The pre-game warmup is dead

[daisycutter 29,738]

riveting revelation from the afl

[FireInTheBennelly 4,099]

Makes no difference to us, we use the first quarter as a warm up.

[La Dee-vina Comedia 16,909]

16 minutes ago, forever demons said:

sick to death of the afl changing things for no obvious reason ,if its not broken dont fix it

If the AFL re-introduced curtain raisers, then they will be fixing something that broke when curtain raisers were abolished. I seem to recall that the decision to abolish curtain raisers was justified as a way to protect playing surfaces. With the new high quality playing surfaces that now exist right around the country (and the way that grounds can be repaired with replacement turf) that argument no longer exists. So, it could be that the AFL is actually about to fix something that is broken rather than the other way around.

(And I don't think it was the AFL's decision to abolish curtain raisers. I think it was the ground managers wanting to limit damage to the ground surface.)  

Edited March 5, 2018 by La Dee-vina Comedia
typo fix

[forever demons 2,228]

3 minutes ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

If the AFL re-introduced curtain raisers, then they will be fixing something that broke when curtain raisers were abolished. I seem to recall that the decision to abolish curtain raisers was justified as a way to protect playing surfaces. With the new high quality playing surfaces that now exist right around the country (and the way that grounds can be repaired with replacement turf) that argument no longer exists. So, it could be that the AFL is actually about to fix something that is broken rather than the other way around.

(And I don't think it was the AFL's decision to abolish curtain raisers. I think it was the ground managers wanting to limit damage to the ground surface.)  

tell me what are they fixing

[Straight Sets Simon 23,113]

Whilst these changes aren't the end of the world, there is a feeling in the air that things could get worse.

If even a fraction of what is written in the below article is true then the AFL will destroy itself:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/future-melbourne/future-of-footy-soccer-poses-afls-biggest-threat/news-story/aa9868267b76c50f674046aaac3bdacc?nk=16ce8b887442afd6f2b3da85ecbbd55d-1520215243

People like Keith Thomas need to leave the game before they cause more damage.

[Macca 17,034]

What is the purpose of this decision ... to gain more publicity? 

What harm are the clubs doing by having their players warm up before the game?  It's just another nonsense decision. 

Meanwhile,  the biggest issue (congestion,  stoppages/packs,  rolling mauls) goes on seemingly without any intervention. 

[Diamond_Jim 12,628]

Have no issue with the four emergencies IF the VFL games are reasonably co-ordinated to allow the emergency to play in the VFL game.

Not as though ruckmen grow on trees.

The other moves I assume are for television purposes .. ad breaks etc.

In the main I don't bother with the pre-game anlaysis but if you think about it the TV stations would consider it prime advertising time

[old dee 23,872]

6 minutes ago, Macca said:

What is the purpose of this decision ... to gain more publicity? 

What harm are the clubs doing by having their players warm up before the game?  It's just another nonsense decision. 

Meanwhile,  the biggest issue (congestion,  stoppages/packs,  rolling mauls) goes on seemingly without any intervention. 

Spot on Macca. But they got the price of pies down for 5 minutes!

[Macca 17,034]

Just now, old dee said:

Spot on Macca. But they got the price of pies down for 5 minutes!

Yep ... the old adage of 'any publicity is good publicity' probably applies here. 

We might start to see curtain raisers but can't we have both?  And why get rid of the curtain raisers in the first place. 

They wanted the clubs to get rid of their reserve teams and that didn't work either. 

[daisycutter 29,738]

Quote

Whilst these changes aren't the end of the world, there is a feeling in the air that things could get worse.

If even a fraction of what is written in the below article is true then the AFL will destroy itself:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/future-melbourne/future-of-footy-soccer-poses-afls-biggest-threat/news-story/aa9868267b76c50f674046aaac3bdacc?nk=16ce8b887442afd6f2b3da85ecbbd55d-1520215243

People like Keith Thomas need to leave the game before they cause more damage.

another university based piece of attention seeking speculation

nothing to see here, move on 

slow day in the media

Edited March 5, 2018 by daisycutter

[Sir Why You Little 37,131]

49 minutes ago, Clint Bizkit said:

Whilst these changes aren't the end of the world, there is a feeling in the air that things could get worse.

If even a fraction of what is written in the below article is true then the AFL will destroy itself:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/future-melbourne/future-of-footy-soccer-poses-afls-biggest-threat/news-story/aa9868267b76c50f674046aaac3bdacc?nk=16ce8b887442afd6f2b3da85ecbbd55d-1520215243

People like Keith Thomas need to leave the game before they cause more damage.

How awful that would be. Hope i am either long dead, or at a point where my interest is with other things. 

Aussie rules without having to bounce the ball when running, without point posts, an offside rule and limited tackling,removes all the elements that make our game original. 

I am so sick of old bastards pulling the rules apart and telling me it’s better. 

We should be proud of our game...

i need to punch a wall. ? 

Edited March 5, 2018 by Sir Why You Little

[sue 9,145]

3 minutes ago, Sir Why You Little said:

How awful that would be. Hope i am either long dead, or at a point where my interest is with other things. 

Aussie rules without having to bounce the ball when running, without point posts, an offside rule and limited tackling,removes all the elements that make our game original. 

I so sick of old bastards pulling the rules apart and telling me it’s better. 

We should be proud of our game...

i need to punch a wall. ? 

Quite right.  The cultural cringe still exists it seems.  Aussie rules is about the only unique thing about this country.  Be proud of it. 

[Dee Dee 1,117]

2 hours ago, Vagg said:

I'm gobsmacked, if true!  With the massive amount of space under all those massive Stands, surely there has to be HEAPS of space for an endless number of changerooms!  If not, what on earth is all that space used for??

Well to start with there is a huge 500 + car park plus various catering,  workshops and storage facilities. That’s not to say more changerooms couldn’t be built but probably when the great southern stand is redeveloped. I must admit my knowledge of the bowels of the MCG is pretty well restricted to the northern side and its quite a mess. But I understand the southern side is similar.

[La Dee-vina Comedia 16,909]

23 minutes ago, Sir Why You Little said:

How awful that would be. Hope i am either long dead, or at a point where my interest is with other things. 

Aussie rules without having to bounce the ball when running, without point posts, an offside rule and limited tackling,removes all the elements that make our game original. 

I am so sick of old bastards pulling the rules apart and telling me it’s better. 

We should be proud of our game...

i need to punch a wall. ? 

I think it might be the young ones, not the old ones, who seem to think change is required.

[La Dee-vina Comedia 16,909]

1 hour ago, forever demons said:

tell me what are they fixing

Bringing back curtain raisers (if that's what they are doing). Putting on AFLW or VFL games before the main AFL game would be substantially more enjoyable than watching 20 minutes of players warming up.

[The Chazz 4,077]

1 hour ago, forever demons said:

sick to death of the afl changing things for no obvious reason ,if its not broken dont fix it

The players didn't warm up on the ground until late 90's/early 00's.  Prior to that, it was warm ups in the dressing room, that's it.

Did you complain about them changing something back then that wasn't broken?  I suspect not.

[—coach— 3,496]

Thank goodness I don’t have to watch those bothersome warm up routines anymore, instead I can get back to watching the grass grow ?

[Macca 17,034]

10 minutes ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

Bringing back curtain raisers (if that's what they are doing). Putting on AFLW or VFL games before the main AFL game would be substantially more enjoyable than watching 20 minutes of players warming up.

The pre-game warm up is a functional exercise ... I highly doubt that the pre-game was ever designed to entertain.  A number of other sports have the players warming up before the game and again,  its a functional thing (NRL,  NFL,  NBA,  MLB,  NHL,  Super Rugby etc)

 The pre-game entertainment would probably work better if the duration of the games were 2 hours in total (instead of 3 hours) ... that extra hour means the game itself takes full precedence.

[forever demons 2,228]

13 minutes ago, The Chazz said:

The players didn't warm up on the ground until late 90's/early 00's.  Prior to that, it was warm ups in the dressing room, that's it.

Did you complain about them changing something back then that wasn't broken?  I suspect not.

yes

[forever demons 2,228]

21 minutes ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

Bringing back curtain raisers (if that's what they are doing). Putting on AFLW or VFL games before the main AFL game would be substantially more enjoyable than watching 20 minutes of players warming up.

how do you get the idea they are bringing back the curtain raisers

[The Chazz 4,077]

4 minutes ago, forever demons said:

yes

Well, why are you whinging that they are changing it back then?

[sue 9,145]

8 minutes ago, forever demons said:

how do you get the idea they are bringing back the curtain raisers

wishful thinking as far as I can see.

[forever demons 2,228]

4 minutes ago, The Chazz said:

Well, why are you whinging that they are changing it back then?

because they are changing not fixing something

[La Dee-vina Comedia 16,909]

30 minutes ago, forever demons said:

how do you get the idea they are bringing back the curtain raisers

Well, I did add "if that's what they're doing" precisely because I don't know. But, I could see reasons why they might. For example, next year the AFLW will expand with 2 more teams, with further expansion in 2020. That means a longer AFLW season. They could start the AFLW earlier...or start when they do now and continue on past the start of the AFL season. If it's the latter, it might make sense to play AFLW games as curtain raisers.  In addition as more clubs are going back to standalone VFL teams, perhaps VFL matches could be played as curtain raisers. By playing AFLW or VFL games before the AFL game, I expect costs would be reduced (because they are playing at a venue which is already staffed) and possibly increasing potential attendances for those games.

[Diamond_Jim 12,628]

Cannot see the VFL coming back as the curtain raiser but the double header with the AFLW is a real possibility.

AFLW can still have the early start to the season and then they come together etc to bring the season to an end up until say end of May.

Grounds will be in good condition etc until that time.

Not sure how you deal with AFLW finals which have to move next year to a final 4 at the very least.