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Stuff all this other crap, let’s talk about the footy

Anthony Sharwood

by Anthony Sharwood

16 May 10:55am

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Filed under: Afl, Horse Racing, Monday Sports Wrap, Nrl, Sport

76 comments

Righto, so when you sift the weekend’s sport through the fine strainer, there were pretty much only two big stories.

See below for details of our caption competition

In the AFL, the Cats beat the Pies in a see-sawing battle played in teeth-chattering, Antarctic conditions on Friday night at the MCG. Teeth-chattering for the Geelong fans anyway. More like gum-chattering for the Collingwood fans.

In the NRL, there were upsets galore. The bottom team beat the second top team, while the second bottom team beat the third team. Why does this never happen in the AFL? Why is league more unpredictable? And will anyone ever beat superhorse Black Caviar? Ah, conundrums, conundrums…

Back to the AFL. The vibe in Melbourne this year has been that Collingwood might go the season undefeated. Well, the best they can do now is to emulate Essendon circa 2000, who lost just one game to J Gillard’s favourite team, the Bulldogs, en route to the flag.

But let’s not focus on the Pies. They get enough press, courtesy of some bloke named Eddie. Let’s talk about the Cats, minus Gary Ablett, minus premiership coach Mark Thompson and minus the home ground advantage.

This mob was supposed to be on the decline in 2011. So here’s what they did. They got tougher. They suffocated Collingwood. They won the tackle count 82-60 and spent 59 per cent of the game in the forward half. And they squeaked home 65-62.

Ah, but too much sports reporting nowadays is statistical gobbledygook, so let’s ditch the stats and say it straight. Geelong stopped playing like pretty boys and out-Magpied the Magpies.

Now to the code people prefer to watch on TV even though the weather’s better up north. The Panthers, no doubt keen to impress new overlord Gus Gould, beat up the Broncos. And the Raiders owned the Storm in the upset of the season, thereby claiming a trophy we just invented called the Jim Morrison Cup.

Why is it that any team can win any given NRL game, while the best the AFL can come up with for an upset is the lowly Kangaroos beating the marginally less lowly Demons? Does it say something about one sport being stronger than the other?

As evidence, I’ve tipped 5.5 games per round successfully in the AFL tipping this year, but just 4.9 games per round in the NRL. Most people have a similar tale. But why?

The other big league story of the weekend was the selection of Ricky Stuart’s NSW Blues.

No Jamal Idris and no Jarryd Hayne is the big news. Hayne has been a superstar at State of Origin level. Over the years, Queensland have always picked proven Origin performers, even if they’re out of touch at club level, as Hayne is now. And the strategy has always worked. The players have magically found form in a maron jumper. Hayne should have been picked.

As for Idris, well, the bloke did just play for Australia, but he’s a bit of a turnstile in defence. I’m going to stuck my big goose neck out and say Ricky’s done a reasonable thing there.

That said, his replacement, Michael Jennings, has been average this year. But the elusive Jennings is one player who can create something out of nothing. NSW needs players like him. They cannot rely on solid performers who’ll nullify Queensland’s stars (but never do anyway). They need guys who can make things happen. Jennings is exactly that player.

None of which explains why the stodgy Michael Ennis was picked ahead of the creative Robbie Farah at hooker, but anyway…

In other sports news, super mare Black Caviar has now won the Tour de France, the Formula One world championship, the Olympic 100m sprint and a race at Doomben on the weekend. Wow. That’s 13 straight.

A poor bedraggled nag called Hay List keeps running second to Black Caviar. Full marks to Hay List’s connections for lining up week after week. They could run scared and pick the eyes out of easier races, but they keep trying to pop Black Caviar’s cherry. Racing needs battles like this, otherwise it’s a poker machine on legs.

And that’s the sports water cooler topics for this Monday. Except to say that we don’t actually have a water cooler in our office. Does anyone have a water cooler anymore or do you all have those kitchen filter taps like we have?

Wait, one more thing. We pinched the pic in this piece from the website of our stablemate, the Geelong Advertiser. Great pic, but it really needs a caption. And that’s where you guys come in… Your prize is glory.

Most commented

76 comments

Show oldest | newest first

    • Vaunted says:

      01:16pm | 16/05/11

      Go the Cats!

      Reply

    • Occam's Blunt Razor says:

      01:22pm | 16/05/11

      Western derby - anyone.

      Any Shockers supporters want to make excuses?

      Reply

    • Liam says:

      03:01pm | 16/05/11

      “Only two big stories?”

      So either 1) the rise and rise of uber-improvers West Coast isn’t worthy of a mention or 2) you’re a typical eastern stater

      Go the mighty Eagles!!! This team looks like it could do anything

    • Macca says:

      01:29pm | 16/05/11

      Caption: Redhead wearing stripes struggles at more than just fashion…

      Reply

    • The Original Oz says:

      01:48pm | 16/05/11

      No, No, No Macca this is about football not about the P.M.

    • Tim says:

      01:30pm | 16/05/11

      Completely stuffed my tipping this week.
      I think the only reason there was massive upsets is because I decided to use a wildcard for double points. Goddamn it.
      As for Origin, you couldn’t have picked Idris at left centre, he’s bad enough in defence on the right.
      And you reckon they should have picked Farah over Ennis?
      You’re dreaming.
      The only thing Farah would have brought is maybe an extra penalty per game from his whinging and diving.

      Black Caviar makes it 13 straight but the real test is in 2 weeks when they meet over 1350m. Can she run out the further trip?

      Reply

    • Rover of North Cooma says:

      02:17pm | 16/05/11

      Agree. Ennis is a very solid performer and deserves his spot.
      However, it will be a Qld victory again. We’re just too good.

    • Direct says:

      07:59pm | 16/05/11

      Tim, would you care to place a wager on who concedes more penalties between Farah and Ennis? If you don’t like that stat, we could always pick another. How about who has more tackles, who has less missed tackles, who has the higher effective tackle rate, metres ran, metres kicked, field goals, 40/20s, try assists, line break assists, tries, Dally M hooker of the year awards, premiership wins, Test jerseys or my personal favourite, who has been directly responsible for ensuring the most Queensland Origin clean sweeps? How about Ennis’s so called toughness?

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePGMHUFizhc
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KovmGj_AMFk

      Ennis: Made for Origin.

    • Macca says:

      01:34pm | 16/05/11

      Also, I am fine with no Jarryd Hayne. The kid is a fruitloop. He makes Mark Viduka look like a Mental brick-wall. Mitchell Johnson has more ticker than Hayne.

      Hayne is not the type of player you want in an Origin team that has lost 5 in a row. You want players that will bond, that will be great team-mates. Players who will fight for every inch together. Which makes the selection of Ennis equally confusing…

      Shame Idris couldn’t find a spot. He’s several thousand feet tall and weighs roughly the same as the award-winning Hyundai i-30. Now that’s generous.

      Reply

    • Sad Sad Reality says:

      01:37pm | 16/05/11

      “Why is league more unpredictable?”

      Because it is a vastly superior product with talent spread reasonably evenly throughout the competition. A blow out in league is 40 - 20, not, as in AFL, 196 - 12.

      Reply

    • Sheedy's Left Foot says:

      01:47pm | 16/05/11

      Or alternatively, narrower margins occur in League because the game is formulaic, possession is limited to turns and as such it is pretty had for one team to truly dominate all aspects of the game as they have to keep giving the ball to the opposition.

    • TimB says:

      02:00pm | 16/05/11

      You clearly know squat about Rugby League.

      It’s entirely possible for one team to dominate possession. A good team can earn themselves repeat seats, and not have to give the ball to the opposition at all.  Why do you think the possession stats don’t come out to 50-50 every game?

    • Sad Sad Reality says:

      02:31pm | 16/05/11

      SLF, you’re right. Regular embarrassing blow outs signify a vastly superior product.

    • Sheedy's Left Foot says:

      03:12pm | 16/05/11

      SSR - it isn’t about the superiority of the product, it is about the differences in the game. Both are unpredicatble, but the 6 tackle, set based nature of league does make it more predictable than most sports.

      TimB - Of course a good team can earn repeat sets, but that doesn’t mean the game is not formulaic, more so than most other sports. For example, halves tend to kick after tackle 4 or 5 and the kick is either a grubber or bomb to try and score or a pressure releaving kick.

      In fact keeping the ball is arguably the most important stat in Rugby league and teams at NRL level are successful based on their ability to keep hold of the ball and finish their sets with points. Therefore there has to be something in the game that means turnover of possession is the deciding factor in success. This is not the case in other sorts where you can fairly easily win back possession.

      In fact the 6 tackle rule was brought in to share the ball around, so the game evolved to become a closer contest baeed on sharing the ball. Therefore the game has inherent rules that make it more formulaic than other sports.

      I am a real league fan, but it is more formulaic than other sports.

    • Rover of North Cooma says:

      03:23pm | 16/05/11

      Let’s not forget that league went through its own failed expansion attempts and gave them away as a bad experiment. The Rams, the Mariners etc. But when the time’s right, we’ll go back.

      League is a truly democratic, multicultural game. We have indigenous players, we have Muslims, we have half African-American (big Dell!), we have Englishmen, Irishmen and Welshmen, we have Kiwis and Islanders. We support PNG with a PM’s XIII. We even have Victorians. We’re not doing great with south-east Asia, but I don’t see too many Chinese or Vietnamese players in AFL either. And our indigenous players don’t have to be as courageous as Michael Long because our fans don’t heckle them for their skin colour.

      League is a fantastic game to watch, the commentators bother to explain what’s going on in case there are people who don’t understand all the rules (which do change between seasons), and it doesn’t drag on forever like an AFL game.

      Yes it’s formulaic, but NRL players are being paid the big bucks to go to AFL and AFL players aren’t being poached in return. And if you’re going to have a fight in league, you can’t just pull shirts and take girlie swipes at each other.

      I’m a middle-aged woman who has dabbled with other codes over the years. Lived in England, tried to get into soccer - boring. Don’t mind union but no-one understands the rules. And AFL - the fans are so arrogant, so angry, and so adamant. And so determined not to ever show an interest in any other code that they appear ignorant. And it’s the fans who put me off the game first, and then the game put me off it second.

    • Bilby says:

      03:41pm | 16/05/11

      Rover - “And AFL - the fans are so arrogant, so angry, and so adamant”

      Arrogant, because we have a superior game and we know it.
      Angry - Well not really. We don’t actually give a crap about any other game. See point 1.
      Adamant - Again see point 1. When you’re right, you’re right.

    • Sad Sad Reality says:

      03:59pm | 16/05/11

      Bilby. Arrogant like a fat guy at speed dating. All show, no go.

    • Rover of North Cooma says:

      04:26pm | 16/05/11

      Bilby - great answer. Everything I’ve always found with AFL fans.

    • trentyn says:

      05:05pm | 16/05/11

      Slight tweak to your rationale there SSR:

      “Why is league more unpredictable?”

      Because it is a vastly inferior product with talent base reasonably poor throughout the competition.

      Also: blow out in soccer is 5 - 0, not as in league 40 - 20, not, as in AFL, 196 - 12. The scoring is indicative of the points available, not the player talent.

    • Sad Sad Reality says:

      05:57pm | 16/05/11

      AFL fandom is the litmus test of up-yourself wankerdom.

      “I’m an AFL fan.”

      “Great. See ya.”

    • Ben81 says:

      06:18pm | 16/05/11

      Well said Bilby, anything’s better than watching NRL neanderthal meatheads thumping each other around with some boring game as a sideshow.  If I want to see that I’ll just watch UFC, at least they cut the crap.

      There’s a reason AFL fans don’t give a crap about other football codes, they’re mind numbingly boring in comparison.

    • Davo from St Kilda says:

      06:48pm | 16/05/11

      @ Timb - what’s a ‘repeat seat’? Is that the row upon row upon row of empty seats at your average game of rugby?

    • josh says:

      01:41pm | 16/05/11

      after seeing this photo Abbott changes border policy, ‘get this guy to protect our shores’

      Reply

    • Kate says:

      01:45pm | 16/05/11

      North Melbourne have beaten Melbourne nine times in a row now. Melbourne had no ruckmen, North Melbourne had Todd Goldstein, who has been one of the better rucks in the competition this year. I don’t think that was much of an upset - I’m surprised more people didn’t back North to win!
      I also find it very funny that Melbourne apparently lost because of their ‘injuries’. North won in spite of long term injuries to Bastinac, McIntosh and Greenwood, and the withdrawal of Cunnington due to illness. They were just the better side on the day.

      Too busy giggling at poor old Lingy’s facial expression to think of a caption.

      Reply

    • Dave-o says:

      01:47pm | 16/05/11

      Caption: The dreaded tickle tackle was Scott’s master stroke in halting the Pie’s march to glory

      As for upsets, Port beat Adelaide, Suns beat Port, West Coast beat Freo, Brisbane beat Collingwood last year, and I’d be willing to bet the Suns will this year as well. And it’ll be a bitter and sour Eddie all over again.

      Reply

    • Budz says:

      01:50pm | 16/05/11

      Caption: Planking gone wrong

      Reply
    • Anthony Sharwood

      Anthony Sharwood says:

      02:03pm | 16/05/11

      That’s a clear front runner at this early stage Budz. Brilliant stuff! But you know what they say, it’s a game of two halves… or four quarters anyway. Keep ‘em coming everyone.

    • Sheedy's Left Foot says:

      01:52pm | 16/05/11

      Was a great weekend of sport.

      I am truly glad Ricky Stuart is the coach of the NSW Blues as he has just handed us queenslanders the series. As with other NSW coaches, he has picked a team not to lose rather than a team to win. Not picking Idris and Hayne was a masterstroke for Queensland.

      The Queensland Reds were outstanding on Friday night. Top of the Super XV table and victorious over a very impressive Blues side. Hopefully finals footy is on the way.

      The Lions had a shcoker against a very good bombers side, but the best thing was my little ‘uns got to play the Auskick half time game on the Gabba, Nothing like living your dreams through your kids.  Axe has to be drawing closer to Voss’ neck.

      Will not mention the Broncos, because that was just poor.

      Too much sport is never enough.

      Reply

    • Rover of North Cooma says:

      04:29pm | 16/05/11

      Broncos were sadly unlucky.
      Agree with your comments re SOO.

    • Punters Pal says:

      02:15pm | 16/05/11

      Looking at above photo, I just cannot believe AFL lets teams to play in such clashing strips. Black and white stripes v navy and white hoops.

      Surely the away team, Collingwood should have worn away jerseys of some sorts.

      Reply

    • Arnold Layne says:

      02:43pm | 16/05/11

      Couldn’t agree more.  I commented on the very same thing on Friday night while watching the game.  The AFL need to tell Collingwood that they MUST have a clash strip and that when they are the away team they WILL wear it.  End of story.

      @Kate - I tipped North for the very reasons you mentioned.  Stupidly though, I tipped Richmond…

      @OBR - The Weagles were very good.  I tipped them too.  There will be far fewer 4-point handouts to visiting teams to Perth this year.

      State of Origin - I generally agree with the team, but also sympathise with Tim, cos I played a joker this week too and have absolutely blown my chances.

      @Ant Sharwood - There was also an FA Cup Final and a Premier League winner decided on the weekend.  The relegation battle will be absorbing this weekend in the final round.

    • Pot Stirrer says:

      02:35pm | 16/05/11

      Caption: Missed by a whisker

      Reply
    • Anthony Sharwood

      Anthony Sharwood says:

      02:56pm | 16/05/11

      Holy crap that’s a beauty too!

    • Fact Clearer says:

      09:54am | 24/05/11

      Whats that even mean?

    • Bikinis On Top says:

      02:48pm | 16/05/11

      Australian Rules means nothing in Sydney And Brisbane. In Sydney Australia, Channel 9’s Sunday 6pm news did not even mention Australian Rules at all May 15 2011.

      Reply

    • Bilby says:

      03:23pm | 16/05/11

      Of course channel 9 didn’t mention it. They’ve lost the tv rights to 7 so now they’re pretending they never wanted them anyway. Little sooks.

    • Zedimus says:

      03:09pm | 16/05/11

      Caption: AFL marred by flying pickpocketer.

      Reply

    • Justin says:

      03:27pm | 16/05/11

      I’ve heard that Hay List’s connections have applied to change his name to The Washington Generals.

      NSW have picked a backline of turnstiles & a forward pack of penalty givers. The forwards will invite them down while the backs hang out an arm as they brush past. Soward has improved, but he still takes soft options. Dugan’s arms were painted on Saturday night. Brett Morris - why catch the ball when you can let it bounce? Greg Bird, really? There’s no creativity in the backrow. Luke Lewis, fullstop. Ennis is just as likely to lose you a game as win you one. Ben Creagh is pointless on the bench, & he’s not suited to rep footy anyway as he needs structured plays that need ages to train for.

      The highlight of Wednesday week will be my BBQ pork chops (don’t tell Geoff Russell). If they’re not up to scratch, I can’t see anyone turning up for SOO2.

      Reply

    • marrickvillain says:

      03:32pm | 16/05/11

      Missed with my hands - better send my hair to tackle him.

      Reply

    • Aitch B says:

      03:38pm | 16/05/11

      “Gosh….. his bum DOES look bigger in black!”

      Reply

    • Wagga Magpie says:

      03:48pm | 16/05/11

      Former Swans owner Geoffrey Edelsten again defends choice of clothing and new hair colour for wife Brynne in DWTS; criticizes new dance partner Ben Johnson for lack of pedal dexterity.

      Reply

    • Thomas Anderson says:

      03:53pm | 16/05/11

      Soccer > Rugby / AFL.

      Discuss.

      Reply

    • Sad Sad Reality says:

      04:00pm | 16/05/11

      A-League < netball.

      Discuss.

    • Tim says:

      04:14pm | 16/05/11

      What does Rugby divided by AFL equal?

    • Bilby says:

      04:16pm | 16/05/11

      With pleasure. Soccer, at the lower levels (juniors and social) craps all over everyone. Their numbers are the envy of all other codes. However their retention into the elite levels is terrible. They can’t hope to compete financially with overseas leagues and so will always be second rate in this country. This can be easily seen by their pathetic A League attendance figures.

      Rugby is a side show, played by a few private schools in Sydney and Brisbane. It is not rugby league.

      Rugby League is playing catch up. They started their membership drive a few years ago but still can’t equal the combined membership of only two AFL clubs. Their attempts at a national game failed miserably, and so are pretty much confined to the eastern states.

      AFL is our national game, played in all states and territories. Their junior numbers have exploded over the past 10 years with new clubs being created in Sydney every couple of years. For people who notice these things, there are now posts visible from the street in all sorts of places that never had them before. Other codes can only look on and wish they had the growth that AFL has.

      There you go. Greater than, but less than at the same time. Discuss.

    • Wagga Magpie says:

      04:24pm | 16/05/11

      3.14159265

    • Thomas Anderson says:

      04:33pm | 16/05/11

      English Premier League > A-League > Sony’s PSN security team > Rugby.

      Tim, if you interpret “/” as “divided by”, instead of “or”, as intended, then:

      Rugby / AFL = 0 / 0 = undefined.

    • JC says:

      04:33pm | 16/05/11

      karmichael hunt?

    • MegaLawlz says:

      04:38pm | 16/05/11

      Soccer > Rugby >>AFL.

      Deal with it.

    • Thomas Anderson says:

      05:04pm | 16/05/11

      MegaLawlz knows what’s up.

    • Rover of North Cooma says:

      05:13pm | 16/05/11

      Bilby, AFL is played in more states, but is definitely not the major code in NSW, Qld or the ACT.
      When did the NSW, SA and WA teams win? The Lions are appalling this year. The Suns are, well, what?? And these are just the states outside of Victoria where the AFL even sticks up a team. There’s not even a team in Tas or NT.

    • buckyboy says:

      06:55pm | 16/05/11

      Soccer > Synchronized swimming

      Discuss

    • Bilby says:

      07:59pm | 16/05/11

      Rover:

      Premierships outside the big V:
      2006 - West Coast
      2005 - Sydney
      2004 - Port Adelaide
      2003 - Brisbane
      2002 - Brisbane
      2001 - Brisbane

      1998 - Adelaide
      1997 - Adelaide

      Enough?

      The Lions are struggling this year, but the Suns are exceeding all expectations for a first season team.

      There’s no team in Tassie because Hawthorn has too many members from the south and their president is Jeff Kennett. That’s all I’m saying.

      NT doesn’t have the population to support a team.

      You yourself can go down to Snowy Oval and watch your local Cooma Cats who were formed back in 1978 so the internet tells me.

      There are two teams in WA, SA, QLD, and next year NSW. I think that qualifies as our national game. Which code do you suggest comes even close? League? Union? Soccer? Pfft. See point 1.

    • Kirsty says:

      04:07pm | 16/05/11

      That guy looks like a bit of a Ginger Ninja.  Partnered with the pose in the photo it looks like a still from one of those crappy kung-fu movies where people move in slow mo and can somehow defy gravity.  I guess this is similar to normal AFL- the game drags on so long you feel like it is in slow mo, the players somehow look like they can defy gravity with some of their marks and the fights are generally dodgy and lack any real punch.

      Reply

    • Arnold Layne says:

      04:08pm | 16/05/11

      Caption - Cameron Ling about to find out if Cats DO always land on their paws.

      Reply

    • MegaLawlz says:

      04:50pm | 16/05/11

      Caption: Superhero Ling swoops in to arrest man with ball that does not conform to the ideal ball form.

      Reply

    • Justin says:

      04:55pm | 16/05/11

      Prematch Skydiver Arrives Late, Forgets Parachute.

      Reply

    • steve says:

      04:58pm | 16/05/11

      Collingwood was resting, they had more to gain from losing than winning. As for the east coast amateur hour little league, who cares?

      Reply

    • fairsfair says:

      05:09pm | 16/05/11

      Gingernut gingerly reaches for nut (classic AFL play).

      Reply

    • Lauren says:

      05:11pm | 16/05/11

      What, no mention of Pendlebury’s advantage not being played?

      If it were Judd it would be a completely different story though, right? 3 votes for Brownlow too I s’pose..

      Reply

    • S.L says:

      05:33pm | 16/05/11

      AFL has always had the biggest crowd figures by a country mile but their participation figures are as rubbery NRL crowd figures.
      A joke among the A league crowd (of which I’m one) is when we get a crowd of ten thousand if we were an NRL gathering sixteen thousand would be the quoted figure!
      As for AFL expanding…....where to? Where I live just north of Sydney there are only eight Australian Rules clubs between the Central Coast and Nelsons Bay and even that number are struggling to get players. Thats pretty weak considering Newcastle is in the middle!
      The biggest problem with the A league is it’s not shown on free to air. That restricts a lot of potential viewers.
      State of Origin league is the biggest sporting event on the local footy calender in my opinion. AFL tried it and failed but the league version gets bigger and bigger!
      Probably fueled by Queenslands “us and them” attitude and their desire to attract players from anywhere even NSW!

      Reply

    • Andrew G says:

      08:45am | 17/05/11

      If you like to watch AFL, watch AFL, if you like to watch League, watch League..etc….you can probbaly see where I am going with this. I prefer AFL but I don’t care if people watch League or Soccer, it’s up to them.

    • Randy says:

      05:47pm | 16/05/11

      League is the worst sport known to man.  It is a complete waste of space.  We should drop it, and get all the players into Union, then the Wallabies would actually be pretty good.

      AFL is okay, but really whats the point in playing a sport that no-one else plays.  They should all just play football, and then the Socceroos would be awesome.

      /thread.

      Reply

    • Gamer says:

      10:43pm | 16/05/11

      The Wallabies are ranked 2nd in the world at the moment, right behind New Zealand, I’d call that pretty good, personally

    • Andrew G says:

      08:48am | 17/05/11

      ” They should all just play football, and then the Socceroos would be awesome”
      Yeh, but it’s like if everyone played darts, Australia would probably become the world darts champion, but what would be the point? Like the US, Australia has found better sports to play.

    • Seanr says:

      02:10pm | 17/05/11

      We don’t want all the League fans watching Union, that is why League was invented so the riff raff could play it and their followers could watch it…well I’m off The Club, Pims anyone?

    • Davo from St Kilda says:

      05:58pm | 16/05/11

      @ Sharwood - You’ve got to be kidding. To say that NRL out rates the AFL with the ignorant claim “Now to the code people prefer to watch on TV” - how many times do you NSW jokers need to be told that the AFL is far and away the most watched football code on TV? Do I really need to continue posting the link http://www.talkingfooty.com/tv_ratings_2010.php which shows that AFL was watched by 65 million people in 2010, compared to only 40 million for NRL? Or that 195 million cumulative hours were viewed for the AFL compared to 80 million for the NRL? If the NRL was watched by more people on TV, then why does the AFL get almost double (per year) from the networks in TV rights?

      Face the facts - the AFL is watched by so many more people, both at the ground and in people’s lounge rooms. The NRL cannot compete and doesn’t ever come close.

      Reply
    • Anthony Sharwood

      Anthony Sharwood says:

      08:15am | 17/05/11

      Davo, you misinterpreted what I wrote which is probably my fault.

      I accept your figures. And when I said the code people prefer to watch on TV, I didn’t mean people as in more Australians. I meant, the code that is watched mostly on TV among those who choose to watch it.

      Hope that clears it up

    • stephen says:

      06:01pm | 16/05/11

      That game on friday was a beauty. I was at the Newmarket, hollered like a trucky, and won 35 bucks from the Cats.

      And who was the donkey who said Nick Riewoldt was the best player in the AFL ?
      Hell, Jack is 5 times better.
      NIck’s got no rhythm. Not even close.

      Reply

    • Shane From Melbourne says:

      07:29pm | 16/05/11

      The only thing better than seeing Collingwood rolled on the weekend is seeing Collingwood rolled in an Elimination Final or a Grand Final.

      Reply
    • Anthony Sharwood

      Anthony Sharwood says:

      08:19am | 17/05/11

      CAPTION COMP WINNER

      Ok, so we loved he line by budz linking the pic to the hot topic du jour, planking.

      Loads of other good ones too, especially the ones that took the piss out of Ling’s red hair. But how can we go past Pot Stirrer with “Missed by a whisker”

      So simple yet so good. Onya Pot Stirrer. You win glory and pride and a week’s worth of cat food.

      Reply

    • Pot Stirrer says:

      09:50am | 24/05/11

      Thankyou. You’re too kind!

    • Kate says:

      12:07pm | 17/05/11

      I’m 99% sure that photo is from the glorious Prelim Final last year as Collngwood’s mighty number 26 Ben Johnson didn’t play on friday night and Lingy missed every tackle enroute to his end of season trip last September . 

      Well done to the Cats for out magpie-ing the magpies this time around but the Pies were well down and still had an opportunity to win.  Blessing in disguise that Pendles goal was disallowed and as much as the boys won’t like to admit it, this loss can only serve to fire them up for more glory when it really counts.

      Reply

    • Davo from St Kilda says:

      10:43pm | 17/05/11

      @ Tim and Sharwood – You both give me no end of joy with your constant lack of understanding of the most basic facts. Let’s start with Sharwood. “I didn’t mean people as in more Australians. I meant, the code that is watched mostly on TV among those who choose to watch it”. Huh? The code that is watched mostly on TV among those who choose to watch it? Talk about circular logic. The code that is watched by a massive majority is AFL. NRL never even comes close. FACT. 

      @ Tim – do you really believe that your silly rugby game can compete with our national football code? Your link provides absolutely no proof to back up your claim. Where is the round-by-round, game-by game statistics to prove your claim? Oh, wait, there is none. Unlike my proof which shows the TV audience for EVERY game of football and rugby. Seriously pal, why would you think that a sport which is lucky to get a crowd of 20,000 would be more popular than a sport which regularly gets crowds of 80,000+? Face the facts, Tim. AFL is the only national code in the country. It is watched by far more people at the game and on TV (including pay TV) than rugby could ever dream of. Should I get started on the TV rights, where AFL gets TWICE as much as the NRL?

      Reply

    • Tim says:

      10:41am | 18/05/11

      Ah Davo,
      you just can’t handle the truth can you?
      The AFL trumpeted the report but the findings actually showed the opposite.
      Your Proof?(hahhaha) simply show the results for the capital cities and last time I looked not everyone lives in one of those capital cities moron.
      You convieniently ignore the 6 million people (25% of the total country) in QLD, NSW and the ACT who predominantly follow Rugby League.
      Believe what you want, I’ll stick with the truth.

      Reply
 
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