AFL 2015 ideas

[Groover]

Just been thinking about this over the past few weeks and have come up with a couple of ideas for 2015.
My idea for a possible round 1 is: (The AFL have somewhat proposed the idea that in the future we play some games overseas for points.)
So to incorporate this idea I would think a round 1 'international' round run over 2 weeks (aka split round + travel times) would be a great idea, some countries the AFL could play in would include USA, China, NZ as definites with Ireland, England, Canada as other countries as places we could venture to.

I would also like the idea of a state vs state (or other concept) 'Rising stars' game filled with rookies and rising star eligible players that did not get the chance to travel with their clubs overseas to be played the in the 3rd week of the season, so everyone that did play and travel get a good enough break for round 2. The positive IMO in having a rising stars game is that we may get the chance to unearth a few players who may have usually been overlooked for the first few rounds. Also for alot of the young players it would be a good chance to play on the big stage exclusively for 1 weekend.

Also I like the idea of regular thursday and monday night fixtures as well as Good friday footy.
Any other ideas/thoughts?

[Booney]

Thursday and Monday fixtures are tough ones. Great for TV, rubbish if your team is playing.

Next season starts even later with the cricket World Cup going on, so the idea of international games in the first round of the season is not a silly idea and I have heard Port or North ( or both ) had looked into South Africa as a potential destination.

Pretty much can only go to countries who play cricket as rugby / soccer venues won't have the ground space required for a game to be played. Some athletic infields might have enough surface to play too.

[Phantom Gossiper]

AFL 2015 ideas:
Dont tinker with the rules again
Bring back the bump
Fix the MRP
Good Friday football
SANFL Curtain Raisers for the AFL games in SA

[heater31]

England would probably off the books for regular season games as its far too close to the cricket season over there, even though the weather conditions would be ideal.

Can't imagine the pompous offs from the Surrey County Cricket Club allowing a bunch of convict thugs to tear up their surface at The Oval just weeks out from the season.

[Rik E Boy]

AFL Grand Final idea.

Let actual footy fans attend the game, piss off the pre-match and half time entertainment and sell cheap beer, food and parking for the match.

regards,

REB

[Rik E Boy]

Piss off free agency
Piss off video goal reviews
Piss off Split Rounds
Piss off KB

regards,

REB

[Booney]

Free agency is an interesting one.

If we ( AFL ) are going to have it, let's open up and let the players say early on what their intentions are the way NRL players do.

If Bryce Gibbs is going to join the Crows next year, let him talk to them now ( I'm sure his manager already is ) and if he's decided to move let him say so. Carlton know where they stand, Gibbs does the honorable thing and plays out his Carlton contract with the same effort he would have if he was signing on again.

Clubs, like Sydney, will shoot themselves in the foot if they try to land one real big fish with a massive contract and I say let them, that's their problem to sort out in 5-7 years.

[bennymacca]

please dont turn this into a whinge thread guys. Mostly just REB. you know none of that is going to happen, so just dont even bother. FFS

i dont mind the idea of an international round, but i dont think the start of the season is the time to do this. The "soft" start to the season with the split round was excruciating this year, just wanted the footy to start. maybe as part of the split round they could do it?

i dont think every team can afford to be away at once either, but st kilda having games in NZ for instance is a good thing imo.

In terms of thursday and monday night footy, i agree, there will be more of them next year. Although it might be tough for crowds to get there, there will be plenty of games during the year where they could do this without impacting much. especially in school holidays, or sunday nights leading into long weekends etc.

with regards to the bump, it is dead. never coming back. was kind of archaic and i dont think it has a place in the game.
BUT
suspending people for accidental contact, like fyfe getting done the other week, was deplorable.
I would be happy with NO bumping at all, but more leniency for those accidental collisions.

with the goal reviews, the fact that there is no cameras in the goal posts at every venue just makes the whole thing unworkable. apparently there is a hangup on the cost, where the AFL dont want to pay for it. well thats just not good enough. if you want the review system you pay for it.

just on the review system, has anyone seen a review this year that has been overturned? i have seen a fair few games, but i havent seen a single review that has been overturned, mostly just umpires call. i havent watched every game though

lastly, I think the main problem with the free agency and trading system at the moment is that players are allowed to refuse to go to a club. if players are after the flexibility of moving around, the clubs should also be allowed to do this. they should be able to trade a player without his consent. the fact that two clubs have agreed on the trade only for one player to not want to go just seems a bit wrong to me.

[Phantom Gossiper]

Not really a 2015 idea.. but what does the future hold for the AFL?

With Melbourne clubs like Melbourne, Bulldogs and Carlton struggling in recent times, would the AFL look to keep these clubs a float in the saturated VIC market, or let them go under and either shrink the comp back a bit or allow for inclusion of a side from outside VIC eg TAS, NT, ACT, NZ?

2 sides in WA, QLD, SA and NSW seems to have the balance just about right there.

Or on the flip side, will the AFL look to formulate a two tier comp which has been previously mentioned with promotion/relegation?

[Booney]

Good topic point PG.

I think, as you say, the two in SA,WA and QLD work, the GWS experiment still has a long way to go and the AFL will be pouring millions over many more years before they are a stand alone club with any real supporter base.

St.Kilda lead the charge in New Zealand and are always battling financially in Melbourne, so there seems to be one "logical" relocation with them perhaps playing 5-6 games as "home" games in NZ and 5-6 "home" games in Melbourne.

As for the long term future of Melbourne and the Bulldogs....if the next TV deal is $1.5bn + as expected then the AFL can just keep propping them up. In fact the figure was more like $1.7bn I heard and that is a shitload of cash in anyones books. Expect Gina Coldheart.

If any thing Tasmania should be next cab off the rank ( and should have been before Western Sydney, but I guess there isn't 2.4 million people in Tassie!! ) and that might be a relocation as opposed to new franchise as you would need to bring in two more teams and not one. You couldn't go back to an odd numbered competition.

[bennymacca]

the problem with all of those ideas is they significantly affect attendances and television rights. cynical, but true.

i think a two tier system could work. two divisions of 9 teams. you play teams in your own division twice, and in the other division once. that makes 24 games a season, so only two more.

then you have a top 4 for each finals system, and the top 2 go up and down from each division.

pros - makes a completely fair competition in terms of the draw.
has the best teams playing against each other most often.
would create interest for the bottom half of the ladder, as spots in the minor finals will still be up for grabs.
would see less massive blowouts, as the top clubs only ever play the bottom clubs once (this kind of happens already)

cons
two tier system means that it takes at least two years for a club to rebuild. at present it is only 1 year. port adelaide, west coast, adelaide have all made huge strides up the ladder in recent years, which could not happen in a two tier system.

would affect free agency even more than it currently does, would see a greater exodus of good players from crap teams to good teams in the hopes of snagging a premiership.

the "marquee" games, such as showdowns, western derbys, games between the big victorian powerhouses might not happen more than once a year. this would significantly affect attendances.

for the lower drawing clubs, it would also significantly affect the bottom line, as it is possible they play the higher drawing clubs less often, further exacerbating the differences between the first and second divisions.

richmond might win something. and we cant have that happen

[Groover]

Not really a 2015 idea.. but what does the future hold for the AFL?

With Melbourne clubs like Melbourne, Bulldogs and Carlton struggling in recent times, would the AFL look to keep these clubs a float in the saturated VIC market, or let them go under and either shrink the comp back a bit or allow for inclusion of a side from outside VIC eg TAS, NT, ACT, NZ?

2 sides in WA, QLD, SA and NSW seems to have the balance just about right there.

Or on the flip side, will the AFL look to formulate a two tier comp which has been previously mentioned with promotion/relegation?

I hope neither of the above happens. I would like to see the addition of 4 more teams to make it a 22 team competition with everyone to play each other once.
Teams to be added could be from the following:
Hobart/Launceston (most obvious choice)
Darwin/Alice Springs
Canberra
Auckland/Wellington/Christchurch (most extreme, but we adopt them as aussies in most cases and include them in other competitions)

[Booney]

Unlikely to ever have a Darwin team in the competition. The seasons don't allow it, thats why their competition runs through the summer months.

[bennymacca]

the problem with tassie boonie is they are already a footy "heartland" so you are not really growing the game by basing a team down there.

but i agree, they should really have a team.

move north melbourne or hawthorn to tassie, and st kilda to NZ, and you would go a long way to solving some of those issues.

I hope neither of the above happens. I would like to see the addition of 4 more teams to make it a 22 team competition with everyone to play each other once.
Teams to be added could be from the following:
Hobart/Launceston (most obvious choice)
Darwin/Alice Springs
Canberra
Auckland/Wellington/Christchurch (most extreme, but we adopt them as aussies in most cases and include them in other competitions)

i think this could dilute the competition too much, having 4 extra teams. could possibly go to 20 at most, but even that would be stretching it i would think.

[Johno6]

Get meatloaf to sing at the grand final.............

[Phantom Gossiper]

Surely the salary cap and draft picks will help to keep a degree of levelness in the playing field if there was a two tier comp?

Personally i think a two tier comp would be awful, cant see the 2nd div getting much interest

[bennymacca]

Is there much interest in a bulldogs st Kilda game now anyway?

[whufc]

AFL 2015 ideas:
Dont tinker with the rules again
Bring back the bump
Fix the MRP
Good Friday football
SANFL Curtain Raisers for the AFL games in SA

[Rik E Boy]

please dont turn this into a whinge thread guys. Mostly just REB. you know none of that is going to happen, so just dont even bother. FFS

Far Queue. Just because you don't agree with what I say doesn't mean I don't have the right to say it. You say it isn't going to happen, well **** me no shit Sherlock thanks for that little gem.

regards,

REB

[bennymacca]

Ever tried being constructive for once? Doubt it. That was my point