A culture shift, not suspensions alone, needed in cricket crisis
It's not enough to put a couple of scapegoats on gardening leave. Cricket needs a paradigm shift. The culture is toxic and now is…
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Was brought up in Victoria, where I barracked for the Bombers in winter and the Aussie cricketers in summer. Life took me to Sydney many years ago, where I've gained an appreciation of many other sports; including tennis, rugby league and soccer/football. But AFL remains my first love; and I'm now proudly a member and supporter of the Greater Western Sydney Giants. In between working a boring desk job and attending sporting events, I trawl the internet for sporting stories and discussions.
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There’s a week off after this round before the finals. So it’s not an issue for any finals team to be playing on Sunday.
My crystal-ball look at Round 23 of the AFL season
Those penalties were 15 years ago. They’re ancient history.
Carlton were in the finals mix for those couple of drafts when Gold Coast and the Giants were building their lists. They’ve gone backwards since then, but that’s their problem.
AFL must give Blues priority pick: Denis Pagan
It’s one thing to say “There should be a Tasmania team”. It’s another to say “If a Tasmania team comes in, I will support them. I will be a Tasmania supporter”.
Most people in Tasmania already have an AFL team. Would they switch allegiances? The AFL doesn’t think they will. And even if they did, it’s a loss for their previous club so no net gain for the game.
The Giants & Suns, because of where they are, have the potential to bring new people into the game. I can’t answer for Gold Coast, but the Giants are slowly but surely doing that.
I’m not opposed to a Tassie team. And the initiatives this week could be laying a foundation for that.
Another announcement, another snub for footy in Tasmania
Whatever happens tonight, we can carry this away……
We were in this year’s World Cup. Italy were not.
On this day in sports history: A penalty denies the Socceroos in Kaiserslautern
Had VAR been around in 2006, would that penalty have been overturned?
Sadly, we’ll never know.
On this day in sports history: A penalty denies the Socceroos in Kaiserslautern
Come back Smith, Warner and Bancroft. All is forgiven.
England's ballistic batting sets new ODI world record as Australia crumble
“Does any sport – barring finals/championships – actually do a floating fixture?”
Not in Australia. The NRL used to but they abandoned that idea and all game times are fixed. Their experience and market research was, similar to a post I made earlier today, that supporters were reluctant to commit to a membership when they didn’t know when the games would be.
Damian Barrett scores 7/10 in his ways to fix footy
Taking interstate travel out of the equation and just focussing on home games.
With a floating fixture, you’re asking people to commit and pay upfront for membership without knowing when the games are. Is that reasonable? I don’t think it is.
Damian Barrett scores 7/10 in his ways to fix footy
Only a Victorian who never travels, or if he does his travel is paid for by his employer, would want a floating fixture. For fans who travel interstate, fixture certainty is essential. And the shorter notice you have, the more expensive it is.
Even without taking travel into account, for home games, a floating fixture is problematic. You’re asking people to commit and pay upfront for season ticket memberships without certainty when the games are.
For anyone who does shift work on weekends, plays the game or has outside commitments or interests; to commit to a membership without knowing when the games are is a risky leap of faith into the unknown. Clubs will lose members because of that.
I haven’t written an article on here for ages; but over the long weekend maybe I might write one expanding on this.
Damian Barrett scores 7/10 in his ways to fix footy
I’d been at a boozy bbq that afternoon and as I prepared to watch the game, my then housemate, who wasn’t really into sport that much, told me he’d had a dream. In the dream, Japan scored early and Australia scored two late ones.
That was enough for me, and in my state of insobriety I placed the only online bet I’ve ever done in my life. The double – Japan 1-0 at half time into Australia 2-1.
We all know what happened. Japan got one early. By the second half, I was starting to drift off. My housemate threw in the towel with about 15 minutes to go and went to bed.
Then Cahill scored. And scored again. Time was just about up, I’d woken my housemate and most of the street up with my cheering. And we were making plans of how to spend our considerable winnings.
And then Aloisi scored…….
Why Australian football fans will never forget Kaiserslautern
For those of you who like numerology:
At three quarter time, the Western Bulldogs were 1.10.16.
The date of their last Grand Final win was also 1.10.16.
Adelaide Crows vs Western Bulldogs: AFL live scores, blog
This is similar to the AFL model, where all Melbourne games are played between the MCG and Etihad; with the same venue holding up to three games per weekend. AFL outgrew the suburban grounds.
There’s some logic here, in that it’s maximising use for the stadiums that have had multi-billions spent on them.
The big question here, where does ANZ Stadium fit in? Would it only be used for Origin and finals?
Consolidation the key for NRL stadium debate
India refuse to play a day-night Test in Adelaide, which is a revenue hit for Cricket Australia. Next minute Cricket Australia cancel the Bangladesh series as unviable.
It seems to me that Cricket Australia had been budgeting on the revenue from Adelaide to underwrite the Bangladesh series; and without it they weren’t prepared to wear the Bangladesh series loss.
Has India’s recalcitrance cost Bangladesh a series?
Cancellation of Bangladesh's tour of Australia a mistake
Had Nick Blakey’s father been assistant coach at a Victorian club, he’d have been playing TAC Cup. He’d have been training and playing with an against fellow draft prospects, and had access to the best coaches, development and training facilities.
If there was no Academy system, where in Sydney would he have got that? At best he may have been rookie listed on the basis of his name; but he’d have been woefully unprepared for AFL footy. His father may not have taken the job at the Swans because it would have held young Nick’s development back.
The AFL's academy answer
It’s bulldust of course. But code war articles get clicks and sell newspapers.
#Codewars: Are we all being played?
You could well be right. And that’s why AFLX was invented.
Here's how to make the AFL go global
Promotion & relegation would never work. Dropping the Brisbane Lions to the NEAFL would kill the profile of the game in Queensland.
A relegated team within the next year would be more likely to go into liquidation than go back up.
Here's how to make the AFL go global
Slightly pedantic point, but for the womens internationals, I suspect that should read Fox Sports rather than Fox Footy. I’d be surprised if they’re on 504, especaiiy the game on AFL Grand Final day.
An interesting piece of scheduling is that the Gabba Test is a day-night Test, on the same weekend as the Australian Open womens and mens finals. With Ch 7 having the rights to both the cricket and the tennis in the upcoming summer, it’s going to be quite a juggling act. I suspect it’ll be the tennis that gets shafted to 7Mate with the cricket staying on the main channel.
Cricket Australia shakes up the Summer
I’d rather win ugly than lose.
Don’t let ugly football distract you from what’s important: the AFL is as competitive as ever
(delete comment – I got it wrong)
Tell your story walking Israel. The NRL doesn’t want your crap
It’s a backwards step for the Big Bash to go back to pay-tv. The growth in that competition on the back of Ch 10’s coverage was enormous. It was pulling a million viewers a night, two-thirds of which will now be lost.
Updated: Nine and Ten lose cricket rights to Seven and Foxtel
And “Usman Khawaja” would roll of BT’s tongue like “Orazio Fantasia”.
Boy o boy, wowee!
Updated: Nine and Ten lose cricket rights to Seven and Foxtel
We had October Grand Finals in 2011, 2015 and 2016; and that didn’t seem to worry anyone. Although that was only a few days into October rather than a few weeks.
A wishlist for AFLW season 2019
There’s very little professional cricket played in October; and none of it is on the grounds the AFL uses.
A wishlist for AFLW season 2019
Having attended that festival weekend at North Sydney Oval last season, it’s a great concept and I’m happy to see it being extended to three weekends. And Ladies Who League Hill seemed to be a big hit.
The other thing worth mentioning about WBBL next season is a significant increase in the number of games being televised. There were positive ratings last season and the cricket is very watchable.
Totally agree about the stand-alone final. Like the Womens Origin, the people who are there are there specifically to support the women, rather than as some passive before-thought that most people won’t arrive at until it’s nearly finished.
Standalone WBBL finals a big tick for Cricket Australia