Diamond_Jim

Merit in what you say but in reality these events are largely glorified trade missions and are heavily subsidized by DFAT. and equivalent State Government bodies... The real sunk cost in China has come from the ground renovations which cost several million. Not sure that the USA is a natural market but I am sure someone has done the sums on several possibilities. As to growing the game itself as distinct from the more esoteric idea of growing the TV audience this is just dreaming. Even the growth of the TV audience is a long shot. Would not surprise me if the AFL is given away for free to most of the foreign pay TV services.

Good game KC got the benefit of two close decisions which could have gone either way. The half time entertainment was woeful. While the singers may be very good their choice of songs and the over production using dancers left a lot to be desired.

Once went to an ice hockey game. It was the first of a play off series between the Washington Capitals and the Penguins. Very strange rules. Had no idea what was going on most of the time with seemingly more players in the sin bin than on the ice. Must be similar for a first time viewer of AFL. From my American friends test cricket is their hardest to appreciate. I tell them it's much the same for us and baseball. Many people with team colours but 95% with one player on their jacket.... Ovechkin... felt sorry for the other members of the team

in a perfect world you would have a choice between three sound tracks being full commentary, light commentary (soccer like...minimal words) and just crowd noise. Hard to think of other sports where you get a radio style commentary while play is in progress

we should be honest.... we all turn the sound up when we are 30plus points ahead in the last quarter. Need I say more Speeeeeeeeeciallllll Cyril...................

Slow I agree but it's the perfect TV game. The permutations are relatively limited and therefore the TV camera angles are second to none. Best watched on replay with the ff button. Harder to do these days without knowing the scores in advance. Go Skins

one of those famous...it seemed like a good idea at the time activities !

Interesting wonder who will play. The Marsh series have extended benches which does not leave that many missing out if you assume an injury list of say three (a marvellous number for MFC). Will they allow the Casey listed players to play to make up numbers etc

Time perhaps for the broadcasters to give multiple streams so you can follow how you like it. Foxtel cricket gave you a choice between their sky camera and the traditional view. It didn't do much for me as cricket is a different game for viewing purposes but I think it would be useful for AFL. Kayo being forced to take the channel 7 feed for many AFL games is a real downer for the product as well.

If he does make it his nickname should definitely be Starman For those wishing to dig deeper into the allegory.... search the Golden Calf of 1912

we stayed out of the top draft for two or more years and have sold next year. It's time

Marvellous..... reminds me of a time I went to watch a socceroos closed practice in a faraway country. Your understanding of what they were doing was far better than mine. Now... do we have a new game plan....

Of course we do well... they are always held in an even year !! 2000 also springs to mind

definitely worthy of a discussion. Inter club movement in the AFL is limited relative to many other world sports. Not sure why but I suspect the relatively small salary cap has something to do with it.

Frankly you would expect a few rumblings in the off field area after 2019. Their budgeted figures were massacred and it is not too much to think that their sponsor KPI's were far from maximised (ratings and finals just to mention two). The blame quite rightly fell on the coaching staff and in the main they are now gone save for number 1. Running a club with the downs and relatively occasional ups of the MFC must be hell.... (but of course the puff piece said we are now back from hell.) No one saw the possibility of 17th in 2019 nor did they see that the season would be effectively finished after so few rounds. Next time you are at a medium level MFC match count the number of super boxes that are open. We've a long way to go.

Does anyone know how the finances work for these games. Does the MFC pay the Hawks anything, a lump sum or a fee per head? Thanks

During the bye we must revisit all these fluff pieces. Could make a great montage

Agree but at 22 he'd be mad to sign a deal of that length. His next contract will be 3/4 years and the one after that will be the money contract not to say that his next deal will be cheap.

I doubt it. The contract will have a base but you can be reasonably certain that it is full of all sorts of adders and that if in year 6 he's still AA he'll be one of their top paid players. He's only 25.. so it's not like the Buddy contract that took the player out to 34 years plus. If it had been a ten year contract I think there would be more merit in your argument. From Grundy's viewpoint he has secured his "injury future" with a seven year guaranteed base of at at least $600k plus the upside. I suspect that the base for the first two or three years might even be higher than the remaining four. Will we offer Gawn a similar deal. I doubt it. He's 3 years older than Grundy. Our decision will be four or the five years that Gawn will probably ask for. I'd be happy to give Gawn 3 years guaranteed high money with two year lower plus incentives.

some great comments in that thread. Noticed this one.... but who was Barry? Master Demon Members 5,811 4,595 posts Gender:Male Report post #331 Posted November 22, 2012 You forgot Barry. I know you said "etc" but Hogan and Barry remain as "twins".

Agree but I think that is what makes Grundy so valuable and much the same with Gawn. Decent if not very good ruckmen but also very good around the ground. It effectively gives a team another player. Your point though abut the importance of ruckmen is well made. Going forward I see the perfect ruck combination being two or even three talls who are primarily backmen or forwards rotating through the ruck position. It's another example of the modern game making some positions irrelevant eg. centre, half forward flank, wing

I suspect the contract has many KPI's and indices together with a large guaranteed base. https://www.afl.com.au/news/366351/pie-for-life-in-demand-big-man-signs-monster-long-term-deal "The ruckman, who was set to become a free agent at the end of this year, will now be tied to the Magpies until the end of the 2027 season. Negotiations saw the offer jump from an initial three-year term to five years before the Magpies bumped it to seven years, which Grundy had always been chasing."

Is this what we class as an interrupted pre-season ?

booze is rather hard to find in Bangladesh and is super expensive. I think of it as my dry month. Much easier to find and affordable in India. you would think with all that sobriety the road toll would be nil... but ........ I take the local motor bike service around Dhaka as the cars get stuck in the traffic. Hard to say which is worse.... Saigon or Dhaka

it has second and third class as well. Up front on the middle level is the first class seating area. Best river views in the world for a few dollars. Mind you finding out the boat schedule and buying tickets is an artform. Self conducted tours of the engine room are a must and the giant paddles are shielded by a bit of chickenwire. No alcohol I'm afraid.