The Evolution of Australian Football

[Bacon]

Whenever I've watched an older game, what I notice is that for a bounce, the whistle is blown pretty quickly. Like as soon as the guy is tackled, and the ball is trapped, it's blown. Nowadays, they give them like 5 seconds to try and get it out. But sometimes, you know its locked and that should be blown immediately.

That would speed it up. A ball-up doesn't slow it down that much.

[bennymacca]

What time period does the report cover? ->1997? Hardly "current", particularly around the free kick info.

yeah this is interesting.

my gut feeling is that it might have increased again, especially in the past 5 years, but i haven't been able to find any current information on that.

i think the stats about height, weight, speed of the game etc will have continued on their trends though

[David]

Whenever I've watched an older game, what I notice is that for a bounce, the whistle is blown pretty quickly. Like as soon as the guy is tackled, and the ball is trapped, it's blown. Nowadays, they give them like 5 seconds to try and get it out. But sometimes, you know its locked and that should be blown immediately.

That would speed it up. A ball-up doesn't slow it down that much.

Agreed - have noticed also.

There wasn't time for manning up as much back then.

Footy is more methodical now.

[David]

Footy is vastly different to most sports because;

In most sports, the largest changes in the game are because of rule changes. In footy, the rule changes are because of the largest changes in the game.

[bennymacca]

this is from the paper above

______Free Kick Number____Free Kick Time Taken
1961:____74_____________939
1971_____89_____________1129
1981:____56_____________548
1997:____25_____________298


found this in a forum thread. note that this is just the amount of free kicks in the grand finals, not an average of the season.
2007 - 53
2006 - 41
2005 - 25
2004 - 30
2003 - 31
2002 - 40
2001 - 41
2000 - 42

1972- 65

i will try and find some more information on it.

Footy is more methodical now.

agreed. neil craig's teams are a good example of this - consistently good performances regardless of the personnel.

having said that, you still need a bit of real class and a full team of contributors to take that extra step from finals to premierships.

[bennymacca]

here is a comparison from 2000 to 2010.

i would love some concrete numbers for every year though.

http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/news ... fault.aspx

N ROUND 14, Geelong set a new record for disposals in a match, amassing 505 against the Kangaroos.

While this is well above the league average of 371 disposals per game, modern football has become such a possession game that football followers barely raised an eyebrow.
So how much has the game changed over the years?

Let’s go back to season 2000, when the Demons made their last Grand Final appearance and the likes of Steven Febey and David Schwarz were still running around.
In 2000, the average disposals per match were a paltry 313.

Carlton led the league with an average of 342 - only Richmond (332) average fewer in 2010. The 400-disposal mark was topped three times in 2000 compared to 57 occasions this year.

The most interesting (but probably most predictable) aspect of the dramatic possession increase is that there has been no change in the average number of kicks per game in ten years.

Teams averaged 201 kicks per match in 2000, and the exact same number so far in 2010. The rate of handball has taken a sharp turn upwards, from 111 in 2000 to 170 this season.

Back in 2000, anything near 30 possessions in a game was considered outstanding. Not one single player averaged 30 disposals in 2000, with Nathan Buckley (29.6) and Melbourne’s own midfield coach Scott West (28.8) coming close. There were eleven players who averaged over 25 disposals.

Fast forward eleven seasons and 32 players average 25 disposals or more, with four players averaging more than 30 - Gary Ablett (33.4), Dane Swan (30.9), Paul Chapman (30.1) and Matthew Boyd (30.0).

Such a high possession game obviously has an effect on various other statistics.
Handball and short kicking have resulted in fewer inside 50s per game - from 56 in 2000 down to just 50 this season.

Teams also average more marks per game (94 in 2010, up from 83 in 2000) as coaches shy away from kicking long to a contest in favour of short passing to retain possession.

Free kicks have predictably increased as well, thanks largely to the sharper focus on backmen in marking contests. Defenders have it tough these days, as chopping the arms and placing a hand in a forward’s back is now off limits.

What this means for modern footy is that getting the ball is now a lot easier, but using it effectively has become harder and arguably more important than ever.

Clubs have put a premium on drafting players who can kick well, especially under extreme pressure, and the Dees are no exception.

Speaking of pressure, the change in tackling figures between 2000 and 2010 is incredible.

Teams averaged 32 tackles per game in 2000. That figure has more than doubled to 69 tackles this season. Even taking into account the slight changes in interpretation over the years, it’s a remarkable change.

In fact, the average tackle count has increased every year since 2005, as the pressure aspect of the game has become so important.

[robstar]

I'm not a big follower of aussie rules (soccer is my game) but its been an interesting discussion.

My observation of aussie rule in the last 20 odd years is that it has become more like soccer. The defenses are highly organised and zonal and players are more fluid in their positions when attacking. Where as 20 years ago you basically had 18 man on man contests in 18 parts of the ground.

All this means that the game has gone from field position being the key to success to ball posession being the key, which is why kicking forwards long and direct has been replaced kicking short to open players forward, sideways and backwards.

Whether football is better now or in the past as a spectical is subjective to a persons taste. But football today is better than 20-30 years in terms of skills, tactics and physically conditioning. That just comes with professionalism and the big money it brings. That's not to minimise the achievements of great players and teams of the past, they were the best with what they had to work with at the time. This is why a think comparing different eras is like comparing apples and potatos.

[bennymacca]

You should post more robstar. That was excellent.

With regards to Aussie rules stealing the zonal tactics from I think Neil Craig got a lot of it from hockey - Rick charlesworth was working with the crows for a while - but soccer, hockey and basketball zones are all pretty similar

[krunchie]

You should post more robstar. That was excellent.

With regards to Aussie rules stealing the zonal tactics from I think Neil Craig got a lot of it from hockey - Rick charlesworth was working with the crows for a while - but soccer, hockey and basketball zones are all pretty similar

spot on here benny the cunt, hockey used to be identical to soccer, but they got rid of off side, so its slightly different now but there is some big similarities particularly in zoning/pressing

[bennymacca]

interesting how there have been no replies from gundog or stubbyholder