Funny enough my AFL team are Carlton. I also lived in the area for 2 months as a second excuse.
I personally think the rules for marking spoil the game a little and the way the non-Victorian teams are given special treatment to try and spread the game is disgraceful. Likewise how they only use 2 grounds in Melbourne despite the number of teams there. Very American Franchise in that regard.
The mark is one of the best aspects of the game! Watching someone use a 6-foot-plus bloke as a stepladder, jumping onto their shoulders and then getting an extra lift to catch the ball over 10 foot off the ground before crashing back to earth is quite spectacular.
There used to be more grounds in Melbourne but during the 80s and 90s the clubs left their small (20-30,000 capacity) suburban grounds for either the MCG or Waverley Park, both of which had larger capacities. Waverley was then replaced by the Docklands Stadium. The old grounds are now mostly used as the clubs' administrative and training bases and by the reserves sides in the VFL.
The non-Victorian sides, apart from the two newest clubs, Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney, don't get much help, if any, from the AFL. The WA and SA clubs probably helped prop up the Victorian clubs when they first joined the league in the 80s and 90s because of the large licence fees they had to pay. The Melbourne clubs had been struggling which is why South Melbourne relocated to Sydney and various mergers had been discussed before Fitzroy went under in the mid-90s, merging with Brisbane.
The main problem with the league is that it seems to be more concerned with making money than anything else, which is why, despite Geelong having earned a home Qualifying Final by finishing second on the ladder, they were forced to play at the MCG against third-placed Richmond instead of at the 35,000 capacity Kardinia Park. Not only did the Cats lose the advantage of playing on a skinnier ground their fans were also significantly outnumbered in the 95,000 crowd.
Your main problem ties in with my issue with Melbourne only using two grounds!
There was differently an issue when the Swans won the grand final on '05 with the Victorians I was with, maybe it's resolve with them but seems the new clubs are getting extra assistance to create new markets and thr traditonal well supported clubs aren't.
The free kick (they probably call it a scuzwogga) for marking is a shite rule. Most of the times the player catching it at the gane i went to was in space and didn't have to climb 10 feet, although it was a friendly which maybe why.
The AFL has a salary cap as part of its efforts to keep the comp as equal as possible (they also have an annual draft of the country's best young players) otherwise the big, rich clubs like Collingwood, Carlton, Hawthorn would hoover up all the best players and the smaller clubs like St Kilda, Western (Footscray) Bulldogs and North Melbourne would be left with the lower-end talent and be at the bottom of the ladder year after year.
As Sydney was a more expensive city to live in than Melbourne the Swans had an additional "Cost Of Living Allowance" to supplement their cap (GWS may also have had this as well when they first started). The Victorians didn't like that as they felt it gave the Swans too much of an advantage as they were able to lure the likes of Kurt Tippett from Adelaide and Buddy Franklin from Hawthorn. I think the league has now phased out the COLA.
The Victorians will moan about anything that they feel gives the inter-state clubs an advantage. They believe that because they invented the game and it's their league (it may be called the Australian Football League but it grew out of the Victorian Football League) it should be run purely for their benefit; the others should just be happy that they can take part in it.
The best marks video was entertaining, but the first video of an actual (exciting) game I personally found the marks stopped the flow of the game. I guess they stop the sport becoming like Shrovetide Football but with the massive amounts of space and fewer players it would probably lead to lots of long range shooting instead.
Funny enough my AFL team are Carlton. I also lived in the area for 2 months as a second excuse.
I personally think the rules for marking spoil the game a little and the way the non-Victorian teams are given special treatment to try and spread the game is disgraceful. Likewise how they only use 2 grounds in Melbourne despite the number of teams there. Very American Franchise in that regard.
The mark is one of the best aspects of the game! Watching someone use a 6-foot-plus bloke as a stepladder, jumping onto their shoulders and then getting an extra lift to catch the ball over 10 foot off the ground before crashing back to earth is quite spectacular.
There used to be more grounds in Melbourne but during the 80s and 90s the clubs left their small (20-30,000 capacity) suburban grounds for either the MCG or Waverley Park, both of which had larger capacities. Waverley was then replaced by the Docklands Stadium. The old grounds are now mostly used as the clubs' administrative and training bases and by the reserves sides in the VFL.
The non-Victorian sides, apart from the two newest clubs, Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney, don't get much help, if any, from the AFL. The WA and SA clubs probably helped prop up the Victorian clubs when they first joined the league in the 80s and 90s because of the large licence fees they had to pay. The Melbourne clubs had been struggling which is why South Melbourne relocated to Sydney and various mergers had been discussed before Fitzroy went under in the mid-90s, merging with Brisbane.
The main problem with the league is that it seems to be more concerned with making money than anything else, which is why, despite Geelong having earned a home Qualifying Final by finishing second on the ladder, they were forced to play at the MCG against third-placed Richmond instead of at the 35,000 capacity Kardinia Park. Not only did the Cats lose the advantage of playing on a skinnier ground their fans were also significantly outnumbered in the 95,000 crowd.
Your main problem ties in with my issue with Melbourne only using two grounds!
There was differently an issue when the Swans won the grand final on '05 with the Victorians I was with, maybe it's resolve with them but seems the new clubs are getting extra assistance to create new markets and thr traditonal well supported clubs aren't.
The free kick (they probably call it a scuzwogga) for marking is a shite rule. Most of the times the player catching it at the gane i went to was in space and didn't have to climb 10 feet, although it was a friendly which maybe why.
The AFL has a salary cap as part of its efforts to keep the comp as equal as possible (they also have an annual draft of the country's best young players) otherwise the big, rich clubs like Collingwood, Carlton, Hawthorn would hoover up all the best players and the smaller clubs like St Kilda, Western (Footscray) Bulldogs and North Melbourne would be left with the lower-end talent and be at the bottom of the ladder year after year.
As Sydney was a more expensive city to live in than Melbourne the Swans had an additional "Cost Of Living Allowance" to supplement their cap (GWS may also have had this as well when they first started). The Victorians didn't like that as they felt it gave the Swans too much of an advantage as they were able to lure the likes of Kurt Tippett from Adelaide and Buddy Franklin from Hawthorn. I think the league has now phased out the COLA.
The Victorians will moan about anything that they feel gives the inter-state clubs an advantage. They believe that because they invented the game and it's their league (it may be called the Australian Football League but it grew out of the Victorian Football League) it should be run purely for their benefit; the others should just be happy that they can take part in it.
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As Sydney was a more expensive city to live in than Melbourne the Swans had an additional "Cost Of Living Allowance" to supplement their cap (GWS may also have had this as well when they first started). The Victorians didn't like that as they felt it gave the Swans too much of an advantage as they were able to lure the likes of Kurt Tippett from Adelaide and Buddy Franklin from Hawthorn. I think the league has now phased out the COLA.
The Victorians will moan about anything that they feel gives the inter-state clubs an advantage. They believe that because they invented the game and it's their league (it may be called the Australian Football League but it grew out of the Victorian Football League) it should be run purely for their benefit; the others should just be happy that they can take part in it.
Either way I can't see it catching on!