With recent expansion in the AFL and controversy in the draw format along with planned expansion in the NRL and its acknowledged draw manipulation, is the integrity of our two pre-eminent national competitions under threat?
It would be an interesting experiment in the Australian market to see if the US conference system would work in our national competitions. The Conference systems have evolved in the US as a result of expansion and the need to ensure that both historical rivalries are maintained and the competition schedules are as fair as possible.
A conference system in Australia's competitions would need to be manipulated slightly to ensure the most beneficial outcomes.
In the NRL an expansion to 18 teams would result in the most equitable competition. Two conferences of nine teams would result in a Sydney conference comprised of Manly, Cronulla, St George, Sydney, South Sydney, Wests, Canterbury, Parramatta and Penrith. The non-Sydney conference would consist of Newcastle, Canberra, Brisbane, Gold Coast, North Queensland, Melbourne, New Zealand and the two expansion teams.
The season would be extended by one round to 25 games. Teams in the same conference would play each other twice and all other teams once, alternating home and away fixtures each season.
In terms of finals, with such large conferences the top two in each conference should be guaranteed finals football in the top 4. The next best four teams in a combined table would be placed in positions 5 through 8.
This would provide sporting integrity to the NRL's admitted draw bias which allowes clubs to nominate the rivals they would like to play at home each season.
In the AFL, recent expansion and the draft would make a conference system somewhat less equitable as the expansion teams are at a significant disadvantage in their earlier seasons. Any future expansion, presumably to Tasmania and Canberra would further make a non-Victorian conference uneven and put Victorian teams at a disadvantage.
With 10 Melbourne/Geelong teams, 8 non-Victorian teams and a 22 game season the only obvious conference system is for three six-team conferences. Teams would play all 17 teams once plus their own conference a 2nd time. How to split the Victorian teams would be the most contentious issue to come out of these conference allocations. Most obviously would seem to be Collingwood, Hawthorn, St Kilda, Carlton, Melbourne and Richmond in once conference, then Essendon, North Melbourne, Western Bulldogs, Geelong, Adelaide, and Port Adelaide in the second conference. The six other interstate teams constituting the third conference.
With expansion, four five-team conferences would be the most obvious. Teams would play each other once plus their four conference opponents a second time for a 23 game season. The top team in each conference would qualify for the top-4 play-offs. The remaining wild card finalists (4 or 6 teams) may need to be based on a 2 Victorian/ 2 non-Victorian basis until five or so years after expansion.
The key question is would Australian fans accept a conference system. This would be the job of the AFL/NRL to do the hard sell on the integrity benefits. In the NFL, the small divisions combined with the draft allows teams to improve markedly in a very short space of time. With only five teams in your division you have a benchmark for improvement to target that is not insurmountable.
In the NRL, a conference system would appeal to the tribal background of the sport and the conference system would encourage Sydney rivalries and battles just as the interstate teams are regularly beginning to dominate the sport. I think this would be a much easier sell.
A conference system has the potential to reduce the annual discussion over the fairness of draws and provide integrity across the competition. It may also pique the interest of weaker teams by providing them with targeted areas for improvement in smaller conferences. Lets hope for its introduction in the near future!
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Saturday, January 1, 2011
What is wrong with Australian Cricket?
In all of the post-mortems into Australia’s dismal attempt to regain the Ashes it appears that the blame has been sheeted home to the Captain, the batsmen and the selectors. Very little attention has been paid to the critical issues hindering the development of both our batsmen and bowlers at the second and third levels of the game and our failed preparation.
Domestic season
The Sheffield Shield competition has been undermined by Cricket Australia’s greed and the obligations they have committed to under the Future Tours Program. The early season should be the most intense level of the Sheffield Shield Competition with players country wide vying for international selection against the best of the best. All of our outbound tours should be in the February to April period including those to the sub-continent.
Cricketers, like all other athletes, need a proper pre-season in order to perform at their optimum. Australia’s pre-season was shortened by the unfortunate 2-test tour of India in October. More than this though, the players at lower levels of the game should be training with the national team players in the pre-season especially our up and coming state players much like our Wallabies complete their pre-season with the Super 14/15 teams.
Following the pre-season, our best players need the opportunity to fine tune their games on pitches that best resemble the conditions they are going to face throughout the Summer. All Sheffield Shield Matches should be held in the country’s test venues. NSW recently played Queensland at Blacktown Olympic Park. The benefit gained from taking the game to the people of NSW of which I imagine less than 100 turned up each day is far less than the possible experience lost by the Queenslanders when they’re asked to step up to national level in future SCG tests.
The changes to the one-day Ryobi Cup competition have also been a complete failure and this competition now represents a distraction with no meaningful practice for one-day international competition. With the elevation of the Twenty20 Big Bash to main event, one can’t help but feel that this competition is set to be significantly shaved, especially in a non-world cup year to a single round robin competition.
The review of the Sheffield Shield competition will reportedly result in the removal of the final. This may be viewed as a win in the context of the rumoured reduction to 8 games mentioned earlier in the Summer. It is the Sheffield Shield that has been the basis of our success for 20 years. The competition needs significantly improved scheduling as it has been undermined by the lack of international players for too many seasons. Schedule improvements may actually occur as a result of the introduction of the extended Big Bash in January forcing games to either extremity of the season where more players will be available.
Summer International Timeline
The one-day international portion of the Summer now needs to be completed in as short of a timeframe as possible and prior to the first test. A week between the end of those games and the first test will also allow for another Shield match and more fine tuning. Twenty20 should be left for the end of the International summer so that it in no way interferes with test match preparation and also allows the best of the Big Bash their opportunity for a call up.
Ideally the Schedule would look something like
October – 4 Sheffield Shield games, 4 Ryobi Cup
November – 1 Ryobi Cup (and final) then 2 weeks of one-day internationals (6-8 games), then 1 Sheffield Shield, then 1st test
December – 3 or 4 tests (depending on 5 or 6 test Summer)
January – 1 Test, Big Bash
February – Big Bash, Twenty 20 Internationals, 1 Sheffield Shield, start of overseas tour to SA/NZ/WI/Subcontinent
March – 3 Sheffield Shield, Overseas tour to SA/NZ/WI/Subcontinent
Grade Cricket
Grade cricket needs to be re-evaluated to ensure all of the development needs of players are met. The Sydney Grade competition this Summer has 10 two-day games. This is 5 less than in the late 90’s and should not be underestimated as a contributor to our batting woes. The patience learned batting for a full day without the run-rate pressure of limited overs cricket holds batsmen in good stead for stepping up through the levels. An undermined Sheffield Shield competition also reduces the number of elite players playing in the grade competitions around the country.
Conclusion
It is vital that Cricket Australia get the balance right in their domestic scheduling and the finalisation of the 2014-2020 Future Tours Program. The ideal preparation for our players in each form of the game needs to be focused on and some specialisation of the calendar with the appropriate form of the international game following an intense period of Domestic cricket in that same form.
Domestic season
The Sheffield Shield competition has been undermined by Cricket Australia’s greed and the obligations they have committed to under the Future Tours Program. The early season should be the most intense level of the Sheffield Shield Competition with players country wide vying for international selection against the best of the best. All of our outbound tours should be in the February to April period including those to the sub-continent.
Cricketers, like all other athletes, need a proper pre-season in order to perform at their optimum. Australia’s pre-season was shortened by the unfortunate 2-test tour of India in October. More than this though, the players at lower levels of the game should be training with the national team players in the pre-season especially our up and coming state players much like our Wallabies complete their pre-season with the Super 14/15 teams.
Following the pre-season, our best players need the opportunity to fine tune their games on pitches that best resemble the conditions they are going to face throughout the Summer. All Sheffield Shield Matches should be held in the country’s test venues. NSW recently played Queensland at Blacktown Olympic Park. The benefit gained from taking the game to the people of NSW of which I imagine less than 100 turned up each day is far less than the possible experience lost by the Queenslanders when they’re asked to step up to national level in future SCG tests.
The changes to the one-day Ryobi Cup competition have also been a complete failure and this competition now represents a distraction with no meaningful practice for one-day international competition. With the elevation of the Twenty20 Big Bash to main event, one can’t help but feel that this competition is set to be significantly shaved, especially in a non-world cup year to a single round robin competition.
The review of the Sheffield Shield competition will reportedly result in the removal of the final. This may be viewed as a win in the context of the rumoured reduction to 8 games mentioned earlier in the Summer. It is the Sheffield Shield that has been the basis of our success for 20 years. The competition needs significantly improved scheduling as it has been undermined by the lack of international players for too many seasons. Schedule improvements may actually occur as a result of the introduction of the extended Big Bash in January forcing games to either extremity of the season where more players will be available.
Summer International Timeline
The one-day international portion of the Summer now needs to be completed in as short of a timeframe as possible and prior to the first test. A week between the end of those games and the first test will also allow for another Shield match and more fine tuning. Twenty20 should be left for the end of the International summer so that it in no way interferes with test match preparation and also allows the best of the Big Bash their opportunity for a call up.
Ideally the Schedule would look something like
October – 4 Sheffield Shield games, 4 Ryobi Cup
November – 1 Ryobi Cup (and final) then 2 weeks of one-day internationals (6-8 games), then 1 Sheffield Shield, then 1st test
December – 3 or 4 tests (depending on 5 or 6 test Summer)
January – 1 Test, Big Bash
February – Big Bash, Twenty 20 Internationals, 1 Sheffield Shield, start of overseas tour to SA/NZ/WI/Subcontinent
March – 3 Sheffield Shield, Overseas tour to SA/NZ/WI/Subcontinent
Grade Cricket
Grade cricket needs to be re-evaluated to ensure all of the development needs of players are met. The Sydney Grade competition this Summer has 10 two-day games. This is 5 less than in the late 90’s and should not be underestimated as a contributor to our batting woes. The patience learned batting for a full day without the run-rate pressure of limited overs cricket holds batsmen in good stead for stepping up through the levels. An undermined Sheffield Shield competition also reduces the number of elite players playing in the grade competitions around the country.
Conclusion
It is vital that Cricket Australia get the balance right in their domestic scheduling and the finalisation of the 2014-2020 Future Tours Program. The ideal preparation for our players in each form of the game needs to be focused on and some specialisation of the calendar with the appropriate form of the international game following an intense period of Domestic cricket in that same form.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
The ARU has seen fit to terminate Lote Tuqiri's contract for as yet unknown reasons. Reportedly, Lote's extrememly expensive contract was due to run until 2012. One would find it hard to believe that Lote's dropping from the Wallabies squad has not played a role in this decision.
One key factor yet to be noticed is that the ARU has deemed it fit to take this action on 1 July. In what could only be a coincidence, this happens to be the day after the registration deadline in the NRL.
I think there is going to be very little to this action other than a bold attempt by the ARU to save itself significant money and prevent a publicity coup by the NRL. We await further details.
One key factor yet to be noticed is that the ARU has deemed it fit to take this action on 1 July. In what could only be a coincidence, this happens to be the day after the registration deadline in the NRL.
I think there is going to be very little to this action other than a bold attempt by the ARU to save itself significant money and prevent a publicity coup by the NRL. We await further details.
News Limited and its agenda against football
A nice simple and easy post here driving into one of my pet hate areas. Media bias and the influence of advertising in major news organisations. Reading the dailytelegraph.com.au website I am drawn to an article discussing John Hartigan's recent comments.
He took aim at news editors and journalists who have "self interests as their primary ambition" rather than readers' interests.
Taking a phrase from former US president Richard Nixon, Mr Hartigan said news needed to cater for the "silent majority".
John Hartigan would do well to have a quiet word with his editor of the Sydney Daily Telegraph regarding his sports editor Phil Rothfield. In a recent interview with the SBS journalist Philip Micallef Phil was only to happy to point out that it is the advertising dollar and not the "Reader's interests" which drive the content of the telegraph's sporting section.
The Sydney Morning Herald throws a lot of space at rugby union because they get a lot of money from rugby advertising, we give rugby league plenty of space because we get a lot of money from rugby league advertising.
What an indictment on News Ltd's journalistic integrity.
He took aim at news editors and journalists who have "self interests as their primary ambition" rather than readers' interests.
Taking a phrase from former US president Richard Nixon, Mr Hartigan said news needed to cater for the "silent majority".
John Hartigan would do well to have a quiet word with his editor of the Sydney Daily Telegraph regarding his sports editor Phil Rothfield. In a recent interview with the SBS journalist Philip Micallef Phil was only to happy to point out that it is the advertising dollar and not the "Reader's interests" which drive the content of the telegraph's sporting section.
The Sydney Morning Herald throws a lot of space at rugby union because they get a lot of money from rugby advertising, we give rugby league plenty of space because we get a lot of money from rugby league advertising.
What an indictment on News Ltd's journalistic integrity.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
State of Origin Game 3
State of Origin finally returned to its roots after a poor season of football so far with the players actually showing some passion in Queensland's game 3 16-10 victory. If 2 out of 3 state of origin games were like that, the casual observer will begin to show interest in buying tickets again.
The NSW team lacked penetration at in the attacking quarter and this was the difference between 2 teams and I think this was down to Mitchell Pearce. The rating of 7 given by Sydney Morning Herald was laughable considering the forwards had their best game of the series yet NSW could still not win. Buderus and Gidley were the 2 best players on the ground along with Ben Cross for NSW. Jonathon Thurston had one good run that set up the winning try and 2 lucky kicks.
Tony Archer ruined NSW' chances of coming back with his forward pass call. The referee really is becoming an issue for the NRL to deal with.
The NSW team lacked penetration at in the attacking quarter and this was the difference between 2 teams and I think this was down to Mitchell Pearce. The rating of 7 given by Sydney Morning Herald was laughable considering the forwards had their best game of the series yet NSW could still not win. Buderus and Gidley were the 2 best players on the ground along with Ben Cross for NSW. Jonathon Thurston had one good run that set up the winning try and 2 lucky kicks.
Tony Archer ruined NSW' chances of coming back with his forward pass call. The referee really is becoming an issue for the NRL to deal with.
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