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     If you were to believe all the hype about the falling standards of off – field behaviour of all players in the AFL should be guilty as charged. Justice would be served if we locked all of them up and made sure that they are off the streets and doing no harm. There is more crime in the AFL than there ever was in Mount Thomas, CSI New York and Miami would need to be called in to shut down these renegades.

There has been more drama here than Home and Away and Neighbours put together, although the standard of acting of a superior quality. There is more controversy than Big Brother amongst the AFL. Most recently the Alan Didak issue, Ben Cousins, the hands in the back rule change, the lack of toughness in the AFL and Andrew Demetriou not admitting to making an error. All these are credible issues and have certainly warranted attention, but probably not the scrutiny that they have been reported with this year.

What a lot of people have overlooked that this year the standard of football has improved dramatically. Much of this has coincided with something of a return to form for nearly all the Victorian sides this year. Love them or hate them, football needs Collingwood performing. Few sides polarise opinion like the pies, the same can be said of Essendon. Mick Malthouse and Kevin Sheedy both know what it takes to be successful and thankfully have not adopted the Sydney style of football. Scoring goals and scoring quickly has made people stand up and admit that for sides to win they must kick goals and move the ball faster than they have been.

West Coast is an incredibly talented side but the lack of a strong forward has its drawbacks. Collingwood have Anthony Rocca and Travis Cloke, Essendon have Matthew Lloyd and Scott Lucas. With football gradually getting better and better what is obvious is that all the improving and exciting sides have strong forward lines. Geelong, who is perhaps the most improved side in football this year, has a talented forward line, Cam Mooney, Gary Ablett Jr and Paul Chapman are all smart movers and know how to score goals. The Kangaroos have turned their game plan around this year and have shown that fortune favours the bold by attacking and trying to kick goals. In doing this the Roos have unleashed the creativity of Brent Harvey and have the talented Aaron Edwards as well, this has paid dividends for them. The Western Bulldogs who are struggling this year do not have a power forward who is capable of splitting packs or taking towering marks have struggled. Brad Johnson is a champion and rightly so, but cannot be expected to lead his side to finals glory on his own. The Bulldogs made a mistake recruiting Akker, they should have looked more for someone like Chris Tarrant. AFL sides cannot rely solely on small forwards and midfielders for the bulk of their scoring. West Coast are a possible exception, but have been reined back because they do not have all their champion midfielders available.

There are some Victorian sides that are struggling to stay afloat despite strong forwards in their side. Carlton has set a standard for high scoring and exciting football, but still cannot consistently win games of football. With Brendan Fevola in their side they Carlton should always score highly such is his ability to dominate. When on song he is a devastatingly brilliant forward, but is equally as frustrating through his inconsistency and mood swings. Sydney is another, with such a potent forward line, one that should score heavily in nearly every game they play. Barry Hall Michael O’Loughlin, Ryan O’Keefe and Nick Davis are all outstanding footballers and have the excellent ability to read the play well before others. However, they have not gelled together at all this year. The style of play Sydney employ is not helpful to their cause, the quick ball into the 50 will create more scoring chances than chip kicks 15 and 20 metres sideways and backwards. Sydney will not recover from their slump and many are happy to see that. The negating style of football is going the way of the Dodo. St Kilda’s form slump supports this, from one of the highest scoring sides in the competition in the previous season they are now one who struggles to kick goals and move the ball quickly. With the likes of Gehrig and Reiwoldt in the forward line they should be a high scoring side, but Ross Lyon’s Sydney influence is clear and the Saints are not capable of playing such a negative brand of football. A resurgent Hawthorn has also helped to lead the way, with Lance Franklin, Roughhead and Mark Williams the Hawks are going from a side which butchered the football to one of the most exciting in the league. Richmond have Matthew Richardson, Melbourne have David Neitz and Russell Robertson.

Thankfully many AFL coaches, mainly Victorian coaches, have realised that swift movement of the football is winning football. Adelaide can hardly score a goal, but are a powerful defensive side but still loses games because of an inability to score. Port Adelaide has Warren Tredrea and Brett Ebert who is a cunning small forward, but continue to play defensive football. Fremantle should have much more success than they have already had with their forward line, Tarrant and Pavlich should be complimented superbly by Farmer, but are let down by a side which has probably played above their own ability. Brisbane is another case altogether. With the retirement of many champion players they are clinging to the glory years of the early millennium. Brisbane at their best play an outstanding long kicking game, but are now playing a completely different style of football and the lack of results on the scoreboard shows how this can dramatically affect a team’s ability to put a winning score on the board.

What is perhaps the most exciting thing about the footy being played this year is the skill level by hand and foot. There are few more exhilarating sights in football than watching Luke Hodge tear through the middle of the MCG and hitting Lance Franklin on the lead or James Hird coolly sizing up his options and kicking to what appears to be an open space, but only to have Scott Lucas run on to mark the ball without breaking stride. Glenn Archer a football so magnificently tough and durable is also highly skilled. Scott Burns of Collingwood is another who is unerringly brave, but highly skilled. The sight of seeing Andrew Mcleod streaming off the half back line bouncing the football must make a forward’s eyes light up. Lindsay Gilbee of the Bulldogs has exquisite poise and polish in his delivery. There are many others whose excellent delivery of the ball has excited fans this year and made football much more attractive to watch. For this trend to continue Victorian sides must continue to play attacking foot ball and not be deterred by negative tactics.

If AFL football can continue to improve in such a manner than many of the off field dilemmas will be pushed further into the background where they belong. If the style of play continues to improve and Victorian sides continue to hold sway then we are all a little better off and maybe the MCG will host two sides from the same state this year.