It’s failing the eye test. Fans and former players alike are growing increasingly frustrated with the game after game of ugly, low-scoring, congested play.
It’s delivering frightening numbers. Twenty games and counting since a team last topped 100 points. Four goals total between the Demons and Cats in the first half.
Sixty-nine Hawthorn tackles without a single holding the ball free-kick. And it’s now drawing all kinds of rule change suggestions as to the footy public attempts to solve what is now crystal clear – the game is trending in a direction no one wants to watch it’s concerning and very easy to switch off when once this beautiful game of our tradition was a spectator spectacle not anymore AFL needs to act and act quickly.
The first half between Geelong and Melbourne showed why football is in danger of strangling itself. As the game was played between the arcs, four goals from 310 possessions were mind-numbing. There was no daring as seemingly both teams were too concerned about being scored against on turnover.
Leading coaches Alastair Clarkson and Chris Scott both spoke out on Sunday after the Hawks edged the Roos 58-54, a dour slug-fest that followed the Cats’ even more dour 47-44 win against the Demons. If that’s the spectacle that we’re trying to search for in our game, then our game’s in a dreadful space,” Clarkson said.
“The AFL can’t be happy. Scott called on the AFL to stop asking coaches to solve the problems and put it in the hands of the rule-makers. But he said reducing the number of players on the field would have an impact. Last week there was a string of somewhat practice games 16v16 & 14v14 and the end result was fast-paced moving footy game, however, traditionalists say stop mucking around with the game, it’s never going back to what it was. AFL greats have mentioned and want both sides forced to keep two players inside the 50m arc at both ends at all times.
This would mean a maximum of 28 players between the arcs and hopefully more space for quick ball movement.
If You want to break congestion up, then limit the players that can vacate their forward line We may get some more contests and we might get some more high marking from your forwards and we might get some more bags of goals.
