Macca

Here's the game that broke the 23 year drought of non finals appearances. With 1 of our former coaches commentating on the game. 5 players kicked 17 goals between them for the MFC in the game ... can you guess which 5 without checking the details? The game was fast, furious and we played great football.

Agree in part DW but this talk about this so-called 1 player being infected is along the lines of that player being expendable. And I'm not saying that that is your opinion either. I'm largely agreeing with the crux of your argument but I'd postpone the season start if it were up to me. It wouldn't be 1 player only anyway ... if a player tests positive to the virus then that player will have been exposed to any number of other people within his own club. Who then expose others. Family members, grandparents et al. And if games have been played then the virus could easily have been transmitted to a player from another club where the process is repeated. This virus is highly contageous so to think that only 1 singular person will be the end of it is just not going to be the logical conclusion. 1 could = 100 and if that happens then the playing of games could be seen as an irresponsible act. Why take the risk when the harder decision is to just go without - that won't kill anyone but the virus might. Sport is a non essential activity where as working for a living and travelling to and from work is essential. Although that could all change as well.

He's got nowhere to go to Skuit unless he wants to work for a club in the Ukranian League ?

On a broader scale nearly all big sport worldwide has been shut down ... playing in front of empty stadiums is not even an option for sporting bodies around the globe. Anyway, we could go back and forth forever on this issue. Lets agree to disagree.

We can't shut down everything but sport is a non essential activity whilst we're in this crisis. Businesses, commerce and the like can close down for a period but not indefinitely. Otherwise another greater issue can be created

Players can have the virus but not show any visible signs of having the virus. And the virus is highly contageous as we all know. And it's a contact sport (footy) with a lot of congestion. It's not a stretch to state that an undetected player can pass the disease on to another unsuspecting player who can then pass the virus on to family members (which can include grandparents and the like) High risk in my opinion. The sensible move would be to delay the start of the season until it's safe (or safer) to proceed. The government could also step in and decree that contact sport (or any sport) needs to be shut down. Or at least, sporting bodies could be advised as such. A lot of minor sport has been put on hold for the reasons outlined above

I'm not sure the players will get a choice if there aren't any games or it's a reduced season. Are their contracts that watertight? If businesses close down employees can access holiday pay etc but when that runs out employers wouldn't be obliged to keep paying their employees if they weren't required to come to work The same conditions would apply to footy as footy is classed as another workplace like any other business. Many other people in the entertainment industry will simply lose their income if their industry is shut down or partly shut down.

I know footy means a lot to many but whether the games go ahead or not should be the least of our concerns. We've still got Books, Radio, TV, Music, access to movies etc etc. No sport means absolutely nothing to me right now. Lets face it, sports fans have been spoilt rotten for decades so surely we can go without for a time. My attitude is that any footy we get this year will be a total bonus. Stay safe and stay healthy demonlanders.

Agreed DJ ... I know of many people who are quite possibly losing or will lose their primary form of income sooner rather than later. So those in the entertainment business are no different to anyone else. Besides which, if the FD & players continue to get paid the clubs will go broke. Simple maths. And given the money they earn they should have reserves anyway. As it stands, the clubs will need to eat into their reserves anyway and without gate receipts, Broadcast money, sponsorship money and the like, where's the money going to come from? Clubs work in a cash-flow way and often pay any sort of expense from future monies (those monies trickle in throughout the season) We're all going to have to buckle up.

Coronavirus issues aside we'll be able to have a bet somewhere you'd imagine. I'm not rusted on to local (Oz) racing and the trots & dogs are options as well (anywhere) haha For instance I backed a winner last night in a G1 race at Santa Anita overnight ( a tip from Racingpost.com) ... after having some success at Sha Tin late yesterday. So I'm playing with house money in a few selected races around the country today. I'm cramming as much in before it might go. Partly explains why the AFL are talking about playing extra games before they can't. So where does one find the form guide for the races out of 'Chile' Wadda!!

Super Rugby will be off as well you'd imagine. Quarantine rulings will close sport down. Plane travel is already problematic (who'd get on a plane now?)

Got 22-1 for our multi fellas which is more than decent odds for 3 very good chances. I've gone down the exacta path with legs 1 & 3 whilst taking out a trifecta in the Probabeel race. Hoping for 4 collects!

So have we got a contingency plan if the races are cancelled in Oz? Honkers? Europe? Chile? Bitcoin? Online Poker? We can't hit the casino and pile it all on the red as the crowd there might exceed 500. We have to find a way!

You may well be right but what about these 2 ideas? A variation on 6-6-6 could be that teams have to start with 7 forwards vs 5 backmen and vice-versa. Therefore a quick clearance from the centre bounce-downs could be quite productive As an add-on teams could be required to have X amount of players (4, 5 or 6?) in their forward line every time a stoppage is called for (boundary throw in or ball-up around the ground) That doesn't mean that the forwards couldn't venture out of the 50 arc at any time.

True in many respects but putting rules in place to help stop the coaches from having such a defensive mindset is a real possibility So take some measures now, and then see where it takes us The alternative is to do nothing and we'll just get more of the same dross that we see now.

Reducing rotations won't necessarily cause fatigue-like low skills As previously stated, players would pace themselves if the rotations were dramatically reduced and coaches would be forced to adjust their style so as the players weren't taxed too much. We'd effectively just go back to the way it once was. Again, if the AFL were on top of the situation the mess that we often see wouldn't exist. But they (the AFL) have let the coaches ruin the sport and now they don't know how to fix it. And too many here argue in a micro sense with their own club at the forefront of their thinking. Their thinking is therefore clouded. This is a macro discussion, or at least it should be. To be honest, I put all thoughts of the MFC aside when addressing the congestion issue. I'm for drastic change but I'm probably on my own in that sense.

Back in the day we used to get more of a wide angled view of footy without the needless close-ups. With all the congestion, there's no need for a wide-angled view because the ball often stays in one part of the ground for a prolonged period of time. So we get a close up view of way too much congestion. It's any wonder people are switching off.

Depends on your definition of fatigued. Players throughout the history of the game paced themselves. With rotations, players can go flat out knowing they are going to get rest. I can't remember ever seeing a game where even a small percentage of players were unable to complete basic football tasks right up to the final siren. Before the advent of the explosion in rotations, the naturally fit skilled players played out of the middle and on the wings and the rest played forward or back and were often burst players. Nowadays nearly every player is required to be an endurance athlete. It's a completely different sport but it is losing its appeal as a TV sport ... 108 million eyes down to 90 million in a 4 year stretch where as Rugby League has gone from 80 million to 98 million. The information is easy to find too ... try google to confirm (NRL trumps AFL in TV ratings war) And the AFL are duly quite concerned. 666 and the raft of changes last season and the further talk this season (reduced half time? etc) is designed to make the sport more attractive to TV viewers. Footy has to be entertaining long term, not just a contest. They need to at least maintain the Broadcast rights income but realistically, that money needs to be substantially higher to help grow the game. Going backwards just can't be part of the agenda. By contrast attendances are up and so are membership numbers. It's a much better sport live than it ever was. Rugby League is built for TV on the other hand and one could argue that that's where the disenfranchised AFL fans have gone to. It's where I've gone and I know more than a few who have done the same. An 18 million cross-over in the space of 4 years? Quite possibly. If not, it's quite a coincidence.

Dermie on SEN today said that the players of his era were just as fit as Bob Murphy's era except that they started running out of steam close to half time. He went on to say that if the players of his era were afforded the same amount of rest (because of rotations) then they'd have been on equal footing. Someone else here once mentioned that players were getting short rest time at all the stoppages. It all helps in a mini endurance sport (AFL) Youtube up 1976 Collingwood vs Melbourne and check out the pace of the game 44 years ago ... its frantic. There's a classic 2.30 video which is fascinating viewing (I was there btw) So less rotations can convert to less rest and (hopefully) less congestion and therefore less rest at the stoppages because there are fewer of them. But as you've correctly pointed out Gonzo, the coaches are not going to abandon their defensive tactics. That's here to stay. But we can make it hard for them to implement those defensive tactics by taking away the tools required. Dramatically decrease rotations and 16 per side for starters. Do that and it might become clearer on what to do next.

The real issue is the rotations DS but the games now are more suited to 16 a side anyway. My solution (which may not even work because who knows?) is 16 a side and 10 - 20 rotations per team per game The league showed great foresight in the mid 1960's with the Waverley ground. At first it was deemed as oversized but eventually it became the perfect sized ground for footy. So we can learn from the past but modern methods with regards to fitness levels has meant that 18 a side is just too many players on the ground. Combined with the defensive coaching (flooding, stoppage numbers, forward press, zones etc etc) High scoring games is not necessarily my wish either ... more so open, fast, attacking, free-flowing positional football (which, by default, leads to higher scores anyway) Who doesn't want that compared to the congested mess that we see too often these days.

All good points rjay but I don't reckon they will be reducing the rotations in a hurry ... the OH&S people would step in. And they'd probably win out too. Thus my call for 14 or 15 a side. 16 a side will still see the coaches throwing all their players on the ball when it suits. And with a probable expanded bench with 16 a side the players might end up with the same amount or greater reserves of energy The rotation numbers is the real issue though but we now live in an OH&S world rjay.

16 a side would enhance wing play rather than see it diminished Do people here honestly believe that the coaches would leave the wings vacant? And I've been calling for 16 a side for at least 5 years now ... music to my ears. But 16 a side won't fix the congestion outright. 14 or 15 a side is a better solution.

My comment about 3rd world was never directed at you even though I was talking to you! Social media can often obscure context I am 100% with you re masks ... and the Italians are heavy smokers Bad lungs & coronavirus (bad news)

Sport and other non essential activities can be shut down (as it is in Italy) but what do you do about trains, buses, workplaces etc etc. By the way ht, Italy and the other countries in Europe are not 3rd world so we should be taking measures that those countries are taking - but way sooner.

Yes, full scale prevention methods should be enacted immediately. Why wait? Who cares about sport being cancelled for a few months anyway. We'll find other ways to keep ourselves amused. And I'm a sports nut and would never class myself as an alarmist.