[Discussion] Hypothetical Rule Changes Because Don't We Love Changes (long post - but each rule is marked for skim readers - there are 5)
The AFL has battled with tweaks to the rules for a while now, and I've thought of a few to help them. They are suggestions to help improve the flow of the game, potentially increase scoring, remove some grey area, and most importantly, get rid of stuff that I am often frustrated by. I'd love the discussion about any or all of them. In particular about how the intricacies of each may be applied, if they're worth including at all. So here you go! Rule 1: Advantage In the sight of a free, the umpire signals a free by putting their arm back but not immediately blowing the whistle. If the play continues to advantage, the free is not called back. If the play does not continue to advantage the whistle is blown and the free is given. There's obviously the judgement by the umpire of when the advantage is complete (like a few secs?). This tweak is to align the advantage to how it is applied in soccer. It would also make the advantage true, rather than simply a choice taken by the player at the time that risks losing it which I believe is not the intention of the rule. Another reason I think this will help is that it would mean that some frees are essentially not called for the sake of the flow of the game. This would thus remove one source of stoppage and overall holding up of play. As a sub-point of this one, I think the umpires should also apply this sort of advantage to marking contests before awarding a free. Basically just wait to award it until the contest has happened. It is super minor, but I say this because sometimes a mark is taken by the player getting the free, and it's an even better mark than others because they got it despite being held or whatever. So they should be able to have that mark stat against their name as credit instead of a free for. Rule 2: Zones Both teams have a player who must stay inside each 50; basically one forward and one defender. This player could be a nominated player, say, each quarter. Or it could just be that at least one player must be in the 50 at all times and can be changed any time. Another alternative is that the player has an armband or something they have to wear to signify that they are one, but they can change it during a stoppage. Having one player separated would surely force formations to adjust to the isolated 1-on-1. For example it could mean that a helping defender has to float deeper in the back half to support the 1-on-1 and thus weaken a forward 50 squeeze. Tom Hawkins is an example of a player who is thriving on having his space. While he was flogging Port on his own, they referenced the way that the Cats' defence used two players to neutralise Dixon - another player who thrives in isolation. But if nothing else, this rule change would surely improve those times when there are turnovers and they have nothing to kick to so they end up piddling it sideways while everyone floods back. I'd love to see a ball bombed to two 1-on-1 specialists and have them duke it out while the cavalry rolls in. It would stretch the field and be an exciting duel to watch from both sides. The big forwards could potentially make a comeback which we've just about all creamed ourselves over in the past at some point. And even if it encouraged two smaller players to take the spot for the sake of speed and agility, you can't tell me that's not going to be good viewing. But I digress... Rule 3: Fake Shots Teams love taking up the time for a shot from outside 50, only to chip the ball in hope of getting a deep mark. So, if a shot is elecged from outside 50, and the kick doesn't make it to the 9m (perhaps?), then it's brought back to the mark and it's a free to the guy who was standing it. Bringing it back, rather than a free from where the ball lands, means that the team that took the shot can't soak up the time and then plant the opposition deep in their 50. It would force setups for each team to move and could even put the team that took the "shot" into a difficult position to defend. For example, if the "shot" was taken in the corridor, the ball would come back and suddenly the infringing team now has to defend both sides of the ball at the oval's widest point. If the shot was from the boundary, a switch is still entirely possible and the defending team has a kick into their forward half up the line at the very least. Thus, this rule can reduce a team's field space dominance by preventing one avenue of killing momentum and time. I also say the ball should make the 9m and not the goalline because it's common for genuine shots to not make the distance by a little. And I believe it would be hard to intentionally place the ball that far into the 9m (to advantage mind you) without a) actually being able to take the shot, b) risking the ball being rushed anyway (that behind could be valuable) and, c) not quite making the distance and turning the ball over in a dangerous position. This rule is one that the umpires can warn a player of, particularly early after it is brought in. Although I'm a firm believer in players having no excuse for not knowing the rules. As it is in the real world: "ignorance of the law does not excuse you from the law." Rule 4: Time Wasting We all know that behaviour: playing dumb, not knowing who to give the ball to, pretending to get up while simultaneously stopping the opposition player from getting up. I think the umpires can be super strict on this easily if they have the rules to back them. If a free is given and the infringing team has the ball, they have to put it straight down on the ground immediately wherever they are. If they don't have it they have to get away and/or stay away from it (maybe roughly 5m?) and not impede any player from getting to it. If they're standing the mark, then they can stay there also not preventing the ball from getting to the kick taker. Getting up off the ground is harder to define but umpires should just have the freedom to penalise the player if they believe they're doing anything to slow down the kick taker from getting up. Any infringement of this rule is a 50. Justifying that one is pretty obvious, the behaviour is clear. I swear Fox Footy even had an advert with players laughing at the ways that they purposely wasted time while pretending that they weren't. Anyway, if I dreamt that ad, it's still annoying and I wish the umpires were able to stop it by giving 50s. Finally... Rule 5: Fights and Unsportsmanlike Discipline. Personally, I don't mind when things get heated, but I can also understand why the greater community wouldn't want it to be a feature of the sport. And honestly, does anyone care about the umpires when it's happening? They blow their whistles but essentially have nothing that they can do, bar maybe a free kick. Although they're reluctant to even pay those sometimes. Plus there's the added issue of a delay to discipline when a player offends and doesn't cop anything til the MRO gets a look. So my solution is, a sin bin with a carry over effect and potential for immediate sanctions in the event of multiple offences. If a player, say, gets into a fight with another player, the umpires can send fighting players to the sin bin at their discretion. Players in the bin are off the field and unable to communicate with team mates and coaches until their time is up. The time is live play, so a stopped play clock stops the sin bin clock too. Time is carried between quarters and games (ie a 5min binning with 4mins of play left means the player must stay binned for the first minute of the next quartegame). Multiple binnings can qualify for immediate financial sanction or suspension, with additional punishment from the MRO if they deem it necessary. Umpires can also review footage of an incident in-game to determine who is sent to the sin bin, if needed. A job for the benched umpires! Or hell, even make The ARC do it. This rule suggestion is to allow umpires some actual power in breaking up a fight. Fights in quarter breaks come with the risk of starting the next quarter down, while the possibility of being binned for the next game reduces motivation to come to blows after a game. It seems harsh but I believe the umpires are weak. It's not their fault, because they don't have the rules to back them most of the time. Conclusion: put the onus on players to know the rules of their full time jobs and take some pressure off the umpires for enforcing them. One season of the AFL standing behind the umpires while they ruthlessly, but fairly, apply the rules and I bet we'd see a lot more players suddenly showing that they're capable of doing the right the first time around. Bonus Change: The ARC Dear ARC, why does it take you so long to check The Edge on hit-the-post reviews? Surely that's the first thing you look at! Why do you have to send a decision to the scoreboard? Just tell the umpires and have the audio play at games and on TV as you do. Those animations are unnecessary to wait for, you can still play them just send it straight to the umpires for efficiency's sake. Bang, right there I've saved you probably a good 10s each review.
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I don't kick a footy, mate, and I don't sit in a coaches box. That’s the brave people who do that are doing that job. But I know that Redditors would want me back at this time. So I'll happily come back and do that. – The /r/AFL 2020 Collingwood Magpies season preview
History Est: 1892 Premierships (VFL/AFL): 15 Last premiership: 2010 Grounds: Melbourne Cricket Ground, Marvel Stadium, Olympic Park Oval (training) Key Administration:
Eddie McGuire (President)
Mark Anderson (CEO)
Geoff Walsh (Head of Football Department
Nathan Buckley (Senior Coach)
2019 season overview H&A Ladder position: 4 (15 wins, 7 losses) EW Copeland Trophy (BnF): Brodie Grundy Leading goalkicker: Brody Mihocek (36 goals) All-Australian representation: Brodie Grundy, Scott Pendlebury (Adam Treloar named in initial squad) AFL debutants:
Isaac Quaynor (R16)
John Noble (R17)
VFL affiliate: Collingwood VFL (finished 11th in 2019; 7 wins, 11 losses) 2019 season review Collingwood supporters such as myself had good reason to believe that the club could go one better from 2018. After losing the 2018 Grand Final in heartbreaking fashion, the club theoretically improved its list by re-acquiring a genuine A-grader in Dayne Beams at a premium, shoring up its key position stocks at bargain basement price with Jordan Roughead and exploiting drafting rules to acquire two top-30 talents in Isaac Quaynor and Will Kelly despite not having a live pick until pick 41. Unfortunately, the home and away season could probably be described as lacklustre. Too often Collingwood relied on playing one really strong quarter of football before taking the foot off the accelerator for the rest of the game. This was evident in the game against Port Adelaide, ANZAC Day, the game against Sydney and the game against St Kilda. Eventually, the club went through a major form slump in the middle of the season, playing unattractive, stop-start football that was more characteristic of the non-finals years under Buckley then the exciting 2018. In the middle of this slump, however, the club delivered a memorable win on the road against West Coast, keeping them goalless for a full half to win by one point and down two players. The club snuck into the top four by the end of the season, however this was more to do with a Hawthorn masterclass against the Eagles in Round 23 than genuinely being deserving of fourth spot. The two finals Collingwood played were representative of much of the season for the club – the Qualifying Final against Geelong proved the club could still put it together and match it against the best (Geelong having been minor premiers over the course of the entire season), however the Preliminary Final against GWS showed again that the players thought they could pull off a miracle win by playing one good quarter – this was not to be. Nathan Buckley lamented following the Prelim loss that 2019 was “a wasted year.” Initially I thought this was being a tad harsh, but on reflection I think I agree with him. Collingwood had the elements to put everything together and win the premiership but squandered it for various reasons. The club again faced a huge injury list, with usual suspects De Goey, Elliott and Moore missing chunks of the season. First-choice fullback Dunn re-tore his ACL on his return in a VFL practice match. Langdon injured his knee (the details of which the club has refused to reveal) during halftime against St Kilda and missed the rest of the season. Beams missed much of the season with hip/shouldemental health issues and there continues to be speculation that he may never return to football. Wells sustained a PCL game in his one game of the season which ultimately caused his retirement before the season had officially ended. As per usual, off-field issues distracted the club, including Stephenson copping a ten-match suspension for betting on Collingwood matches and Sier playing social basketball under a pseudonym despite being in rehab for a calf injury at the time. Personally, I think much of the problem lies with very few players taking a step-up in their development like what had occurred in 2018. Phillips, Sidebottom, Thomas and Hoskin-Elliott were among the players that had exceptionally strong seasons in 2018 but struggled at times through 2019 (the latter, however, perhaps forgiven for having virtually nil pre-season). The midfield group also failed to connect and take advantage of Grundy’s dominance. Having said that, there were some positives to take from the season. Grundy continued his trajectory upwards and ultimately had a career-best season. Roughead proved to be the bargain recruit of the year at fullback. Noble being uncovered in the mid-season rookie draft and being plucked from the SANFL proved an inspired choice. Wills saved his career by taking advantage of the spot that opened up for him in Beams’ and Sier’s absence. Just don’t mention Crisp missing out on AA selection to me though. 2020 Playing List
Guernsey
Player
Typical position
Games played
Age at start of R1, 2020
Contracted until
1
Jaidyn Stephenson
Forward
40
21
2021
2
Jordan De Goey
Forward
88
24
2020
3
Isaac Quaynor
Defender
4
20
2022
4
Brodie Grundy
Ruck
132
25
2027 (UFA)
5
Jamie Elliott
Forward
105
27
2021 (UFA)
6
Tyler Brown
Midfielder
0
20
2020
7
Adam Treloar
Midfielder
163
27
2025 (RFA)
8
Tom Langdon
Defender
89
25
2021 (RFA)
9
John Noble (a)
Defender
5
22
2021
10
Scott Pendlebury* (c)
Midfielder
301
32
2021 (UFA)
11
Dayne Beams*
Midfielder
177
30
2022
12
Matthew Scharenberg
Defender
38
24
2020
13
Taylor Adams (l)
Midfielder
132
26
2024 (RFA)
14
Darcy Cameron
Ruck
1
24
2021
15
Lynden Dunn (a, l)
Defender
196
32
2020 (UFA)
16
Chris Mayne
Midfielder
217
31
2020
17
Callum Brown
Midfielder
35
21
2020
18
Travis Varcoe
Forward
221
31
2020
19
Levi Greenwood
Defender
152
31
2020
20
Ben Reid*
Forward
150
30
2020 (UFA)
21
Tom Phillips
Midfielder
74
23
2021
22
Steele Sidebottom* (vc)
Midfielder
234
29
2021 (UFA)
23
Jordan Roughead
Defender
162
29
2020
24
Josh Thomas
Forward
89
28
2021 (UFA)
25
Jack Crisp
Defender
134
26
2023 (UFA)
26
Josh Daicos
Forward
17
21
2020
27
Will Kelly
Defender
0
19
2022
28
Nathan Murphy
Defender
2
20
2020
29
Tim Broomhead (a)
Forward
36
25
2020 (UFA)
30
Darcy Moore
Defender
71
24
2020
31
Flynn Appleby (a)
Defender
10
21
2020
32
Will Hoskin-Elliott
Forward
119
26
2022
33
Rupert Wills
Midfielder
15
26
2020
34
Trent Bianco
Defender
0
19
2021
35
Jay Rantall
Midfielder
0
18
2021
36
Brayden Sier
Midfielder
18
22
2021
37
Brayden Maynard
Defender
97
23
2022 (RFA)
38
Jeremy Howe (l)
Defender
183
29
2021
39
Trey Ruscoe
Defender
0
18
2021
40
Atu Bosenavulagi
Forward
0
19
2020
41
Brody Mihocek (a)
Forward
40
27
2020
43
Anton Tohill (a)
Forward
0
20
2020
44
Jack Madgen (b)
Defender
8
26
2020
45
Max Lynch
Ruck
0
21
2020
46
Mason Cox
Forward
58
29
2020
47
Mark Keane (b)
Defender
0
20
2020
48
Tom Wilson (b)
Forward
0
22
2021
\ - 2010 Premiership player* a - Category A Rookie b – Category B rookie c – Captain vc – Vice Captain l – Leadership group Outs for 2020
James Aish
Traded to Fremantle
Ben Crocker
Delisted (rookie drafted by the Adelaide Crows)
Lynden Dunn
Delisted (rookie listed under SSP rules)
Tyson Goldsack
Retired (now playing as captain-coach for Port Magpies in the SANFL)
Sam Murray
Delisted (now playing for Williamstown in the VFL)
Daniel Wells
Retired (now involved in indigenous recruitment and development at Collingwood)
Ins for 2020
Trent Bianco
National Draft
Darcy Cameron
Traded from the Sydney Swans
Lynden Dunn
Rookie listed under SSP rules
Jay Rantall
National Draft
Trey Ruscoe
National Draft
Tom Wilson
Category B rookie selection
Pragmatic_Shill**’s personal best 22 (+ 4 emergencies) for Collingwood in 2020**
B:
Langdon*
Roughead
Howe
HB:
Crisp
Moore
Maynard
C:
Phillips
Pendelbury
Sidebottom
HF:
Hoskin-Elliott
Mihocek
De Goey
F:
Stephenson
Cox
Elliott
FOLL:
Grundy
Adams
Beams*
INT:
C Brown
Treloar
Noble
Mayne
EMER:
Thomas
Varcoe*
Sier
Greenwood*
\ Confirmed unavailable for Round 1 2020* Notes on this selection
This was hard to do. I think there are a bunch of players that are on the cusp such as Wills, Quaynor and even Reid. However if I was to look at pure talent as well as experience that’s what I think a full game-day squad would look like. I even debated listing Varcoe in the emergencies at all because I think his 2019 was so disappointing and given his age (and now injury) he’ll be up against some promising kids coming through. Sier’s 2018 was better than Wills’ 2019 in my view, hence why I gave Sier the nod. Quaynor (while likely being more talented than Noble) hasn’t shown quite enough yet to warrant automatic selection in my view.
The team selection for Round 1 will look quite different to this – Langdon still appears to be a long way off in his rehab from whatever mystery knee injury he acquired in 2019, Beams is probably a fair chance to not play again, Varcoe has had a shoulder reconstruction and Greenwood is still some time away as he recovers from his ACL injury.
Using what little powers of precognition I have, I think come Round 1 you can remove Langdon and Beams from my 22 and replace with Quaynor and either Sier or Wills.
Players to watch for 2020
Isaac Quaynor
Taken at pick 13 in the 2018 draft after matching a bid from GWS, Quaynor looms as one of Collingwood’s most exciting young prospects. He had to wait for a debut in 2019 and only played a handful of games before a foot stress injury sidelined him for the rest of the season, however the senior appearances he made showed that he fits in nicely to the backline. Quaynor unfortunately has already had an interrupted pre-season due to hip surgery, but is expected to be fit to play come Round 1. While he is an impressive young talent I personally have a concern about whether he and John Noble can play in the same side. Both are undersized defenders used to provide run off halfback, and I haven’t seen either of them deployed in the lockdown small defensive role that has opened up with Levi Greenwood being out injured and James Aish moving to Fremantle. Noble at this stage has more senior experience (plus finals experience) so it will be interesting to see how selection goes when both are fit and available.
Rupert Wills
Wills holds the record for most tackles laid on debut and in 2018 broke the record for fewest senior games played to reach 100 career tackles. At the start of the year, Wills’ card appeared marked for delisting given his inability to break into the senior side. He came in for a short stint in early 2019 to play a similar role to De Goey when De Goey was injured, however Wills isn’t as explosive and he struggled playing in the forward line. After being dropped, I thought that would be it for him, however an injury crisis with the midfield later in the year (including Beams, Adams and a lacklustre season from Sier) opened up a spot for him, and he played right through to the end of the season. Wills provided much needed grunt for a midfield that failed to live up to expectations for much of the season, and truly earned another extension. His 2020 campaign will be one to watch, as he only managed a one-year extension despite his impressive showing, and given he will be directly competing for a spot with the younger Sier, he is under pressure to continue his senior career. Nevertheless, when he does play he doesn’t look out of place and was an impressive player in weeks when so many others were substandard.
Mark Keane
This selection is a bit out of left field, however I didn’t want to repeat last year’s selections of Tyler Brown or Nathan Murphy (even though I am excited to see what their 2020 seasons look like). A lot of regular VFL watchers over on the Collingwood BigFooty have been impressed with Keane, our Irish Category B key defender. Keane apparently is not afraid to be quite physical on the field and showed marked improvement as a lockdown defender through 2019 despite our VFL side being disappointing. Some have said he may even earn a debut in 2020, which would require a temporary senior promotion over the more experienced Category B in Jack Madgen. Watch this space. Players on notice for 2020
Brayden Sier
Sier came into the 2019 season with a lot of expectation and excitement from Collingwood fans after his long-awaited senior debut in 2018 showed why Derek Hine rated him highly enough to be our first pick in 2015 despite being relatively unknown. Mystery soon set in during the 2019 pre-season however, as Sier found himself excluded from selection in both JLT matches, despite being fit enough to play in a VFL practice match the day before one of them. The club said he had little niggles such as rib and toe issues, however comments from Pendlebury about Sier needing to demonstrate his commitment to the team on-field raised some eyebrows about whether he was out of favour. When he finally earned his senior return on the Queen’s Birthday, he took the opportunity with both hands, however had disappointing showings for the few games he had after. Then came the infamous “Phil Inn” incident, where he played social basketball while meant to be rehabbing a calf injury. The club claimed he wasn’t banned from senior selection but didn’t even appear in the emergency list for the rest of the season. Despite this, he signed for a further two years. Given the amount of time he’s had on the list and the various challenges he’s faced in that time, you would hope the penny has dropped and he begins to show on a more consistent basis the type of player he can be. That’s up to him now, however he also faces the added challenge of beating an in-favour Rupert Wills for selection as the big-bodied inside midfielder.
Mason Cox
I think Cox was unfairly maligned in 2019 – he missed many games, first through an ankle injury and then through a scratched retina, however ended up with the same goal output at the end of the season as he had for 2018 (a season in which he only missed two games). However, it’s clear that there are expectations being placed on him by the media and by Collingwood fans to more consistently show the type of game he had in the 2018 preliminary final. During the 2019 trade period, Collingwood brought in Darcy Cameron from the Sydney Swans, and while Cameron has only played one senior game of football, he is a more natural footballer than Cox and will be competing directly for his spot. Off the field, I feel that Cox has to prove his worth after the details of his contract came out during the same trade period after Essendon came knocking for him to fill their ruck spot. At the end of 2017, Cox signed a new three-year contract which elevated him to the senior list, worth $500,000 a year. At this time, Cox was a Category B rookie who had played a grand total of twenty games. His contract also stipulates that he only needs to play one more senior game for a fourth year trigger, and he’ll need to show a bit more if he’s to convince Collingwood supporters that he’s worth such a hefty price tag given the continuing narrative of our salary cap issues.
Anyone out of contract that isn’t De Goey or Moore
This is perhaps a cop-out answer but given the impending salary cap squeeze the onus is on the rest of the players out of contract in 2020 (particularly the ones that aren’t best 22) to step up and cement their spot in the side or prove their value to the squad. Some, such as Brody Mihocek and Callum Brown can probably consider themselves safe. Mihocek himself may prove to be challenging as he will require promotion to the senior list to stay and given he was a latecomer to AFL he may choose to take a significantly priced contract elsewhere if it was offered to him. A number of players have been on the list for a number of years now, including Tim Broomhead and Josh Daicos, that would find themselves very much under the pump in 2020. Other fringe players like Appleby, Madgen, (both requiring senior promotion if they stay), Murphy, Bosenavulagi, Tohill and Keane face uncertain futures. There are also many players out of contract (Reid, Greenwood, Varcoe, Mayne, Dunn) that are in the twilight of their careers, and these players could be the first shown the door if the cap gets too tight. The problem with showing all five of these senior players the door at once, however, is that being gifted picks at the arse end of one solitary draft to fill the list spots might not provide the same quality of depth (even over a long period of time) that keeping some of the experienced veterans on would. 2020 fixture preview Marsh Community Series matches
Date
Opponent
Home or Away
Where
Time
Sunday 1 March
Richmond
Away
Norm Minns Oval
4:10pm (AEDT)
Sunday 8 March
St Kilda
Home
Morwell Recreation Reserve
3:50pm (AEDT)
Notable matches during the 2020 Premiership Season
Date
Occasion
Opponent
Home or Away
Where
Time
Friday 20 March
Round 1
Western Bulldogs
Away
Marvel
7:50pm (AEDT)
Thursday 9 April
Easter Thursday
Brisbane Lions
Away
Gabba
7:35pm (AEDT)
Saturday 25 April
ANZAC Day
Essendon
Home
MCG
4:20PM (AEDT)
Monday 8 June
Queen's Birthday
Melbourne
Away
MCG
3:20pm (AEDT)
Bye: Round 13 Double-ups:
Richmond (R2/R17)
Brisbane Lions (R4/R16)
Essendon (R6/R20)
West Coast Eagles (R11/R22)
Melbourne (R12/R21)
2020 season preview (expectations and concerns) 2020 shapes as a fascinating year for the club both on- and off-field. On-field there would be genuine expectations both internally and externally that the club makes finals and pushes for a flag for a third season in a row. Personally, I don’t feel that we have improved our list through trading or drafting and instead will need to rely on improvement from the existing players to take the next step. With the oldest list in the competition, it is time for the youth at the club to stake their claims more seriously through strong performances at training and in the twos, rather than wait for positions to become available by default through injuries at senior level. This requires genuine steps up from the likes of Brayden Sier, Tyler Brown and Josh Daicos, as well as a willingness of the coaches to begin managing the constant selection of older players. Our opening month to the season is as tough as it gets, and may define how the rest of the season plays out. If we start 0-4, I wonder how much of a hit to the self-confidence it will be and our ability to recover. Off-field, as mentioned, list manager Ned Guy will have his work cut out for him in trying to balance a large out of contract list with players wanting and genuinely deserving substantial pay days, and there is a reasonable chance we could see significant changes to our list at the end of the year which will ultimately have a flow-on effect on our ability to contend in the following years. The club continues to be distracted with undesirable media stories and the ongoing issue of Beams returning to the club continues to drag on. I get the feeling personally that there is a power of work being done behind the scenes to end the contract that still has three seasons left to run, both for the good of the club and for Beams’ wellbeing. While that is ongoing, however, it remains an unnecessary distraction and a sore reminder that the President continues to be too involved in the administration of the football department. All in all, I think Collingwood will stay in the 8 but would not be surprised if they fall short of top 4. I don’t see the potential for improvement that I do from other clubs around the same mark. The year will be a positive one, however, if we begin seeing signs that the club can develop a strong side to transition into the ever-close “post-Pendlebury era.” Thank you to the guys doing the St Kilda season preview for adjusting their schedule to allow me to recover from surgery and complete this. Thanks for reading the 2020 season preview for the Collingwood Magpies.
Sorry for the long post and I’m not sure if this sub is this best place for it, but it’s something I need to get off my chest. Betting on sport is getting more and more common in my circles and it’s starting to get a bit scary. I’m not a stranger to it, and for a good 6 months a few years back it had a pretty good hold on me, fortunately I had a moment of clarity. I was doing it every week because I had built up myself a decent kitty and I saw it as playing with “virtual money” and it was making even the most dull games of the round interesting. NHL, NBA and MLB have like 10 games a day, shit yeah that’s so many potential multis! Hell, it was even allowing me to watch NRL which I’d never taken an interest in. It wasn’t until I came to the realisation that it’s not virtual money it’s real money! And realised, hey that’s 400 bucks in there and I can just withdraw it. I ultimately stopped though because I realised it was ruining one of my favourite past times, watching sport. My best friend on the other hand, who I’ve discussed afl with every week since we were collecting and swapping footy cards back in grade 2 is so hooked on betting he doesn’t realise it. Like I had, he put a deposit down once upon a time and is just playing with his built up winnings, and to be fair he’s doing pretty well for himself considering the odds are in the houses favour. But from my point of view it’s scary to just see the typical red flags of gambling addiction. It’s now rare for him to not have money on a game, as it used to be rare for him to have money on a game. It’s not 10 dollar bets, it’s 100 dollar bets. What you used to be a multi for laughs because it was ridiculous are now serious and he can’t believe how often he loses because “if only one of the legs didn’t fall it would of been given a huge cash out option”. I’ve had a few small chats with how I think it’s crazy he’s always got around 50 on most matches but to him there’s no problem because he’s not losing any money, it’s play money! My fear is what happens if he puts a huge bet on, and loses the kitty. There’s no way he will stop there. Another example of how it spoils your entertainment, not enhances it, last night we were hanging out while cats and tigers were on, at quarter time he goes “cmon cats get it together”. I was like wtf since when do you want Geelong to win. (He’s always hated Geelong, sorry cats fans). And he’s like I’ve got some cash on a multi and they’re the first leg. It’s so weird to see someone cheer on a team they’ve loathed their whole life because now they put some money on them because they are “easy money”. It’s prevalent in my workplace too. So many of the young apprentices coming through straight out of school and getting their first bit of proper income in their life and they are almost budgeting to gamble on sport. The amount of advertising and the insane amount of different companies with flashy addictive apps out there, I can’t really blame these young blokes and gals. Honestly it’s heart breaking to see my friends obsessed with odds and multis, and no longer watching games with their love or hatred for team pouring out of them, but rather a tense few hours and hoping their bets pay off. It probably sounds like I’m announcing a pandemic is happening, it’s not the case. It’s just a strong notable shift towards pro betting on AFL, I thought for awhile it was just because I was getting older, but it’s not, and no secret Australia is plagued with betting adds. If you’ve got a kitty of “virtual money” in your betting account, why not withdraw some of it today, take your partner out to lunch, spoil your kids, buy your parents a random gift for no reason, buy yourself something you’ve had you’re eye on but can’t justify the purchase, or start that savings account you’ve not been able to commit to. And watch today’s games with clear eyes and barrack for the team your heart wants to win, not your betting account.
I’ve just released my footy predictions app to the Play Store -"Footy Fortunes"
Hi everyone at /AFL, I’d like to preface this post by saying that I have checked in with the mod team prior to posting this and they have granted me permission to share my project with you all. To give some background, ever since I was a kid I’ve written down my predictions in several categories (Winner, Margin, First Kick, First Goal, Most Goals, Most Possessions and Least Possessions) for each game that I’ve watched on TV or gone to. When I watch with someone else I’ve also always asked them for their predictions and then made a game out of seeing who can predict the most correct categories. Because I’ve always avoided betting and gambling companies this was my way of getting involved in the game at a deeper level and having fun making predictions without wasting my money doing it. Over the last couple of months I’ve been working on a project of taking this idea and turning it into an app to allow me to use my phone to make my game predictions rather than having to carry pen and paper with me when I go to games or getting them out at home. I’ve finally finished it and although I originally built it to scratch my own itch and solve my own problem I thought it may be of interest to other footy fans who may like to do the same thing and it can be a fun way of getting involved in the game without betting any money or exposing yourself or your kids to gambling companies. It’s called Footy Fortunes and you can download it from the Play store here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fortunes.footyfortunes You select the Home/Away teams playing and then choose who you think the Winning Team will be, what the Margin will be, who will get the First Kick, First Goal, Most Goals, Most Possessions and Least Possessions. The data is stored locally on your phone and if you have multiple Fortune Tellers you just hit Save and your predictions for each person will be saved in the app until you start a New Game. You can add as many Fortune Tellers as you like to record your friends/family’s predictions and have a competition to see who can predict the most correct results. As each outcome happens, you can then check off which categories you and your friends correctly predicted and then compare the totals to see who predicted the most correct results. It’s only available on the Play store at the moment for Android but I’m working on making an iOS version for the App Store. I’d love it if the people of /AFL could give it a go while watching today’s games, share it with your friends and hopefully enjoy using it for the rest of the season as well. Look forward to hearing any feedback you have and happy predicting! https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fortunes.footyfortunes
AFL Scrabble: Which AFL player's name is worth the most points in Scrabble?
Have you ever thought to yourself, 'if proper nouns were allowed in the beloved game of Scrabble, how would I best flex my AFL knowledge? Which player names would lead me to victory?'
Well, you don't need to think about it any more. I've compiled a convenient list of the highest scoring Scrabble-names in the AFL. The most valuable is Jake Kolodjashnij, who is worth whopping 49 points. The most valuable first name is Changkuoth (Changkuoth Jiath of Hawthorn), worth 23 points. The most valuable last name is, of course, Kolodjashnij (Jake and Kade of Geelong and Melbourne), worth 34 points. I think the highest possible score on an actual board is 129, if you play Kolodjashnij like so.
The most valuable Scrabble team in the competition is Melbourne, overall their list is worth 1089 points (average of 23 points per player [ppp]), making them the Scrabble Premiers of 2019. The Scrabble Spoon goes to Footscray, coming in at a dismal 906 points (21 ppp). So if you're going to commit to learning a team worth of names, the Dees are your best bet.
I used this Scrabble scoring template, which I think is the standard Scrabble scoring system. This whole idea is taken from JasonH0711's post on nba. Footy might not be a professional sport, but at least Jake Kolodjashnij is worth more on the ol' Scrabble board than any NBA player.
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