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Joined February 2016
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The Essendon Football Club should allow Jobe Watson to join a rival club, given his honourable service throughout the club's darkest years. Watson deserves…
The past week has provided the Australian public with a small window into Australia's massive race issue - something of which many were unaware.…
Still baffles me as to why the AFL has spent so many millions on building the Suns while neglecting the Lions. On numerous occasions on here I’ve read that GC have torn many Lions supporters away too. Living in Melbourne, you almost forget the Lions are in the competition. They’re so irrelevant and have been so irrelevant for so long. Sad to see.
Brisbane Lions fighting irrelevancy just two weeks into the season
I agree with Tim. I’ve been to the Etihad around 50 times. It’s great to actually view the game and definitely caters well for families, but it lacks the nostalgic atmosphere I crave. I started going to the footy in 1997 when I was 6 and I miss the complete overuse of the MCG as well as Waverley. The game feels more raw and alive at those grounds than at Etihad. If you don’t understand what I mean you probably won’t ever understand.
MCLACHLAN: The AFL is ready to be the game for all Australians
I’m with Camo McD.
I miss the Carey/Lloyd/Ablett/Dunstall/Lockett days where full forwards were the kings of the open-roofed stadiums.
Could we see the return of the full forward?
There’d just be a greater reliance on younger players and rookies, helping them to develop further. Your comment is completely insensate. How often does a team use the 45-odd players at their club in one season anyway? (Not very often)
Forget expansion, cut the AFL to 12 teams
Reduce list sizes by 20-25% so that the average to below average players at top clubs can lift the standard of the bottom clubs.
This will reduce the difference in quality between the top four and the bottom four, which is ostensibly the issue here.
You can thereby reduce the amount of players in the league by 20-25%, instead of the proposed 33%, without removing six clubs.
I still like the author’s idea of a twelve team competition but it just won’t ever happen until the population and following of the game is large enough to sustain a two division competition.
Forget expansion, cut the AFL to 12 teams
All in favour of scrapping the lifeless Docklands.
Smaller 20-30k capacity ovals in each of the West and the South-East makes sense (albeit, perhaps not financially – yet) to me. North/Dogs play small crowd drawing games in the West. Saints and Dees play small crowd drawing games in the South-East. Tiges, Dons, Pies, Blues play primarily at the MCG. Hawks probably primarily at the G but perhaps somewhere in between. They’re more difficult to judge because their crowd sizes are highly inflated at the moment due to their recent run of success.
Eddie McGuire proposes new $1 billion stadium next to MCG
Agree anon. Home grounds are very important to a club’s identity. I unfortunately never got to experience AFL/VFL games at Vic Park or Moorabbin. However, I’ve been to 25-30 English soccer games, from the Premier League to League 2, and the experience is incredible, the core reason for this is individual home grounds. Right now we don’t have the population, money or following to be able fund a stadium per team, but a move somewhere in that direction would be very desirable to me personally.
The AFL's Etihad Stadium dilemma: Renovate or detonate?
As an avid supporter of a return to suburban venues I enjoyed this article and much of the debate that has followed.
I can completely understand many of the arguments for staying at Etihad. However, I prefer to view the debate in consideration of what’s important to me, and that’s the match day experience. Yes, it couldn’t possibly be easier to access Etihad, but it also couldn’t possibly be easier to fall asleep and miss the game…
The roof is cowardly, and the game feels sterile when played there. In fact I more-or-less refuse to attend games at the Etihad. Look to Geelong’s stadium/Adelaide Oval. That’s how Melbourne’s second stadium should look and feel.
I’d love to see a stadium in Caulfield. However, it would be extremely bizarre seeing a Dogs or North home game there, just as it would seeing the Saints play a home game in the Western suburbs. My pie-in-the-sky fan’s dream would be for new stadiums both in the West and the South-East.
The AFL's Etihad Stadium dilemma: Renovate or detonate?
Great article.
I actually despise the growth of the AFL for depriving me of the suburban vibe.
However, perhaps one day in the future clubs will be of requisite wealth to own and operate stadiums individually, like in the English Premier League. I would love to attend Victoria Park as an away supporter. That’s what being a fan is about.
The danger of nostalgia; the beauty of suburban footy
He was also plagued with a shoulder injury throughout those years and was much younger, not to mention attempting to break into the third best side this century. I’d at least give him a couple of months before writing him off.
Alternatively, we could all just sit back in our armchairs and laugh about how crap Chris Judd was in his last couple of seasons.
2016 AFL preview series: Essendon Bombers
A rotation only works if it’s averaged out based on how many clubs each State has. E.g. The MCG would host it 10/18 years, Adelaide Oval 2/18 years etc etc.
Interstate fans argue about unfair home advantage for Victorian clubs, yet their clubs are also far more used to travelling. Therefore, imagine the unfairness for say, the Bulldogs, in having to play 3/4 grand finals in a State that they visit a maximum of 2 times per season, then when they finally are set to play in a GF in their home state, it’s at the G, not their home ground.
The AFL will always be relatively uneven, given the fact there is too many teams to accommodate a fair fixture, there is this GF debacle and the AFL is just pumping ridiculous amounts of cash into start-up clubs, and have given expanded salary caps to interstate clubs in the past, while neglecting others.
The move from the VFL to the AFL was arguably constructed incorrectly all those years ago. However, those in charge merely decided to build around what was the strongest league at the time.
The AFL grand final has to stay at the MCG
They’ve hit their ceiling. The only way for North to make a Grand Final would be to take advantage of a ‘lull’ period whereby Hawthorn and Fremantle slip out of contention before other sides, such as GWS and the Bulldogs, rise up into premiership contention. However, I see North falling away before both Hawthorn and Freo.
Similar to what will happen with Richmond over the next couple of years. Both sides are good but they’ve mismanaged their lists to peak as a top 3-6 side.
North Melbourne's last stand
Great side, mate
Unsure about Brad Johnson though, would probably prefer Milne.
Hird’s inclusion was always going to get knocked due to the current state of his profile. Laughable that one critic wanted him removed because Buddy is more versatile? Hird could play midfield, HF and FF and was a remarkable leader (as a captain!).
Aker also deserves inclusion.
The greatest team of the AFL era