A survey has revealed the AFL’s biggest issues according to fans, writes Graham Cornes

A survey has revealed the AFL’s biggest issues according to fans, including the standard of umpiring and the game’s constant rule changes, writes Graham Cornes.

The AFL Fans Association released the results of its latest fans survey earlier this month.

Of course, as with most issues associated with the AFL it had a Victorian bias.

Sixty-one percent of the respondents were from Victoria, even though the Victorian teams compromise only 55 percent of the competition. The largest group of the respondents were - wait for it – Collingwood supporters. Actually, the opinions of Crows fans were heard as they were the third most represented group of the respondents.

As surveys go it was quite thorough, asking for feedback on a range of football-related issues such as: satisfaction with the AFL and its clubs, umpiring, rules changes, affordability, gambling sponsorships, fixture, grand final ticketing and time slot, affordability, diversity and inclusion and illicit drug policy, to list just a few. (The full report can be accessed at aflfans.org.au).

The survey exposed over 20 areas that concerned AFL fans. Photo by Russell Freeman.

The survey exposed over 20 areas that concerned AFL fans, the main one being the standard of umpiring and the constant rule changes thrust on AFL fans every year. That’s unsurprising. Footy fans have never been happy with the standard of umpiring.

Players have never been happy with the standard of umpiring, although they don’t dare vent their frustrations on the field anymore. The threat of a 50-metre penalty for dissent, however minor, has fixed that. Actually it’s nothing new. One of the newly minted rules of 1875, when the game was in its infancy stated: “The umpire’s decision shall be final and the club disputing the same shall lose the match.” That would shut a few players up.

It’s doubtful that the fans will ever be happy with the umpiring but the umpires would be much more popular if we could see the warmth of their personalities rather than that overly-officious, dictatorial front that so many present. It’s very hard to dislike a warm gregarious official; much easier is he is a gruff, distant official with no willingness to interact.

As thorough and extensive as the survey is, critics would say that that it didn’t ask the most pertinent question. In 2024, how does the game look? Is this congested, constantly-contested, overly-defensive game what we want to see in 2024? Yes, it’s a leading question but almost all the questions in the fans survey are leading questions, steering the respondent to a predictable outcome.

We have these amazing resources these days that allow us to go back and look at football matches that were played up to 50 years ago. Unfortunately, nostalgia can distort the reality of those old matches. Watching again, they weren’t always great spectacles. However, football as a spectacle was at its best in the last decade of the 20th century and the first decade of this century. Players and coaches had become full-time professionals and defensive tactics had not yet suffocated the game. But slowly as defensive tactics took over, the ground was shrunk and 36 players were allowed to flood into one third of the ground. The records are now distorted. Defenders can get up to 20 kicks and 10 marks a match kicking sideways and backwards.

As thorough and extensive as the survey is, critics would say that that it didn’t ask the most pertinent question. In 2024, how does the game look? Writes Graham Cornes. Picture: David Caird

That used to be the hallmark of a good game. Now you get a stat for just kicking off after a behind has been scored. Five goals is considered a good haul for a full-forward these days – if the position still exists. Future fans’ surveys should research the look of the game and how it could be improved. Of course, that would mean more rule changes which is the number one complaint. Catch 22. The AFL tried to tidy it up by introducing the 6-6-6 rule before play restarted at the centre bounce, but all that has done is made it easier to score from the centre bounce stoppage. Melbourne won the premiership in 2021 partly because that rule allowed them to kick three goals in the last 47 seconds of the third quarter. Port Adelaide pulled off the most unlikely of victories against Hawthorn this year when they kicked two goals in the last 22 seconds of the match. Exciting stuff but it shouldn’t be that easy.

It was surprising that the second most area of concern for the fans surveyed was the number of gambling ads that we the viewers are subjected to. Would it have been raised if the survey had not specifically asked for comment on it? A leading question one might say.

It’s true that the viewer is swamped by those ads for gaming companies, but like the background noise of a passing train or a plane flying overhead, they eventually go unnoticed. The message is delivered subliminally which is probably worse. Gambling is a social scourge, as those who are impacted most are addicts who eventually pay the biggest price. Then there are the kids who can’t escape the messages and the allure that the gambling companies so deviously craft. So, it might have been a leading question but the response should alert the AFL to the scourge. When so many fans object to the messages it surely is only a matter of time before advertising of gambling agencies is outlawed in the same way the tobacco companies have been.

It was no surprise however, that the second most serious issue of concern was affordability. Football has always been a working-class game accessible to all, but slowly the increased professionalism of the AFL competition has taken the game out of the reach of the families struggling to pay the mortgage, feed the family and pay the utilities bills. Football doesn’t seem so important when there is no food in the cupboard. Strangely, only 18 percent of the respondents said they would attend fewer games, most saying they would still attend but spend less on food or drinks or take their own. It may send a message to the caterers at AFL venues but don’t hold your breath.

As extensive as the AFL Fans Association survey report was, it failed to identify the biggest crisis facing the game. That is the looming spectre of concussion. The fabric of the game is being steadily eroded as the AFL struggles to avoid accountability for any serious head-knocks. The “fabric of the game” has never been violent breaches of the laws, but it has been woven by vigorous, controlled physical aggression. When perfectly executed tackles and bumps are penalised and players are suspended for acts that are well within the laws, the game has a serious problem. However, such concern did not appear on the chart of Main Concerns of AFL fans. One would have thought the changing interpretation of what is fair and what is not would have concerned any passionate AFL fan. Nor did the survey mention the weekly confusion perpetrated by the Match Review Officer.

The survey does make for interesting reading, even if it gives the impression that the curators are lobbying for official recognition and inclusion by the AFL.

Fair enough, because the fans do need a voice. Just don’t mention grand final tickets.