFL has developed a multifaceted strategy to strengthen its position in all three of these key areas. Couple this with the AFLW and you have an organisation that is looking firmly to the future of the game from bottom to top, which is how it should be done.
Aligee
Roar Rookie
Don't really buy that, if it is, it must be a very small %. Sydney cricket grounds in particular are small, due to the way the city was founded and the general topography. Space is at a premium in most of the world, that to me is the real reason.
Jonboy
Roar Rookie
This is how the real footy used to be played but with 4 points and a lot more intensity of course. Laughing and mucking around doesn't add anything to the game, very boring after one game. I guess all the little kids enjoy it so that is something.
Slane
Guest
There is also the theory(conspiracy) that AFLX is the AFLs way of waging war on Soccer/Rugby by denying them access to grounds.
Dalgety Carrington
Roar Guru
Yep, I reckon the main premise of AFLX is to be to Aussie Rules as indoor cricket is to cricket. A much more accessible and transportable way to play the game. - In trying to get a bit of a PR splash to get it off the ground the AFL has gone for a lot of razzamatazz and gimmicks, which like the splashy stuff in the BBL, probably will have more initial appeal to youngsters over crusties. The level of active opposition to it is fascinating.
Aligee
Roar Rookie
Yep, in general i agree, i don't like the circus, but i think the game is an actual winner, would be a great game to play, in fact anyone who has played the game has probably played it anyway or a similar style, i have seen plenty of training drills of smaller sided games on smaller areas. I think the AFL thinks it needs to compete with the BBL, it really is hard to get a grasp on whether the 'circus' AFLX will succeed, the posters on here are generally conservative in their sporting views so maybe are not reflective of a large sample.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
This is a reasonable viewpoint, not too dissimilar to an opinion expressed the other day about the real worth of AFLX as a concept: https://www.theroar.com.au/2019/02/22/in-defence-of-aflx/ As for what we've seen the last two pre-seasons, as it stands, it leaves me pretty cold, very hard to get enthused by it. It's obviously muck around time, and without the intensity of a proper game, it's hard to get excited about it. As you touch on, if the big picture is to lower barriers of entry to the game where large ovals don't exist, and/or where full teams can't be put together (and that applies as much to many parts of rural Australia), let's get rid of the absurd rules which are too great a departure from Australian Football. Make it about allowing for the playing of Australian Football on small grounds by small teams.
Peter the Scribe
Roar Guru
Yep. It's a pantomime, a parody of the beauty of our game. There's something egocentric about putting these great footballers on show as circus performers and expecting anyone to watch too. I don't want to watch these blokes perform acrobatics or sing badly either so why watch them run around in this embarrassment to the game?
Cj
Guest
AFL is going the way of cricket... turning to trash. The Fortnite generation will not put down their controllers for this rubbish. The sport has ignited the passion of fans for well over a hundred years. Don't water that down chasing $$.