Former AFL player and soon-to-be Border resident Peter German has launched a scathing attack on the state of the game.
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German, who was appointed Corowa-Rutherglen coach last week, was brutal in his assessment.
"Mate, they've hurt the brand this year," he said from Queensland, where he's been the North Cairns football manager for almost 12 months.
"If anyone has watched AFL and really enjoyed it, well, I say you're following the wrong game.
If anyone has watched AFL and really enjoyed it, well, I say you're following the wrong game.
- Peter German
"It's been too dour, it's been too possession-oriented, it's been too defensively structured.
"So many sides just don't want to take a risk, they're worried about turning the ball over and you tell me any player that enjoys playing that style of footy and I'll tell you they came from another (non-AFL) background.
"The game's about taking the game on, it's about scoring goals, it's about flair."
German played 185 matches with North Melbourne from 1984 to 1994 and has served as an assistant coach at three AFL clubs, including Hawthorn, so he's as qualified to speak on the matter as virtually anyone currently outside the AFL fraternity.
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A life member of both North Melbourne and the VFL, where he coached numerous clubs, German's stinging comments will gain strong support from both his former team-mates and fans.
"The people who love footy, the people who have followed it through the 1970s, 80s and 90s, everyone is just shaking their hands, going, 'what is this crap'?," German added.