I'm surprised no one has commented on this article in the age today - apologies if I have missed the thread.

Perfect storm engulfing the AFL's heartland

There are a lot of comments appended to the article which indicates manyf people are not happy, or at least those who are not happy are pretty fired-up about it.

He's right about the effect of players around the ball. Even on TV the spectator often has no idea what is happening - and no chance as a spectator at the match on the other side of the field. I don't know how the flashing advertisements affect spectators since I can only go Manuka, but the spruikers at the GWS games drive me crazy.

Yes Sue good topic, but I'll think about what I'm going to say first....

A big part of me not going to games is I get up at 4:30am, I live a two hour drive from the G, so if the games at 3:20, I get home at 8:30ish

A 4:40 forget it, unless I take annual leave the next day which I have done this year for some games.

The standard of the game is poor, I use to watch most games start to finish, now I'll watch some, have it on in the back ground and usually try and watch Hawthorn games since they are good to watch. But TBH I'm more excited about the NFL in 50 days time than the finals.

It's integral that teams like Melbourne perform better because playing at the MCG, we do tend to attract good crowds when playing well. We averaged 39,000 per home game in 2005, compared to 26,000 this year. Even in 2008 we averaged 30,000. Imagine if we were a half decent football club the past 10 years? We'd have 50,000 members and average 50,000 a game.

Carlton home average has dropped off about 5k-6k since 2008.

Collingwood has dropped off 13,000.

Bombers have somehow improved by 3,000.

Biggest drop off undoubtedly is in Collingwood. Hawthorn does not have as many Melbourne fans as their membership base suggests, with only 40,000 per home game.

I put down a drop in Victoria attendance to Collingwood falling off a bit since 2010, and teams like Melbourne being an indictment on the entertainment value of the sport in Victoria. This club has actively turned people away.

The AFL is slowly coming to the realisation that congestion is killing the game and it is just going to get worse as players get fitter. The ‘let the game evolve’ camp have had enough time and the game has evolved to garbage. Zones at stoppages, interchange caps and 16 per side should be brought in from 2016.

How long will it take for players to be shunted back to Zones?

I read some one say a 15 - 20 meter zone around ball ups would help.

For most part the game has become an ugly spectacle. I am surprised that there is not a greater clamour for rule changes to redress the decline. Coaches want to win games and will employ whatever tactic they think will achieve this objective. However, the game as a spectacle is the loser. For the good of the game something must be done to stop the rolling scrum, packs, and negative tactics. Sure there are still highlights and times when a side attacks and carry the ball in an exhilarating fashion but 75% of the play consists of ugly mauls and players negating their opponents. Unless this problem is redressed, fewer and fewer fans will go to the games and instead will simply use their phones and TVs to catch the results. Aussie rules cannot continue this way if it is to remain popular. Soccer and to a lesser extent rugby will be the winners.

I love 2015 footy. It's great.

While I generally like Rohan Connolly's writing, this one's a bit facile. I can think of other reasons why people might have lost interest. For example, I'm sick of seeing the same few teams on free to air TV at night. I don't have a chance to watch daytime games, which mean I've consistently had Carlton, Richmond, Geelong, Sydney and Hawthorn games to watch. As a consequence, I cannot recognise the players in teams like St Kilda, Bulldogs, Freo or WCE (and others). That, in turn, means I don't appreciate the competition as much as I should because I don't know enough about these other teams.

I believe reducing the interchange rotations to 10 or 15 a quarter would be a good start.

We don't need zones, it's not our way. The evolution of the interchange rules is what's lead to the rolling scrum that is modern football. It hit 160 a game before the non effective cap we have now was brought in but we need to get radical to force coaches back into positional play.

I'd limit the interchange to 4 per quarter and get rid of the stupid sub rule. Each player on the bench can be brought onto the ground during the quarter but the player who comes off is off till the next siren. Coaches would be free to make more changes at the breaks.

It's simple and it would change the game overnight. Players wouldn't be able to run up and down all day with constant breaks and the game would open right up.

The game is crap now.

I love 2015 footy. It's great.

you have to be kidding. please tell me why you think 2015 footy is great.

The football played by Hawthorn and West Coast this season is as good as that played by any team in recent memory. Other teams have played decent football on occasion, even us once or twice.

The problem is when teams such as us try to minimise losses and drag the opposition down to our level. The games are appalling spectacles.

If the AFL decide that zones are too difficult to implement, the other option is to reduce the number of players on the field to 15-16 a side.

The appalling TV coverage, both the games covered and the manner in which they are covered, has to be contributing to the declining interest.

The other factor is the scheduling of games - the AFL will lose future generations if they can't watch games. My son is five, and there are only four of the nine time slots each week that I would consider bringing him to. And that doesn't allow for the fact that most finals are played at night now.

you have to be kidding. please tell me why you think 2015 footy is great

Must be 15 Ernest and has no knowledge of what the game used to like.

There's good games and bad games. The two latest expansion sides, GCS and GWS have diluted the talent pool (for the time being because it will eventually correct itself) and they have also added an extra 46 games to the H&A season.

This situation will improve naturally as the competition rights itself after significant growth. I agree that the sub rule should be shitcanned and rotations dropped even further. Sixteen per side on the playing field definitely allows for freer flowing footy because I've played many games like this throughout my career but it simply won't happen.

With eighteen clubs in the league it makes me wonder whether we should just play each other once and then have a top and bottom 8 finals series but that would probably detract from the whole Grand Finalists making it all the way.

Lots of issues within the sport but the more administrators screw with it the worse it gets.

Good games and bad games. Unfortunately we play in the latter.

Are the crowds leaving the game because of the way the game is being run or the game itself. I tend to think the former rather than the latter.

There will and should always be tinkering done. However poor visual TV angle coverage and favouring certain teams over others does nothing to

help perceptions in the public domain.

Finally I would think that The MCC and Australian Sports Commissions, even the Minister, are worried about the AFL's piecemeal dithering.

I believe reducing the interchange rotations to 10 or 15 a quarter would be a good start.

or no interchanges except for injury treatment and that player then can't return for 15mins (or whatever)

max 3 interchange/replacement players

Must be 15 Ernest and has no knowledge of what the game used to like.

yep thinking the same thing Old Dee

As much as I bemoan the constant alterations to the game, the stoppage fest we're currently seeing on a weekly basis needs to be looked at very soon, if not now. The game is showing little sign of growing out of it and frankly it's an ugly, uninspiring spectacle at present. "Seagulls fighting over a chip" has never been more appropriate.

Simple fixes would be a) capping the rotations allowing the game to open up in the second half (injuries will happen regardless and I don't buy the theory that the injury toll will skyrocket as a result); and b) actually rewarding the tackler and reducing the leniency given to the man in possession. More free kicks means less congestion. Get it done and let's see some free flowing footy, like it used to be and the way it was intended to be.

you have to be kidding. please tell me why you think 2015 footy is great.

I'd rather watch a CONTEST than watch pairs of fat bastards around the ground attack and pretend to defend.

The golden-age syndrome groupthink on here sickens me.

I've been saying this since 2007 but I think it's actually detrimental to performance that so many players follow the ball around.

Must be 15 Ernest and has no knowledge of what the game used to like.

I'd rather be 15 and happy than 75 and sour. No offence.

I'd rather watch a CONTEST than watch pairs of fat bastards around the ground attack and pretend to defend.

The golden-age syndrome groupthink on here sickens me.

Well there is always wrestling for you. Most of us like a physical contest too but we also like the things that aussie rules has that rugby and wrestling doesn't. What about more one-on-one contests rather than all in wrestling?

Not 75 (yet) and quite happy thanks.

Not surprised at all with the drop off last year, more to do with the price of admission rising and scheduling.

Also, there's absolutely no evidence an interchange cap will/is make the game better, people just assume a low interchange cap will bring the game back to its glory days, when in fact it's more likely to make coaches even more conservative.