The AFL can be its own worst enemy and its prime weapon of self-inflicted pain is ad hoc decision making.

No-one other than Carlton and Chris Judd were pleased when Judd’s “ambassadorial” role with Blues sponsor Visy Industries was approved by the AFL. The arrangement netted the Carlton star an additional $200k per year outside of the Blues’ salary cap.

As one wag sagely noted in an online comment this week:

Last time [questions were raised about this arrangement], Judd came from nowhere and appeared on TV spruiking recycling for Visy. Until then you never heard about his "ambassador role" and the most he did was probably put his bin out.

The Age

Fast forward five years and the Crows are feeling the heat of AFL ire over their extra-contractual agreements with Kurt Tippett. Now, the AFL decides that the Visy payment to Judd must come within the limits of the salary cap.

These rule changes that seem to come from nowhere in response to media furores don’t do much to inspire confidence in AFL leadership.

Surely the most appropriate way to deal with these salary cap issues is to decide on, and announce, a crystal-clear definition of what can, and can’t, be done. Make it a five year arrangement, at which point it is reviewed. Declare an amnesty for non-compliant arrangements of one or two years. Once the amnesty is complete, contract arrangements must be squeaky clean and no correspondence will be entered into. Players and managers in breach will be delicensed immediately and serve a mandatory two-year ban. Clubs in breach should be forced to carry the contract in their salary cap for its duration despite the player being delicensed.

If someone gets creative and makes an undesirable contract, close the loophole in the next contract period. Make it part of the EBA with the Players’ Association.

The only conclusion that can be drawn currently is that senior AFL executives are out of their depth and dog-paddling to stay abreast of circumstances.

This time of year we wait for the inevitable pronouncements about the unfairness of the AFL’s fixture. Whether it be home games versus away games, number of interstate trips, night versus day games, six day breaks and so on, there’s seemingly no end to the ‘problems’.

But wait, Aussie Rules is played with an elliptical ball that bounces unpredictably — just ask Stephen Milne on (first) Grand Final day 2010. Unfair! We must use a round ball that moves predictably.

There are a limited number of weekends for stadium availability, and so an uneven number of meetings/return meetings between all teams. Unfair! Disband a third of the competition and revert to a twelve team competition playing each other twice each season on suburban grounds.

Players get injured in physical clashes and their teams founder — just ask Andrew Carrazzo last year. Unfair! The season must be put on hold until all clubs can field their strongest possible team.

Some games are played indoors in perfect conditions and some on cold, wet, wintery nights that reduce scoring potential. The influence on teams’ percentages is — you guessed it — unfair! All games must be played at the same venue at the same time so that no team is advantaged by better conditions. . .

And so on.

Of course the four scenarios presented are part and parcel of the national competition that lives and breathes on broadcast advertisers’ access to markets.

On the other hand, it’s unfair, for Melbourne, that Jack Watts doesn’t wear his underpants on the outside and might turn out to be only human.

It’s unfair, for Hawthorn, that Lance Franklin has a crucial flaw in his game that seriously reduces his effectiveness.

It’s unfair to everyone for various reasons that the Blues, the Barcodes and the Bombers all play each other twice each year, but those mammoth attendances and huge ratings put a pretty hefty dent in the AFL’s expenses.

The AFL could fixture Freo to play the Giants twice in prime time and tragics like AussieRulesBlog would watch it both times, but we’d have to tell all of our acquaintances what happened, because they wouldn’t be watching.

Of course the [bleeping] fixture is unfair. Life is unfair! Get over it, and get on with it.

A-league ‘club’ Newcastle Jets and NRL ‘club’ Newcastle Knights must be wondering about their futures. Revelations in The Age that owner and ‘coal baron’ Nathan Tinkler is struggling to pay the maintenance bills on his hefty string of thoroughbreds amidst market turnarounds can only be disquieting.

AussieRulesBlog noted recently when Tinkler took on the two Newcastle-based teams that the AFL had (hopefully) learned its lesson with the Edelsten and Skase fiascos.

The simple fact is that Tinkler’s supposed ‘wealth’ was largely calculated on the back of his stockholdings and anyone with a shred of commonsense knows that the lemmings in the equities markets aren’t loathe to pull the pin if they smell even a tiny loss.

AFL fans should be grateful every time we read a story about Tinkler or former Gold Coast A-League owner Clive Palmer.

AussieRulesBlog has long maintained that there is a mostly inverse relationship between playing ability and coaching success at AFL level. So, the more natural and gifted a player, the less likely to be a successful — Premiership-winning! — coach.

There’s another part of this thinking too. The most successful coaches have been, for the most part, nuggety, desperate defenders rather than showy forwards or slick midfielders.

While the game has changed, the numbers over the past fifty or sixty years do support our theory. And only the as-yet-unfulfilled potential of Nathan Buckley and James Hird could tip the pendulum ever so slightly the other way.

What then to make of Mick Malthouse’s choice of recently-retired ex-Melbourne Captain Brad Green as midfield development coach at the Blues?

Green played 250-odd games, racked up one B&F and one year as Captain before being replaced in that role by a second-year player. In a team screaming out for leaders both on and off field, it’s hardly a glowing reference.

Let’s give Green his due. He played 250-odd more AFL games than AussieRulesBlog. Add to that his Reserves, VFL and junior games too! And we’re sure he’s a completely affable chap.

Perhaps Malthouse’s media commitments at the pointy end of the 2012 season and then the off-season break for all clubs left the potential coaching cupboard particularly bare?

We’re not sure what messages Green will be able to pass on to his young charges. How to be an “unfulfilled talent” who turns into a slightly better than ordinary player in an often crap team?

Whatever the reason, it’s a signal that there’s no quick fix for the Blues, and that has got to be good for football!

AussieRulesBlog is disappointed that The Promised Land has picked up his little red wagon and gone home. We won’t know whether the investment was worth it for perhaps another ten or fifteen years.

We thought Folau could have take some solace from the journey of Canadian rugby international, Mike Pyke.

When Pyke first started his AFL odyssey, few would have predicted he would make such an impact. He had the same issues as Folau in reading the game and mastering the skills. Clearly he also has  greater reserves of resilience than Folau, because he showed in September that he can hold his head high as a genuine member of the Swans’ Premiership team.

The reaction from the NRL pundits will be fascinating.