Delayed Post - 2007 season schedule

Just a short review and gripe at the roster for the '07 AFL season

Hi and welcome once again to Up There Cazaly, THE ONLY blog 100% dedicated to Aussie Rules footy.

First of all, sorry about the lack of updates on this blog, my last post was a little more than 2 weeks ago and I whole-heartedly apologise for that fact. In all honesty it has been a hectic couple of weeks between work and family and I will endeavour to keep posting more regularly over the summer.

My other writer for this blog has gone MIA (meaning I do know where he is but don't know why he isn't posting at all) I will sort all of that out so I can assure you all that in the future, this blog will remain updated EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Now on to business:

The 2007 AFL season schedule has been finalised. Now that was 2 weeks ago and it was the biggest news since the end of trade week.

Well what can I say? The AFL have truly gone ahead and screwed over the two WA sides, while giving every eastern state club, especially the 10 based in Victoria, a great deal.

Now some people might say that the WA teams have it easy since every second game is a home game, but those people are forgetting to bear in mind the distance between Perth and every other major city in this country!

The travel is really going to take its tole on the premiership winning West Coast Eagles as they have 8 night away games next season. That might not appear to displease people however this accounts for 3 days of travel each time they play these games due to flight schedules and times. Fair enough they won the premiership and therefore deserve a greater challenge but this is downright intentional interference with the club.

The AFL obviously have no idea what a trip from Perth to Melbourne feels like. The excuse they gave West Coast was that they are the premiers and therefore want them on the mainstage (night games) however we all know the REAL main stage of AFL footy is the MCG, a venue where the Eagles will only play at once all of next season.

Let's compare that to teams such as Collingwood (who no matter how much pampering the AFL gives them they still can't find success) who get 17 games in Victoria next season. So that is basically 17 weeks where they won't have to step inside an airplane.

And to cap off the whinging portion of today's post, most of the other teams from the big V also get it easy, despite drops in attendance and membership numbers. I'm sorry but we here in the west also play footy and have even won more premierships than some of the teams from that state. Where's the justification for this AFL?

On to the system that was used to program next seasons schedule. The AFL used the same software that the NFL uses to construct their matchups week by week, I found that quite interesting because NFL teams play so many games a season, there are more teams, they are essentially split into east and west and some teams will not have the pleasure of meeting over an entire season - every team does not play eachother. The AFL has gotten rid of the system where the first 7 games of the season are repeated in the final 7 rounds, and instead introduced a concept where the two teams will meet twice within a space of 7 or 8 weeks. Now that might be exciting to some fans who want a bit of a change but it has ruined the anticipation of rivalry that has made AFL great.

For example, in the past two great teams will meet early in the season, have a great game, go on and play for another 12-13 weeks against other opponents and then meet again in a grudge match. (Carlton v Geelong 1995)(West Coast v Essendon 1993) It's classic.

Another change is that they've decided to force the two grand final sides to play against eachother in the first round of the season. Where is the logic in that? Sure it will bring in a great crowd and be a huge promotional opportunity, however isn't it a lot better to wait a while for the grudge match to happen? Especially after the way that the AFL and the media has built up the West Coast/Sydney rivalry over the past month.

Some of the things decided so far do not make any sense whatsoever.

Television
Well it pleased me to see that Foxtel is not yet quite out of negotiations with 7 and 10. Personally I'd like to see 10 lose footy altogether because I believe they destroy it. 7 used to have it all to themselves and did a great job. Foxtel should always have footy because I believe they have some of the best on air personalities and commentators coming through the ranks.

Since some negotiation between who will have night games has not been finalised, for the first time we may see two rival networks air live games at the same time (bar Foxtel). I'm undecided on whether or not this will be good for footy. It may be good because it will mean more exposure to AFL, however it may also be bad because viewers will decide to flip flop between stations. Yet there can't be too much harm in this as we all do it with sports radio anyway.

Anyway I'm hoping against hope that Fox Footy does come back, it won't be the same without it next season, and I'm fearful of what a Wayne Carey/Bruce McAvaney team would look like.

Until next time, take care.