With AFL crowd attendances down in 2022 and a sense of frustration among fans around rules and officiating, some have claimed there’s a correlation between the two.
The Herald Sun reported last week that crowd attendances were down 16 per cent from the last-non Covid season (2019). An average of 30,461 fans have attended games this year — the lowest return since 1995 in non-Covid impacted seasons — compared to 37,250 in 2019.
It comes after another weekend where umpiring and the application of free kicks sparked debate among the football community. Hawthorn’s win over Brisbane saw 63 free kicks paid — the most in a match since 2012 — as commentators lamented the free kick run the Demons had against North Melbourne and Luke Beveridge suggested Aaron Naughton was being treated unfairly, while the umpire dissent debate raged on.
In a 2021 survey conducted by the AFL Fans Association (AFLFA) that drew 860 responses from fans of all AFL clubs, ranging in age from 18 to over 75, umpiring and rule changes were cited as the biggest concern in the game.
Speaking to foxfooty.com.au, AFLFA president Cheryl Critchley expanded on the reservations from supporters.
“Certainly at the moment there is a bit of unrest amongst fans about things like the stand rule, dissent rule, what is or isn’t a dangerous tackle, whether you need all these score reviews,” Critchley told foxfooty.com.au.
“Some fans say the constant rule changes and the effect they’re having on the game is off-putting and the odd person does say: ‘I don’t go to as many games now because the game is not as good to watch.’
“That chat has continued, but they’re probably in the minority.
“It depends who you talk to. With any of the rule changes, some are less popular than others. We did a poll on if they should have the stand rule and 84.6 per cent said no (of 700 votes) — so that’s definitely not a popular rule.”
North Melbourne legend David King was among several pundits to voice concerns with adjudications, saying “we’ve lost our way” and that it’s “losing fans”.
Despite this, Critchley believes other factors are more likely deterring fans from attending matches, such as complicated ticketing processes and the move to digital, the floating fixture, scheduling and attendance cost, as well as the lingering impact of the pandemic and people still contracting the virus or having to isolate.
“The rule changes and effect on the game itself to watch may be the straw that breaks the camel’s back for some people, but those practical reasons are probably more likely to affect people and whether or not they’re going to go to a game,” she said.
The interpretation that’s seemingly caused the most angst among fans is punishing any dissent shown towards umpires, with players now hit with 50m penalties even if they stick their arms out to dispute a decision.
AFL football boss Brad Scott defended the rule as recently as a fortnight ago, saying umpire dissent was quickly becoming a “non issue” in the sport.
But it drew more backlash on the weekend after Sydney‘s Chad Warner copped a 50m penalty in his team’s clash with Carlton after his mild reaction to getting penalised for running too far.
It all comes amid new holding the ball interpretations and less leniency around delaying play.
Critchley called on the AFL to be clearer in how dissent is defined in a bid for the rule to resonate with fans better.
“We haven’t done a poll or anything on that yet, but we have had a few comments of people being frustrated that the players can’t move and it’s human nature to react,” she said.
“And what is dissent too? Are they allowed to talk or ask a question? It seems a bit unclear. It would be good if the AFL could explain those nuances a little bit more.
“If we could get a bit more clarity on that then that could only be a good thing. Then they might get a little bit more support for the rule if people understand it better.”
Critchley ultimately put it on the AFL’s top brass — not the umpires themselves — to take accountability for the reaction to rule changes.
“There has been a lot of talk this year about people getting frustrated by, not individual umpires, it’s more the system,” she said.
“The fact rules have changed so often, and it appears like even the interpretations change from week to week — so one week dropping the ball is paid, the next week it’s not, that’s how people perceive it.
“So we’re very careful about saying, ‘the umpires are doing a bad job,’ because their job is becoming harder.”
