Old-fashioned footy hits the mark

[Grim Reaper]

Sunday Mail Editorial:

ADELAIDE has witnessed a curious phenomenon with its football crowds this year.

Port Adelaide, pathetic at home, recorded the lowest attendances in its history. The nadir was the 31,662 figure for Showdown XXV.
The Crows, although not as dramatically, slipped as well. Just 37,685 showed up for an elimination final on a magnificent Saturday afternoon, the worst finals attendance in the club's history.

But at the same time, the SANFL has been resurgent. The local league posted a 6.8 per cent increase in minor-round attendances, and has maintained the momentum into the finals. Last week, 15,825 flocked to Adelaide Oval for the elimination and qualifying final double-header, the biggest turnout since 1996.

Today, with Sturt playing Norwood and Glenelg taking on Central, more than 20,000 could attend.

It's tempting to suggest the two phenomena are linked, that footy fans are dropping off the AFL in favour of the SANFL. That would be too simplistic.

There are plenty of other factors – the revival of Glenelg being the most obvious – and the value for money a SANFL game offers.

But as much as the results of the Power, and to a lesser extent the Crows, have turned off fans, so have their playing styles. Possession football, zoning, flooding, uncontested marks across half-back, refusing to kick to a contest. Footy fans (and not just in SA) have had a gutful.

They still love their AFL teams, but they are finding it increasingly hard to stomach how they play.

Last week Neil Craig signalled that the zone defence, and possession football, were here to stay in the AFL. Which must be great news for the SANFL.

The fans are voting with their feet. They want one-on-one contests, pack marks and open forward lines – for want of a better term, old-fashioned footy.

Let's hope SANFL coaches resist the temptation to follow the AFL lead and think about the fans, and the game, before they start messing with a winning formula.

[TLPG]

It helps that traditional clubs like Glenelg and Sturt have been good this year. Question is - can either of them stop Centrals from winning another one?
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