In the first four rounds of footy, it’s been difficult at times to watch teams handball the ball around a dozen times in the space of about twenty metres and eventually turn it over. So many sides this year have gotten themselves into trouble by handballing it when a kick would have moved the ball on quicker. We are aware that sometimes just kicking the footy up the ground isn’t always an option with teams usually flooding back; however wouldn’t it be better to turn the footy over in the forward 50 as opposed to turning it over in the defensive 50 and potentially giving away a shot at goal.

Last week Gary Ablett put on a masterful performance against Adelaide amassing 46 possessions. We are not taking anything away from Ablett’s performance, he was simply unbelievable but in his way to gathering 46 touches, 33 of those were handballs. Nathan Buckley was one of a small group of players in recent times that consistently gathered significantly more kicks than handballs during a game of footy. We are not saying that current players aren’t as skilled as players from yesteryear but that the game has changed so much that they have no choice but to handball more.

It was well known that both West Coast and Geelong were handball happy during their premiership winning year and of course other teams began to play a similar game to try and compete with them. When handballs are used in the right situation, the footy can be a delight to watch as teams move the ball from one side of the ground to another in an instant.

Hopefully this fad of handballs wont be around for too much longer, no doubt teams will come up with another match winning game plan that will be emulated across the league.

Last week at a press conference, AFL President Andrew Demetrio granted the new Gold Coast club an official AFL license. This was great news for new club as it was accepted as the 17th AFL club; this again raised the question about where the next AFL club should be.

A lot people have been confused as to why the AFL persists with starting a new club in West Sydney as we were until last week. The popular decision would be to place the new team in Tasmania where there already is large supporter base and an AFL ready ground. In theory this seems to be the logical decision but the AFL see it differently.

AFL would rather put it’s efforts and money into West Sydney, where Rugby League currently dominates. Their plan is not for the short term but rather the long term. The AFL knows that their venture into West Sydney won’t be easy; they are aiming for in 20 years or so, the young supporters which they influence now in the first few years of the club will eventually become possible AFL recruits or hardcore supporters to sustain the club’s growth.

Tasmania’s fantastic support of the AFL is ultimately it’s own downfall. The AFL knows that it can postpone placing a new club in Tassie for a number of years and will still have the supporter base when they finally do. We are delighted that Andrew Demetrio last week announced that the next AFL club after West Sydney will be based in Tasmania.

Finally Tasmanians have something to look forward to.

Round one was full of debutantes wanting to make the mark on the game. The first rookie to put his hand up was Mitch Robinson from Carlton who is already becoming a cult figure at the club. Along with other Carlton rookies such as Jeff Garlett and Aaron Joseph, Robinson made an immediate impact; kicking three goals and accumulating 13 possessions in an impressive performance.

The most impressive group of youngsters for round one came from Adelaide who boasted three debutantes. Myke Cook and Jared Potrenko helped the Crows to a shock victory over the Pies; the other rookie Taylor Walker didn’t feature too much.

The other rookie to make a big splash on the AFL arena was West Australian Daniel Rich of the Brisbane Lions. A match winning third quarter performance by the youngster showed why many think he is an already-made AFL footballer. Rich amassed 21 possessions, 14 of which were kicks and eight inside 50; he also received the Rising Star nomination for round one.

There is no doubt that we will see more rookies emerge in the coming weeks along with the development of second year players.

Quote of the Week - Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin

“I am going to stay a one-man team, I never look like leaving ever, I love the club,” - when questioned about the possibilty of joing the new Gold Coast team.