SAM NEWMAN - IT'S JUST A BIT OF FUN

INTERVENTION ORDERS? YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS?

WHAT WOMAN NEEDS ONE?

Sam not a New Man

There's no disputing the Eddie McGuire driven success of Nine's Footy Show or of Sam Newman's talent in front of the camera. However, it's time he stopped using the show to belittle women. When sexual assault allegations engulfed the ARL and the AFL two years ago he famously labelled women as liars. Last Thursday he chortled something about 'extended foreplay' when the boys briefly discussed the intervention order against Essendon's Andrew Lovett. In Sunday's Herald Sun he said I should speak to 'someone who cares' and was 'glad I was watching' when it was reported I considered him anti-woman and a bully. Just for the record, if it were not for my two sons, aged eight and twelve, I wouldn't catch any of his pearls. There's nothing funny about a big, confident footy hero mocking a woman taking out an intervention order in a Melbourne court. If it were Mick Malthouse or Kevin Sheedy's daughter taking out an intervention order I doubt that Sam would be so 'brave'.

Zebras Bowling them over

Who hasn't experienced a little tingle watching an elderly woman in a white skirt and blouse bend over and roll her ball along a pristine strip of grass? But how could the ABC in Sydney drop the footy to telecast Bowls when the reigning premier Sandringham was unfurling its 2005 flag against the old enemy, Port? The VFA/VFL has attracted a devoted TV audience - some call it a cult following - since the ABC began its live VFA telecasts in 1987. Didn't they deserve to see this game? Most people wouldn't know that more people watch the ABC's VFL Saturday telecast than listen to any of the AFL radio broadcasts. Although less than 10 000 people attended last year's grand final at Princes Park, approximately 300 000 watched our live telecast. Imagine what Drew Morphett and the ABC radio boys would have said if Sydney had sent them packing in favour of the Bowls? Had the VFL game been telecast viewers would have discovered just how difficult it is for a stand-alone club in the new VFL. The statistics show that stand-alone clubs struggle to muster the fitness and endurance to stay with a team made up of a dozen elite athletes. Despite being flush with money Port was unable to recruit any big names and, as the 7-goal to 13 second half showed, is in for a long season.

Rule changes the way to go

I've consistently argued that the VFL needs to be autonomous and distinctive if it's to drag people back through the gates. The 12 AFL/10 VFL rule for finals, something many colleagues and VFL officials said couldn't be implemented, has imbued the VFL grand final with much needed character. Although Bullants coach, Barry Mitchell, says the VFL's decision to outlaw backwards kicking is a problem because of the size of our grounds, the flooding it is generating and that it's not used in the AFL, I think it is a good move. But why stop there?

Interesting enough, AFL caller Tim Lane is calling for the AFL to revert to 16-a-man side football to quell the possession game that threatens to turn our game into a version of its great rival, soccer. If Tim had watched VFA 16-a-side football in the 70s and 80s he'd understand how open was the VFA. The telling factor - and here I agree with Tim - was that the ball moved quickly and straight and VFA full forwards such as Fred Cook, Frosty Miller, Jamie Shaw and Ian Rickman had so much space their goal-kicking feats became legendary. Along with the rough and tumble this made the VFA mesmerising and different.

If the AFL clubs have no problem with the VFL outlawing the backwards kick, why not go for broke and implement the 9-point outside fifty goal? Or why not be more radical and allocate 9 points only when a player kicks a torpedo goal outside fifty? Most AFL coaches would relish seeing their players practice such skills. The VFA/VFL has everything to gain and nothing to lose by stamping itself as different from the AFL. Over the past few seasons the VFL has found a growing band of supporters (1800 at Cramer Street on Sunday) among AFL members. Although the crowds are still much lower than in the VFA of the 70s and 80s, there is no doubting the increase in young supporters. In the late 90s the VFA's supporter base was dominated by baby boomers. And while they remain an important demographic, it's their children and a new breed of youngsters that are swelling numbers at suburban VFA/VFL grounds. Let's drive home these gains with radical changes, I say.

 

Tips

GEELONG v Coburg - Saturday
NORTH BALLARAT v Tasmania - ABC TV - Saturday
WERRIBEE v Williamstown - Saturday
Port Melbourne v CASEY SCORPIONS - Sunday
FRANKSTON v Bendigo Bombers - Sunday
Box Hill Hawks v SANDRINGHAM - Sunday