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I find myself sitting here, the day after, wondering if this has genuinely been a good year for the AFL in terms of showcasing the sport and taking it to a new level. The general footy public mainly think it was the bees knees and I get that straight after a sleeping giant has triumphed, even haters of Collingwood are getting swept up in the Eurphoria of it, there's a reason they are the most talked about sporting club in the country. But let's look at it as a whole, did this season do what the AFL wanted it to do? Off the top of my head the Gather Round appeared to have been a success and the level playing field and standard of finals games but I think of the following things and don't know if they add up to a great look for the league: - Concussion: Does the AFL care enough? The Alir and Jones incident was a total joke. Then the Maynard and Gus incident, the player got off and the story sold papers but did we actually learn anything from it? - Fixturing: Where do you start? - The MRO: New rules every week and what could now appear to be a conflict of interest in the position. No consistency. - The rules: Still no clarity on the stand rule and a heavy penalty for the slightest of movements on the mark. A heap more nonsense 50 metre penalties and a sport that has never been harder to explain to a new fan. - The Brownlow: Losing more credibility. Yes Neale's year may have been better than we thought but the number of shock 3 voters and non votes for others seemed high. - And lastly, the umpiring: I take nothing away from Collingwood who have been toughest the longest in 2023. But with wins by 7 points, 1 point and 4 points, knocking out a key player in the first, having at least 3 no calls in the prelim go their way and then the rub of the green in the Grand Final culminating with the most ridiculous advantage of all time, it's almost fitting that this season was underlined with that as the exclamation point. Nothing is ever perfect but I felt this season missed the mark on quite a few quality metrics. A big club winning the flag is not papering over the cracks, it's wallpapering over a gaping hole. The league has got their TV cash and Gil leaves on his horse into the sunset while Dil picks put a new $5k Herman Miller task chair for the office. Yes there is some saltiness right now but I'm keen to hear views on this. Was it a good season for the AFL and the game in general? Happy to hear both sides, keep it respectful.