Stevo - Hammer. Nail. Head.

[Sockeye Salmon]

Mark Stevens has this one exactly right.

This is the single biggest issue confronting the game right now - even worse than the rules committee.


Forget the blockbusters AFL, just fix the fixture

"Those big games are the core of what is great about our game ... Geelong-Hawthorn have played unbelieveable games, every game for the last five years. Imagine if we didn't play them twice?"- Gillion McLachlan, AFL chief operating officer


AS THE man who oversees the fixture, Gillon McLachlan has to put a positive spin on what it is a cruel, compromised and inequitable schedule of matches.

But there is so much wrong with the theory that big blockbusters must happen twice for theatre and entertainment value.

Footy, to most of us, is far more important than theatre.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/afl/expert-opinion/forget-the-blockbusters-afl-just-fix-the-fixture/story-fncqi979-1226344945306

[bornadog]

Have said this a number of times but all the blockbusters do is make those teams bigger, ie their membership just keeps growing and growing. The whole fixture is a farce and the sooner we get rid of the mindset of Demtriou and Co the better the competition will be.

[Maddog37]

Number one issue for me is the fixture being butchered to maximise crowd attendances.

At the heart of any competition is a fair and level playing field. I really never thought I would say this as I love the game of footy itself but......

The further away from being a true and fair competition the AFL becomes the more and more I fall out of love with it. I feel disillusioned and disenchanted to the point of not really caring to read about it in the paper or watch any footy related tv. I am 41 and sound like a 80 year old harking back to better days.

Bottom line is that Footy is no longer really a competition at all. It is a song and dance that lasts 22 weeks and hopefully we get some competitive finals at the end in spite of the draw.

[Ghost Dog]

Number one issue for me is the fixture being butchered to maximise crowd attendances.

At the heart of any competition is a fair and level playing field. I really never thought I would say this as I love the game of footy itself but......

The further away from being a true and fair competition the AFL becomes the more and more I fall out of love with it. I feel disillusioned and disenchanted to the point of not really caring to read about it in the paper or watch any footy related tv. I am 41 and sound like a 80 year old harking back to better days.

Bottom line is that Footy is no longer really a competition at all. It is a song and dance that lasts 22 weeks and hopefully we get some competitive finals at the end in spite of the draw.

Hawthorn have a pretty hard draw. Some clubs have it tougher than us.

[Throughandthrough]

GCS have the hardest draw. They are only playing teams above them on the ladder from last year. <jk>

[Doc26]

Of course the unfairness in the fixture itself is only one element of the inequity that's created by continuing to look after the chosen few at the expense of the have nots.

The big Victorian Clubs who continue to receive prime media exposure off the back of their large established supporter bases which in turn dictates games with incredible earnings continue to rake in the dollars from everything such exposure brings.

These same Club's are now big enough that they can produce their own dedicated weekly television programs to a large and growing audience.

This position of strength permits them to do so much more such as being able to fund the operation of their own dedicated seconds team which enables them to have control in the development of their list.

It enables them to load up in their administration, marketing, and football operations including list and player development and of course to seek out the best in their field.

It helps to provide a winning culture which in turn goes towards acquiring the best talent whilst also assisting them greatly in retaining this talent. We only need look at who lost and who won out through the death by a thousand cuts expansion club process.

This position of strength provides security which again attracts the best talent whether across the playing group or across its administration. It also enables them to put processes in place to mitigate risk or against a downturn.

It is for these reasons that free agency looms as perilous for the future well being of our Club as it will prove to be yet another free kick for those at the top of the food chain.

Unfortunately it plays out like it does where the fittest survives and unfortunatley our DNA is that of the wildebeest.

[Maddog37]

Hawthorn have a pretty hard draw. Some clubs have it tougher than us.

I am not complaining about our draw, I am complaining about the purity of the competition as a whole for every club.

If you do not have the same rules for everybody then it is simply corrupt at a very basic level.

If you put profit before fairness then you have a posioned chalice.

[bornadog]

Of course the unfairness in the fixture itself is only one element of the inequity that's created by continuing to look after the chosen few at the expense of the have nots.

The big Victorian Clubs who continue to receive prime media exposure off the back of their large established supporter bases which in turn dictates games with incredible earnings continue to rake in the dollars from everything such exposure brings.

These same Club's are now big enough that they can produce their own dedicated weekly television programs to a large and growing audience.

This position of strength permits them to do so much more such as being able to fund the operation of their own dedicated seconds team which enables them to have control in the development of their list.

It enables them to load up in their administration, marketing, and football operations including list and player development and of course to seek out the best in their field.

It helps to provide a winning culture which in turn goes towards acquiring the best talent whilst also assisting them greatly in retaining this talent. We only need look at who lost and who won out through the death by a thousand cuts expansion club process.

This position of strength provides security which again attracts the best talent whether across the playing group or across its administration. It also enables them to put processes in place to mitigate risk or against a downturn.

It is for these reasons that free agency looms as perilous for the future well being of our Club as it will prove to be yet another free kick for those at the top of the food chain.

Unfortunately it plays out like it does where the fittest survives and unfortunatley our DNA is that of the wildebeest.

Very good post.

[Remi Moses]

It should just be renamed the maximize the attendance compromised fixture.
Complete farce!

[SonofScray]

It is a joke and I hate that we just let it happen.

[craigsahibee]

A 3 conference system works for me however it should be based on ladder positions from the previous year rather than 3 melbourne based teams plus 3 others.

That way Blockbusters like Anzac Day and Derbies can still be scheduled.

Sure, it may result in 1 Melbourne team being drawn in the same conference as 5 Interstate teams, but surely the AFL could devise a remuneration package to compensate the clubs that suffer lower than expected attendances as a result of the conference system.

[LostDoggy]

You know, the whole 'big teams deserve big games' theory is nonsensical on the face of it. EVERY big national sporting comp in the world -- the EPL, La Liga, the NBA, MLB, etc. etc. etc. -- have huge teams in them (I'm talking teams 10,000 times the size of Collingwood) yet there is no need to doctor the fixture to create 'blockbusters', because the nature of random draws is that they create their own storylines rather than you having to script it. PRECISELY because these happen relatively randomly, serendipity throws up all kinds of quirks of timing, such as last day dramas and unexpected results.

We saw this in Europe as recently as two weeks ago -- Real Madrid and Barcelona were trying to create history in the Champions League (Madrid trying to win their seventh or eighth title and their first in ages, Barcelona trying to go back-to-back which no club had achieved in the Champions League era), yet the randomness of their domestic schedule had dictated that they would also play the Clasico (vs. each other) on the weekend in between their first and second leg Champions League semi-finals. The Clasico is easily the biggest domestic league match in the world, so it's not like a dog-and-pony show.

If the AFL were running La Liga they would have moved the fixture to the end of the year to help Barca and Real with their semifinal, but because of something as old-fashioned as competition integrity for the other 20-something clubs in La Liga, the administrators refused to move it (even by a day, which was probably a bit stubborn). Both clubs duly went on to lose their Champions League semi-finals by tiny, tiny margins (not taking anything away from Bayern and Chelsea, but they can't deny they had very easy domestic fixtures in comparison where they rested their entire first teams). Sure, Barca and Real fans are upset, but it also adds something to the fabric of the comp that shock results can happen because of freak draws, and also makes the comp all the more difficult to win no matter how good you are, and so adds value and history and legacy and great stories to it.

If it's good enough for some of the biggest competitions in the world, it should be good enough for the AFL, but hey, we're also the competition that explicitly has different rules for 'superstars' at the tribunal (yet UEFA are okay with Wayne Rooney missing almost the entire first round of the upcoming Euro 2012), a different rule again for superstar suspensions if they are going to affect the Grand Final (not even John Terry or Roy Keane gets their suspensions revoked for the European Cup final. Heck, even coaches and managers like Jose Mourinho and Alex Ferguson get bans -- Sir Alex had to watch last year's Champions League final from the stands! Can you imagine that happening to Malthouse or Worfold?) Even a superstar-centric league like the NBA suspends star players regularly -- even guys like Kobe and Jason Kidd have been suspended, and Carmelo Anthony got a 15 match ban once.

We are a superstar-struck comp, addicted to glitz and glam but losing sight of what made it great in the first place -- a fair competition between a bunch of fiercely committed teams. The AFL is becoming bigger as a spectacle, but is hollowing out from inside, so that there may be more people watching the thing, but less people caring. If I want a show I can go to Broadway.

[LostDoggy]

You know, the whole 'big teams deserve big games' theory is nonsensical on the face of it. EVERY big national sporting comp in the world -- the EPL, La Liga, the NBA, MLB, etc. etc. etc. -- have huge teams in them (I'm talking teams 10,000 times the size of Collingwood) yet there is no need to doctor the fixture to create 'blockbusters', because the nature of random draws is that they create their own storylines rather than you having to script it. PRECISELY because these happen relatively randomly, serendipity throws up all kinds of quirks of timing, such as last day dramas and unexpected results.

We saw this in Europe as recently as two weeks ago -- Real Madrid and Barcelona were trying to create history in the Champions League (Madrid trying to win their seventh or eighth title and their first in ages, Barcelona trying to go back-to-back which no club had achieved in the Champions League era), yet the randomness of their domestic schedule had dictated that they would also play the Clasico (vs. each other) on the weekend in between their first and second leg Champions League semi-finals. The Clasico is easily the biggest domestic league match in the world, so it's not like a dog-and-pony show.

If the AFL were running La Liga they would have moved the fixture to the end of the year to help Barca and Real with their semifinal, but because of something as old-fashioned as competition integrity for the other 20-something clubs in La Liga, the administrators refused to move it (even by a day, which was probably a bit stubborn). Both clubs duly went on to lose their Champions League semi-finals by tiny, tiny margins (not taking anything away from Bayern and Chelsea, but they can't deny they had very easy domestic fixtures in comparison where they rested their entire first teams). Sure, Barca and Real fans are upset, but it also adds something to the fabric of the comp that shock results can happen because of freak draws, and also makes the comp all the more difficult to win no matter how good you are, and so adds value and history and legacy and great stories to it.

If it's good enough for some of the biggest competitions in the world, it should be good enough for the AFL, but hey, we're also the competition that explicitly has different rules for 'superstars' at the tribunal (yet UEFA are okay with Wayne Rooney missing almost the entire first round of the upcoming Euro 2012), a different rule again for superstar suspensions if they are going to affect the Grand Final (not even John Terry or Roy Keane gets their suspensions revoked for the European Cup final. Heck, even coaches and managers like Jose Mourinho and Alex Ferguson get bans -- Sir Alex had to watch last year's Champions League final from the stands! Can you imagine that happening to Malthouse or Worfold?) Even a superstar-centric league like the NBA suspends star players regularly -- even guys like Kobe and Jason Kidd have been suspended, and Carmelo Anthony got a 15 match ban once.

We are a superstar-struck comp, addicted to glitz and glam but losing sight of what made it great in the first place -- a fair competition between a bunch of fiercely committed teams. The AFL is becoming bigger as a spectacle, but is hollowing out from inside, so that there may be more people watching the thing, but less people caring. If I want a show I can go to Broadway.

Great post.

[Mofra]

You know, the whole 'big teams deserve big games' theory is nonsensical on the face of it. EVERY big national sporting comp in the world -- the EPL, La Liga, the NBA, MLB, etc. etc. etc. -- have huge teams in them (I'm talking teams 10,000 times the size of Collingwood) yet there is no need to doctor the fixture to create 'blockbusters', because the nature of random draws is that they create their own storylines rather than you having to script it. PRECISELY because these happen relatively randomly, serendipity throws up all kinds of quirks of timing, such as last day dramas and unexpected results.
Dear Gillon,

Please read this paragraph. Twice.

Regards,

Every AFL supporter

[Doc26]

We are a superstar-struck comp, addicted to glitz and glam but losing sight of what made it great in the first place -- a fair competition between a bunch of fiercely committed teams. The AFL is becoming bigger as a spectacle, but is hollowing out from inside, so that there may be more people watching the thing, but less people caring. If I want a show I can go to Broadway.

Lantern, thanks for the post. Like your last paragraph in particular.

The competition has become artificial and contrived. The so called leaders of our game are narrow sighted with a short term focus on getting bums on seats at fewer supposedly marquee games with their creativity apparently limited to Collingwood or Essendon.

I have become so bored / indifferent with the saturation forced upon us with everything Collingwood or Essendon that I now use this time to reacquaint with things other than football.

I agree with you that it is hollowing out from the inside with the 'real' supporters of the disenfranchised Clubs finding it more and more difficult to find the motivation to keep on keeping on.

[SonofScray]

Doc26 & Lantern, great posts which accurately reflect my feelings on the issue. The AFL needs to hear those comments.

[angelopetraglia]

Could not agree more with the sentiments in this thread.

No doubt that the AFL fixture is making the strong, stronger and the weak, weaker. Another example in Round 7. Bulldogs V North is scheduled for Mothers Day. Carlton get the privilege of playing on Monday night to avoid Mothers Day!

Would the Bulldogs have more supporters in 10 years time if we were given 17 free to air games, two games every year against Collingwood, Carlton and Essendon, 7 Friday night games, ANZAC day, no games on Mothers Day and get to play the opening game of the Season on a Thursday night?

[Murphy'sLore]

Personally I can't think of a better way to spend Mothers Day than at the footy with my Bulldog mother-in-law and my loving children ;)

[chef]

EVERY big national sporting comp in the world -- the EPL, La Liga, the NBA, MLB, etc. etc. etc. -- have huge teams in them (I'm talking teams 10,000 times the size of Collingwood) yet there is no need to doctor the fixture to create 'blockbusters', because the nature of random draws is that they create their own storylines rather than you having to script it. PRECISELY because these happen relatively randomly, serendipity throws up all kinds of quirks of timing, such as last day dramas and unexpected results.

The AFL needs to look at the last round coming up in the EPL, every game on at the same time with so much at stake in terms of qualifications and relegation's. I can't wait for this.

[LostDoggy]

The AFL needs to look at the last round coming up in the EPL, every game on at the same time with so much at stake in terms of qualifications and relegation's. I can't wait for this.

Exactly.

[jeemak]

Good posting Lantern.

Can't argue with any of it, really.