Remember when it was to Tags to Chops

Remember Brett McTaggart sweeping the ball sideways to Grant Smith and in the blink of an eye seeing the Seagull star, Ian 'Chops' Rickman, with the shiny Sherrin at the sixty-metre mark? Deceptively quick for a man with such a solid frame, Rickman's goals from outside sixty were so prolific the crowd was breathless as he marched towards the man on the mark. There was none of this drama at Cramer Street last Saturday as the Seagulls struggled against the Bullants. With thirty-six players in the back half, or to quote the coaching manual, behind the ball, more VFL matches - like many AFL games - now have the look and feel of rugby and soccer.

Yes, players are fitter than they've ever been and their capacity to run has put an end to the kind of set players of yesteryear. But will people continue to watch this kind of footy? No game can survive in the modern global sporting world unless it captures the imagination. Last Saturday there was no shortage of Collingwood (Williamstown) and Carlton (Bullants) supporters at Cramer Street. It was one of the biggest crowds for a TV game there I've seen in years. Unfortunately, the football didn't do the crowd justice. There's nothing quite like a mistake-ridden possession game to stop the chest beating about Aussie Rules being the greatest game in the world.

With no restriction on a player's on-field movement it's inevitable that more players will get to the back half. As every coach will tell you, that's why a side with the ball doesn't kick long. It's also why Cameron Cloke, playing at full forward for the Seagulls didn't kick a goal and had to run to the wing to take a mark. Is that what Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse really wants? The answer to this dilemma isn't a knee-jerk flurry of rule changes. But unless something gives, the current restriction on backwards kicking might be just the start of VFL rule changes.

Dean Mighell mauls Tigers

Despite the VFL's recent progress and an acceptance by its critics that the old VFA was in its death throes before the takeover, the rebels have not disappeared. 'Like most AFL clubs, Richmond doesn't have enough respect for the VFL'. That's the latest offering, from retiring Coburg president, Dean Mighell. Secretary of the powerful, Electrical Trades Union (for whom I manage communications) and a significant player in the Machiavellian world of state Labor politics, Mighell is not averse to a bit of cut and thrust. It's just that in this joust he sounds like a man without a sword.

'Richmond drew up a budget in the pre-season without even discussing Coburg membership packages. There wasn't as much as a phone call from them. I won't cop that. In my union work I live by one fundamental principle - treat people with respect,' says the man Richmond football manager Greg Miller describes as having done a 'magnificent job as president of the Coburg Tigers'. Although the praise is well meant, it has not quelled Mighell's criticism. 'Most presidents won't admit it, but Richmond's attitude is typical of the way AFL clubs treat the VFL. The only time Clinton Casey (former Tiger president) got near Coburg was when he flew over the ground in his helicopter,' he says with a derisive laugh.

Coming in the wake of Port Melbourne president Peter Saultry's attack on Kangaroos coach Dean Laidley, Mighell's anger raises many questions. Although he says his respect for Terry Wallace and the Richmond players is undiminished, the power brokers at Punt Road are a different story. 'They don't give us anywhere near enough money. That's why we can only afford a miserable $120 000 on VFL players. I'm regularly told that one EDFL club spends twice that much on players. What hope does Coburg have of recruiting quality players when we have no money and, no gaming machines?' he asks. It's a pessimism not shared by Greg Miller, who points to sponsorship revenue in 2006 of $120, 000 and a new 7-person board as 'exciting developments'. 'We'll see. I wish Coburg well and I'll still go to games. But the sooner we have a review of the role of the VFL in the Australian football and force AFL clubs to pay more, the better,' says Mighell. 'The VFL has lost a very passionate and hard working president. We can ill afford to lose people of his quality,' says Peter Saultry.