No question Balme hates the stand rule, as does everyone at Richmond. Leigh Matthews reckons it is great. For every person you find in the AFL industry who hates it you can find another who likes it. None of those things really tell us anything about the positives or negatives of the rule.
'I thought it was common industry knowledge', 'this is believed to have originated', that's just speculation.
Where is the substantiation of any of that? A comment from Chris Scott after the 2017 Grand Final?
This is my point about there being no actual facts in the allegations against Hocking.
The old killing our chaos footy style comes up a lot as well. Here's what the AFL website said when Melbourne smashed Geelong in the 2021 preliminary:
In an outcome that would have disappointed Maxwell Smart, the forces of chaos defeated that of control. Geelong like to control the play by kicks and aerial superiority, switching play by foot and cutting open defences for Tom Hawkins and Jeremy Cameron to run into. Instead, Melbourne's irresistible pressure and ground-ball dominance made it near-impossible for the Cats to play their preferred style. The Dees outmuscled the Cats, winning both the contested possessions and marks by 32 and held the Cats to just one second-half goal.
https://www.afl.com.au/news/675449/five-talking-points-are-the-cats-finally-too-old-too-slow
So it would seem chaos footy works just fine with the stand rule if you do it well enough.
Your argument about the TV influence also doesn't stack up under scrutiny. If there is an issue with profitability why is it those same broadcasters continually pay billions of dollars more for the TV rights?
And if it is true and bringing in the stand rule turned it around and led to the last rights amount, it is probably the greatest act in the history of sports administration.
In 2021 when the rule first came in Geelong was smashed in the first final by Port and humiliated in the preliminary by Melbourne.
Here's what the ABC report on the game said about Geelong:
The result could mark the beginning of a belated freefall for the Cats, who have missed the finals just twice since 2004, and have reached the preliminary final stage in five of the past six years.
The Cats fielded 11 players who were 30 years or over, and they face a fight to keep their premiership window open in 2022 and beyond.
The nature in which they were dismantled by the Demons is cause for concern, with the Cats made to look old and slow throughout the match.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiB7smCmvv8AhXa7TgGHRyBAPUQFnoECAoQAQ&url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-10/afl-live-scorecentre-stats-result-melbourne-demons-geelong-cats/100436720?sf249381305=1&usg=AOvVaw0cxvLarcO4YfDDClHM_8gP
Pretty typical of the view of most football pundits at that stage I'd say, too old, too slow, chance has passed. How anyone would think that helping bring a rule in that helps speed ball movement up would help an old slow team is something I'd like to hear.
Again, 'it's my firm belief', that's all complete speculation and the part about coffess in the office is fairly illogical in my eyes.
On the contrary there have been many commentators who have expressed the view that the stand rule has been a good thing and the game is in a great state.
The AFLX/netball/basketball references are just hyperbole in my opinion, and nothing like the reality.
Not sure I agree altering the way the man on the mark works constitutes fundamental change but regardless I think if you look at the thread from our 2020 game against Sydney you will see why changes were being made.
People don't like low scoring, dour football and the game was back on a course of heading that way. I wish LTRTR was here to tell us what has changed with scoring trends but I have a feeling they have been addressed and are heading the other way again.