One of the greatest skills you can ever develop in life is knowing when to grit your teeth, swallow your pride, and either admit fault, or acknowledge something desperately requires change.
The AFL doesn't often fess up to its errors. In fact, it frequently doubles down on its zany ideas, a sort of backwards way of diverting any blame or criticism that could ever possibly come its way. But the postponement of both Thursday evening's season-opening game between reigning premier Brisbane and perennial contender Geelong, and Saturday's clash between Gold Coast and Essendon -- while ultimately necessary due to the impending threat of Cyclone Alfred -- simply has to leave the league willing to fall on its own sword. There has to be an admission that the laughably flawed 'Opening Round' will soon be resigned to the waste bin of history. And make no mistake, this whole concept was flawed long before there was any mention of a cyclone whipping up off the coast of Queensland.
Most initiatives devised by the AFL tend to be rather polarising. There will forever be those that simply resent any sort of change and will die on the hill of keeping even the most outdated, cringey traditions in the game. And then there are those that embrace the new, fresh, and exciting, always imploring the AFL to copy whatever whizz-bang idea has recently been conjured up on the other side of the Pacific. But with Opening Round, just about everyone seems to be aligned in sharing the opinion it's totally unnecessary. That stance has only been strengthened over the past 24 hours, given there is now a meager -- some would argue indefensibly disgraceful -- two games to play on opening week of the season.
The concept of Opening Round was brought to life by the AFL 12 months ago, pitched as a rare opportunity for the not-so-traditional football heartlands of Queensland and New South Wales to enjoy a moment with the league's spotlight shone on them. And yet all it seems to have done is alienate and frustrate the bulk of fans keeping the sport afloat.
The most glaringly obvious flaw is the fact just eight of the competition's 18 clubs feature. Footy is back, but it's not quite. It's the real deal, but it's not. Disjointed and anticlimactic; Opening Round, with just four games (now just two) and no traditional Saturday day time slot, feels like the forgettable middle Pokémon between practice matches and the season proper.
The six-month AFL offseason is a time for reflection, perspective, and most of all hope; hope for 17 fanbases that their side can be the last team standing next September. Not allowing more than half of the league's supporters to watch their team in the first week of the season, when excitement should be peaking, is an unforgivable, inexplicable gaffe. It doesn't build anticipation; instead, it just ticks everyone off.
Launching the season in such a way only proves the AFL isn't actually operating with fans' best interests in mind, as it so often claims, but rather it's just further evidence of corporate greed. A cash grab, if you will. The whole Opening Round concept reeks of the league simply seeking to take advantage of its main domestic football rival, the NRL, having vacated the northern states for Las Vegas for its own season-opening round. Comically, the AFL mixed the date up last year. This year was no different.
The AFL also seems to have a somewhat unhealthy obsession with crowd figures, and it's often been unafraid to warp the fixture in order to fit its narratives. It knows if Round 1's attendance numbers are sky high, or even record breaking, the argument Opening Round detracts from the season proper is one that has little to no basis. And that's why, during the second week of competition, it should come as little surprise to see small market teams playing away from home, traditional, bitter rivals pitted against each other, and, perhaps most crucially, all nine teams playing.
Nobody is seeking to take anything away from Queensland or New South Wales, after all, the game does need to grow in these states for it to have a future as a viable, truly domestic competition. But why can't we have, for lack of a more fitting word, a 'normal' round to begin the season? If the league truly wants to give these states their moment in the sun, then there's ample opportunity to do just that between March and August, without reducing opening weekend to a national laughingstock. Of course, it doesn't really want that. Care to take a guess how many times Gold Coast has been given a marquee Friday night timeslot, one that's not part of a cheapened double-header? The answer is just once in its 14-year club history.
Not having all 18 teams compete in Opening Round also breeds other problems, including the unnecessary, forced early-season byes. Next week, all nine teams feature in the more traditional Round 1, before two clubs take a bye in Round 2, and then four more have the week off in Round 3. As things stand, we will have 26 of a possible 36 games played in the opening four weeks. Sure, conditioning shouldn't be overlooked, but do teams really need a 12-day break after one or two games? No medical expert has ever argued for that.
There's also a question of equality. Teams playing their opener in Round 1 against a side that made their season debut in Opening Round are at a significant disadvantage, anyone who watched the sloppy, error-riddled preseason matches would attest to that. This cannot be something we sweep under the carpet and simply put down to either the quirks of the fixture or hard luck.
And then there's the senseless, confusing naming convention of the round. By definition, isn't the first round of the season Round 1? This ruins the record books, adds confusion, and just doesn't make an iota of sense.
The AFL ultimately made the correct call in postponing both Queensland-based games that had been scheduled for later this week, but the simple fact we're now left with just two matches in Opening Round is further proof all clubs should be playing across the season-opening weekend. Always. Unfortunately, there's a very real feeling that as long as the league continues selling itself the idea it's hitting KPIs by staging Opening Round, those the game is for, the fans, will be forced to put up with it.