Names on the back of guernseys

[pieboy]

The AFL are trialling names on the back of guernseys during round 5 with the view of introducing permanently for the 2015 season. Do you like it? I find you can't read the names from the stands or even see the number as the numbers are smaller to accommodate the name.

[Tannin]

Can we have a "don't care" option too please?

By the way, there is no intention of making the names readable from the stand. The AFL couldn't GAF about people in the stand (apart from flogging them as many very expensive cold pies as possible, of course). The AFL only cares about what their Lords and Masters want, who are the TV stations.

[pieboy]

Even on TV you can only read the name with close ups.

[Stupied]

Pointless. You still have to identify the players by number even on TV.

[AN_Inkling]

I always thought it would be a good idea. For opposition clubs it can sometimes be difficult to identify players. At least with names you can immediately work it out with a close up.

But it just looks cluttered and the reduced size of the number makes it harder to make out from the stands.

[Bucks5]

I am not fussed either way, but it will suck if it is implemented at the expense of the people who actually pay to see their teams in person, because the TV watchers have commentators to tell them who the players are.

[Tannin]

Hmmm ... will this make it easier for the people calling the game (because the names are written on the players), or harder ('coz it will be easier to spot when they get it wrong)?

[Jezza]

Personally I don't like names on the back of guernseys. I just don't see the point of them on either television or at the game. You can barely see them the names as we speak on mode of viewing and I just find it's pandering to this Americanisation of the game that we've been continually seeing in the past few years.

For so many years we've been able to cope without names on the back of guernseys, so why do we need it now especially during a time where this kind of information is readily available on the internet, books or magazines (E.g. footy record) and of course on television we have commentary as well.

Let's at least preserve one tradition in the footy and stick with just numbers on the back of jumpers from now on. If you don't know who a particular player is even after seeing their number then it's time to start learning!

I know I sound old-fashioned about this but I've always been a big supporter of preserving our traditions, not changing them just for the sake of pleasing a few, specifically TV networks or the AFL.

[Robbie]

Ask any real supporter and they would tell you they certainly don't need the players names on their backs because our game moves too quickly for them to be of any use. In fact the names actually act as an impediment to recognition because there is too much writing where real supporters would prefer the number alone, although we all understand why club sponsors require recognition for their valued support.

As we all suspect this is another Andrew Demetriou idea for Aussie Rules to be easier for those individuals, especially those from the northern states that have no interest in our game to find it easier to follow. So the clubs from the southern states and Sydney Swans stump up millions of dollars to distract us from the giant disaster which is Andrew's current efforts as President of the AFL.

Not happy with losing money that belongs to the aforementioned clubs, he now suggests their supporters should pay a higher ticket price than those of the clubs he has financed in the absence of any interest from the public he is so desperate to seduce. So all the people that love the game are now second class citizens in Andrew's eyes in his quest to bribe people that don't care about the game.

Demetriou should step down immediately or be sacked along with all the other short sighted, self important directors that pursued Andrew's folly rather than safeguard the sport of Australian Rules Football as was their duty. A pox an all their houses and let the clubs rescue what is left of the AFL before all the money is gone.

[Piethagoras' Theorem]

Yes. They are people, not numbers. Numbers suck , I can never relate to a player through their number and have never understood supporter's obsession with who wears what.

[mattys123]

No need for it, most MLB teams don't have names on their strips and it looks far classier than most other sports.

Having said that I really don't care, doesn't effect me as long as I can still buy a Pies jumper without either a name or a number (yes I'm weird that way, I support the team, not individuals).

[David]

Not the biggest issue, but it's certainly unnecessary—pandering to theatregoers, essentially. I just wish the AFL could save their great innovations for when they're actually needed or wanted, not just because some guy who's paid to come up with ideas couldn't think of anything better this week.

[Brenny]

Neither here nor there for me.

Can't see them at the game and can barely see them on TV.

If they stay, I'm not going to lose my hair over it. It's worth trying.

[mandy]

I hate it. True supporters know the names of all (most) players anyway. Just makes the part time supporters feel as good as us. Stuff 'em I say!

Follow the game or don't. We don't need to make it easier for the try hards.

[KenH]

I think that it is fairly pointless as no-one can read them anyway!