Tell Buggy to stop blaming it on the 4yo. He’s not fooling anyone.
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I can’t understand why the club hasn’t announced any injuries for any of our 4 players named.
Bowing to the great Master.
When is this on again?
Never mind:
The AFLX tournament itself will be held on Friday February 22 at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, from 7pm AEDT. It will be broadcast on both the Seven Network and Foxtel, as well as live on AFL.com.au and the AFL Live App.
we are definitely tardy compared to others
AFLX-its continue ahead of Friday night’s tournament
Peter Ryan
2-3 minutes
Hawthorn stars Luke Breust and Isaac Smith will not play in Friday night’s AFLX tournament as the league organises last-minute changes to the squads that were selected at the AFLX draft a fortnight ago.
The pair join Chad Wingardas Hawthorn players who have withdrawn from the tournament with Wingard being nursed back into full training as he overcomes a minor calf injury.
The Hawks are due to play Carlton in a practice match on Thursday afternoon at Ikon Park as they prepare for their first JLT Community Series game against Brisbane in Queensland on March 3.
Smith and Breust may play in the practice match although the Hawks are yet to finalise their squad.
Star Hawthorn midfielder Shaun Burgoyne is vice-captain of The Deadlys squad, which is led by star Adelaide forward Eddie Betts.
There have already been several changes to the tournament squads selected at the draft, with Melbourne’s Steven May (hamstring), North Melbourne’s Robbie Tarrant (AC joint) and Port Adelaide’s Robbie Gray (knee) being replaced as they recover from injuries sustained since the draft was held.
The AFL is expected to finalise squads on Wednesday before players participating in the tournament gather on Thursday with more changes to the original squads likely.
AFLX had a revamp this year after beginning as a lead-in to the season in 2018 with four captains – Betts, Patrick Dangerfield, Jack Riewoldt and Nat Fyfe – selecting teams to play in a hybrid game designed to be played on rectangular fields.
Players involved in the tournament are enthusiastic about being able to showcase their skills alongside the game’s best players without coaches to instruct them.
The game coincides with several clubs’ practice matches with Geelong and North Melbourne playing this Wednesday, Carlton and Hawthorn playing Thursday and Melbourne and Collingwood playing on Friday morning.
The Brisbane Lions, Gold Coast, GWS and the Sydney Swans are also playing practice matches this week
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Lucky AFLX is sparing clubs that third pre-season game that none of them wanted, huh?
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It’s a ■■■■■■■ joke. They want to create a sport to play on a rectangular field, so they are playing it on an oval.
2 games was enough for the PS apparently, so let’s give them another night where 40 blokes can run around playing something that resembles well, nothing and see if that works.
Considering they are giving away free tickets I’m not exactly sure why the AFL are doing this.
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- create a kid friendly event to boost interest / participation / bring their attention back to footy after summer
- develop a version of the game that can boost participation overseas, making it easier for expats and those with an active interest to play games
AFLX, the AFL’s solution to a square peg in a round hole.
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Pipe down GIL
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kids do not care about this. They are looking forward to auskick starting & the preseason to see their team colours, which combined, cover all those things you mention.
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that old chestnut. People overseas will never care about/play our game in big numbers, it is a novelty to them, which wears off after a bit. Expats want the real game too, despite a lack of ovals they would still make do with real rules on a modified field.
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I’ll pick you up on this point. The key to growing the game is most definitely through expats. However no format of Aussie Rules is ever going to be a world dominant sport. There are just too many other sports out there and Australia isn’t large enough to influence other cultures by dominating pop culture.
Only last weekend my 4 and 6 year old daughters started Auskick here in Singapore. The number of kids involved was absolutely crazy - the coach even claimed that my kids were joining the largest sports club by participation in the world. I can’t refute his claim - but I can say there were literally hundreds of kids running around on ovals and inside gyms playing footy.
You know what else. This interest was all centred on what an awesome game Aussie Rules is - the product the AFL is fortunate enough to control. All the kids and parents clearly enjoy the game for what it is - the kicking, the marking, handballing and tackling - a truly wonderful sport.
The other thing to note is that I watched some older kids play a match of a reasonable quality on a rectangular field. This was played using proper rules. No need for the rubbish rules they are planning on using with AFLX.
This contrived attempt at creating a game is unnecessary and over the top. It’s a waste of money that serves no purpose in growing the game overseas.
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Nailed it exactly re expats.
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EFA
Clarkson treating aflx with contempt if smith and Breust choose a practice match against the blues instead.
Hopefully this is the last year of the experiment.
Don’t go if you have free tickets.
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Yep
Let’s say there’s a stinking turd exhibition in town. I’m still not going to the thing even if I get given free tickets!
What’s most important though is that people DONT WATCH IT ON TELEVISION. if you tune in to hate watch it, or just out of boredom or whatever, that sht still counts and they will use those ratings to justify another year of It. Don’t watch
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I don’t agree with the rules they’ve got in place for the pre-season. I’m assuming these rules are just to spark interest for the kids and add a novelty factor.
I do see value in a revised game, with less players, designed for a square field.
Provides easier access for grounds.
Means less players are needed to get a game going.
Lowers the fitness bar to participate.
The value in increasing international participation keeps expats connected (and spending money) on a sport.
Also opens up a revenue channel for streaming.
It’s not about becoming a dominate world sport, it’s about finding areas of growth.
I also see value in a preseason game aimed at the kids. I remember thinking the Lightening Cup was awesome back in the day.
Hang on, the blues are getting an actual real game hit out before they come up against us in the JLT???
Nothing a good coffee with Gil won’t sort out.
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Yep