As a Fremantle supporter, the season usually feels a bit too long to me. Supporters of good teams might take a different view.
I like an 18-game season, which includes one ‘rivalry’ game a year is a good outcome, as it means each team can hosts 9 home games a season.
Personally, I’d add a mid-season State of Origin tournament every four years (meaning players would have one or two chances to play over their career), but I realise that’s probably just a pipe-dream.
If I’m being generous, perhaps the AFL is pursuing a growth-at-all-costs model because that money can be funnelled into growing the game in the community level - certainly Auskick seems to be doing pretty well – but it does feel to me to be growth for growth’s sake, and it feels a lot of money is being spent at the extreme margins of professional performance. Other than a couple of hundred AFL team staff, I’m not sure who that benefits.
To me, a league that has a 9th Melbourne team and a team on the Gold Coast over a team in Tassie doesn’t really have its priorities right.
