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AFL thread

HappyGuus said:
Shovel ready

www.abc.net.au

Hobart stadium not expected to be ready for AFL Devils games until 2031

When the $1.13 billion stadium was approved last year, it was hoped the Tasmania Devils would begin playing AFL games there from 2029. The head of the corporation tasked with delivering the stadium says her expectations are set a little bit later.
www.abc.net.au www.abc.net.au
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The AFL are deadset kidding themselves to expect the Devils to have a new stadium.

It would've been far cheaper to do an Adelaide Oval style redevelopment of Bellerive Oval or North Hobart Oval.
 
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Carlton ran out four-point winners over Richmond in the traditional AFL season opener, 10.15 (75) to 9.17 (71) to get round 1 proper underway, with the result meaning they move to sixth on the ladder with one win and one loss from their two matches played going into their bye week next week.
 
rebelliousfeminist974 said:
Carlton ran out four-point winners over Richmond in the traditional AFL season opener, 10.15 (75) to 9.17 (71) to get round 1 proper underway, with the result meaning they move to sixth on the ladder with one win and one loss from their two matches played going into their bye week next week.
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Thx Rf horrible game both teams are going nowhere
 
Hawthorn defeated Essendon by 62 points, 21.19 (145) to 13.5 (83) in their AFL round 1 game to get their first win of the season, moving to fifth on the ladder. Essendon are eleventh on the ladder meanwhile, having played and lost their first match of season 2026.
 
Western Bulldogs currently leading GWS Giants by 16 points, 5.1 (31) to 2.3 (15) at quarter time of their AFL round 1 game.
 
melbcityguy said:
www.brisbanetimes.com.au

Multiculturalism is booming in the NRL while the AFL is getting whiter

The AFL has a big problem, and it knows it. The number of First Nations players at the elite level is down more than 25 per cent in five years.
www.brisbanetimes.com.au www.brisbanetimes.com.au
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The NRL is turning me off more due to the islander cultural saturation. Don't get me wrong they're great athletes but when your game changes from being the rough and tumble head tape Anglo game to a now 'sick bra' high pitched screaming culture, it's not how it grew on you. No different to English football having so few English players these days. World class out there but it's not culturally the same as yesteryear and that's what makes the EFL more appealing.
 
JS96 said:
The NRL is turning me off more due to the islander cultural saturation. Don't get me wrong they're great athletes but when your game changes from being the rough and tumble head tape Anglo game to a now 'sick bra' high pitched screaming culture, it's not how it grew on you. No different to English football having so few English players these days. World class out there but it's not culturally the same as yesteryear and that's what makes the EFL more appealing.
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It's the SMH what does one expect?

A typical left-wing Anglo-hating rag.

I've been watching rugby league since the late 80's and that stuff is only part of my gripe with that game over the years.

The over-sanitisation of the game has rendered the game unwatchable.

I now pretty much just watch my own club's games, the Grand Final and rep games these days.

I was watching a semi final from the 1994 season on YouTube and thought to myself how much better the game was back then.

And I also couldn't agree more about the EPL, the dominance of foreign players over the local homegrown English talent has made that a joke too.
 
Sharkman84 said:
It's the SMH what does one expect?

A typical left-wing Anglo-hating rag.

I've been watching rugby league since the late 80's and that stuff is only part of my gripe with that game over the years.

The over-sanitisation of the game has rendered the game unwatchable.

I now pretty much just watch my own club's games, the Grand Final and rep games these days.

I was watching a semi final from the 1994 season on YouTube and thought to myself how much better the game was back then.

And I also couldn't agree more about the EPL, the dominance of foreign players over the local homegrown English talent has made that a joke too.
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The 90s and 2000s NRL had a sort of mongrel about it. Your mentioning of your age suggests you're just a bit older than me and with aging I actually now realise how young the players look as we're older. What I mean is the NRL seemed like a goliath product as a kid but looking at everything around it, empty stands, shabby grounds or ad hoc low table teams, there were issues there. Nevertheless it was framed in a way that made a lot of people in society interested. The footy was a popular topic.

Naturally as a id a 7k crowd felt massive. The Olympic stadium opener was something else when I went there though.

It's the same with Barclays EPL era players. They had a real go unlike today's boring style. No mud on the kits either.
 
Sharkman84 said:
I now pretty much just watch my own club's games, the Grand Final and rep games these days..
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I can’t even watch that much anymore.

I’m pretty sure I’ve only watched the grand finals for NRL since 2021.

AFL even worse, I watched the 2024 grand final, and I think that was the first time I watched since 2018 which I only watched because it was in the hospital waiting room just before an emergency op.
 
NicCarBel said:
I can’t even watch that much anymore.

I’m pretty sure I’ve only watched the grand finals for NRL since 2021.

AFL even worse, I watched the 2024 grand final, and I think that was the first time I watched since 2018 which I only watched because it was in the hospital waiting room just before an emergency op.
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What is it though? Are we all just getting older and noticing they're kids? Have the standards stopped? With the AFL I feel much less aura than the 90s and 2000s where you had real legends even in their playing days. I get that feeling with many leagues that a solid number of mature leaders are playing. The Bundesliga used to have a cohort of gentlemen and hard nuts aged 26-34 and now it's just the next French academy kid with dreadlocks running around.
 
JS96 said:
The 90s and 2000s NRL had a sort of mongrel about it. Your mentioning of your age suggests you're just a bit older than me and with aging I actually now realise how young the players look as we're older. What I mean is the NRL seemed like a goliath product as a kid but looking at everything around it, empty stands, shabby grounds or ad hoc low table teams, there were issues there. Nevertheless it was framed in a way that made a lot of people in society interested. The footy was a popular topic.

Naturally as a id a 7k crowd felt massive. The Olympic stadium opener was something else when I went there though.

It's the same with Barclays EPL era players. They had a real go unlike today's boring style. No mud on the kits either.
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The NRL has just become over-sanitised and boring.

The wrestling crap that infected the game for years had rendered the game unwatchable for a long time.

The "shabby" suburban grounds always had that appeal to me.

As a lifelong Cronulla fan who grew up in the Shire, there was nothing better than going along to Shark Park back in the day to watch blokes like Ettingshausen, McGaw, Miller, M. Rogers, Lang etc.

Even if I still lived at home up there today's game just doesn't have that same mystique about it anymore.

The way the game has been officiated since the 2010's has made the game look contrived and "managed" to get a result for certain teams.

The AFL's issue for me is the game at the elite level has been changed to look akin to basketball on grass.

That game's zenith was in the 90's as well.

Living in an AFL state now I prefer to go along to watch the local state league (in my case the SANFL) team run round.

It's a suburban ground, full of local players and real fans attend the matches, not these look at me types who need music blaring through the speakers during games to be "entertained".

As for the EPL, unlike yesteryear where you had local players who would die for their club, today's game is full of foreigners with no emotional, real attachment to the club and games are largely attended by selfie seeking tourists.
 
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Sharkman84 said:
The NRL has just become over-sanitised and boring.

The wrestling crap that infected the game for years had rendered the game unwatchable for a long time.

The "shabby" suburban grounds always had that appeal to me.

As a lifelong Cronulla fan who grew up in the Shire, there was nothing better than going along to Shark Park back in the day to watch blokes like Ettingshausen, McGaw, Miller, M. Rogers, Lang etc.

Even if I still lived at home up there today's game just doesn't have that same mystique about it anymore.

The way the game has been officiated since the 2010's has made the game look contrived and "managed" to get a result for certain teams.

The AFL's issue for me is the game at the elite level has been changed to look akin to basketball on grass.

That game's zenith was in the 90's as well.

Living in an AFL state now I prefer to go along to watch the local state league (in my case the SANFL) team run round.

It's a suburban ground, full of local players and real fans attend the matches, not these look at me types who need music blaring through the speakers during games to be "entertained".

As for the EPL, unlike yesteryear where you had local players who would die for their club, today's game is full of foreigners with no emotional, real attachment to the club and games are largely attended by selfie seeking tourists.
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I think this is it - it's a connection to the club. I don't feel that in AFL anymore, and haven't for years (plus, the constant WAR ON SOCKAH doesn't help things). But it's the same for football too - I can't even recall watching the A-League Grand Final since that closed doors/limited attendance one during COVID. I'd much rather watch NPL. I hardly watch any thing professional outside of internationals these days.

NRL... it's a little bit less of that (because the teams I am closer to like Rabbitohs and Raiders still entrench themselves in the community), and probably the sanitisation of it that you've mentioned as well.
 
JS96 said:
What is it though? Are we all just getting older and noticing they're kids? Have the standards stopped? With the AFL I feel much less aura than the 90s and 2000s where you had real legends even in their playing days. I get that feeling with many leagues that a solid number of mature leaders are playing. The Bundesliga used to have a cohort of gentlemen and hard nuts aged 26-34 and now it's just the next French academy kid with dreadlocks running around.
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Aura is a.word kids say so it's ironic you're saying that
 
Afl clever to partner with a children's hospital to justify playing today
 
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