Every few years the Victorian teams struggle to make any impact on the competition. When you're next big hope is Richmond, then you're in a bad way. Most people around Australia see this as a sign that the competition is healthy and growing and inclusive but the Victorians seem to view it as a sign that we'll all be rooned before the year is out.
And so here we go again
These are sobering times for AFL administrators, who at the conclusion of a 2014 season that could on many levels rightly be called a stinker, essentially issued a mea culpa to the fan base.
What it may now be discovering, however, is that a convergence of factors and the gradual erosion of the faith of the traditional fan base has resulted in a perfect storm, which continues to bucket down troubled waters.
Two-thirds of the way through the premiership season there's not a huge amount of evidence that the disillusioned are flocking back to their sporting church.
After 66 games to date at the three Victorian venues – the MCG, Etihad Stadium and Geelong's Simonds Stadium – crowds are nominally up on the same stage of last year, by a total of just 27,500.
Bla bla bla...rugby...bla bla bla...soccer...bla bla bla we'll all be rooned
Here's what I propose. Every year we establish a quota of 2 Victorian teams in the top 4. It doesn't matter how good they are, it doesn't matter how many games they lose, they always get the top 2 spots on the ladder.
This way, the rest of the country don't have to listen to them whinging about the state of football, we don't have to deal with ridiculous rule changes that seem to suit the strengths of one particular team and we can all get on with enjoying seeing our team win without the need for umpires to even thing out.
I suspect Fremantle may have already come up with their own version of this, and dropped games to Richmond and Hawthorn because if those two teams were sitting in 6th and 8th right now, the league may well be dissolved before we get a shot at beating the Swans for the flag.
