Please, enough of this drawn out argument
I’m sick of it. Every year we have the same discussion. Well not every year, because it doesn’t even happen every year. It occurred a whopping 5 times in 1921. In 2016, it didn’t happen at all. I’m referring to, of course, the needlessly controversial topic of the draw.
“Why isn’t there extra-time?” cry the irritable masses at the end of a perfectly thrilling home and away game of Aussie Rules. “I feel flat,” is a common whine from the same, exasperated collection of fans. However, my least favourite of all the moans has to be “we need a result!”
Why do we need a result?
It’s the middle of the season. We have a cutting-edge system whereby each team is awarded half of the allocated points each. No team is knocked out as a result of this game, therefore assigning two points per side is a completely appropriate outcome.
So, again, why do we need a result? The incessant impatience of today’s audience has become nauseating. In this brain-dead, reality TV, thrill seeking society, there appears to be no time left for the nuances of our game to thrive. The US has gone the way of ridding their sports of the draw, unsurprising as such a result would now undoubtedly confuse the leader of their nation. Why do we have to follow suit? In what way would that improve our game? One could argue that a draw is, in fact, a result (What??!! No way!!).
Additionally, any concept of extra time in the home and away season doesn’t make sense. Golden goal is bogus, given momentum (or ‘flow’, as some visionaries are calling it) shifts every five minutes and if a gale is blowing it’s hardly equal opportunity to score. A full five minutes each way is also moronic, due to the aforementioned momentum argument, as well as the five goal margin that could ensue, totally undermining the percentage of a team that was level at the end of four quarters. And don’t say percentage doesn’t matter, given the manufactured equality currently within our league.
The game has already, quite rightly, made changes to draws in certain situations. Drawn finals previously resulted in an extra game for two teams, in the middle of the finals series, completely throwing out the fixture and giving two teams an extra unwelcome match. Now that extra-time is employed in finals, we’ve seen two extended encounters — North Melbourne vs Hawthorn in 1994 and West Coast vs Collingwood in 2007. The same rule was recently applied to the last Saturday in September (or first in October), which was luckily changed after the mighty Pies reaped the rewards of the replay. In this situation, it makes perfect sense. An extra week in an already dragged-out season was too much for even the most die-hard fans, and we actually need a result in this situation without percentage being a factor.
But in the home and away season, why? What do we have to gain? Some fans appear to hate uncertainty. Someone has to win, someone has to lose, everyone has to feel good and know what is wrong and what is right. If the result is a draw, the confusing emotions are simply overwhelming (apparently). What is this strange feeling? It’s too real, the moon-landing was a conspiracy, I’m going to watch NFL instead because someone will win and I’ll be safe. For the love of Pendles, it does my head in!
The mixed emotions of a drawn game are what makes AFL incredible. It happens so rarely and leaves everyone feeling somewhat gutted. That’s life! It doesn’t always make sense and it’s not always black and white (even for Collingwood supporters).
I can’t imagine what must have been going through Tom Hawkins’ head on Saturday night. He missed an enormous opportunity to have the Cats level at the top of the table, but the game was not lost. It’s something that all Cats supporters would have appreciated, while Giants fans would have been feeling something similar but completely different.
It’s such a scarce experience in our great game and if we were to abandon it, we would be surrendering to the Kardashians, Bachelors and Real Housewives of our world for a cheap lie concocted by extra-time.
