THE AFL is taking the challenge of the rugby union World Cup head-on, not with a full-blown advertising and marketing campaign, but with something even better - the closest competition in the history of the game.
Last Sunday, Sydney beat Brisbane, the premiers. Suddenly the game is alive in rugby union's heartland.
On Saturday Geelong, the team at the bottom of the table, travelled to Perth and almost beat West Coast who are in second place.
Over in Adelaide, everyone is still talking about Chris Tarrant's last-moment goal that gave Collingwood a win over the Crows as the Pies rebounded from three straight losses.
But was it a goal? Don't ask Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse because he couldn't look.
And don't ask professional South Australian Neil Kerley, who is telling everyone it was a point, because he's biased. But the thing is that everyone is talking about it.
And by gee, when you're talking about footy at the moment, you've got to be careful.
All those people who last week said Neale Daniher was too soft are eating their words after the Demons got up to beat Port by four goals. What are they saying about Neale now? 'He's too hard?'
And what about all those Melbourne supporters who didn't go to the game on Sunday. The crowd was just 12,410. They should be feeling just a bit guilty this week.
Because a couple of losses is no reason any more to jump off your team. The national draft and the salary cap have made the AFL competition into a tumble-dryer - we go round and round and sometimes we're up and sometimes we're down. That should make retiring chief executive Wayne Jackson a proud man.
If he has achieved nothing else in his time at the helm, which is not the case, he has at least put the game in a situation where the competition is so close, so exciting, that Australian football can stand up to the challenges to come from rugby union's showcase this year. And from rugby league and soccer.
The national draft is something we have taken from the Americans.
Something else American that will come into our game more is the trading of senior players to get good youngsters in the draft. It might seem a cruel way to reward a veteran for years of good service but if you don't have good kids, then your club doesn't have a future. And everyone has to put the future of the club first.
Chris Connolly is benefiting from Damian Drum's determination to always go for the best young kids at Fremantle. That probably cost Damian his job in the end, so I hope Fremantle people acknowledge that as they revel in the excitement of winning in Melbourne for the first time in nearly two years and moving into seventh spot.
Grant Thomas is having the same success with youngsters at St Kilda. While St Kilda were at the bottom they could have swapped some of their early round draft picks for senior players. But they chose to take the pain of a few lean years and develop their own squad of talented youngsters. It is a policy that will pay off.
For the Victorian clubs, there are fantastic challenges ahead. Only Richmond and Collingwood are in the top eight at the moment.
But that can change pretty quickly too. Such is the closeness of the competition.
The Western Bulldogs are struggling but look at their injury list. Salary caps, national drafts and good coaching amount to nothing if your best players are on the sidelines.
http://foxsports.news.com.au/story/0,8659,6433727-23211,00.html
Last Sunday, Sydney beat Brisbane, the premiers. Suddenly the game is alive in rugby union's heartland.
On Saturday Geelong, the team at the bottom of the table, travelled to Perth and almost beat West Coast who are in second place.
Over in Adelaide, everyone is still talking about Chris Tarrant's last-moment goal that gave Collingwood a win over the Crows as the Pies rebounded from three straight losses.
But was it a goal? Don't ask Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse because he couldn't look.
And don't ask professional South Australian Neil Kerley, who is telling everyone it was a point, because he's biased. But the thing is that everyone is talking about it.
And by gee, when you're talking about footy at the moment, you've got to be careful.
All those people who last week said Neale Daniher was too soft are eating their words after the Demons got up to beat Port by four goals. What are they saying about Neale now? 'He's too hard?'
And what about all those Melbourne supporters who didn't go to the game on Sunday. The crowd was just 12,410. They should be feeling just a bit guilty this week.
Because a couple of losses is no reason any more to jump off your team. The national draft and the salary cap have made the AFL competition into a tumble-dryer - we go round and round and sometimes we're up and sometimes we're down. That should make retiring chief executive Wayne Jackson a proud man.
If he has achieved nothing else in his time at the helm, which is not the case, he has at least put the game in a situation where the competition is so close, so exciting, that Australian football can stand up to the challenges to come from rugby union's showcase this year. And from rugby league and soccer.
The national draft is something we have taken from the Americans.
Something else American that will come into our game more is the trading of senior players to get good youngsters in the draft. It might seem a cruel way to reward a veteran for years of good service but if you don't have good kids, then your club doesn't have a future. And everyone has to put the future of the club first.
Chris Connolly is benefiting from Damian Drum's determination to always go for the best young kids at Fremantle. That probably cost Damian his job in the end, so I hope Fremantle people acknowledge that as they revel in the excitement of winning in Melbourne for the first time in nearly two years and moving into seventh spot.
Grant Thomas is having the same success with youngsters at St Kilda. While St Kilda were at the bottom they could have swapped some of their early round draft picks for senior players. But they chose to take the pain of a few lean years and develop their own squad of talented youngsters. It is a policy that will pay off.
For the Victorian clubs, there are fantastic challenges ahead. Only Richmond and Collingwood are in the top eight at the moment.
But that can change pretty quickly too. Such is the closeness of the competition.
The Western Bulldogs are struggling but look at their injury list. Salary caps, national drafts and good coaching amount to nothing if your best players are on the sidelines.
http://foxsports.news.com.au/story/0,8659,6433727-23211,00.html
