Excitement Reduced By Poor Pre-Season | Thebigtip

I've been quite happy with the way the NAB Cup has panned out in 2011 for the most part. The new Round 1 format was exhilarating, thrilling and exciting, a certain boost in interest for the upcoming season. However, despite the spectacle Round 1 brought, as the practice games have rolled on, I've become irritated by the way the AFL have scheduled the NAB Challenge games.

You would think that with all the momentum built up from a successful start to the NAB Cup would want to be rolled over by the AFL. This has not been the case.

In the practice matches, we've seen a whole bunch of teams with rich histories against each other clash, including:
Carlton vs. Richmond
Richmond vs. Collingwood
Collingwood vs. Carlton
Collingwood vs. Essendon (hardly the AFL's fault as the NAB Cup panned out that way)
Fremantle vs. West Coast
Brisbane vs. Gold Coast
Hawthorn vs. North Melbourne

As I alluded to, the Collingwood vs. Essendon Grand Final was obviously not scheduled by the AFL, but the Carlton vs. Richmond vs. Collingwood game, although a spectacle, has killed some of the excitement for when these teams clash in the upcoming season, though I can understand wanting to get the new format off to an interesting start. What I don't understand, however, is the choice to put Fremantle against West Coast, Brisbane against Gold Coast and Hawthorn against North Melbourne.

These are three games that supporters from their respective clubs make sure they are at because of how big the clash is. Unfortunately, some of the novelty feels as though it has been taken away. I'd rather see my team play another side that has very little history against my side so that when the time comes to take on my team's rivals in the real games, the excitement overflows. It appears that the excitement won't be quite as abundant in 2011.

It's a let down for me to see prestigious clashes with a lot of history behind them are just thrown around as a means of filling in empty weekends before the season proper begins. Surely the AFL can do a better job of avoiding booking rival clubs playing each other in games that mean nothing in the scheme of things.