Good too see Adelaide have left the pitch in shit condition.

this is their ( AFL ) golden ticket to sell to the chinese

Talking of weird sh*t I just watched the opening E League game which popped up on my twitter feed. 3-1 Roar over Victory lol ... and the pre/post game presentation and commentary EXCEEDED what Fox put out. It was pretty good.

They have ditched the silver ball for the yellow, finally a good decision lol

#AFLX oval is not surviving afl boots!! Suspect A league won’t be impressed @kanecornes @Adelaide_FC

farken AFL... jog on back to your free tax payer funded stadium

10,200 crowd

Conveniently over 10k in a 14k stadium that did look half full.

those numbers are so rubbery. did they include all the media and teams as well ?

I think they have a lot of crap entertainment going on outside Hindmarsh so people are probably filtering in and out.

@ South Melb

Yeah but nah, there’ll be a few hundred outside at any one time maybe but not a few thousand.

A decent effort all the same but like Unions “Global” Tens which struggled for crowds for a second year last week, AFLX is going to be a financial drain

10k looked about right to be honest

They have sold over 20k for Etihad tomorrow night so I think that's ok, but a lot of the big melbourne teams are playing.

So what is the format actually like? Is it "entertaining" "exciting" and "fast paced" like promised?

Tickets given away like confetti in Melbourne. Lead to believe was the same in Adelaide

Haha swing and a miss

And after watching it on TV they're guaranteed no shows

By fast paced what it means is the ball goes from one end to the other like tennis. And a goal being scored is as exciting as seeing the ball hit the racquet. 

Just watched 5 minutes of it.

I can sit, watch and enjoy a decent game of Aussie rules but that was abominable. Kickout-mark-handball-kick ZOOPER Goal!

Shit.

I still think this game can be transferred to junior levels.

1 thing from seeing Zooper Zilights, they should/could have a small zone in front of the goal where 1 from each team must remain or is only allowed to touch the ball in. Likewise outfield players aren't allowed to touch the ball in there.

Yeah, like netball.

you needed a sign?

Five things we learnt about AFLX after Hindmarsh Stadium opener

The AFL’s new rectangular-ground concept kicked off in Adelaide on Thursday. The reaction was mixed, but there were plenty of signs it may be here to stay. Here’s what we learnt.


https://www.perthnow.com.au/sport/afl/five-things-we-learnt-about-aflx-after-hindmarsh-stadium-opener-ng-b88746830z

scrappy, but not too bad

Thursday, 15 February 2018 9:05AM Shayne Hope
Jacks Watts is in Port Adelaide colours. Not only that, he’s the Power captain.

The high-profile recruit is one of the main attractions in a game played with a silver ball, on a rectangular field, in a soccer stadium.

https://thewest.com.au/sport/afl/aflx---its-scrappy-but-not-too-bad-ng-b88746656z

debut hailed by coaches and players

Steve Larkin | AAP Thursday, 15 February 2018 5:37PM
The AFLX experiment could be a monster success as coaches, players and fans instantly warmed to the short format.

The debut of the abbreviated format in Adelaide on Thursday night has been hailed a resounding triumph by all involved.

Fans flocked to the fresh format; players loved it; and coaches welcomed both the spectacle and benefit for their teams.

About 10,253 spectators attended Coopers Stadium and watched Adelaide win the inaugural AFLX grand final.
https://thewest.com.au/sport/afl/aflx-debut-hailed-by-coaches-and-players-ng-s-1829781



Westralia is the biggest AFL state and AFLX too. A-League viewers numbers are the worst in the country every year.

AFLX might be a 'Mickey Mouse' tournament, but it still makes sense

There are more than a few who think this weekend’s flurry of AFLX tournaments across the country is a complete waste of time.
AFL great and radio broadcaster Kevin Bartlett reckons it has no hope of succeeding. He described AFLX as a “Mickey Mouse game ... [that] would have no interest for fans” last year.
And he, like many others, doesn't think Australian football, in any form, will ever capture the world's attention.
So, why bother?
The answer, of course is simple. The AFL has to. It is not so big, so grand or so untouchable that it can afford to sit back and watch the world go by.
Bring on the circus: AFL boss Gillon McLachlan (centre) has hit on a marketing coup.
Bring on the circus: AFL boss Gillon McLachlan (centre) has hit on a marketing coup.

Photo: AAP
Make no mistake, there's a lot to get your head around when it comes to AFLX.
It's the express version of Australian football. It’s quick, flashy and high scoring. There are only 10 players on each team, it's played with a silver ball and has only two 10-minute halves. Blink and you might miss it.
It appears to be the product of market research into the tastes and trends of young consumers. It's manufactured and gimmicky. It's commercialised, perhaps crassly so. A team gets a 10-point ''Zooper goal'' for kicking a goal from beyond 40 metres. Why a ''Zooper'' goal? You guessed it, the AFL has struck a sponsorship deal with icy pole maker ''Zooper Dooper''.
Cats try out new AFL X game
01:07
Cats try out new AFL X game

Geelong player Harry Taylor speaking to media at Deakin University’s oval in Waurn Ponds says the new AFL X game is exciting and fast paced. Taylor along with the rest of the Cats trialled the new code which scales down the traditional game for

Yet for all of that, the most significant aspect of AFLX is that it’s played on a rectangular field, the size of a soccer pitch.
This means the game can be played anywhere - any state in Australia and any country in the world. As AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan stated, AFLX provides “an opportunity that means we can get onto different ovals in NSW and internationally in different spots, and it's just a different format for a different audience".
This is its purpose. A new shiny AFL product means a lot of things. It means the AFL can create a new tournament, attracting more fans, ticket sales, merchandise sales, sponsorships and eyeballs on screens.
Furthermore, it gives the AFL another discussion point to dominate the Australian sporting agenda. It invades the territory of other sports and makes the AFL brand relevant for almost 12 months of the year. There was once just the AFL. Now there's the AFL, AFLW and AFLX.
Yet, perhaps even more significant than that is the fact it's a product the AFL plans to take overseas. McLachlan has already flagged a mini-tournament in Hong Kong late next year for the modified game: "To take our game and showcase all the best bits of it, and actually not have to build infrastructure like we did in Shanghai, for example, that presents a huge opportunity."
If it works, it's a huge opportunity. In the long term the AFL hopes to see the game being played across the globe, but in the short and medium term, it’s a tool to attract money.
You see the fact the game can be played on any soccer pitch, anywhere in the world, means the AFL can now get into any country and introduce its brand to businesses that just might be interested in reaching Australian consumers.
And if they do want to do business in Australia, what better way to introduce themselves to the Australian public than through a sponsorship with the AFL or one of its clubs? After all, the AFL is Australia's biggest football code, with significant brand recognition and customer loyalty.
It’s a tough, crowded market out there and the AFL wants to find new ways of attracting sponsors and other revenue. As big and as successful as it is, the AFL still needs to help prop up many of its clubs. In 2017, not all clubs made a profit, despite the AFL handing each club grants between $10 million and $15 million. The Gold Coast Suns were granted almost $25 million just to help them break even. And then there’s the grassroots, who are crying out for more money.
But just where will it come from?
The AFL relies on its TV broadcasting rights deal for a large percentage of its revenue. Should these deals not grow at the rate it wants, or needs, the struggle for some clubs to stay afloat will only intensify.
So, like it or not, perhaps the simple reality is that the AFL has to try. Like all sports, it can't stand still. If it does, it will go backwards, and if that happens, in today's competitive market, it may never catch up.
Sam Duncan is a lecturer in sports media and a Fairfax columnist.

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/aflx-might-be-a-mickey-mouse-tournament-but-it-still-makes-sense-20180215-p4z0fd.html

Was at least curious to see how this plays up because I watch a bit of GAA. Saw it on Youtube and farken hell it's a shocker.

 The reason a similar game like GAA works on a rectangular pitch (and doesn't look anything Aerial Ping Pong of AFL) is because they don't have marks and there is twice as many players on the pitch. 

Managed to catch the ball near the goal? Congrats lad but you have to still run on to evade defenders and either play someone else in space or wheel around for a shot on goal yourself. The game doesn't stop and defenders are on you in seconds. Play any bog standard kick down the field in AFLX and some forward will catch it in miles of space and get an eternity to have a breather and line up for the easiest shot at goal in sport.

Frankly if the Foody bogans wanted a game that was easier to play overseas, then they should have just played Gaelic Football instead of plagiarising it.

@ Aussie Scott

That’s a decent article. I think AFL may be over estimating the desire of foreign companies to come here or sell their good here. As many businesses know, Australia is a very small market and expensive to service so it will be interesting to see if foreign sponsorship flows.

Right at the end of the article though is this:

“So, like it or not, perhaps the simple reality is that the AFL has to try. Like all sports, it can't stand still. If it does, it will go backwards, and if that happens, in today's competitive market, it may never catch up”

Lowy and Gallop take note. Football has stood still now for 5 years and is now going backwards. Worse still the FFA have celebrated standing still under a banner called “stability” and the net result is a decline in interest generally. We don’t need an AFLX style competition although there’s no reason why a winter Futsall competition couldn’t work. But we do need to stop standing still, and that needs to happen in the next few months - the obvious answer is alteady there: expansion by 2 possibly 3 teams in the next two to five years for the HAL, a national second division and a workable roadmap to pro/rel are all doable. Time for some momentum in football.

@Waz seeing some Zooper goal clips with the commentary, it was quite over the top.

There are some basic things you can see that are wrong.

For me -
- Like I said a zone infront of the goal where players have to stay, so the goal line is always occupied
- not silver balls, which they fixed.
- more players on the field.
- make it 50m for a Zooper goal. 40 is just too short.
- remove the behind posts. 6 points for goal, 10 for Zooper. 1 point for touched. 1 point for post or play on if it rebounds into play, in for a goal 6 or 10 points.

The main thing, if their intention is o/s is use a football (soccer ball). Not an AFL ball. Most kids in the world can get a soccer ball and know what it is.

Then you add all the other strange rules.

- if a free kick, kick it off the ground etc even at goal etc

"Like all sports, it can't stand still. If it does, it will go backwards, and if that happens, in today's competitive market, it may never catch up."

Sounds like the FFA

TBH pro rel and the FFA Cup and finals if Straya really want it keeps that added mystery of the game going. Throw in ESports and you may end up with a winner.

Fair to say so far it looks a disaster with it being laughed at by nearly all except the AFL’s PR department the Herald Sun.

AFL are masters at controlling the message, it’ll be interesting to see what they do next week. The next two rounds will be important for them:

AFLX is the first attempted use of Victoria's voluntary euthanasia laws

By Offsiders columnist Richard Hinds
Posted 2 hours ago, updated1 hour ago

It turns out AFLX is not an exciting new format of a beloved sport ''that will take the world by storm''.
Nor is it the AFL's version of T20 — or even, for that matter, of French cricket.

AFLX is the first attempted use of Victoria's new voluntary euthanasia laws.

What is AFLX?

The game is played on a rectangular field (100-120m x 60-70m)
Each side has 10 players - seven on the field, three on the interchange
Two 10-minute halves will be contested
A super goal is worth 10 points
A ruck ball up will be used

If you wanted to kill AFL stone-dead surely you would turn it into this hollow, unappealing, pressure-free, atmosphere-deficient, oval-in-a-rectangle hole yawn-fest.

AFLX is a nothing of a game. One that combines neither the best aspects of Australian Rules, nor those of any other sport, but rather dilutes them so greatly that even the leather-lunged commentary box spruikers struggled to maintain their well-paid enthusiasm.

That said, it would be churlish not to list the highlights of AFLX's debut in Adelaide on Thursday night. So, in order, here they are:

1. The final siren.

Otherwise from just the second game of AFLX, it became apparent this ill-conceived and hopefully short-lived experiment has only one thing in common with the real game — Collingwood can't make the finals.

We were promised AFLX was the format that would make the game accessible to a vast international audience that, deprived of the game they play in Wangaratta, has only the meagre talents of Cristiano Ronaldo or Tom Brady to occupy their footballing hours.

AFLX would not only raise awareness of Aussie Rules in these heathen lands, it would allow said heathens to play this modified version of a game that had not yet heard of on their rectangular fields and in their local parks.
Crocodile Dundee 2, uranium, Air Supply and now AFLX. Can Australia do any more for humankind?

But as night one in Adelaide quickly demonstrated, AFLX will not ''take AFL to the world''.

It will take a version of the game that mostly entails players running up and down the field in something closely approximating a bog standard low pressure training drill to New Zealand for an experimental trial ... if it lasts that long.

Of course, a bog standard low-pressure training drill has the added attraction of a red-faced coach standing in the middle of the ground screaming obscenities as well as the considerable consolation the players would soon do something more entertaining, like spray each other with water bottles.

We can't say we weren't warned. AFL club fitness staff had told us they weren't too concerned about injuries because players did something similar to AFLX during most training sessions.

Which begs the question: Who at AFL thought a virtual training drill would be an attractive, prime-time TV sport when usually only diehard fans, autograph hounds and dog walkers turn up to watch this hamstring stretching?
AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan a poses for photographers at the launch of AFLX in Melbourne.

The smaller rectangular ground would be, we were told, perfect for the seven-a-side game, allowing a free-flowing demonstration of the game's great skills and hard-running aerobic athletes. (Oh, and the use of ''soccer'' grounds was definitely not a land grab for facilities currently being used by football. Oh no!)
Instead, the reduced dimensions and team sizes merely created a tedious demonstration of how meaningless any football code becomes when the essential battle for possession and territory is removed — or, in the case of AFLX, the territory itself is removed.

In that regard, you might as well play AFLX on a ping-pong table and make it ''ideal for indoor use'' too, so ludicrously quick was the transition from (notional) defence to attack.

A basketball guard dribbling up the floor without pressure is one thing. An AFL defender eating up half the playing field while attracting as much interest from the opposition as a sausage roll at a Vegan picnic is an abandonment of the game's greatest fundamental.
Collingwood captain Scott Pendlebury was torched on social media after tweeting before the first AFLX game: ''Who's looking forward to footy being back on the screens tonight?''

It turns out Pendlebury's great sin was not to forget the AFLW had started two weeks ago. It was to suggest that AFLX in any way, shape or form deserved the title ''footy''.
The reflexive condemnation of Pendlebury's faux pas was over the top. However, AFLW players can feel justifiably miffed that the game's charisma-free new cousin was allowed to rob their second season of some media oxygen.

It was hard enough for AFLW to come straight after the conclusion of the Australian Open tennis. It did not need the AFL introducing a ''game'' that robbed it of attention and — even worse — inspired the patronising assertion that ''this could be a great game for women to play''.
This was just one of the pre-packaged claims uttered by the TV spruikers whose enthusiasm for AFLX was only slightly less transparent than that of the North Korean cheerleaders for ice hockey and luge. Particularly when a player attempted to score a long range goal cynically named for a ubiquitous iced confection.
''Great game for the kids'', ''Will be the ideal game to be played in the park'' and — yes — ''A great advertisement for the game overseas'' were the kinds of inanities perpetrated on those who watched to the anticlimactic end.

Surely only happy cricket executives will have lasted that long. They will have been reassured the AFL, despite its slavishly devoted media, cannot dominate every inch of the disputed late summer months, let alone every inch of Australian sporting turf. At least not with this soulless dross.

About the best that can be said of AFLX is that it will soon become another quirky addition to the AFL's history alongside Angry Anderson in a Batmobile, Warwick Capper's singing career and Richmond winning a premiership.