The maiden AFLX tournament is in the books after the Adelaide Crows triumphed in Adelaide, the Melbourne Demons took Melbourne, and the Brisbane Lions capped the weekend off by winning the round robin tournament in Sydney. The AFL invested heavily in promoting this “quicker, faster” version of footy, primarily as a means of expansion into non-AFL markets in Australia and overseas. Even though it was a preseason warmup tilt for all 18 clubs, it got wall to wall tv coverage on Channel 7 and Fox Footy, and was played at major venues in all three cities.
When you strip away the glitz, glamour, dj’s, and fireworks. AFLX amounted to a few hours of preseason training and friendly scrimmages for the AFL clubs, most of whom had lists for the tournament that featured 50% or less of their AFL best 22 list. While this is in line with a good portion of the JLT community series, it was less than ideal for the AFL, which in hindsight was trying to pump up AFLX for 2018 into something it was never going to be.
To their credit, the AFL seemed willing to adjust expectations and make immediate changes to benefit viewers. The silver balls were swapped for yellow balls after they proved too hard to see both in person, and on television. Additionally, the contests in Melbourne and Sydney were far more physical than the one in Adelaide, suggesting the AFL communicated a message of physicality to the remaining 12 clubs that played at the second and third venue on the calendar.
Despite their efforts, AFLX was panned as boring and predictable by a good portion of viewers. There were few tackles, midfield play and contested ball was limited to non-existent. Additionally, players quickly adopted the strategy of taking potshots from 40+ meters out and hoping to get the corporate branded “Zooper goal”. These 10 point chances resulted in some special moments for Mitch Robinson of the Lions, and Dane Rampe of the Sydney Swans most notably, but there were also plenty of misses.
Presuming the AFL continues pushing the AFLX concept in 2019, the quality of play should be better, given players will be more familiar with the game. That said, you have to wonder if the AFL will be able to get as many people tuning in next year. Barring significant rule changes (adding more players to the field, and changing the Zooper goal concept most notably) the enthusiasm is likely to be far less next year.
Unless expectations were for AFLX to be a glorified preseason training drill, the concept has failed from an entertainment perspective. That said, AFLX as a recreational concept has a bright future.
The game is far less contacted based than regular AFL, reducing the risk of injury for recreational players. The 10 point goal concept works far better at the recreational level as well given that most amateur footballers can’t make shots on goal from a long ways out. The shorter field, which rewards short kicks, is better suited for the recreational player. The fact it’s a rectangle also means there are more venues available for play, be it in the USA, China, or non-AFL heartlands in Australia.
AFLX looks far more fun to play than watch, and if the AFL continues with the concept next year they should consider converting it to a legends competition and placing it overseas, perhaps as a Grand Final curtain raiser. Whether the focus is on expansion into Asian markets such as China/Japan, the USA, Europe, or even neighboring New Zealand getting the likes of Brett Harvey and Steve Johnson back out on the field playing AFLX should be relatively successful. There are plenty of recently retired AFL legends that can still play at a high level, particularly in shorter games, on shorter fields, with far less contact. For AFLX to prosper it needs to embrace seniors, juniors, and recreational players rather than current professionals. This would also bypass AFL clubs not carrying about AFLX, as the Western Bulldogs and West Coast demonstrated by sending VFL and WAFL level squads.
In closing, I commend the AFL for trying something new, but they’ll need to make major changes next year if AFLX is going anywhere.
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