AFL News

Midfield bull, SuperCoach pig and Carlton co-captain, Patrick Cripps, has been given the recognition he deserves but does not need. I speak of course of the AFL’s decision to name the 23 year old vice captain of Jack Riewoldt’s AFLX team, RAMPAGE.

Few fans that I speak to know the ins and outs of AFLX and that is not surprising. Despite the AFL’s best efforts, the game variant has been largely uninspiring and unsuccessful. I don't wish to taint this article with too many of my own views, so I’ll do it with someone else’s - Richard Hinds called it a "hollow, unappealing, pressure-free, atmosphere-deficient, oval-in-a-rectangle hole yawn-fest".

AFLX is a shortened form of the game we know and love. It’s essentially the AFL’s response to T20 cricket. The league intends for AFLX to garner international support and attention for the traditional form of the game. It was launched in 2018 under the watch of Gillon McLachlan and consists of four sides. Each side has seven on field players who ply their trade on a rectangular ground of similar dimensions to a soccer pitch. There are two 10 minute halves and the game has a few rule variations such as:

10 point super goals beyond the 40 metre arc;

kick-ins from full back after goals;

no marks awarded for backwards kicks; and

a last touch out of bounds rule.

To the AFL’s credit they’ve got the big names of the game behind it. The sides will be captained by some of the most exciting players the game has to offer, including Patrick Dangerfield, Jack Riewoldt, Eddie Betts and Nat Fyfe. In addition to Cripps, the following vice captains have be announced: Luke Hodge, Marcus Bontempelli and Shaun Burgoyne. The remaining players will be selected from a pool of 100 players during a live draft.

It is apparent the AFL has put a lot of time, thought and money into AFLX, I just wonder why they’ve undertaken this exercise instead of reinvesting efforts back into grass roots football.

Maybe I’m alone in this opinion but I, for one, think AFL is exciting enough - it does not need to be shortened, adulterated or turned into a superhero infinity gauntlet hype-fest. If you think that criticism is unfair, read what Ticketmaster has to say about AFLX:

“Four superhero captains. Four unique superpowers. Four superstar line-ups. Battling it out to unlock the ultimate power.”

Humour me for a second and guess where this battle is happening? Yes, that’s right Captain Obvious…Marvel Stadium.

I’m starting to sound like a cynic so let me show you some other people’s opinions that validate my own: