Here we are in September and my thumbs have blisters from so much twiddling. All this clear air is hurting my lungs. I want to watch some A-League now.
Admittedly there still has been some decent football being played. The streams of the state NPL finals have been great – Tony Tannous, to name one commentator, has done a brilliant job in New South Wales.
Now we have the NPL championship series, and although I had some problems streaming them, they are also good value. Of course we have had the FFA Cup which rarely disappoints.
Yet, top class football is conspicuously absent. Don’t get me wrong, water cooler conversations about a Sam Burgess hit up or a Dusty Martin mark can be entertaining but I feel like football is missing the boat. I think there’s enough room for football to be played as well.
Take last weekend, for instance. There were two AFL finals and one NRL final in Melbourne, played on Friday and Saturday. There was no game at all on Sunday.
The NRL featured just the one match in Sydney, on a Friday. There is plenty of clear air to work around. Plenty of spare football fields too.
In fact, I maintain that we should be kicking off the A-League season at the beginning of September. There wouldn’t be too much tweaking of an A-League draw to avoid a clash in a particular city.
Look at Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane. Not much AFL and NRL being played there at the moment.
Last Sunday was a sporting dead zone. I found myself watching domestic one day cricket for the first time since Dennis Lillee ripped through Queensland in the Gillette Cup, many moons ago.
The cricket wasn’t bad, but it feels there was a hole that football could have filled.
It’s not as though our A-League players don’t need the exercise. This year, despite our competition being expanded by one club we are actually playing less rounds than last year.
And with the odd number of teams meaning there will be byes (and I have no idea how many each team has this year), our players are going to be spending a lot of time lounging around.
No wonder Bruno Fornaroli failed the pinch test last year. All that time waiting around for the season to start is enough to make anyone a little thick in the waist – and there’s some mighty fine cake shops in Melbourne I might add.
I remember going to St Kilda a few years back and doing a kind of pastry crawl around Acland Street then rolling back into town on the tram. Forget about the pinch test, I could have caught an anvil on my stomach without feeling it.
But seriously, Australia is so far behind the rest of the world as far as quantity of football goes. I think condition does catch some of our players out when they play in the European leagues and they can take a season or two to acclimatise.
Some can’t make the adjustment.
What I’m saying is that starting the season earlier should not be compensated for by finishing it earlier.
Forget about these 26 or 27-game seasons, we need to ratchet it up to 34 or more. A 16-team competition would be something to aim for but in the meantime we need to bite the bullet and adjust the draw to boost the amount of matches our clubs play.
Our players need a similar amount of game time to the European pros to keep in the best possible shape.
September is the perfect time of year for our top tier football competition to begin. It’s great weather.
There’s enough arenas sitting idle. Many fans of the other codes have already lost interest since their teams have been knocked out of the finals (I’m looking at you Collingwood and Manly.)
I miss complaining about Australian VAR and Australian football referees. I miss marvelling over great Australian goals and praising (and bagging) Australian players.
It’s a big country. Let’s get this football party started.
Stevo
Roar Rookie
All this baloney about waiting for clear air. It ain't gonna happen - there is no clear air. It's BS. September is OK for the A-league to start. There'll be plenty of options re grounds and both AFL and NRL are winding to a close. We don't need to start the season with blockbuster games. Schedule them in October after the grand finals. Use your imagination people.
Maximus Insight
Guest
Here's an Australian soccer blogger providing a more intelligent decomposition between North American and European professional sporting systems The equating of "closed shop" with "franchise" is a particularly dull one. In terms of what a club is..... "Another factor is that European clubs are in many cases still ‘clubs’ or ‘associations’ and so they are publicly owned community institutions (although this is becoming less prominent). "
Zlatan
Roar Rookie
Well whatever the resolution its heaps better than the resolution that Optus dishes up.
Nemesis
Guest
I'm pretty sure beIN Sports channels are not streamed in HD, so even though the Foxtel platform might be HD, if the underlying video is not HD, you're not watching HD content. If you didn't realise this, then we have to question your ability to assess picture quality.
c
Roar Rookie
:stoked:
Punter
Roar Rookie
You have to understand the difference, the AFL is a mono sport with a mono competition. There is nothing else from a professional viewpoint apart from the AFL. In football there are so many more facets, the A-League can be a stepping stones to many bigger leagues around the world, it also caters for those lucky enough to represent their countries at many levels, be it World cups, Asian cups, Olympics etc. The A-League you have to think globally & act locally. The AFL is just a suburbia sport & very little exists outside of Melbourne, Perth & Adelaide. You cannot never compare the 2.
anon
Roar Pro
Season is too long as it is. You simply don't need to play so many matches to determine a final 5. Especially when the finals are bit of a crap shoot anyway. 22 games works well for the AFL (one of the highest attended leagues on the PLANET). Maybe soccer should decrease not increase game.
Jimmy
Roar Guru
Well it’s a cracker so well done.
Zlatan
Roar Rookie
Great - I didn't know that ... I currently watch La Liga in High Definition on Foxtel but can now look forward to watching it in Low Definition on Optus . F@#%^v $%^& !!!!!
Paul Nicholls
Roar Guru
Yes I did, Jimmy. In fact I spent more time thinking about the title than the content... but don't tell anyone.
Paul Nicholls
Roar Guru
Cheers Griffo. I gave up with FIFA when 7 year old relatives started to run rings around me. I've been getting into a bit of NFL to be honest.
Waz
Roar Rookie
Yeah but they can’t book the stadium for the whole weekend, just like football can’t for our finals series. NIB, Central Coast, Hindmarsh and the Cake Tin are all free at this time. Suncorp, AAMI and Newcastle only have one other active tenant so they’re easy
Waz
Roar Rookie
Maitland away
Nemesis
Guest
I presume you don't follow any professional club sport in Australia, given they're all closed-shop, franchise competitions? Or, do you specifically only dismiss A-League as McFranchise?
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
Who do Lions play?
Rellum
Roar Guru
I am out of town otherwise I would have been at Perry park. Would love to see the Strikers smash that McFranchise of a team.
Nick Symonds
Guest
Well I suppose that Western United have increased their membership numbers by 40 percent in just one month, so if they can repeat that over 7 months then they might end up with over 8,000 members by the end of the season. You never know. But they do still have less than either Wellington or Central Coast right now. Victory = 20,143 Wanderers = 13,500 Sydney = 10,131 Newcastle = 7,401 Brisbane = 7,270 City = 6,869 Perth = 6,543 Adelaide = 4,245 Central Coast = 3,090 Wellington = 2,763 Western United = 1,475
Waz
Roar Rookie
Ah yes, the 1994 vintage. Enjoy the semi-Final ... hopefully both Strikers and Lions win in the next week :thumbup:
josh
Guest
I'm pumped for the start of the new season. New stadium and a chance to watch the only team that truly represents Western Sydney back in action.
Rellum
Roar Guru
Funny... Strikers ofcourse. The real Brisbane team :silly: