Hawthorn premiership captain turned West Coast assistant coach Sam Mitchell has slammed the talk over ‘the state of the game’ and thinks modern footy is doing fine.
The topic has been swirling through the media for a while and the Hawks champion had plenty to say on the subject.
“That is that it’s erring much more towards a storm in a tea cup than it is to actually being any sort of issue.” Mitchell told SEN’s Time On.
“I would challenge anyone that thinks the game is in a poor state to turn on a random game from a random era that they thought was the best of the game and see which one compares better.
“I think modern footy stands up pretty well.”
The Brownlow Medallist also isn’t a fan of the prospect of radical rule changes like starting positions and zones.
“It’s not my preference,” Mitchell said.
“I find the game usually works itself out pretty well. We were very worried about flooding ten years ago and now it's become the pressure that they’re worried about at the other end of the ground.
“Coaches will manipulate the way the game is played.
“I would like teams to score 100 points on a reasonably regular basis, I think that’s the beauty of our game.
“But having said that, there are lots of people wanting shorter games which will bring scoring down.
“There’s endless amount of change that needs to be done but I think a lot of people go to the footy and a lot of people enjoy it.”
Mitchell also believes the congestion issue is being driven by the media rather than the fans and recreational viewers of the game.
“I think the challenge for us is to try and change the narrative,” he said.
“We could show you plenty of vision where everyone is spread out evenly across the whole ground, it’s just that no one wants to show that on TV.”
