NRL v AFL

[Alaska]

After watching the State of Origin last night I get the feeling Rugby League has arrived at the right formula as a spectator sport. They have kept the best bits of their game and got rid of the biffo.

AFL is fast loosing the plot in this regard IMHO.
I rarely agree with Choco but I agree with his summation of the Burgoyne incident. AFL has gone too far with taking the good things out of the game: the bump, the high mark, the one on one contests.

I think the Gold Coast and Western Sydney teams will be a huge financial burden on the competition, as if most of the Vic teams aren’t already. The spectators will just not turn up to see the tripe on display at the moment.

[GWW]

I wouldn't show up to watch that NRL "tripe" either. I know some Aussie Rules fans on here don't mind RL, but personally (and I'm saying this because its on the AFL board) i can't stand it, theres just way too much repetition and to me its a yawnfest.

[Wedgie]

Im a long term rugby league fan but find the NRL boring, I take a much closer interest in the English comp.
AFL is enjoying one of its best patches with the way teams like Geelong play the game. A huge improvement on not that long ago.

[Dirko]

Really enjoy watching S.O.O, but found it better when the Meninga's, Lewis', Daely's et al used to run around.
I still keep a pretty good eye on the Raiders, but Australian Rules is still my preferred code (SANFL over AFL anyday).

Football aka Soccer, is running very close second....

[Rik E Boy]

After watching the State of Origin last night I get the feeling Rugby League has arrived at the right formula as a spectator sport. They have kept the best bits of their game and got rid of the biffo.

AFL is fast loosing the plot in this regard IMHO.
I rarely agree with Choco but I agree with his summation of the Burgoyne incident. AFL has gone too far with taking the good things out of the game: the bump, the high mark, the one on one contests.

I think the Gold Coast and Western Sydney teams will be a huge financial burden on the competition, as if most of the Vic teams aren’t already. The spectators will just not turn up to see the tripe on display at the moment.

I watched the very same event last night and came to a completely different conclusion. I cut my teeth on Rugby League, I have been a Sydney Roosters (Easts) fan since 1975, three years before I started following the Redlegs. My family moved to SA and I soon found out that Australian Football is the better game.

What was marketed as State of Origin last night was in reality no more than a glorified club match and for the very same reason why you appear to be critising the greatest code on earth..a lack of physicality. In reality all that Rugby League has going for it is the physical clash of two rows of huge blokes crunching into each other. Remember this is a sport that calls a 15m run 'Razzle Dazzle'. The biffo WAS State of Origin, the biffo WAS Rugby League. Rugby League without biffo just doesn't work. The reason why they got 64k to the ground last night is because State of Origin represents a genuine rivalry amongst the only two states that actually play the game. Their club games simply do not draw this because Rugby League is a television sport and not a fantastic live spectacle. I know this as I have been to many Rugby League games as well as Football matches and I personally know what I prefer. With League it is important to see more of the bigger picture than you do with OUR code.

Your appraisal of AFL football as it is today in my mind has many inaccuracies. I believe that the Hands in the back rule which was a disaster last season is slowly fading away as an issue in our sport. I think that the 'chopping of the arms' should probably give way. How are the defenders supposed to stop the forwards? I don't agree that the high mark or the bump has been taken out of the play. Brett Burton took an absolute screamer last week and there have been plenty of others as well. What has been taken out of the game is planting your hands in the back while getting a lift. The true aerialists have not been disadvantaged. What is also being taken out of the game is the head high shots. I find the rulings of the MRP as mystifying as you and Choco but to me that looked a reportable offence, even if the penalty was a little too severe. You applaud Rugby League for taking out the biffo but critisise the AFL for attempting to do the same thing. The difference is that with our code their is something else to it.

I also disagreee with your comment about the spectators turning up. The AFL is regularly drawing in record crowds (per season) this decade. The clubs have more members than ever before. I'm not too sure about the West Sydney club either but I think there is room for a Gold Coast team.

Boys, I believe there is a no neck in our midst!

regards,

REB

[GWW]

Whats your view on Union, REB? Prefer it to RL? I know personally that i do.

[Interceptor]

Spot on REB, agree with much of that, so I won't bother to reiterate too much.

Watched most of the game last night and was relatively unimpressed (I've watched SOO before).
League (and Union) simply don't come close to Aussie Rules as a good spectacle.

Most of the game is just one player short passing to other player who might make a few metres, but is then clobbered in a gang tackle. There is very little of the running athleticism on display in every game of Aussie Rules.

Apart from the actual tries, it was evident that there was very little in game for the commentary team to get excited about. It was very repetitive stuff and the crowd became bored enough to start a Mexican wave in the second half.

Yes, some of the rules and interpretations the AFL have brought in are somewhat 'embarassing' for the code, but it's still the far superior game.

[Rik E Boy]

Whats your view on Union, REB? Prefer it to RL? I know personally that i do.

I actually enjoy Union and League despite my little rant above, I just didn't really agree with the OP. I enjoy my Union but I can't understand the bloody rules. I at least like to have some knowledge of what I am whinging about when I go crook at the ref (otherwise I might as well be a Blackbirds supporter ha ha). I enjoy the flow of Union but it is a code that can be totally destroyed by an over zealous umpire. Not enough teams play running attacking rugby either and revert to 'England Mode'. Whenever a team does this I'd rather be watching the Roosters (That's Easts not those Prospect scrubbers).

regards,

REB

[Punk Rooster]

Whenever a team does this I'd rather be watching the Roosters (That's Easts not those Prospect scrubbers).

regards,

REB

how long would it take me to get to Ipswich?

[Hondo]

Very well said REB

I can't stand AFL bashing it's bad enough on the SANFL Board here

Thanks to Geelong changing the way the game is played I don't have to defend the AFL so much these days.

The hands in the back thing is now shown up to be a non-event and IMO is helping the game. Burgoyne's 3 game susp seemed harsh to me too but it's not enough for me the say the game is flushing down the toilet.

I started to watch a bit of the NRL last night but as always, I just can't get into it.

[am Bays]

Was it Rugby League last night???

Second row feeds in teh scrums, touch football play the ball, i.e roll the ball abackwards isntead of using the foot and redicuously over TV refereed game.

If you ever want an example of a sport that sold its soul to appease TV to artificially make it fast and to remove the old fashioned forwards skills of scrimmaging and teh role of the hooker it is Rugby LEague.

Whilst I am not an expert like REB I too unfortunaely grew up on 'League as our ABC TV feed in the 80s, to the NT was from Sydney. No SANFL for me from the age of 10-18 all NSWRL. Two different codes now-a-days. All Rugby League is now is touch football with tackling.

Rugby League as we knew it died with News Ltd and Super League as it sodl its sould both SL and the ARL to TV.

[Alaska]

REB

I am coming at it from a slightly different, perhaps warped point of view. I have seen very little League live although I did enjoy going down to watch the Rams on a Friday night. Also like you said I needed to get up in the stand to appreciate it fully with all those extras on the sidelines and the different tactics involved. Similar to the Gridiron at the Pines but at least the stand is close and high enough to give a bigger picture. Some of the tries in the far corner at Adelaide Oval were just a blur. Furthermore as has been mentioned I did like the old Maninga and Wally Lewis days. I just think the whole package as marketed across the country seems to be working and if their show case is State of Origin and if we see two rows of huge blokes crunching into each other great I enjoyed it. I did enjoy that live the smack of those bodies across the field. Again perhaps the shows on Fox have enticed me more this season than previous offerings.

My concern with AFL is in the lower grades where the officials are interpreting the new rules very strictly indeed. To see, not so highly skilled players U14, U17, Ressies and Country A Grade footballers trying to play where there is no hands in the back, chopping (why have backmen), no bumping, no chasing the hard ball is destroying the spectacle. My worry is at this level we are hacking at the fabric of AFL.

We have record numbers at Auskick now and we have an opportunity to drive the great game forward but we also have massive numbers leaving in U14’s and U17s. Challenges are here now and the AFL is our ruler in this regard.

And last your tag NO NECK massive call for a 57kg Wingman …back in the day.

[JK]

I still think the AFL has perhaps gone a little too far with it's rule changes ... There's no way the game is soft and the head should certainly be sacrosanct, but the rules have gotten to the stage where a player going for a contested ball is almost going to do so uncontested.

[Rik E Boy]

Whenever a team does this I'd rather be watching the Roosters (That's Easts not those Prospect scrubbers).

regards,

REB

how long would it take me to get to Ipswich?

As a Collingwood fan Punky you'd fit right in with the locals. Good to see that my North gibe wasn't wasted heh heh.

No worries Al, my 'no neck' comment was a snide little shot suggesting that a 'Leaguey' had infiltrated our esteemed ranks.

regards,

REB

[Strawb]

I like both but with the way prices are going i am leaning towards the NRL more here in Melbourne. The only time I go to the AFL is when I win tickets other than that I stay at home and watch it on telly and Ray Warren is 110% better then Bruce.

[Psyber]

I have always been told there is Rugby Union, and there is Thugby, but I have never watched a game of either.

[Booney]

It was difficult to not get involved in the atmosphere the crowd at ANZ created last night and the first few hits of either a SOO or Aussie Test are a must see as the big blokes hold nothing back.But where is the biff? I want to see more biff,we all do,except those mums and dads who have little Johnny Thugby running around the back yard wanting to be the next Willie Mason.They wouldnt let the kids play it if there was as much biff as there used to be.Same applies to Aussie rules.

Perhaps as REB said the Club V Club has lost its gloss as there are just too many of them for the population to evenly spread themselves over,one thing I fear for the 17th and 18th teams the AFL are poised to introduce.

[evans01]

Was it Rugby League last night???

Second row feeds in teh scrums, touch football play the ball, i.e roll the ball abackwards isntead of using the foot and redicuously over TV refereed game.

If you ever want an example of a sport that sold its soul to appease TV to artificially make it fast and to remove the old fashioned forwards skills of scrimmaging and teh role of the hooker it is Rugby LEague.

Whilst I am not an expert like REB I too unfortunaely grew up on 'League as our ABC TV feed in the 80s, to the NT was from Sydney. No SANFL for me from the age of 10-18 all NSWRL. Two different codes now-a-days. All Rugby League is now is touch football with tackling.

Rugby League as we knew it died with News Ltd and Super League as it sodl its sould both SL and the ARL to TV.

wot are u talkin about tassie??....sold its soul etc???......sure there was the super league (which was a few years ago) but other than that league has done nothing different from the afl....

if you gonna make Big Statements like that you might wanna give some genuine examples .

i live in brissy and have for the last 14 years and league appears to be sold to the masses in no different way to wot afl is...........coz at the end of the day its the punters choice...

[SDK]

Personally I enjoyed the game last night and usually do plus Union tests.
I agree with Alaska that the extra two teams there will be a financial drain......disaster is my word !
Shit they moved the Lions from the Gold coast because no one went there...the Kangaroos drew nobody last week.....now they want to locate a new team there permanently ?
They say only a fool does the same thing over and over but expects a different result.
Two more teams dilute the talent and lower the standard.......look at lasts weeks AFL game with the best players playing...how good were the skills ???????

[am Bays]

What I'm saying is in a bid to make it more attractive and "entertaining" - i.e. speed up the play the ball, de-power the scrum - make it a fait accompli that the side feeding it will get it and the 40- 20 rule - put sides in a position to score tries rather than just gain territory. RL has changed how it is played far more so than Australian football has in a bid to make it more attractive and entertaining to TV than say Austrlain rules has.

Yes the aggression and biff has been taken out of both games along with teh high contact. But IMO RL has changed its ethos in a bid to be more entertaining than AFL has.

Hey I admit the AFl has changed in recent years too (one reason why I far more enjoy teh SANFL than the AFL) to make it harder for defender (hands in the back rule and chopping teh arms) but it hasn't chnaged as much as RL has.

Tell me with all the play the ball breaches last night how many penalties did you see. I only watched the 2nd half but I reckon every set of six had at least one play the ball breach which is so obvious to see (the foot doesn't touch the ball) but none of them were called. It has been happening in league like that for 10 years along with 2nd row feeds. Its is why Hookers are now glorified half backs picked for their ability out of dummy half (pass the ball) not for their ability as a rake.