The game needs to reset, but so does the industry as a whole. The challenge we are facing is huge, but it’s also an opportunity for the AFL to grow.
Due to the uncertain times we are facing, there should be no games this season. Every team should play each other twice during the home-and-away season from 2021. That will make for 12 more home-and-away season games, which will increase sponsorship, broadcast rights and revenue from the fans in the long term.
Footy should commence in March if possible as each team will play a total of 34 games in the home-and-away season. This will preserve the integrity of the competition. Collingwood normally have a total of four games out of Victoria, which is traditionally the lowest of any team.
We need to remember that players are the product and that without players there would be no game. There is no question players have expenses and mortgages, just like everyone else in society, but players also have contracts that they have base their expenses around. It’s logical that players should have to forgo as much of their income as the game needs to survive. A new broadcast deal must be negotiated with the players at the forefront of the mind among those negotiating the deal.
As mentioned earlier, there should be 34 home-and-away games but no games during summer, with the competition running from March to September, as the product is a better spectacle in cooler conditions.
There should be a top ten instead of a top eight in order to make the competition more exciting. The A-League has a top six despite having only 11 teams.
Games can be played at smaller stadiums in order to reduce expenses for the AFL.
The fans need lower ticket prices as well as membership fees so they can also be part of the rebuilding of this fantastic sport. This will be in the short term, until the economy recovers, due to the world’s current economic predicament brought about by the virus.
There should be more games during the week in order to fit the extra games into the time period allotted to AFL football.
Games should be 15 minutes a quarter in order to keep the product of a good standard, with five-minute breaks at quarter-time and three-quarter time and a ten-minute break at half-time.
(Scott Barbour/AFL Media/Getty Images)
There should be a total of eight players on the interchange bench so that the game can be a better spectacle, as there would be fewer injuries. There should still be four emergencies.
A team list must be extended to a minimum of 50 players, with a maximum of 60 players, to increase squad rotation and the longevity of players careers. It will also mean that more players will be given an opportunity.
There should be a midseason draft to give players who deserve another chance to be on an AFL list an opportunity.
Players who play fewer games should be paid less money. Everyone needs to work together to help a sport that has so much potential to grow and flourish in the long term, but there is going to be some short-term pain to those working in the industry and associated with it.
Goals from outside the 50-metre arc should be worth nine points so that scoring doesn’t suffer.
If the ball hits the post and goes in between the goal, then six points should be awarded, not one, again to increase scoring.
Should the ball hit the post and come back into the field of play, it should be play on.
The AFL must fund a viable reserves competition for players aspiring to be in the senior team, like the National Premier Leagues for Australian soccer.
WAFL, VFL et cetera must survive and be funded by the AFL so players can be drafted during preseason and midseason. The midseason draft would allow clubs to replace players on their long-term injury list.
Clubs may have to merge due to financial circumstances, but hopefully that’s not the case.
It’s non-negotiable that the league has a relegation and promotion system, as the AFL needs to stop rewarding mediocrity. The idea that the lower you finish, the higher a draft pick you get encourages teams not to try.
Short-term contracts are a must for the league to remain financially viable. There should be no contract greater than five years for a player or a coach and the average contract has to be between one and two years.
Doran Smith
Roar Guru
Due to the Coronavirus I was unsure when and whether AFL would start in Season 2020 as I felt like the whole AFL Season could be a write off. This concern was due to other sports events being cancelled, ie soccer, cricket, both rugby codes and even individual sports such as golf and tennis. The possible cancellation of the AFL Season helped bring about ideas for future Seasons to have more revenue, ie shorter games, with every team playing each other twice, which would persevere the integrity of the competition. I did back up my statements ie increasing the amount of games, shorter games and therefore Collingwood would travel more than 4 times in a Season; I happen to be a Collingwood supporter, but I am not biased. Due to the game being shortened, it should be play on if the ball hits post and comes back into play, therefore the game be more free flowing, but I understand your concerns that the fabric of the game should not be lost.
RT
Roar Rookie
Doran - thanks for replying back. My issue with your article is that first you stated there was a problem, but you made no case to support your statement. I don't see why the AFL needs to reset and what does that mean. Then you listed a whole lot of things that "should" be done, but in some cases gave little or no explanation to your reasoning. For example, how would playing on when the ball bounces into play after hitting the post help anything?
Doran Smith
Roar Guru
Respect everyone's opinion.
Ayden
Guest
My Round 1 Fixture There's Going To Be 2 New Teams Hawksburry Staffies And Darwin Parrots During Devils bid Richmond V Carlton MCG 7:10PM AEDT Collingwood V Hawksburry Staffies MCG 7:40PM AEDT Darwin Parrots V Essendon Tio Stadium 12:10PM ACST Adelaide Crows V Port Adelaide Adelaide Oval 3:50PM ACST Gold Coast Suns V Melbourne Metricon Stadium 4:40PM AEST GWS Giants V Sydney Swans Giants Stadium 7:30PM AEDT West Coast Eagles V Hawthorn Hawks Optus Stadium 11:05AM AWDT St Kilda V Fremantle Dockers Marvel Stadium 3:40PM AEDT Brisbane Lions V North Melbourne Gabba 3:35PM AEST Western Bulldogs V Geelong Cats Mars Stadium 6:55PM AEDT
Republican
Guest
I reckon the AFL should be deconstructed altogether and we all return to state leagues.
michael RVC
Roar Pro
Just to address what the future AFL comp season may look like as part of this discussion, here is some basics: Fourteen teams; 6 Victoria. Thirteen H&A rounds to determine Top 8, with all teams playing min 4 games and max 7 games at MCG (GF Venue). Two rounds of two non elimination rights games played over two weeks between Top 8 to determine Home Game Venue rights for actual Finals series (played to existing format). The four winners choose the Home Ground Venue they want to use for the first round of actual Finals series, after which MCG or Interstate venues are chosen by the ongoing winners as their week by week venues. Bottom 6 play a concurrent/curtain raiser finals series for priority round 1 and round 2 National Draft Order rights. Then priorities allocated according to existing process.
RT
Roar Rookie
I should have stopped after the first sentence: "The game needs to reset, but so does the industry as a whole." No it doesn't. Nothing in the article tells me why I might be wrong. The article seems to just list any idea anyone has had in the last 5 years. The only one missing is to play extra time and then a penalty shootout after any draws.
peter ostle
Guest
Some good ideas - stronger better funded reserve system, six points if goes in off post. Some not so good ones - shorter contracts, 34 game season. So curate's egg if taken overall. A better reserve system would allow players who develop more slowly to get a better chance in being chosen by a AFL club, the issue would be free agency and whether the player is part of the draft or not etc. A problem for the WAFL, VFL etc would be the devaluing of their competition, as part way through a team could lose its best players and go from winning to losing, or would the move be a 'loan' for 'x' number of games. Shorter contracts would give too much power to the clubs.
DTM
Guest
Maybe if we had short term contracts we wouldn't have that pesky Hardwick problem - he would have been history before 2016. Would have been much better for all the other clubs (maybe not so good for Richmond). Seriously though, I remember him squirming through press conferences and thinking this blokes not going to last much longer (as I know many others thought). Eventually, he turned the club around and deserves the accolades now. I know there's a lot of other people in the club who contributed heaps and stuck by Hardwick. Richmond are now not just a good footy team, they are a well managed club.
Dave Smartt
Guest
Interesting ideas, though I think a 34 game season would take too much of a toll on the players. Especially in a compact March-September season. What I’d do is simply have everyone play each other once. But I’d put two new teams in there, one in Tasmania and the other in the NT to bring the comp to 20 teams and create a 19 game season. A 10 team finals comp would work okay that way though it isn’t essential (I’d still prefer an 8 team finals comp). And while we’re at it, I’d replace the Gold Coast with Fitzroy and bring back the Brisbane Bears as the Queensland Bears (replacing Brisbane Lions) with home games at the Gabba and a number of ‘away’ games against Victorian sides at Metricon Stadium
Nick
Roar Guru
Short term contracts was the only really good idea in this article.
Nick
Roar Guru
So, your solution to solving the serious financial problems facing the game is to relaunch it with a vastly more expensive version, while expecting clubs to run it off cheaper budgets? There's absolutely no proof at all it will increase sponsorship revenue. Sponsors if anything are more likely to baulk at the option of paying 150% a year in sponsorship fees, and broadcasters sure as hell aren't going to be paying more than they pay now (it's now widely accepted that both the NRL and AFL were being payed overs already). And you expect membership fees in a longer season to be cheaper? And because revenue is clearly going to be not commensurate with a longer season (for the reasons I outlined above) you think players are going to accept inevitable pay cuts and play 12 matches more a season!? And...playing at smaller stadiums doesn't reduce cost. It will increase it. The AFL still has to pay rent at the larger stadiums because games will be played there. AND...playing at smaller stadiums compromises ticket revenue! Gee whiz. And then you simultaneously demand a fully funded reserves system + promotion and relegation? My word that's a dumb idea. You have clued into the fact that you can't have both right? Where would the clubs be relegated to? the VFL/WAFL/SANFL etc I expect...but wouldn't that be the backbone of the reserve league (as it is already)? So if Richmond were relegated, would that mean the Richmond AFL team and the Richmond VFL team (the existing reserves of the Richmond AFL club) would be playing in the same comp? Think, man. Think! The only good ideas in this whole article were the need to ban long-term contracts, and the idea that the posts are no longer behinds.
Doran Smith
Roar Guru
Thanks for your input; it's probably inevitable that clubs have to merge, unfortunately.
Doran Smith
Roar Guru
Thanks for your constructive criticism.
sven
Roar Rookie
why not rectangular soccer field sized grounds, offside rule, only allow backwards passing, make everyone wear helmets & shoulder pads, have zones where depending on your position youre not allowed out of, send players off for the rest of the game after 5 free kicks against them etc :rugby: :football: :tennis: ... if u dont like aussie rules maybe follow another sport :silly:
Richmondtragic
Roar Rookie
At the start of this article I was somewhat sceptical but intrigued by some of the proposals you made. The idea of a 34 game season was an exciting concept and an 8 man bench was also something I could easily see happening. There was quite a bit to like, considering of course that these were, for the most part, just plans for 2021 and a league desperately in need of revival. I all but stopped however reading after I heard the ludicrous suggestions of 9 point goals and balls coming back into play after hitting the post. I'm aware that the league will need money in order to revitalise, but destroying the integrity of the game isn't the way to do it. The concept of promotion and relegation is also another baffling suggestion as I don't think you realise the difference between the AFL and the English Premier League. The AFL actually owns all the clubs and so wants to see them all thrive and do well. The Premier League is merely a league in which all the privately owned english football clubs have agreed to compete in (that's the general gist of it I think). A system of promotion and relegation simply wouldn't work for the AFL. The idea of short term contracts is also a dangerous suggestion as it would make success stories like Damien Hardwick, a coach who has built an incredibly powerful team over a period of 10 years and only tasting success 7 years into his job, impossible. It would also leave players constantly fighting to renew contracts and maintain job security, which might result in better games, but would also make the industry as a whole painfully stressful. This is a pretty mixed bag, some ideas are gems, some not so much. The AFL could do well to incorporate some of these ideas, but I think it would do better to ignore some of them entirely.
DTM
Guest
Not sure all this is going to happen. If the season goes from Thursday 4/3/21 to Sunday 30/8/21, that's 180 days, or one game every 5.3 days without byes. However, reducing the number of clubs to 16 would mean a 30 game season and one game every 6 days. Maybe St Kilda merge with GC then NM and Melbourne merge? To keep the integrity of the Brownlow and Coleman, you could limit each individual player to 22 games (the clubs can manage players and you then wouldn't need byes). Don't like the idea of changing the scoring or the finals - that rewards mediocrity. Also, as a tradionalist, I don't like changing the length of quarters and games.