The Mystique of the AFL Flag - Dead?

[Lavender Bushranger]

Explains why you don't give a shit then.

Maybe.

But even clubs seem to move on really quickly. Guys have already gone to new clubs, players have been delisted already.
Draft talk seems to generate far more interest than talk of the Grand Final last season.
Coaches are already 100% focussed on next year.

I mean I'm sure that tragic fans of the premiership team are still basking in it, but it feels like no one else cares after about a week and everyone has moved on.

I don't remember it this way. I remember the glory of an AFL premiership lingering pretty much right up until the new season actually started. Often even a month or so into the season!

Maybe that was just my perception.

An AFL premiership almost feels transactional these days. If that makes sense?

 

[PetterdHoisted]

Granted, I'm pushing 50. So I obviously see the world differently to how I saw it 30-40 years ago, but....

Does anyone care that much about winning the flag these days?

I mean in the lead up - yes.

On the day - yes.

In the immediate aftermath - yes.


But beyond that, do supporters give a shit? Do they care like they used to?

It seems that the world moves on very quickly after the AFL Grand Final these days.

The NRL comes on the week after. Cup Week kicks off. The NBA starts. The World Series is on. The NBL starts. Then the cricket is on.

The AFL seems like a distant memory about 2 days after the final siren!

Not that long ago, winning the flag seemed like a glorious and momentous achievement in which the glory was basked in for months, even years afterwards.

Doesn't seem like that now.


Or maybe it's just me?

Interesting.

Certainly think the burn of the loss can be front of mind longer than the glory of winning.

Geelong post 2020 probably best example. Richmond celebrations muted due to covid, whereas Steve Hocking was poring over Cotchin videos to devise the STAND rule iin the months that followed.

 

[bradfisher14]

I wouldn't say it's dead, but there definitely isn't the same level of it as there used to be. From my observations, people seem to stop talking about it much more quickly. Whereas when I was younger, it's all anyone talked about until the new year. Maybe it's a sign of our attention span shortening as a society.

 

[PhatBoy]

Interesting.

Certainly think the burn of the loss can be front of mind longer than the glory of winning.

Geelong post 2020 probably best example. Richmond celebrations muted due to covid, whereas Steve Hocking was poring over Cotchin videos to devise the STAND rule iin the months that followed.

You realise Hocking had played in two losing grand finals himself, watched his brother play in two more, and watched Geelong play in another altogether as well before that, right? But no, that one, 25 years after he retired, when he wasn’t affiliated with the club, and did something that happens each year - ie. adjustments to the rules - that broke him

 

[Leeda]

Storm hole....worm
!schucke

You realise Hocking had played in two losing grand finals himself, watched his brother play in two more, and watched Geelong play in another altogether as well before that, right? But no, that one, 25 years after he retired, when he wasn’t affiliated with the club, and did something that happens each year - ie. adjustments to the rules - that broke him

We appreciate past legends...

 

[peetoo]

If Carlton or Essendon win one soon..... We will all hear about it for 5 years

I worked at pw in 95 and a partner had the carlton song played over the emergency PA

 

[Roobs321]

I sometimes get the sense that the next leadership spill or toppling of the PM will have less intense interest and be yesterday’s news much more quickly. 2018 was the last one and the society attention span has noticeably deteriorated since then.

This decade the sporting highs that come to mind for me were Ash winning Wimbledon and AO. I still think about them a fair bit. Ash bugging out when she did might actually help prevent diluting it. Pies 2023 finals campaign (could’ve easily lost all three) and the Demons going berserk in the latter of Q3 in 2021 were also memorable. I.e. compelling GFs. It is (part of) why we remember those Ash slams better than her French breakthrough. Both matches played out similarly, with Pliskova & Danimal coming back hard, and it took something stirring to grab the prize. That 2022 AO in general really, Rafa’s unlikely gruelling win over Medvedev was also unforgettably punishing and momentous. Let alone the whole Novak deportation affair.

 

[iameviljez]

Not that long ago, winning the flag seemed like a glorious and momentous achievement in which the glory was basked in for months, even years afterwards.

Doesn't seem like that now.


Or maybe it's just me?

It's just you, because you don't follow any single team. Same reason as to why you're so against the Father-Son rule and others are very much for it.

Look, some flags are worth more than others, when they are momentous drought-breakers. I have to admit, the 2022 flag wasn't as euphoric as the 2007 flag for that very reason. 2016 and 2005 will be very special to those fans for the same reasons.

 

[iameviljez]

The Rayner prelim goal is the loudest ive ever yelled in my 35 years of watching just about every sport, and the euphoria of grand final day and winning i can't even really put in words, conversely the year before and losing it, the final moments and hours after that is literally a blur and absolute devastation

As much as I also yelled very loudly, albeit a very different word, I can't deny you the pleasure of that moment. Great game won in a couple of moments.

 

[Blackhawk42]

Granted, I'm pushing 50. So I obviously see the world differently to how I saw it 30-40 years ago, but....

Does anyone care that much about winning the flag these days?

I mean in the lead up - yes.

On the day - yes.

In the immediate aftermath - yes.


But beyond that, do supporters give a shit? Do they care like they used to?

It seems that the world moves on very quickly after the AFL Grand Final these days.

The NRL comes on the week after. Cup Week kicks off. The NBA starts. The World Series is on. The NBL starts. Then the cricket is on.

The AFL seems like a distant memory about 2 days after the final siren!

Not that long ago, winning the flag seemed like a glorious and momentous achievement in which the glory was basked in for months, even years afterwards.

Doesn't seem like that now.


Or maybe it's just me?

Not everybody cares about those other sports though. Footy is their be all and end all. For those people, NOTHING beats winning a premiership.

 

[JPetro83]

Its all i think about when it comes to footy... i am hanging out and so desperate for the day to see the crows win the flag again. i was 15 in 1998.. that is a long time ago. 2017 shattered me.. i haven't been the same supporter since that GF loss. it is the pinnacle of footy.. its why they play the game. winning the flag is everything IMO.

 

[PhatBoy]

I think the afl industry itself takes away some of the mystique with all the trade week and draft talk bullshit they propagate seemingly within seconds of the season ending so the afterglow doesn’t feel as long but watching the cats win was still four of the most special moments of my life, I can remember minute details about everything that happened on the days they happened, what made each of them unique and special etc

 

[amazingjoshy]

The teams barracked for by the respondants so far should give you the answer.
Only Vivc nufties with nothing else in their lives give a shit about who won the flag a week after its won.
Reigning premiers is nufty speak, no one cares outside their bubble really, the rest of us just move on to whatever interests follow before a reset come the first round.

Everyone posting on a dedicated football forum in October/November is 100% a nuffy

 

[amazingjoshy]

I don't support the Suns.

I don't support any one team.

Case closed

 

[Philth]

As a lifelong Leicester fan seeing us win the premier league in 2016 was absolutely magical, and that magic remains to this day.

It’s slightly different given that fewer teams compete in the afl than the monolithic English football pyramid, but also the flag is harder to win more than once. Man City have won the last 4 premierships in a row. The afl would never stand for a team dominating the comp for years on end like that.

That's why we have a draft and salary cap. You can't just buy success in the AFL.

I lived in Scotland for 2 years. After following the AFL my whole life, I found the SPL to be an absolute joke. The same 2 teams have won the premiership since the mid 80s FFS.

To answer the OP - yes, I still get a warm glowing warming glow whenever I think about the 2017 GF!

 

[PenfoldsFan]

Everyone posting on a dedicated football forum in October/November is 100% a nuffy

I hang around for the crime threads as they're often the best source of info anywhere on the net.
I'll occasionally post in MB threads or respond to people who've quoted my posts.
But other than that, I agree.

 

[sabso]

I found the SPL to be an absolute joke. The same 2 teams have won the premiership since the mid 80s FFS.

3 teams - Celtic, Rangers (liquidated), and the league sponsored new franchise team who the league allowed to assume rangers’ name and ground.

 

[Rotayjay]

Absolute horse shit. Any flag is a cherished memory.