Opinion Rant!
- Thread starter PC
- Start date
Finally calmed down enough to login to supercoach and supercoachscores!!!!
Frigging Patrick Cripps - there is a reason for a never again list and this bloke was right at bloody top of my list. But no, I ignore that slight queezy feeling in gut and get sucked in by the return of the mighty football powers to P Cripps the Carlton captain.
Patty is going so well, I go no jack Steele, he is struggling, Touk, no he will get tagged. Patrick bloody Cripps, he will tear out a huge score and take me to heights rarely enoyed in supercoach. The Big C for Cripps the Carlton Captain. I must also thank those lovley people at St Kilda screwed us with Hayes.. Is he playing or is he sub. Take a guess you lucky supercoach coaches. Oh Joy of Joys I get kicked in the balls and screwed up the ass at the same time. Hayes doesn't play, conservative little me say no to Hayes as loophole and taking 158 from Macrae VC for the sheer enjoyment of watching Patrick bloody Cripps ripp me a new one by quarter time.
This beautiful turd of a supercoacher brings, my lowest every weekly ranking in 9 years of supercoach. There are not enough words to describe how I feel come 5pm on Sunday night.
To top it off, I find out it was barely a tweak and they took him off purely as a precaution. **** precaution; don't these blokes know we have our emotions and family stability on the line every week with our teams. They have no right to take bloody precautions. If the hamstring is still attached put him out there and let him get a proper bloody injury and score me some points......
and no I am not yet calmed down, but I am on leave from tomorrow and flying to Cairns for two weeks. Maybe by May 1st I will be once again able to mention Patrick bloody Cripps without suffering an anxiety attack.
Frigging Patrick Cripps - there is a reason for a never again list and this bloke was right at bloody top of my list. But no, I ignore that slight queezy feeling in gut and get sucked in by the return of the mighty football powers to P Cripps the Carlton captain.
Patty is going so well, I go no jack Steele, he is struggling, Touk, no he will get tagged. Patrick bloody Cripps, he will tear out a huge score and take me to heights rarely enoyed in supercoach. The Big C for Cripps the Carlton Captain. I must also thank those lovley people at St Kilda screwed us with Hayes.. Is he playing or is he sub. Take a guess you lucky supercoach coaches. Oh Joy of Joys I get kicked in the balls and screwed up the ass at the same time. Hayes doesn't play, conservative little me say no to Hayes as loophole and taking 158 from Macrae VC for the sheer enjoyment of watching Patrick bloody Cripps ripp me a new one by quarter time.
This beautiful turd of a supercoacher brings, my lowest every weekly ranking in 9 years of supercoach. There are not enough words to describe how I feel come 5pm on Sunday night.
To top it off, I find out it was barely a tweak and they took him off purely as a precaution. **** precaution; don't these blokes know we have our emotions and family stability on the line every week with our teams. They have no right to take bloody precautions. If the hamstring is still attached put him out there and let him get a proper bloody injury and score me some points......
and no I am not yet calmed down, but I am on leave from tomorrow and flying to Cairns for two weeks. Maybe by May 1st I will be once again able to mention Patrick bloody Cripps without suffering an anxiety attack.
Ridley, who finally got all the kick ins but who kept going for these annoying short kicks which score bugger all in SC anyway
View: https://twitter.com/charliedons/status/1515907823376351234?s=21
View: https://twitter.com/charliedons/status/1515907823376351234?s=21
I haven't had a good rant in a while...
Firstly to Ridley for being a lazy POS. I'll spare the other imbeciles in my side this week...
Primarily though to the AFL, I mentioned it in the trade thread but the sport has become seriously hard to watch, I've never enjoyed watching football less than I do this year to the point where I genuinely hate the on-field product, it's pitiful and a shadow of the sport I grew up with. I mean I went to the gym, ran myself into the ground and still had a better time than watching the games this week and that includes watching the Swans pummel WCE, all I really felt at the end was "yeah, how **** is the sport right now" which given I live in WA and all my friends are the worst kinds of Eagles fans should not be the reaction...
Now for the reasons...
1. Dangerous tackle (aka tackling hard) rule - Goes against the entire spirit of a contact sport, being to avoid contact when you have the ball and to enforce contact when you don't. I hate it, I've always hated it but this year it's on steroids, now players are just acting hurt because they know if one of the 45,000 umpires on the field sees them even slightly wince after being tackled then they'll come running in form Timbuktu to pay a ****ty free kick. This is, hands down, the worst rule that has been added to the sport in my time watching.
2. Deifying the umpires - I get the idea of respecting them but we've gone so far on it to the point deification that they've forgotten that the number one most important thing an umpire should do is not influence the game. We mic them up so they can banter, we ban any reaction to their incompetence, we ban any media critique of their ineptitude, they're now the untouchable dictators of the sport, the centre of attention and the most important performance on the field. It's pathetic to watch, especially in a season like this one where they've been so incredibly poor in their performance on a consistent basis and are influencing results. Umpires are an extra on set, if you're noticing them they ****ed up. Deifying them has been one of the worst changes in a long time, all for respect but respect is earned not given and lost when not deserved. To be clear, I've always been a "rules are the problem not the umpires" guy but this year the umpiring has been horrible and I can't help but feel this is the reason.
3. Diving - It's hitting pandemic levels and it's pathetic. This is going to contradict with the next point but diving is not, nor should it ever be, part of this sport, I think if a player dives, accentuates contact it should be the firmest suspension there is. If you don't stamp it out RIGHT NOW then it will go to soccer and basketball levels and it's embarrassing in those relatively non-contact sports never mind a contact sport.
4. MRP - STOP SUSPENDING PLAYERS. You only punish us fans, if I go to 5 games in a season and the best players aren't playing I'm being punished. This absurd delight with forcing the best players to not play is a putrid mentality. Fine the crap out of them, go for it, make it the players who are punished, not the fans and, even worse perhaps, not the side that they actually offend against. For mine, players should only be suspended for non-football actions, so think Barry Hall on Staker. By all means have the tribunal for those exceptional circumstances and punish away but Ryder, Kreuger, Preuss (x2) and so many others should just be fines and I'm fine with it being heavy fines but the easiest way to fix all these pathetic suspensions is to just stop it. DIVING is a non-football action so kick them out for that crap.
5. "Protect the head" hypocrisy - Most of the above issues relate to the AFL's so called "protect the head" BS media campaign and yet we keep rewarding and incentivising players to try and get their necks broken for crappy free kicks. I don't know a single fan who has ever enjoyed watching Selwood raise arms into his head or Shuey break his knees to get clobbered. On the weekend I watched Robbie Gray pick up the ball, stand up and then dive head first into Parks' hip and get rewarded for it, it was embarrassing for the sport to watch that. It was one of about 50 on the weekend. If the AFL is really about protecting the head then you REMOVE all these stupid free kicks. If you lift an arm, you lower your head, you drive your head then it's your choice, your prior and you receive no protection. High contact should apply when you're over the ball to pick it up, in a marking contest or standing up and hit in the head, any other situation (I might be missing one but I'm in rant mode so sorry) then it's prior opportunity, yes, you're punished for putting the head in the way and not rewarded. AND yes this includes plays like Duursma and Robinson where he runs through the ball looking for contact, you should hit that sideways not head first, like Robbo, the guy who got punished, did.
6. Accept that injuries happen - Overlaps with most of this but it's a contact sport, there is risk. Stop thinking that can be stopped. It's like driving a car, people do it willingly because they "enjoy" doing it but they know the risk. Playing AFL is no different, mutilating a sport that was once great because of risk existing is stupid.
7. Deliberate Rule - I actually quite like the punishment for hack kicks to the boundary, no my issue is actually the other end, where players just walk it out of bounds, the umpires seem to pay the "under pressure" rule like it's a deliberate behind. I find this far worse than kicking it out. Also the amount of times players are allowed to knock it out when not in a marking contest is just wrong, I hate the marking contest exception anyway, but it's the only time that is allowed.
8. Ruck/Marking Contests - These are tests of strength, ***, stop paying free kicks against the player that wins the strength contest. Ruck contests should basically be a FFA, let them be men and battle it out. 95% of the ruck free kicks feel like they could go either way and 99% of them no one has a freaking clue which way it's going. The whole "blocking" rule is stupid, the early jump is a legitimate tactic and if the player contests the ball using it, then it should be play on, I'd happily have a "unrealistic attempt" type element to ruck contests, you get the ball you can do anything, you don't then you pay the price. The soft jumper holds are also pathetic in both scenarios, let them battle a bit more, holding basically needs an "legitimately impedes movement" aspect added to it.
9. Marking Contests 2.0 - There is no rule that a player has to have their eyes on the ball, there is no rule about front-on contact, they're both made up "interpretations" used by umpires to get attention on them. If a player chops an arm, hits high, in the back, then pay the free kick but it shouldn't be a free kick for contesting the ball because of the direction you come from or where your head is, just judge the actual contest and whether the defender got the ball.
10. Holding the Ball/Illegal disposal/Holding the man - More than anything this is the worst part of the sport. The AFL has gone from not paying illegal disposal/holding the ball, which is infuriating enough, to actually rewarding the player who breaks the rule, throws the ball on the ground and is tackled legally otherwise. If I tackle someone and I know they didn't kick or handball then by the laws of the game, that player has the ball and I should continue my tackle but now we're punishing it. Holding the ball is broken, illegal disposal should just be removed from the rules the way it's being ignored as a rule, it's become the carry/travel rule in the NBA, sure it exists but we're never going to pay it. This weekend I watched players throw it on the ground and get rewarded, I watched a player bounce the ball while being tackled, play on, I watched a guy ride a bump, go to ground, be tackled, ball up. There must have been 100 HTB/ID decisions that were just horrible, not all are "wrong" by the rules/interpretations but the rules are just wrong and the interpretations make them worse. If I want to watch guys throwing a ball around I'll watch Rugby, at least they're still allowed to tackle for the most part. Pub test again but I've never met anyone who likes the rules the way they are, I don't know if there is anyone here but I just can't stand the drop the ball on the ground and be rewarded, it's like saying that instead of speeding fines we're going to give you money for doing the wrong thing...
I'm sure I forgot something but I'm deep in the red mist rage posting so that's inevitable
/Rant
Firstly to Ridley for being a lazy POS. I'll spare the other imbeciles in my side this week...
Primarily though to the AFL, I mentioned it in the trade thread but the sport has become seriously hard to watch, I've never enjoyed watching football less than I do this year to the point where I genuinely hate the on-field product, it's pitiful and a shadow of the sport I grew up with. I mean I went to the gym, ran myself into the ground and still had a better time than watching the games this week and that includes watching the Swans pummel WCE, all I really felt at the end was "yeah, how **** is the sport right now" which given I live in WA and all my friends are the worst kinds of Eagles fans should not be the reaction...
Now for the reasons...
1. Dangerous tackle (aka tackling hard) rule - Goes against the entire spirit of a contact sport, being to avoid contact when you have the ball and to enforce contact when you don't. I hate it, I've always hated it but this year it's on steroids, now players are just acting hurt because they know if one of the 45,000 umpires on the field sees them even slightly wince after being tackled then they'll come running in form Timbuktu to pay a ****ty free kick. This is, hands down, the worst rule that has been added to the sport in my time watching.
2. Deifying the umpires - I get the idea of respecting them but we've gone so far on it to the point deification that they've forgotten that the number one most important thing an umpire should do is not influence the game. We mic them up so they can banter, we ban any reaction to their incompetence, we ban any media critique of their ineptitude, they're now the untouchable dictators of the sport, the centre of attention and the most important performance on the field. It's pathetic to watch, especially in a season like this one where they've been so incredibly poor in their performance on a consistent basis and are influencing results. Umpires are an extra on set, if you're noticing them they ****ed up. Deifying them has been one of the worst changes in a long time, all for respect but respect is earned not given and lost when not deserved. To be clear, I've always been a "rules are the problem not the umpires" guy but this year the umpiring has been horrible and I can't help but feel this is the reason.
3. Diving - It's hitting pandemic levels and it's pathetic. This is going to contradict with the next point but diving is not, nor should it ever be, part of this sport, I think if a player dives, accentuates contact it should be the firmest suspension there is. If you don't stamp it out RIGHT NOW then it will go to soccer and basketball levels and it's embarrassing in those relatively non-contact sports never mind a contact sport.
4. MRP - STOP SUSPENDING PLAYERS. You only punish us fans, if I go to 5 games in a season and the best players aren't playing I'm being punished. This absurd delight with forcing the best players to not play is a putrid mentality. Fine the crap out of them, go for it, make it the players who are punished, not the fans and, even worse perhaps, not the side that they actually offend against. For mine, players should only be suspended for non-football actions, so think Barry Hall on Staker. By all means have the tribunal for those exceptional circumstances and punish away but Ryder, Kreuger, Preuss (x2) and so many others should just be fines and I'm fine with it being heavy fines but the easiest way to fix all these pathetic suspensions is to just stop it. DIVING is a non-football action so kick them out for that crap.
5. "Protect the head" hypocrisy - Most of the above issues relate to the AFL's so called "protect the head" BS media campaign and yet we keep rewarding and incentivising players to try and get their necks broken for crappy free kicks. I don't know a single fan who has ever enjoyed watching Selwood raise arms into his head or Shuey break his knees to get clobbered. On the weekend I watched Robbie Gray pick up the ball, stand up and then dive head first into Parks' hip and get rewarded for it, it was embarrassing for the sport to watch that. It was one of about 50 on the weekend. If the AFL is really about protecting the head then you REMOVE all these stupid free kicks. If you lift an arm, you lower your head, you drive your head then it's your choice, your prior and you receive no protection. High contact should apply when you're over the ball to pick it up, in a marking contest or standing up and hit in the head, any other situation (I might be missing one but I'm in rant mode so sorry) then it's prior opportunity, yes, you're punished for putting the head in the way and not rewarded. AND yes this includes plays like Duursma and Robinson where he runs through the ball looking for contact, you should hit that sideways not head first, like Robbo, the guy who got punished, did.
6. Accept that injuries happen - Overlaps with most of this but it's a contact sport, there is risk. Stop thinking that can be stopped. It's like driving a car, people do it willingly because they "enjoy" doing it but they know the risk. Playing AFL is no different, mutilating a sport that was once great because of risk existing is stupid.
7. Deliberate Rule - I actually quite like the punishment for hack kicks to the boundary, no my issue is actually the other end, where players just walk it out of bounds, the umpires seem to pay the "under pressure" rule like it's a deliberate behind. I find this far worse than kicking it out. Also the amount of times players are allowed to knock it out when not in a marking contest is just wrong, I hate the marking contest exception anyway, but it's the only time that is allowed.
8. Ruck/Marking Contests - These are tests of strength, ***, stop paying free kicks against the player that wins the strength contest. Ruck contests should basically be a FFA, let them be men and battle it out. 95% of the ruck free kicks feel like they could go either way and 99% of them no one has a freaking clue which way it's going. The whole "blocking" rule is stupid, the early jump is a legitimate tactic and if the player contests the ball using it, then it should be play on, I'd happily have a "unrealistic attempt" type element to ruck contests, you get the ball you can do anything, you don't then you pay the price. The soft jumper holds are also pathetic in both scenarios, let them battle a bit more, holding basically needs an "legitimately impedes movement" aspect added to it.
9. Marking Contests 2.0 - There is no rule that a player has to have their eyes on the ball, there is no rule about front-on contact, they're both made up "interpretations" used by umpires to get attention on them. If a player chops an arm, hits high, in the back, then pay the free kick but it shouldn't be a free kick for contesting the ball because of the direction you come from or where your head is, just judge the actual contest and whether the defender got the ball.
10. Holding the Ball/Illegal disposal/Holding the man - More than anything this is the worst part of the sport. The AFL has gone from not paying illegal disposal/holding the ball, which is infuriating enough, to actually rewarding the player who breaks the rule, throws the ball on the ground and is tackled legally otherwise. If I tackle someone and I know they didn't kick or handball then by the laws of the game, that player has the ball and I should continue my tackle but now we're punishing it. Holding the ball is broken, illegal disposal should just be removed from the rules the way it's being ignored as a rule, it's become the carry/travel rule in the NBA, sure it exists but we're never going to pay it. This weekend I watched players throw it on the ground and get rewarded, I watched a player bounce the ball while being tackled, play on, I watched a guy ride a bump, go to ground, be tackled, ball up. There must have been 100 HTB/ID decisions that were just horrible, not all are "wrong" by the rules/interpretations but the rules are just wrong and the interpretations make them worse. If I want to watch guys throwing a ball around I'll watch Rugby, at least they're still allowed to tackle for the most part. Pub test again but I've never met anyone who likes the rules the way they are, I don't know if there is anyone here but I just can't stand the drop the ball on the ground and be rewarded, it's like saying that instead of speeding fines we're going to give you money for doing the wrong thing...
I'm sure I forgot something but I'm deep in the red mist rage posting so that's inevitable
/Rant
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I haven't had a good rant in a while...
Firstly to Ridley for being a lazy POS. I'll spare the other imbeciles in my side this week...
Primarily though to the AFL, I mentioned it in the trade thread but the sport has become seriously hard to watch, I've never enjoyed watching football less than I do this year to the point where I genuinely hate the on-field product, it's pitiful and a shadow of the sport I grew up with. I mean I went to the gym, ran myself into the ground and still had a better time than watching the games this week and that includes watching the Swans pummel WCE, all I really felt at the end was "yeah, how **** is the sport right now" which given I live in WA and all my friends are the worst kinds of Eagles fans should not be the reaction...
Now for the reasons...
1. Dangerous tackle (aka tackling hard) rule - Goes against the entire spirit of a contact sport, being to avoid contact when you have the ball and to enforce contact when you don't. I hate it, I've always hated it but this year it's on steroids, now players are just acting hurt because they know if one of the 45,000 umpires on the field sees them even slightly wince after being tackled then they'll come running in form Timbuktu to pay a ****ty free kick. This is, hands down, the worst rule that has been added to the sport in my time watching.
2. Deifying the umpires - I get the idea of respecting them but we've gone so far on it to the point deification that they've forgotten that the number one most important thing an umpire should do is not influence the game. We mic them up so they can banter, we ban any reaction to their incompetence, we ban any media critique of their ineptitude, they're now the untouchable dictators of the sport, the centre of attention and the most important performance on the field. It's pathetic to watch, especially in a season like this one where they've been so incredibly poor in their performance on a consistent basis and are influencing results. Umpires are an extra on set, if you're noticing them they ****ed up. Deifying them has been one of the worst changes in a long time, all for respect but respect is earned not given and lost when not deserved. To be clear, I've always been a "rules are the problem not the umpires" guy but this year the umpiring has been horrible and I can't help but feel this is the reason.
3. Diving - It's hitting pandemic levels and it's pathetic. This is going to contradict with the next point but diving is not, nor should it ever be, part of this sport, I think if a player dives, accentuates contact it should be the firmest suspension there is. If you don't stamp it out RIGHT NOW then it will go to soccer and basketball levels and it's embarrassing in those relatively non-contact sports never mind a contact sport.
4. MRP - STOP SUSPENDING PLAYERS. You only punish us fans, if I go to 5 games in a season and the best players aren't playing I'm being punished. This absurd delight with forcing the best players to not play is a putrid mentality. Fine the crap out of them, go for it, make it the players who are punished, not the fans and, even worse perhaps, not the side that they actually offend against. For mine, players should only be suspended for non-football actions, so think Barry Hall on Staker. By all means have the tribunal for those exceptional circumstances and punish away but Ryder, Kreuger, Preuss (x2) and so many others should just be fines and I'm fine with it being heavy fines but the easiest way to fix all these pathetic suspensions is to just stop it. DIVING is a non-football action so kick them out for that crap.
5. "Protect the head" hypocrisy - Most of the above issues relate to the AFL's so called "protect the head" BS media campaign and yet we keep rewarding and incentivising players to try and get their necks broken for crappy free kicks. I don't know a single fan who has ever enjoyed watching Selwood raise arms into his head or Shuey break his knees to get clobbered. On the weekend I watched Robbie Gray pick up the ball, stand up and then dive head first into Parks' hip and get rewarded for it, it was embarrassing for the sport to watch that. It was one of about 50 on the weekend. If the AFL is really about protecting the head then you REMOVE all these stupid free kicks. If you lift an arm, you lower your head, you drive your head then it's your choice, your prior and you receive no protection. High contact should apply when you're over the ball to pick it up, in a marking contest or standing up and hit in the head, any other situation (I might be missing one but I'm in rant mode so sorry) then it's prior opportunity, yes, you're punished for putting the head in the way and not rewarded. AND yes this includes plays like Duursma and Robinson where he runs through the ball looking for contact, you should hit that sideways not head first, like Robbo, the guy who got punished, did.
6. Accept that injuries happen - Overlaps with most of this but it's a contact sport, there is risk. Stop thinking that can be stopped. It's like driving a car, people do it willingly because they "enjoy" doing it but they know the risk. Playing AFL is no different, mutilating a sport that was once great because of risk existing is stupid.
7. Deliberate Rule - I actually quite like the punishment for hack kicks to the boundary, no my issue is actually the other end, where players just walk it out of bounds, the umpires seem to pay the "under pressure" rule like it's a deliberate behind. I find this far worse than kicking it out. Also the amount of times players are allowed to knock it out when not in a marking contest is just wrong, I hate the marking contest exception anyway, but it's the only time that is allowed.
8. Ruck/Marking Contests - These are tests of strength, ***, stop paying free kicks against the player that wins the strength contest. Ruck contests should basically be a FFA, let them be men and battle it out. 95% of the ruck free kicks feel like they could go either way and 99% of them no one has a freaking clue which way it's going. The whole "blocking" rule is stupid, the early jump is a legitimate tactic and if the player contests the ball using it, then it should be play on, I'd happily have a "unrealistic attempt" type element to ruck contests, you get the ball you can do anything, you don't then you pay the price. The soft jumper holds are also pathetic in both scenarios, let them battle a bit more, holding basically needs an "legitimately impedes movement" aspect added to it.
9. Marking Contests 2.0 - There is no rule that a player has to have their eyes on the ball, there is no rule about front-on contact, they're both made up "interpretations" used by umpires to get attention on them. If a player chops an arm, hits high, in the back, then pay the free kick but it shouldn't be a free kick for contesting the ball because of the direction you come from or where your head is, just judge the actual contest and whether the defender got the ball.
10. Holding the Ball/Illegal disposal/Holding the man - More than anything this is the worst part of the sport. The AFL has gone from not paying illegal disposal/holding the ball, which is infuriating enough, to actually rewarding the player who breaks the rule, throws the ball on the ground and is tackled legally otherwise. If I tackle someone and I know they didn't kick or handball then by the laws of the game, that player has the ball and I should continue my tackle but now we're punishing it. Holding the ball is broken, illegal disposal should just be removed from the rules the way it's being ignored as a rule, it's become the carry/travel rule in the NBA, sure it exists but we're never going to pay it. This weekend I watched players throw it on the ground and get rewarded, I watched a player bounce the ball while being tackled, play on, I watched a guy ride a bump, go to ground, be tackled, ball up. There must have been 100 HTB/ID decisions that were just horrible, not all are "wrong" by the rules/interpretations but the rules are just wrong and the interpretations make them worse. If I want to watch guys throwing a ball around I'll watch Rugby, at least they're still allowed to tackle for the most part. Pub test again but I've never met anyone who likes the rules the way they are, I don't know if there is anyone here but I just can't stand the drop the ball on the ground and be rewarded, it's like saying that instead of speeding fines we're going to give you money for doing the wrong thing...
I'm sure I forgot something but I'm deep in the red mist rage posting so that's inevitable
/Rant
Firstly to Ridley for being a lazy POS. I'll spare the other imbeciles in my side this week...
Primarily though to the AFL, I mentioned it in the trade thread but the sport has become seriously hard to watch, I've never enjoyed watching football less than I do this year to the point where I genuinely hate the on-field product, it's pitiful and a shadow of the sport I grew up with. I mean I went to the gym, ran myself into the ground and still had a better time than watching the games this week and that includes watching the Swans pummel WCE, all I really felt at the end was "yeah, how **** is the sport right now" which given I live in WA and all my friends are the worst kinds of Eagles fans should not be the reaction...
Now for the reasons...
1. Dangerous tackle (aka tackling hard) rule - Goes against the entire spirit of a contact sport, being to avoid contact when you have the ball and to enforce contact when you don't. I hate it, I've always hated it but this year it's on steroids, now players are just acting hurt because they know if one of the 45,000 umpires on the field sees them even slightly wince after being tackled then they'll come running in form Timbuktu to pay a ****ty free kick. This is, hands down, the worst rule that has been added to the sport in my time watching.
2. Deifying the umpires - I get the idea of respecting them but we've gone so far on it to the point deification that they've forgotten that the number one most important thing an umpire should do is not influence the game. We mic them up so they can banter, we ban any reaction to their incompetence, we ban any media critique of their ineptitude, they're now the untouchable dictators of the sport, the centre of attention and the most important performance on the field. It's pathetic to watch, especially in a season like this one where they've been so incredibly poor in their performance on a consistent basis and are influencing results. Umpires are an extra on set, if you're noticing them they ****ed up. Deifying them has been one of the worst changes in a long time, all for respect but respect is earned not given and lost when not deserved. To be clear, I've always been a "rules are the problem not the umpires" guy but this year the umpiring has been horrible and I can't help but feel this is the reason.
3. Diving - It's hitting pandemic levels and it's pathetic. This is going to contradict with the next point but diving is not, nor should it ever be, part of this sport, I think if a player dives, accentuates contact it should be the firmest suspension there is. If you don't stamp it out RIGHT NOW then it will go to soccer and basketball levels and it's embarrassing in those relatively non-contact sports never mind a contact sport.
4. MRP - STOP SUSPENDING PLAYERS. You only punish us fans, if I go to 5 games in a season and the best players aren't playing I'm being punished. This absurd delight with forcing the best players to not play is a putrid mentality. Fine the crap out of them, go for it, make it the players who are punished, not the fans and, even worse perhaps, not the side that they actually offend against. For mine, players should only be suspended for non-football actions, so think Barry Hall on Staker. By all means have the tribunal for those exceptional circumstances and punish away but Ryder, Kreuger, Preuss (x2) and so many others should just be fines and I'm fine with it being heavy fines but the easiest way to fix all these pathetic suspensions is to just stop it. DIVING is a non-football action so kick them out for that crap.
5. "Protect the head" hypocrisy - Most of the above issues relate to the AFL's so called "protect the head" BS media campaign and yet we keep rewarding and incentivising players to try and get their necks broken for crappy free kicks. I don't know a single fan who has ever enjoyed watching Selwood raise arms into his head or Shuey break his knees to get clobbered. On the weekend I watched Robbie Gray pick up the ball, stand up and then dive head first into Parks' hip and get rewarded for it, it was embarrassing for the sport to watch that. It was one of about 50 on the weekend. If the AFL is really about protecting the head then you REMOVE all these stupid free kicks. If you lift an arm, you lower your head, you drive your head then it's your choice, your prior and you receive no protection. High contact should apply when you're over the ball to pick it up, in a marking contest or standing up and hit in the head, any other situation (I might be missing one but I'm in rant mode so sorry) then it's prior opportunity, yes, you're punished for putting the head in the way and not rewarded. AND yes this includes plays like Duursma and Robinson where he runs through the ball looking for contact, you should hit that sideways not head first, like Robbo, the guy who got punished, did.
6. Accept that injuries happen - Overlaps with most of this but it's a contact sport, there is risk. Stop thinking that can be stopped. It's like driving a car, people do it willingly because they "enjoy" doing it but they know the risk. Playing AFL is no different, mutilating a sport that was once great because of risk existing is stupid.
7. Deliberate Rule - I actually quite like the punishment for hack kicks to the boundary, no my issue is actually the other end, where players just walk it out of bounds, the umpires seem to pay the "under pressure" rule like it's a deliberate behind. I find this far worse than kicking it out. Also the amount of times players are allowed to knock it out when not in a marking contest is just wrong, I hate the marking contest exception anyway, but it's the only time that is allowed.
8. Ruck/Marking Contests - These are tests of strength, ***, stop paying free kicks against the player that wins the strength contest. Ruck contests should basically be a FFA, let them be men and battle it out. 95% of the ruck free kicks feel like they could go either way and 99% of them no one has a freaking clue which way it's going. The whole "blocking" rule is stupid, the early jump is a legitimate tactic and if the player contests the ball using it, then it should be play on, I'd happily have a "unrealistic attempt" type element to ruck contests, you get the ball you can do anything, you don't then you pay the price. The soft jumper holds are also pathetic in both scenarios, let them battle a bit more, holding basically needs an "legitimately impedes movement" aspect added to it.
9. Marking Contests 2.0 - There is no rule that a player has to have their eyes on the ball, there is no rule about front-on contact, they're both made up "interpretations" used by umpires to get attention on them. If a player chops an arm, hits high, in the back, then pay the free kick but it shouldn't be a free kick for contesting the ball because of the direction you come from or where your head is, just judge the actual contest and whether the defender got the ball.
10. Holding the Ball/Illegal disposal/Holding the man - More than anything this is the worst part of the sport. The AFL has gone from not paying illegal disposal/holding the ball, which is infuriating enough, to actually rewarding the player who breaks the rule, throws the ball on the ground and is tackled legally otherwise. If I tackle someone and I know they didn't kick or handball then by the laws of the game, that player has the ball and I should continue my tackle but now we're punishing it. Holding the ball is broken, illegal disposal should just be removed from the rules the way it's being ignored as a rule, it's become the carry/travel rule in the NBA, sure it exists but we're never going to pay it. This weekend I watched players throw it on the ground and get rewarded, I watched a player bounce the ball while being tackled, play on, I watched a guy ride a bump, go to ground, be tackled, ball up. There must have been 100 HTB/ID decisions that were just horrible, not all are "wrong" by the rules/interpretations but the rules are just wrong and the interpretations make them worse. If I want to watch guys throwing a ball around I'll watch Rugby, at least they're still allowed to tackle for the most part. Pub test again but I've never met anyone who likes the rules the way they are, I don't know if there is anyone here but I just can't stand the drop the ball on the ground and be rewarded, it's like saying that instead of speeding fines we're going to give you money for doing the wrong thing...
I'm sure I forgot something but I'm deep in the red mist rage posting so that's inevitable
/Rant
I haven't had a good rant in a while...
Firstly to Ridley for being a lazy POS. I'll spare the other imbeciles in my side this week...
Primarily though to the AFL, I mentioned it in the trade thread but the sport has become seriously hard to watch, I've never enjoyed watching football less than I do this year to the point where I genuinely hate the on-field product, it's pitiful and a shadow of the sport I grew up with. I mean I went to the gym, ran myself into the ground and still had a better time than watching the games this week and that includes watching the Swans pummel WCE, all I really felt at the end was "yeah, how **** is the sport right now" which given I live in WA and all my friends are the worst kinds of Eagles fans should not be the reaction...
Now for the reasons...
1. Dangerous tackle (aka tackling hard) rule - Goes against the entire spirit of a contact sport, being to avoid contact when you have the ball and to enforce contact when you don't. I hate it, I've always hated it but this year it's on steroids, now players are just acting hurt because they know if one of the 45,000 umpires on the field sees them even slightly wince after being tackled then they'll come running in form Timbuktu to pay a ****ty free kick. This is, hands down, the worst rule that has been added to the sport in my time watching.
2. Deifying the umpires - I get the idea of respecting them but we've gone so far on it to the point deification that they've forgotten that the number one most important thing an umpire should do is not influence the game. We mic them up so they can banter, we ban any reaction to their incompetence, we ban any media critique of their ineptitude, they're now the untouchable dictators of the sport, the centre of attention and the most important performance on the field. It's pathetic to watch, especially in a season like this one where they've been so incredibly poor in their performance on a consistent basis and are influencing results. Umpires are an extra on set, if you're noticing them they ****ed up. Deifying them has been one of the worst changes in a long time, all for respect but respect is earned not given and lost when not deserved. To be clear, I've always been a "rules are the problem not the umpires" guy but this year the umpiring has been horrible and I can't help but feel this is the reason.
3. Diving - It's hitting pandemic levels and it's pathetic. This is going to contradict with the next point but diving is not, nor should it ever be, part of this sport, I think if a player dives, accentuates contact it should be the firmest suspension there is. If you don't stamp it out RIGHT NOW then it will go to soccer and basketball levels and it's embarrassing in those relatively non-contact sports never mind a contact sport.
4. MRP - STOP SUSPENDING PLAYERS. You only punish us fans, if I go to 5 games in a season and the best players aren't playing I'm being punished. This absurd delight with forcing the best players to not play is a putrid mentality. Fine the crap out of them, go for it, make it the players who are punished, not the fans and, even worse perhaps, not the side that they actually offend against. For mine, players should only be suspended for non-football actions, so think Barry Hall on Staker. By all means have the tribunal for those exceptional circumstances and punish away but Ryder, Kreuger, Preuss (x2) and so many others should just be fines and I'm fine with it being heavy fines but the easiest way to fix all these pathetic suspensions is to just stop it. DIVING is a non-football action so kick them out for that crap.
5. "Protect the head" hypocrisy - Most of the above issues relate to the AFL's so called "protect the head" BS media campaign and yet we keep rewarding and incentivising players to try and get their necks broken for crappy free kicks. I don't know a single fan who has ever enjoyed watching Selwood raise arms into his head or Shuey break his knees to get clobbered. On the weekend I watched Robbie Gray pick up the ball, stand up and then dive head first into Parks' hip and get rewarded for it, it was embarrassing for the sport to watch that. It was one of about 50 on the weekend. If the AFL is really about protecting the head then you REMOVE all these stupid free kicks. If you lift an arm, you lower your head, you drive your head then it's your choice, your prior and you receive no protection. High contact should apply when you're over the ball to pick it up, in a marking contest or standing up and hit in the head, any other situation (I might be missing one but I'm in rant mode so sorry) then it's prior opportunity, yes, you're punished for putting the head in the way and not rewarded. AND yes this includes plays like Duursma and Robinson where he runs through the ball looking for contact, you should hit that sideways not head first, like Robbo, the guy who got punished, did.
6. Accept that injuries happen - Overlaps with most of this but it's a contact sport, there is risk. Stop thinking that can be stopped. It's like driving a car, people do it willingly because they "enjoy" doing it but they know the risk. Playing AFL is no different, mutilating a sport that was once great because of risk existing is stupid.
7. Deliberate Rule - I actually quite like the punishment for hack kicks to the boundary, no my issue is actually the other end, where players just walk it out of bounds, the umpires seem to pay the "under pressure" rule like it's a deliberate behind. I find this far worse than kicking it out. Also the amount of times players are allowed to knock it out when not in a marking contest is just wrong, I hate the marking contest exception anyway, but it's the only time that is allowed.
8. Ruck/Marking Contests - These are tests of strength, ***, stop paying free kicks against the player that wins the strength contest. Ruck contests should basically be a FFA, let them be men and battle it out. 95% of the ruck free kicks feel like they could go either way and 99% of them no one has a freaking clue which way it's going. The whole "blocking" rule is stupid, the early jump is a legitimate tactic and if the player contests the ball using it, then it should be play on, I'd happily have a "unrealistic attempt" type element to ruck contests, you get the ball you can do anything, you don't then you pay the price. The soft jumper holds are also pathetic in both scenarios, let them battle a bit more, holding basically needs an "legitimately impedes movement" aspect added to it.
9. Marking Contests 2.0 - There is no rule that a player has to have their eyes on the ball, there is no rule about front-on contact, they're both made up "interpretations" used by umpires to get attention on them. If a player chops an arm, hits high, in the back, then pay the free kick but it shouldn't be a free kick for contesting the ball because of the direction you come from or where your head is, just judge the actual contest and whether the defender got the ball.
10. Holding the Ball/Illegal disposal/Holding the man - More than anything this is the worst part of the sport. The AFL has gone from not paying illegal disposal/holding the ball, which is infuriating enough, to actually rewarding the player who breaks the rule, throws the ball on the ground and is tackled legally otherwise. If I tackle someone and I know they didn't kick or handball then by the laws of the game, that player has the ball and I should continue my tackle but now we're punishing it. Holding the ball is broken, illegal disposal should just be removed from the rules the way it's being ignored as a rule, it's become the carry/travel rule in the NBA, sure it exists but we're never going to pay it. This weekend I watched players throw it on the ground and get rewarded, I watched a player bounce the ball while being tackled, play on, I watched a guy ride a bump, go to ground, be tackled, ball up. There must have been 100 HTB/ID decisions that were just horrible, not all are "wrong" by the rules/interpretations but the rules are just wrong and the interpretations make them worse. If I want to watch guys throwing a ball around I'll watch Rugby, at least they're still allowed to tackle for the most part. Pub test again but I've never met anyone who likes the rules the way they are, I don't know if there is anyone here but I just can't stand the drop the ball on the ground and be rewarded, it's like saying that instead of speeding fines we're going to give you money for doing the wrong thing...
I'm sure I forgot something but I'm deep in the red mist rage posting so that's inevitable
/Rant
Firstly to Ridley for being a lazy POS. I'll spare the other imbeciles in my side this week...
Primarily though to the AFL, I mentioned it in the trade thread but the sport has become seriously hard to watch, I've never enjoyed watching football less than I do this year to the point where I genuinely hate the on-field product, it's pitiful and a shadow of the sport I grew up with. I mean I went to the gym, ran myself into the ground and still had a better time than watching the games this week and that includes watching the Swans pummel WCE, all I really felt at the end was "yeah, how **** is the sport right now" which given I live in WA and all my friends are the worst kinds of Eagles fans should not be the reaction...
Now for the reasons...
1. Dangerous tackle (aka tackling hard) rule - Goes against the entire spirit of a contact sport, being to avoid contact when you have the ball and to enforce contact when you don't. I hate it, I've always hated it but this year it's on steroids, now players are just acting hurt because they know if one of the 45,000 umpires on the field sees them even slightly wince after being tackled then they'll come running in form Timbuktu to pay a ****ty free kick. This is, hands down, the worst rule that has been added to the sport in my time watching.
2. Deifying the umpires - I get the idea of respecting them but we've gone so far on it to the point deification that they've forgotten that the number one most important thing an umpire should do is not influence the game. We mic them up so they can banter, we ban any reaction to their incompetence, we ban any media critique of their ineptitude, they're now the untouchable dictators of the sport, the centre of attention and the most important performance on the field. It's pathetic to watch, especially in a season like this one where they've been so incredibly poor in their performance on a consistent basis and are influencing results. Umpires are an extra on set, if you're noticing them they ****ed up. Deifying them has been one of the worst changes in a long time, all for respect but respect is earned not given and lost when not deserved. To be clear, I've always been a "rules are the problem not the umpires" guy but this year the umpiring has been horrible and I can't help but feel this is the reason.
3. Diving - It's hitting pandemic levels and it's pathetic. This is going to contradict with the next point but diving is not, nor should it ever be, part of this sport, I think if a player dives, accentuates contact it should be the firmest suspension there is. If you don't stamp it out RIGHT NOW then it will go to soccer and basketball levels and it's embarrassing in those relatively non-contact sports never mind a contact sport.
4. MRP - STOP SUSPENDING PLAYERS. You only punish us fans, if I go to 5 games in a season and the best players aren't playing I'm being punished. This absurd delight with forcing the best players to not play is a putrid mentality. Fine the crap out of them, go for it, make it the players who are punished, not the fans and, even worse perhaps, not the side that they actually offend against. For mine, players should only be suspended for non-football actions, so think Barry Hall on Staker. By all means have the tribunal for those exceptional circumstances and punish away but Ryder, Kreuger, Preuss (x2) and so many others should just be fines and I'm fine with it being heavy fines but the easiest way to fix all these pathetic suspensions is to just stop it. DIVING is a non-football action so kick them out for that crap.
5. "Protect the head" hypocrisy - Most of the above issues relate to the AFL's so called "protect the head" BS media campaign and yet we keep rewarding and incentivising players to try and get their necks broken for crappy free kicks. I don't know a single fan who has ever enjoyed watching Selwood raise arms into his head or Shuey break his knees to get clobbered. On the weekend I watched Robbie Gray pick up the ball, stand up and then dive head first into Parks' hip and get rewarded for it, it was embarrassing for the sport to watch that. It was one of about 50 on the weekend. If the AFL is really about protecting the head then you REMOVE all these stupid free kicks. If you lift an arm, you lower your head, you drive your head then it's your choice, your prior and you receive no protection. High contact should apply when you're over the ball to pick it up, in a marking contest or standing up and hit in the head, any other situation (I might be missing one but I'm in rant mode so sorry) then it's prior opportunity, yes, you're punished for putting the head in the way and not rewarded. AND yes this includes plays like Duursma and Robinson where he runs through the ball looking for contact, you should hit that sideways not head first, like Robbo, the guy who got punished, did.
6. Accept that injuries happen - Overlaps with most of this but it's a contact sport, there is risk. Stop thinking that can be stopped. It's like driving a car, people do it willingly because they "enjoy" doing it but they know the risk. Playing AFL is no different, mutilating a sport that was once great because of risk existing is stupid.
7. Deliberate Rule - I actually quite like the punishment for hack kicks to the boundary, no my issue is actually the other end, where players just walk it out of bounds, the umpires seem to pay the "under pressure" rule like it's a deliberate behind. I find this far worse than kicking it out. Also the amount of times players are allowed to knock it out when not in a marking contest is just wrong, I hate the marking contest exception anyway, but it's the only time that is allowed.
8. Ruck/Marking Contests - These are tests of strength, ***, stop paying free kicks against the player that wins the strength contest. Ruck contests should basically be a FFA, let them be men and battle it out. 95% of the ruck free kicks feel like they could go either way and 99% of them no one has a freaking clue which way it's going. The whole "blocking" rule is stupid, the early jump is a legitimate tactic and if the player contests the ball using it, then it should be play on, I'd happily have a "unrealistic attempt" type element to ruck contests, you get the ball you can do anything, you don't then you pay the price. The soft jumper holds are also pathetic in both scenarios, let them battle a bit more, holding basically needs an "legitimately impedes movement" aspect added to it.
9. Marking Contests 2.0 - There is no rule that a player has to have their eyes on the ball, there is no rule about front-on contact, they're both made up "interpretations" used by umpires to get attention on them. If a player chops an arm, hits high, in the back, then pay the free kick but it shouldn't be a free kick for contesting the ball because of the direction you come from or where your head is, just judge the actual contest and whether the defender got the ball.
10. Holding the Ball/Illegal disposal/Holding the man - More than anything this is the worst part of the sport. The AFL has gone from not paying illegal disposal/holding the ball, which is infuriating enough, to actually rewarding the player who breaks the rule, throws the ball on the ground and is tackled legally otherwise. If I tackle someone and I know they didn't kick or handball then by the laws of the game, that player has the ball and I should continue my tackle but now we're punishing it. Holding the ball is broken, illegal disposal should just be removed from the rules the way it's being ignored as a rule, it's become the carry/travel rule in the NBA, sure it exists but we're never going to pay it. This weekend I watched players throw it on the ground and get rewarded, I watched a player bounce the ball while being tackled, play on, I watched a guy ride a bump, go to ground, be tackled, ball up. There must have been 100 HTB/ID decisions that were just horrible, not all are "wrong" by the rules/interpretations but the rules are just wrong and the interpretations make them worse. If I want to watch guys throwing a ball around I'll watch Rugby, at least they're still allowed to tackle for the most part. Pub test again but I've never met anyone who likes the rules the way they are, I don't know if there is anyone here but I just can't stand the drop the ball on the ground and be rewarded, it's like saying that instead of speeding fines we're going to give you money for doing the wrong thing...
I'm sure I forgot something but I'm deep in the red mist rage posting so that's inevitable
/Rant
It's a stupid rule.
For me it's more in the "nominate a ruck" rule where it's stupidly pointless and looks silly but doesn't really fundamentally change the fabric of the sport. You probably reduce the ridiculousness of it if didn't apply when the opponent nominates they're having a shot as that's the silliest part.
I respect the art of defending the mark, I remember being taught how to defend and work the mark and also how to exploit it when I played, it was a fundamental skill that was practiced and I don't see a reason to remove that skill.
To be fair, I've never been a fan who sees any correlation between scoring and a good game so basically any rule that is predicated on "scoring is better" already fails my **** test.
I still find it funny though, the solution to all the problems the AFL is allegedly trying to fix are actually in the problems that I have. If you want less congestion and less contention on free kicks, you simply pay holding the ball and illegal disposal properly. I don't know, it just seems far too easy a solution which is consistently not the solution you get when people's jobs rely on essentially not fixing the problems.
Off the top of my head the only rule change that I think is a good one in the last 15 years is allowing players to play on from kick-ins without the pointless kick to yourself (although players stuffing that up did create good fun). I could probably buy tunneling if it wasn't enforced so poorly so often.
I really struggle to find another.
For me it's more in the "nominate a ruck" rule where it's stupidly pointless and looks silly but doesn't really fundamentally change the fabric of the sport. You probably reduce the ridiculousness of it if didn't apply when the opponent nominates they're having a shot as that's the silliest part.
I respect the art of defending the mark, I remember being taught how to defend and work the mark and also how to exploit it when I played, it was a fundamental skill that was practiced and I don't see a reason to remove that skill.
To be fair, I've never been a fan who sees any correlation between scoring and a good game so basically any rule that is predicated on "scoring is better" already fails my **** test.
I still find it funny though, the solution to all the problems the AFL is allegedly trying to fix are actually in the problems that I have. If you want less congestion and less contention on free kicks, you simply pay holding the ball and illegal disposal properly. I don't know, it just seems far too easy a solution which is consistently not the solution you get when people's jobs rely on essentially not fixing the problems.
Off the top of my head the only rule change that I think is a good one in the last 15 years is allowing players to play on from kick-ins without the pointless kick to yourself (although players stuffing that up did create good fun). I could probably buy tunneling if it wasn't enforced so poorly so often.
I really struggle to find another.
I haven't had a good rant in a while...
Firstly to Ridley for being a lazy POS. I'll spare the other imbeciles in my side this week...
Primarily though to the AFL, I mentioned it in the trade thread but the sport has become seriously hard to watch, I've never enjoyed watching football less than I do this year to the point where I genuinely hate the on-field product, it's pitiful and a shadow of the sport I grew up with. I mean I went to the gym, ran myself into the ground and still had a better time than watching the games this week and that includes watching the Swans pummel WCE, all I really felt at the end was "yeah, how **** is the sport right now" which given I live in WA and all my friends are the worst kinds of Eagles fans should not be the reaction...
Now for the reasons...
1. Dangerous tackle (aka tackling hard) rule - Goes against the entire spirit of a contact sport, being to avoid contact when you have the ball and to enforce contact when you don't. I hate it, I've always hated it but this year it's on steroids, now players are just acting hurt because they know if one of the 45,000 umpires on the field sees them even slightly wince after being tackled then they'll come running in form Timbuktu to pay a ****ty free kick. This is, hands down, the worst rule that has been added to the sport in my time watching.
2. Deifying the umpires - I get the idea of respecting them but we've gone so far on it to the point deification that they've forgotten that the number one most important thing an umpire should do is not influence the game. We mic them up so they can banter, we ban any reaction to their incompetence, we ban any media critique of their ineptitude, they're now the untouchable dictators of the sport, the centre of attention and the most important performance on the field. It's pathetic to watch, especially in a season like this one where they've been so incredibly poor in their performance on a consistent basis and are influencing results. Umpires are an extra on set, if you're noticing them they ****ed up. Deifying them has been one of the worst changes in a long time, all for respect but respect is earned not given and lost when not deserved. To be clear, I've always been a "rules are the problem not the umpires" guy but this year the umpiring has been horrible and I can't help but feel this is the reason.
3. Diving - It's hitting pandemic levels and it's pathetic. This is going to contradict with the next point but diving is not, nor should it ever be, part of this sport, I think if a player dives, accentuates contact it should be the firmest suspension there is. If you don't stamp it out RIGHT NOW then it will go to soccer and basketball levels and it's embarrassing in those relatively non-contact sports never mind a contact sport.
4. MRP - STOP SUSPENDING PLAYERS. You only punish us fans, if I go to 5 games in a season and the best players aren't playing I'm being punished. This absurd delight with forcing the best players to not play is a putrid mentality. Fine the crap out of them, go for it, make it the players who are punished, not the fans and, even worse perhaps, not the side that they actually offend against. For mine, players should only be suspended for non-football actions, so think Barry Hall on Staker. By all means have the tribunal for those exceptional circumstances and punish away but Ryder, Kreuger, Preuss (x2) and so many others should just be fines and I'm fine with it being heavy fines but the easiest way to fix all these pathetic suspensions is to just stop it. DIVING is a non-football action so kick them out for that crap.
5. "Protect the head" hypocrisy - Most of the above issues relate to the AFL's so called "protect the head" BS media campaign and yet we keep rewarding and incentivising players to try and get their necks broken for crappy free kicks. I don't know a single fan who has ever enjoyed watching Selwood raise arms into his head or Shuey break his knees to get clobbered. On the weekend I watched Robbie Gray pick up the ball, stand up and then dive head first into Parks' hip and get rewarded for it, it was embarrassing for the sport to watch that. It was one of about 50 on the weekend. If the AFL is really about protecting the head then you REMOVE all these stupid free kicks. If you lift an arm, you lower your head, you drive your head then it's your choice, your prior and you receive no protection. High contact should apply when you're over the ball to pick it up, in a marking contest or standing up and hit in the head, any other situation (I might be missing one but I'm in rant mode so sorry) then it's prior opportunity, yes, you're punished for putting the head in the way and not rewarded. AND yes this includes plays like Duursma and Robinson where he runs through the ball looking for contact, you should hit that sideways not head first, like Robbo, the guy who got punished, did.
6. Accept that injuries happen - Overlaps with most of this but it's a contact sport, there is risk. Stop thinking that can be stopped. It's like driving a car, people do it willingly because they "enjoy" doing it but they know the risk. Playing AFL is no different, mutilating a sport that was once great because of risk existing is stupid.
7. Deliberate Rule - I actually quite like the punishment for hack kicks to the boundary, no my issue is actually the other end, where players just walk it out of bounds, the umpires seem to pay the "under pressure" rule like it's a deliberate behind. I find this far worse than kicking it out. Also the amount of times players are allowed to knock it out when not in a marking contest is just wrong, I hate the marking contest exception anyway, but it's the only time that is allowed.
8. Ruck/Marking Contests - These are tests of strength, ***, stop paying free kicks against the player that wins the strength contest. Ruck contests should basically be a FFA, let them be men and battle it out. 95% of the ruck free kicks feel like they could go either way and 99% of them no one has a freaking clue which way it's going. The whole "blocking" rule is stupid, the early jump is a legitimate tactic and if the player contests the ball using it, then it should be play on, I'd happily have a "unrealistic attempt" type element to ruck contests, you get the ball you can do anything, you don't then you pay the price. The soft jumper holds are also pathetic in both scenarios, let them battle a bit more, holding basically needs an "legitimately impedes movement" aspect added to it.
9. Marking Contests 2.0 - There is no rule that a player has to have their eyes on the ball, there is no rule about front-on contact, they're both made up "interpretations" used by umpires to get attention on them. If a player chops an arm, hits high, in the back, then pay the free kick but it shouldn't be a free kick for contesting the ball because of the direction you come from or where your head is, just judge the actual contest and whether the defender got the ball.
10. Holding the Ball/Illegal disposal/Holding the man - More than anything this is the worst part of the sport. The AFL has gone from not paying illegal disposal/holding the ball, which is infuriating enough, to actually rewarding the player who breaks the rule, throws the ball on the ground and is tackled legally otherwise. If I tackle someone and I know they didn't kick or handball then by the laws of the game, that player has the ball and I should continue my tackle but now we're punishing it. Holding the ball is broken, illegal disposal should just be removed from the rules the way it's being ignored as a rule, it's become the carry/travel rule in the NBA, sure it exists but we're never going to pay it. This weekend I watched players throw it on the ground and get rewarded, I watched a player bounce the ball while being tackled, play on, I watched a guy ride a bump, go to ground, be tackled, ball up. There must have been 100 HTB/ID decisions that were just horrible, not all are "wrong" by the rules/interpretations but the rules are just wrong and the interpretations make them worse. If I want to watch guys throwing a ball around I'll watch Rugby, at least they're still allowed to tackle for the most part. Pub test again but I've never met anyone who likes the rules the way they are, I don't know if there is anyone here but I just can't stand the drop the ball on the ground and be rewarded, it's like saying that instead of speeding fines we're going to give you money for doing the wrong thing...
I'm sure I forgot something but I'm deep in the red mist rage posting so that's inevitable
/Rant
Firstly to Ridley for being a lazy POS. I'll spare the other imbeciles in my side this week...
Primarily though to the AFL, I mentioned it in the trade thread but the sport has become seriously hard to watch, I've never enjoyed watching football less than I do this year to the point where I genuinely hate the on-field product, it's pitiful and a shadow of the sport I grew up with. I mean I went to the gym, ran myself into the ground and still had a better time than watching the games this week and that includes watching the Swans pummel WCE, all I really felt at the end was "yeah, how **** is the sport right now" which given I live in WA and all my friends are the worst kinds of Eagles fans should not be the reaction...
Now for the reasons...
1. Dangerous tackle (aka tackling hard) rule - Goes against the entire spirit of a contact sport, being to avoid contact when you have the ball and to enforce contact when you don't. I hate it, I've always hated it but this year it's on steroids, now players are just acting hurt because they know if one of the 45,000 umpires on the field sees them even slightly wince after being tackled then they'll come running in form Timbuktu to pay a ****ty free kick. This is, hands down, the worst rule that has been added to the sport in my time watching.
2. Deifying the umpires - I get the idea of respecting them but we've gone so far on it to the point deification that they've forgotten that the number one most important thing an umpire should do is not influence the game. We mic them up so they can banter, we ban any reaction to their incompetence, we ban any media critique of their ineptitude, they're now the untouchable dictators of the sport, the centre of attention and the most important performance on the field. It's pathetic to watch, especially in a season like this one where they've been so incredibly poor in their performance on a consistent basis and are influencing results. Umpires are an extra on set, if you're noticing them they ****ed up. Deifying them has been one of the worst changes in a long time, all for respect but respect is earned not given and lost when not deserved. To be clear, I've always been a "rules are the problem not the umpires" guy but this year the umpiring has been horrible and I can't help but feel this is the reason.
3. Diving - It's hitting pandemic levels and it's pathetic. This is going to contradict with the next point but diving is not, nor should it ever be, part of this sport, I think if a player dives, accentuates contact it should be the firmest suspension there is. If you don't stamp it out RIGHT NOW then it will go to soccer and basketball levels and it's embarrassing in those relatively non-contact sports never mind a contact sport.
4. MRP - STOP SUSPENDING PLAYERS. You only punish us fans, if I go to 5 games in a season and the best players aren't playing I'm being punished. This absurd delight with forcing the best players to not play is a putrid mentality. Fine the crap out of them, go for it, make it the players who are punished, not the fans and, even worse perhaps, not the side that they actually offend against. For mine, players should only be suspended for non-football actions, so think Barry Hall on Staker. By all means have the tribunal for those exceptional circumstances and punish away but Ryder, Kreuger, Preuss (x2) and so many others should just be fines and I'm fine with it being heavy fines but the easiest way to fix all these pathetic suspensions is to just stop it. DIVING is a non-football action so kick them out for that crap.
5. "Protect the head" hypocrisy - Most of the above issues relate to the AFL's so called "protect the head" BS media campaign and yet we keep rewarding and incentivising players to try and get their necks broken for crappy free kicks. I don't know a single fan who has ever enjoyed watching Selwood raise arms into his head or Shuey break his knees to get clobbered. On the weekend I watched Robbie Gray pick up the ball, stand up and then dive head first into Parks' hip and get rewarded for it, it was embarrassing for the sport to watch that. It was one of about 50 on the weekend. If the AFL is really about protecting the head then you REMOVE all these stupid free kicks. If you lift an arm, you lower your head, you drive your head then it's your choice, your prior and you receive no protection. High contact should apply when you're over the ball to pick it up, in a marking contest or standing up and hit in the head, any other situation (I might be missing one but I'm in rant mode so sorry) then it's prior opportunity, yes, you're punished for putting the head in the way and not rewarded. AND yes this includes plays like Duursma and Robinson where he runs through the ball looking for contact, you should hit that sideways not head first, like Robbo, the guy who got punished, did.
6. Accept that injuries happen - Overlaps with most of this but it's a contact sport, there is risk. Stop thinking that can be stopped. It's like driving a car, people do it willingly because they "enjoy" doing it but they know the risk. Playing AFL is no different, mutilating a sport that was once great because of risk existing is stupid.
7. Deliberate Rule - I actually quite like the punishment for hack kicks to the boundary, no my issue is actually the other end, where players just walk it out of bounds, the umpires seem to pay the "under pressure" rule like it's a deliberate behind. I find this far worse than kicking it out. Also the amount of times players are allowed to knock it out when not in a marking contest is just wrong, I hate the marking contest exception anyway, but it's the only time that is allowed.
8. Ruck/Marking Contests - These are tests of strength, ***, stop paying free kicks against the player that wins the strength contest. Ruck contests should basically be a FFA, let them be men and battle it out. 95% of the ruck free kicks feel like they could go either way and 99% of them no one has a freaking clue which way it's going. The whole "blocking" rule is stupid, the early jump is a legitimate tactic and if the player contests the ball using it, then it should be play on, I'd happily have a "unrealistic attempt" type element to ruck contests, you get the ball you can do anything, you don't then you pay the price. The soft jumper holds are also pathetic in both scenarios, let them battle a bit more, holding basically needs an "legitimately impedes movement" aspect added to it.
9. Marking Contests 2.0 - There is no rule that a player has to have their eyes on the ball, there is no rule about front-on contact, they're both made up "interpretations" used by umpires to get attention on them. If a player chops an arm, hits high, in the back, then pay the free kick but it shouldn't be a free kick for contesting the ball because of the direction you come from or where your head is, just judge the actual contest and whether the defender got the ball.
10. Holding the Ball/Illegal disposal/Holding the man - More than anything this is the worst part of the sport. The AFL has gone from not paying illegal disposal/holding the ball, which is infuriating enough, to actually rewarding the player who breaks the rule, throws the ball on the ground and is tackled legally otherwise. If I tackle someone and I know they didn't kick or handball then by the laws of the game, that player has the ball and I should continue my tackle but now we're punishing it. Holding the ball is broken, illegal disposal should just be removed from the rules the way it's being ignored as a rule, it's become the carry/travel rule in the NBA, sure it exists but we're never going to pay it. This weekend I watched players throw it on the ground and get rewarded, I watched a player bounce the ball while being tackled, play on, I watched a guy ride a bump, go to ground, be tackled, ball up. There must have been 100 HTB/ID decisions that were just horrible, not all are "wrong" by the rules/interpretations but the rules are just wrong and the interpretations make them worse. If I want to watch guys throwing a ball around I'll watch Rugby, at least they're still allowed to tackle for the most part. Pub test again but I've never met anyone who likes the rules the way they are, I don't know if there is anyone here but I just can't stand the drop the ball on the ground and be rewarded, it's like saying that instead of speeding fines we're going to give you money for doing the wrong thing...
I'm sure I forgot something but I'm deep in the red mist rage posting so that's inevitable
/Rant
"they're now the untouchable dictators of the sport, the centre of attention and the most important performance on the field. It's pathetic to watch",
"These are tests of strength, ***, stop paying free kicks against the player that wins the strength contest. Ruck contests should basically be a FFA, let them be men and battle it out. 95% of the ruck free kicks feel like they could go either way and 99% of them no one has a freaking clue which way it's going. The whole "blocking" rule is stupid,"
All really good points made above. The copy paste are the ones really Pis^&5G me off.
The players will love those nice large deductions come tax time.
Again, you make very pertinent points and I think that the most pertinent is the fact that you're switching off watching the game, I know that I can't stand watching a game through to it's entirety because of the greyness and absolute stupid interpretation of stupid rules.
The AFL is completely driven by the revenue generated from viewer numbers, I'm sure that they're noticing a drop off in viewer engagement and it would be a huge worry to them. Maybe what it takes from a fan perspective to get these numb****s to get their act together is for us all to switch off and by default I think that's happening.
The AFL is completely driven by the revenue generated from viewer numbers, I'm sure that they're noticing a drop off in viewer engagement and it would be a huge worry to them. Maybe what it takes from a fan perspective to get these numb****s to get their act together is for us all to switch off and by default I think that's happening.
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https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/...esandpenalties#Legalexpensesfinesandpenalties
Legal expenses, fines and penalties
Fines and penalties for on-field conduct and legal expenses, including those relating to a tribunal decision, are generally tax deductible to the player, where they result from their performance as a player and as part of the sporting activity.
However, fines, penalties and legal expenses for off-field breaches of conduct are not tax deductible.
Legal expenses, fines and penalties
Fines and penalties for on-field conduct and legal expenses, including those relating to a tribunal decision, are generally tax deductible to the player, where they result from their performance as a player and as part of the sporting activity.
However, fines, penalties and legal expenses for off-field breaches of conduct are not tax deductible.