Ok, so let's take as a given that there is concern at AFL House about the "look" of the game and congestion along with lower scoring (with less goals leading to less ad breaks so that really is the main concern).
As the 2018 article above points out, when Richmond grind down another team and go on the attack they are "a pleasure to watch". Hmm, not seeing a big problem there.
So, what is to be done?
Well, getting the player on the mark to do an impersonation of a statue hasn't improved things, just means the rolling maul moves down the ground or they chip it around looking like they are playing basketball by foot. Being able to run 100m when kicking out from goal just moves the pack further down the ground. 6-6-6 is against the way Australian Rules Football has existed for 150 years, in any case it had little impact.
The problem here is that changing rules is not what will fix the game, the game needs to evolve and it is strategies which will open the game up. With teams kicking low scores and winning, no-one can tell me that there aren't coaches out there trying to work out how to kick a high enough score to win against a defensive team. In any case, it isn't like Richmond have been winning with particularly low scores over the last 4 years, our average scores over the last 6 years are as follows:
2021 to date: 80.625
2020: 66.47 (shorter games)
2019: 88.12
2018: 95.66
2017: 91.76
2016: 77.86
Yep, let's go back to 2016 style Richmond, looking great for scoring and excitement
.
Or maybe we can have shorter games, lower scores and, let's face it, weren't those short games in 2020 the most attractive football ever known to humankind??
Reverse the silly rule changes, they were tried, they didn't work, why keep them?
Let the game evolve.
DS
As the 2018 article above points out, when Richmond grind down another team and go on the attack they are "a pleasure to watch". Hmm, not seeing a big problem there.
So, what is to be done?
Well, getting the player on the mark to do an impersonation of a statue hasn't improved things, just means the rolling maul moves down the ground or they chip it around looking like they are playing basketball by foot. Being able to run 100m when kicking out from goal just moves the pack further down the ground. 6-6-6 is against the way Australian Rules Football has existed for 150 years, in any case it had little impact.
The problem here is that changing rules is not what will fix the game, the game needs to evolve and it is strategies which will open the game up. With teams kicking low scores and winning, no-one can tell me that there aren't coaches out there trying to work out how to kick a high enough score to win against a defensive team. In any case, it isn't like Richmond have been winning with particularly low scores over the last 4 years, our average scores over the last 6 years are as follows:
2021 to date: 80.625
2020: 66.47 (shorter games)
2019: 88.12
2018: 95.66
2017: 91.76
2016: 77.86
Yep, let's go back to 2016 style Richmond, looking great for scoring and excitement
.Or maybe we can have shorter games, lower scores and, let's face it, weren't those short games in 2020 the most attractive football ever known to humankind??
Reverse the silly rule changes, they were tried, they didn't work, why keep them?
Let the game evolve.
DS
