Author Topic: Richmond’s premiership win was ‘terribly uninteresting’ - Kennett (Herald-Sun)  (Read 3191 times)

Offline one-eyed

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Jeff Kennett says Richmond’s premiership win ‘terribly uninteresting’ — Is AFL boring?

JON RALPH,
Herald Sun
29 October 2017


AFL scoring remained at a historically low level this year and Jeff Kennett on Saturday labelled the game more like the rugby codes than ever.

The league seems more interested in trialling its new AFLX concept in next year’s pre-season than rule changes to ease congestion and boost scoring.

While Richmond’s drought-breaking premiership captivated its fans in a season high on close results, such facts mask significant issues with the look of the game.

Incoming Hawthorn president Kennett said last week the Tigers’ Grand Final win over Adelaide was “terribly uninteresting” and “not a good game to watch”.

The average winning margin in this year’s finals was 47 points, with scoring over the season at an average of just 89.1 points per team per game.

It was only marginally up on the average team score of 88.7 points in 2016 and 86.4 in 2015, with those scoring levels the lowest since the 1960s.

Scores were high in the opening two rounds, but by year’s end it was back to similar levels to 1968, the lowest scoring season in 50 years.

AFL games also averaged 61.6 throw-ins and ball-ups, with the abolition of the third-man up rule doing little to reduce congestion.

Former Swans, Bulldogs and Suns coach Rodney Eade has urged the AFL to trial designated starting points on the ground in the pre-season, where two pairs of players would be inside the 50m arcs at every stoppage.

Dermott Brereton believes interchange should be only 10 per quarter per team to further fatigue players, create more space and boost scoring levels.

This year Lance Franklin won the Coleman Medal with only 69 home-and-away goals, only four more than the AFL’s lowest winning tally of 65 from Jack Riewoldt in 2012.

Kennett told the Herald Sun on Saturday he stood by his comments to ESPN last week.

“It is a very different game to the one played years ago. It has become more of a scrum and if we end up continuing with this pressure football it is going to be like rugby union or league and I don’t find that attractive,’’ he said.

“I miss the days when you had fast play and players spread around the field.

“It’s not just about Hawthorn but I remember the finals in 2008 and with the three-peat those guys were able to kick the ball six feet off the ground to a fast leading player.

“It was a fascinating game to watch. I don’t mean to be rude to Richmond, who deserved to win but it was a different style of game.”

Champion Data says the gap between scoring from front-half chains and back-half chains has never been greater.

In other words, clubs now rely on getting the ball into their attacking 50m arc and flooding numbers forward to keep it there rather than working the ball end-to-end with precision skills.

Kennett is sceptical about rule changes because he says the league brings them in without trialling them properly in the pre-season.

But a third round of pre-season games could have been full of radical solutions, one of which might have had a considerable benefit in helping the aesthetics of the game.

“We used to trial rules in the pre-season and now they come in helter skelter. One day we will see another team that comes along and plays the game and opens it up and kicks long up the centre,” Kennett said.

“They will run well and handle the ball, but we haven’t seen that for a while. It’s not as attractive a game to watch in my opinion and hopefully that style will return.

“But scrums will always dominate when skills are lower.”

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/more-news/jeff-kennett-says-afl-needs-to-combat-boring-ugly-footy-after-witnessing-a-grand-final-that-was-not-a-good-game-to-watch/news-story/dcec8e6523bb6b9774a231f2df10e367

Offline Gracie

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Take away time and space as well as pressuring all available ootions = lower execution skills

However the skills involved in keeping that pressure up for all four quarters needs to be high as well as across all the team.

Richmond excelled in this area esoecially in all 3 finals games.

Catch us if you can.


Online Francois Jackson

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Currently a member of the Roupies, and employed by the great man Roup.

Offline Owl

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stiff poo Kennett, they keep moving the goal posts, teams will keep adapting to win.  Survival of the fittest, adapt or perish
Lots of people name their swords......

Offline Knighter

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Salty Campaigner. The whole of Victoria finds that campaigner terribly uninteresting

Online torch

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it’s uninteresting when Hawthorn win.

Offline cub

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UM

2015   Hawthorn   West Coast Eagles   16.11.(107) d. 8.13. (61)
2014   Hawthorn   Sydney   21.11 (137) d. 11.8 (74)
2013   Hawthorn   Fremantle   11.11 (77) d. 8.14 (62)

What a stuffwit
Beyondajoke

Dougeytherichmondfan

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UM

2015   Hawthorn   West Coast Eagles   16.11.(107) d. 8.13. (61)
2014   Hawthorn   Sydney   21.11 (137) d. 11.8 (74)
2013   Hawthorn   Fremantle   11.11 (77) d. 8.14 (62)

What a stuffwit
Beyondajoke
This. And whilst '13 was the closest of them, easily the worst GF of recent memory.

Kennet is a bloated cyst that has not had any positive impact on football or in any other sphere of life. This article and sentiment could only come from him. Take it was a grain of .... salt :snidegrin

Online Hard Roar Tiger

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2015   Hawthorn   West Coast Eagles   16.11.(107) d. 8.13. (61)
2014   Hawthorn   Sydney   21.11 (137) d. 11.8 (74)
2013   Hawthorn   Fremantle   11.11 (77) d. 8.14 (62)

What a stuffwit
Beyondajoke
This. And whilst '13 was the closest of them, easily the worst GF of recent memory.

Kennet is a bloated cyst that has not had any positive impact on football or in any other sphere of life. This article and sentiment could only come from him. Take it was a grain of .... salt :snidegrin

The 2013 game was one that sprung to mind. Horrible game in a horrible era of football thanks to Lyon and Roos.
Besides, since when has a GF been anything other than a congested, contested ball arm wrestle?
“I find it nearly impossible to make those judgments, but he is certainly up there with the really important ones, he is certainly up there with the Francis Bourkes and the Royce Harts and the Kevin Bartlett and the Kevin Sheedys, there is no doubt about that,” Balme said.

Offline Lozza

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Has swallowed too much saltwater swimming in the sea of jealousy.

Offline Slipper

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The 2013  GF was the worst game I have ever watched that did not involve the Tigers.

As an impartial viewer, it was a shocking game.

Offline 🏅Dooks

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Kennett and Hawthorn are irrelevant to modern day football.

So who cares.
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Then its made of sh#t" Dont Argue - 2/8/2018

Offline Diocletian

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The 2013  GF was the worst game I have ever watched that did not involve the Tigers.

As an impartial viewer, it was a shocking game.

All three GF's they won in a row were boring as bat shyte as was their game style.....most uninteresting dynasty ever... :sleep
"Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire." 

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FJ is the only one that makes sense.

Offline Knighter

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Kennet is a stuffen very average bloke.
« Last Edit: October 29, 2017, 10:36:31 PM by Knighter »

Offline Diocletian

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He might be a lot of things but I'm not sure serial rapist is among them.....
"Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire." 

- Gustav Mahler


FJ is the only one that makes sense.