Any AFL Fans?

[mitch222]

plus, you can say it's all well and good getting good kids in their draft, but they have them for a year or two, the kids develop but the team remains utterly uncompetitive and always near the foot of the ladder, they request a trade/don't re-sign, cycle repeats.

Or they just want go back to their home state

 

[Socnorb]

This is a genuine question: Does anyone here support AFL or follow it?

I'd love to get your opinion on the contrast between the coverage of both codes.

I'll admit I know nothing about AFL.

I'm an NRL man, born and bred, and I also no longer give a **** about who wins or loses Origin these days. IMO, it's a pantomime and a blight on the competition. While I'm glad whenever a Broncos player makes either side I hope they don't get injured and derail our chances for the season... and make no mistake the Broncos are in with a real shot at winning the competition this year.

Tuning into Nine's coverage of the Eels-Warriors game the other night and I was immediately annoyed. They're still talking about the Origin game. Despite the fact we had a post-game wrap-up on Wednesday night, we also had The Footy Show and whatever god awful show is on the League Pay TV channel.

Forgive me for wanting to hear about the NRL before an actual NRL match...not fucking Origin.

I'm channeling Doctor Ian Malcolm..."Yes you do plan to have dinosaurs on your dinosaur tour..hello..is this thing on?"

How the NRL can say with a straight face this is a legitimate competition and that "the integrity of the game has never been stronger" is an out and out joke. I guess that statement only applies to match fixing allegations and drug scandals.

Anyone interested solely in the NRL is shit outta luck for the next few weeks.

Anyways, bringing it back to AFL, I was instantly bored with Joey Johns and Gould wanking themselves over NSW and flicked it over to the Adelaide-Geelong game.

Utterly amazing. So much positivity. They interview coaches on the field against a backdrop of a healthy crowd building up, the game is well underway compared to when I cut back to Nine and I see empty seats and the Warriors still in the sheds warming up...also in the southern code I hope some of you will be happy to know ...no checking in with Joel Caine from fucking Sportsbet!!!

Are there any AFL fans here that are more knowledgeable than me? What's your take on the current state of the two codes? Purely on the surface it seems one game is growing every week and the other one is wilting.

I know Rugby League is quite content to whore itself out for the highest price but it was so rare to see the difference in a game I love and a game I'm supposed to hate.

I played first grade AFL for the mighty Kedron Redleggers back in the 80s. was an awesome game to play and suited my skill set. I ,like most Queenslanders came from a League/Union background. to be honest after I retired I lost touch with the AFL and started to follow the league more, as I had moved to Sydney and wanted a link back home I guess,which was The Broncos.

Just this year I have been reintroduced to the AFL Via my daughter, and have ended up for one reason or another being the coach of the under 12 youth girls team. One thing I will say after spending some time with players who are absolutely new to the game, is that you can be a successful player at a relatively low skill level,as such, AFL is very accessible.
the other thing that is obvious is that the AFL is run very Professionally in regard to coach and player and Umpire development.
Everything is recorded measured, discussed and acted upon.
Example. I've had to attend 3 coaching seminars, plus extensive online testing just to be accredited, as opposed to soccer, which I coached last year, which was turn up, wear this lanyard, thats it.

In short ,the AFL seems to be run by an army of middle managers who all want to develop systems to improve the game.
they are passionate about the expansion and development of the game, and its hard not to be caught up in their enthusiasm.

 

[BruiserMk1]

My thoughts on AFL.

Wanted to comment on this since I live in an AFL focused state.
Background, I moved from NZ to Perth in '09, I met my wife to be when we were both in Europe travelling.
She was a die hard West Coast Eagles fan, but I have pretty much converted her to Rugby League, she finds AFL soft and boring now haha.

I have tried to get into AFL but as some have mentioned above find the game sloppy, untidy, seagulls fighting over a chip and yes I have never understood why you get a point for missing.
Their athletic capability is second to none but skill set not so much. The number of players who can't kick off both feet is staggering.

It's a very over analysed game and people get excited by the smallest things.
Channels 7, 9 and 10 push it down your throats every night here, one of the reasons I refuse to watch them.
Even channel 9 here shows bugger all coverage of league despite their deal. Still have live games here on TV though. The West Australian newspaper is just as bad, only time RL gets a mention is if there is a scandal. I'm going off track here but just wanted to explain what RL fans are up against here in the West.

I agree with others who have said RL is a better product but is behind AFL, and that comes down to grassroots level. I believe one of the reasons for Aussie Rules growth is that parents don't want their kids playing RL because it is too rough etc.
AFL have done a good job in growing the game at grassroots, no fees, seeing an increase in playing numbers in once RL, union, football (soccer) areas.

 

[Sproj]

AFL is just as violent and dangerous as league, probably more like NFL in that players can get clobbered from every angle, especially unsuspectingly from the back at times.

The problem is that league players usually come from lower socio-economic backgrounds and are generally far less articulate, hence he public perception that league is more dangerous and full of boofheads.

Unfortunately, when he have boofheads running the game, boofheads commentstong the game and boofheads being interviewed regularly, that reputation is warranted. The AFL do a great job of sweeping their early retirements due to head injuries under the rug.

As for the Lions, they have their highest draft picked player about to head home after less than two years despite giving assurances he wouldn't when drafted, hence what they are up against. They have a good young squad, if only they could keep them together as the go-home five could have made this current squad very competitive.

 

[uptheguts]

Don't mind watching the grand final, but in essence it is a foreign game to me , on a par with basketball. It all depends on what code you grew up with . Much prefer AFL to soccer which I just can't watch . They do have good commentators.

 

[Accept]

Both my sons played AFL in the juniors. In fact, my younger son played Rules on Sat and League on Sundays. The biggest difference is the parental behaviour. There are no stubby drinking, bogan looking, hard living folks on a Sunday morning at an U8 match in AFL. If there was, they are promptly told to go and join a RL club.

 

[Mitchell_Broncos]

My mate was telling me about the AFL today that Richmond haven't won a title in 40 years and haven't been in the final for 38 so I'm going to watch it even though I haven't watched AFL in my whole life [emoji106]

 

[Sproj]

My mate was telling me about the AFL today that Richmond haven't won a title in 40 years and haven't been in the final for 38 so I'm going to watch it even though I haven't watched AFL in my whole life [emoji106]

Just don't expect league and imagine yourself getting paid to play all those ball games we loved in primary school but never took seriously and you might enjoy it...you also might fall asleep but one thing is for sure, the atmosphere will be electric.

 

[Big Pete]

No Mark or Dave and The Killers still slayed it.

As much as I enjoyed Cold Chisel before the 2015 Grand Final, that maybe the best live band any code has been to get together.

 

[Allo]

No Mark or Dave and The Killers still slayed it.

As much as I enjoyed Cold Chisel before the 2015 Grand Final, that maybe the best live band any code has been to get together.

They fucking nailed it. Missed Dave's presence - Mark I've felt doesn't add anything outside of playing bass. Tiny hiccups in the first riff on RMM and a slight rush on Mr B but awesome nonetheless. Brandon was trying so hard to amp that pitiful sized crowd up. I know you don't want the turf damaged but that was pretty poor.

 

[Big Pete]

Yeah there were tiny gaffs through out the performance (adding to the list, Brandon slipped during WYWY, he also botched a lyric on Somebody Told Me) but on the whole they put together a really energetic performance. Brandon's vocals are always on point and Ronnie is just a man man with the sticks. Of the two 'performers' they've always been the two to stand out whenever I've gone to see them.

The track-list was pretty good. Their three biggest hit, their new lead single, a famous Aussie cover...the only elephant in the room was Read My Mind. It was the come down song of the set, but felt a touch indulgent, like the band gave the crowd three songs, so they get to share their personal favourite. It's a nit-pick but on a day about BBQs, Meat Pies and Beers a track like Runaways or Matter of Time would have been more fitting.

I'm still buzzing from that performance. It just jogged an old memory I had from 2009 when they were touring. They actually played a gig on my birthday down on the Gold Coast. I remember had tickets to go, but I was so sick at the time I had to give them away - really sucks because I never got to see them perform their Day & Age set.

I may have to make amends...

 

[Allo]

Yeah there were tiny gaffs through out the performance (adding to the list, Brandon slipped during WYWY, he also botched a lyric on Somebody Told Me) but on the whole they put together a really energetic performance. Brandon's vocals are always on point and Ronnie is just a man man with the sticks. Of the two 'performers' they've always been the two to stand out whenever I've gone to see them.

The track-list was pretty good. Their three biggest hit, their new lead single, a famous Aussie cover...the only elephant in the room was Read My Mind. It was the come down song of the set, but felt a touch indulgent, like the band gave the crowd three songs, so they get to share their personal favourite. It's a nit-pick but on a day about BBQs, Meat Pies and Beers a track like Runaways or Matter of Time would have been more fitting.

I'm still buzzing from that performance. It just jogged an old memory I had from 2009 when they were touring. They actually played a gig on my birthday down on the Gold Coast. I remember had tickets to go, but I was so sick at the time I had to give them away - really sucks because I never got to see them perform their Day & Age set.

I may have to make amends...

Tickets on sale Tuesday 2pm. Def getting GA standing and rushing to the front if I can. I can’t miss this. I moved down here just after BB so I haven’t had a chance to see them.

 

[Dash]

The Killers played a Midnight Oil song... How dare they bring politics into footy! Tony Abbott must be seething!

/s

 

[ZTop]

Crows are done here

 

[Sproj]

Crows are done here

Sure are, just watch the celebration at full time!

 

[Mitchell_Broncos]

Richmond fucking them over!

 

[Dash]

Really good effort from Richmond. On paper, they've got a fairly no-name team, but they've worked out what their good at and done it well.

 

[ZTop]

I loved the f-bombs in the end of game interviews, Dustin Martin seems like a bit of a sack just for interest's sake