Just how healthy is AFL football these days? It depends upon whom you ask, what is their agenda, and which priorities are considered most important.
There's no question the league has come through the worst of the COVID pandemic in better financial health than was feared at the outset. We continue to see fairytales written, too, Melbourne, Richmond and Western Bulldogs all having broken significant premiership droughts in the last six years.
You can't be nearly as bullish about other markers, though, like the look of the game, which continues to post some of the lowest scores we've seen in more than 50 years. And then there's the question of public interest levels, and how people consume the sport.
There are some stark contrasts seemingly widening further a distinct gap between AFL football as a live sport and as a televised one.
While TV ratings remain strong, crowds this year have been the lowest for more than 25 years; many potential factors cited, including, not surprisingly, the impact COVID has had upon people's priorities and their social habits.
And whilst that discussion continues, round 13 of the AFL season, the second of the bye rounds, threw up some more food for thought.
Superficially at least, it was a round which seemed to allay fears that people are losing interest in actually attending AFL games. Despite just six games on the menu, it was a round which boasted two of the eight highest-drawing games this season to date.
Are we fostering more of an "event" mentality among even those who want to attend AFL games rather than the week-in, week-out commitment to the cause upon which the game has long prided itself?
The Queen's Birthday clash between Collingwood and Melbourne attracted 76,059, the third-highest crowd of the year. The resurgent Pies have been a factor in the top two as well, Anzac Day and their win over Carlton a few weeks ago. Friday night's Essendon-Carlton clash drew 65,440 on a bitterly cold and damp winter evening.
The aggregate attendance for the whole round was 243,036, remarkably a larger figure than no fewer than three other rounds this season in which nine games have been played, not just half-a-dozen.
And yet the round also featured Richmond's lowest home crowd since 2010, just 21,757 turning out for its Thursday night win over Port Adelaide, and a standalone Sunday afternoon game between North Melbourne and Greater Western Sydney, which drew only 13,742 and that after some concerted rallying by the beleaguered Roos to avoid the ignominy of the lowest-ever crowd at Marvel Stadium.
Two highs and two lows when it came to crowds, all in the one city on the one weekend. Could it be that, rather than turn away from going to AFL football per se, fans are becoming a lot more selective about which games they attend?
The Queen's Birthday "Big Freeze" fundraising drive for research into Motor Neurone Disease is a fantastic cause and an established big date on the AFL calendar. The Bombers-Blues clash was Essendon's official 150th birthday celebration with a range of pre-game activities and ceremonies.
Are we fostering more of an "event" mentality among even those who want to attend AFL games rather than the week-in, week-out commitment to the cause upon which the game has long prided itself?
If that's the case and the AFL is concerned, it sometimes doesn't appear to make things any easier for itself, particularly when it comes to scheduling.
It really has never seemed to understand the more subtle approach that less can sometimes be more, trying to squeeze every last drop out of the product. And round 13 was a good example.
We had six games scheduled across no fewer than five days, and after some cold, wet weather, and with only two struggling teams on offer, Sunday afternoon's standalone North Melbourne-GWS clash was, in marketing terms, about as tough as it gets.
And Thursday night? I'm all for Thursday night football in the warmer weather, but when it's arctic conditions, fewer games are on, and crowds are already at historic lows, Richmond's smallest home crowd for 12 years wasn't necessarily a huge surprise.
Couldn't we have had a bigger build-up to either of those two showpiece games, left Thursday night alone for now and had at least two games on the Sunday, not leaving the Roos-Giants clash like some sort of sitting duck? Perhaps the AFL really doesn't care that much about live audiences anymore, given it can negotiate monster broadcasting deals. For clubs, match day revenue certainly counts for a lot less than it used to. And I suspect even the game's most ardent supporters are starting to pick up on a vibe that as long as they continue to buy memberships and to at least tune in on television, the clubs they support and those who oversee the competition, don't care overly whether they turn up in the flesh or not.
In a post-COVID world, where little can be taken for granted, that's the type of arrogance which won't help ensure AFL football's continued health in measures other than merely just the balance sheet.
