The death of the AFL

It originally was. We improved Rugby.

And you are coming from a sport that is #2 in it's biggest country. :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: I'm glad l wasn't knocking one back when l read this.

Condescension is a good look on you.

How about converting the playing field into rectangular?

RIP. Let it die.

You are right aBout getting rid of the “no prior” rule. This is the virus that has spread through the game and has almost killed it as a spectacle. Before the 2000’s the rule didn’t exist. Unfortunately a generation have grown up with this rule. I went to a junior footy match recently and couldn’t believe that the ump was constantly throwing the ball up when in fact the players should have been penalised for holding the ball. If you get rid of “ No prior” you’ll find that all the congestion, all the flooding, all the ugliness will disappear

Footy is in a fascinating place right now, on so many levels. In terms of the standard and appeal of the game, I believe the shorter, more boring game styles have resulted in closer games. 4 games decided by less than a goal over the weekend would sound very appealing on the face of it, however, it comes at a trade-off. Do we as fans want to see scrappy style matches that come right down to the wire or free-flowing goal fests that often result in blowouts. I would love to see the best of both, but I just don't know if it is possible at the moment.

Don’t remind Richmond fans about the American pie rowdy

I really like the idea of backward kicks being considered play on. If the offence aren’t gaining territory then more pressure should be allowed to be applied by the defence. Furthermore, this will reduce the ability for teams to slow the game down in the dying minutes to maintain their lead, as we saw in several games this weekend. Nothing disappoints me more than when in a close game teams are just kicking back and forth to run out the clock. I do think the defence should be held accountable as well for not being as attacking as they could be, but it is incontrovertible that if we made it so backward kicks are play on, that defence will apply significantly more pressure. Personally, I have no issue with no prior opportunity being a rule. It encourages players to play the game, even if it does increase congestion. Maybe a fix to this is considering it prior opportunity for any player that receives the ball from a teammate’s disposal. This still enables players who are able to intercept but are quickly tackled and players who do pickups from spoils etc to still be rewarded for their good defensive plays. As aforementioned though I have no issue with no prior opportunity*. I honestly think it is how languid the game is played at rather than congestion that is core issue. The best bits of footy are when players are weaving through congested packs or quickly running the ball forward. Limiting congestion takes away the appeal of these amazing plays. While I do acknowledge the annoyance congested footy can have, in many ways it adds to the intensity of the game. Teams should be punished for slowing down the game with backwards kicks, in lieu of culling players or removing the no prior opportunity rule. *One aspect that has always bothered me is when a player thinks it is a mark but it is play on, so they don’t attempt to get rid of the ball and they get tackled. Every time the umpires call it a ball up despite there clearly being prior opportunity to dispose of the ball.

dont agree that 'no prior' is a new concept, has been around at least since i got into footy mid 70's, if anything the bloke going in for the ball was given even greater latitude before being pinged for holding the ball back then, the idea was to reward the player that went in & got the ball . obviously now that's no good as it creates more congestion, but its not a recent phenomena. reckon the idea of not awarding marks for backward kicks in the back half has merit, also reducing the number of interchanges would help too . still think bringing back normal length 1/4's will open it up as fatigue has a greater effect, hopefully the league hastens slowly & doesnt listen too much to all the "tinkerers" who wanna constantly alter the game to get it just how they think it should be

Good point. They need to police blocking better as well.

Yeah Get rid of the 'no prior opportunity ' concept.

What's dumber is 8-12 no-contest kicking / marking combos and then coughing up the ball. Or when they do try to find a way in they lose at the first contest. It's better to kick to a contest with the target trying to take the mark. Failing that he should be able to tap / ruck the ball to the advantage of the crumbing forwards. Reducing to 16, or even 15, would work in tandem with this.

agree

We agree on the cause of the problem but not the solution ????

Long term problem that covid disruption has exacerbated. Short fix; turn interchange bench into substitution bench and do not allow substituted players back on the field. If players are unable to congest around the ball should encourage more 1 on 1 contests and reward attacking play.

The key isue presently is the inability to train together in large or full groups. The transition play is suffering. Players are effectively having to make it up on the fly. The transition and 'spread' just isn't happening with fluency for many of the teams.

I understand that. I just find possession games slower. AF should be about territory. Off-side is the reason why League is like it is. Thats why American Football went the way it did. Don Maclean refers to it in "American Pie", forward pass and all.

Random much?