Are Banners Obsolete?

[Milton66]

Ok, I expect to get flamed for this one, but here goes...

Have banners become obsolete? Have they passed their "used by" date?

My view is yes. They should be consigned to the history bin just like "Up There Cazaly" and the incessant signing of Waltzing Matilda on GF day.

I have watched them grow in size and contsruction to a ridiculous point. I notice that some players actually avoid them these days.

They are way to big and make it nearly impossible to run through.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not kncocking the tireless members of our cheersquad for the work they do.

I'm just thinking aloud if the time has come.

My preference would be for players to run out with kids like they do in soccer, but that's just me.

Is it time for the banner to go?

[ausfatcat]

Well reduce the size then if you think they too big other than that why are they obsolete?







Personally anything soccer does they do it worse not better, they should be copying us not the other way around.

[matrix]

i love the banner
love it
its like the raising of the flag when it goes up.

maybe a little slit in the middle so players can scoot thru without getting caught up in it, like some teams already do

like the banners, banners are good

[SainterK]

I must admit, that I quite like the point before they run through the banner, where Roo turns to the boys with that look in his eyes....

Perhaps it's more about that symbolic moment, than the banner itself?

[marksnsparks]

Speaking as a Pommy immigrant who grew up with Soccer and rugby league I say keep the banners as they are.

Keep the flags waving after scores.
Keep the piruetting umpires.
Keep the bounce.
Keep the 1 point for a miss.
Keep the sleeveless guernseys.
Keep the club song after the game.
Keep the oval shaped pitch.

Keep the whole bloody lot. It's a beautiful, unique exciting game and be proud of it! Homogenise the code at your peril!

I'm only sorry I only discovered it at the age of 32.




Oh, get rid of the MCG hot dogs. Like sucking a dog terd through an empty toilet roll.

[Milton66]

i love the banner
love it
its like the raising of the flag when it goes up.

maybe a little slit in the middle so players can scoot thru without getting caught up in it, like some teams already do

like the banners, banners are good

I'd prefer some cool emoticons being shown on the scoreboard. That's innovative.

[cowboy18]

As a child I used to love them, they were a real event for me when they went up.

I like the togetherness when they run through and the sense of anticipation when they are lifted as the team file out.

The soccer version is nice and works well for that game - can't see AFL teams filing out next to each other and holding the hands of juniors and then lining up together.

[cowboy18]

And while we're at it bring back ripped up phone books being thrown onto the ground after a goal.

[SainterK]

I should say though, I agree with losing the song Waltzing Matilda....read the words sometime and tell me if it fills you with national pride?

[CeilidhSaint]

If we are all lucky enough to see the banner go up on GF day with a huge golden prem cup on one side and a caricature of Roo et al. o n the other you will never not want the banner. Seeing the banner go up for the 97 GF, Harv's last game, the game after Trevor B died makes you know they can't be lost.
Tears were shed every time.
All power to the cheer squad for doing.

[roxanne]

I was just thinking on Sunday the banner is a relic but maybe it's that one connection we have left to the game that was played on Saturday afternoons in the suburbs around Melbourne. So maybe for that reason alone, the banner should stay.
I'd like to get rid of singing the National Anthem before every final, a totally pointless song girt by nonsense.

[CeilidhSaint]

Roxanne - that's our national anthem you are talking about there. If you don't feel patriotic towards this great country perhaps try living somewhere else for a while. We will hear you singing on your return to Oz.

[markp]

They're one of the silly and quirky little things that makes our game our game.

[widereceiver]

Roxanne - that's our national anthem you are talking about there. If you don't feel patriotic towards this great country perhaps try living somewhere else for a while. We will hear you singing on your return to Oz.

Patriotism is one thing, jingoistic mediocre crap like that song is another. It has nothing to do with patriotism, any more than does the Lord's Prayer by Sister Janet Mead or Eagle Rock by Daddy Cool.

Girt by John Howard's Akubra, more likely.

[SainterK]

Of course we should sing the anthem...I love the motive behind it, and that it's symbolic of us honouring this fine country.

You won't however get me to agree that the song itself is fantastic, I would also argue that none of our national songs are particularly good.

[Joffa 5]

I'd like to get rid of singing the National Anthem before every final, a totally pointless song girt by nonsense.

The thing I love about the anthem sung during the finals is the roar from the crowd a few seconds before the end. It's a part of finals football and sets it apart from the regular H&A season.

[TimPekin'sDirtyGuernsey]

I agree, the banner should be done with.

If I recall Sam Gilbert did an interview where he said the players don't even bother looking at it when they run through.

Only suggestion I would have is for banners to be bought out on special occasions much as milestones/ finals.

[st.byron]

Patriotism is one thing, jingoistic mediocre crap like that song is another. It has nothing to do with patriotism, any more than does the Lord's Prayer by Sister Janet Mead or Eagle Rock by Daddy Cool.

Girt by John Howard's Akubra, more likely.

Exactly. Since we're doing away with banners - let's change the Australian flag whilst we're about it. It's about time.

[GrumpyOne]

If it wasn't for the peripheral pageantry, we'd just be watching guys kicking a ball in a paddock.

As for the National Anthem..... a dreadful dirge.... but I'm proud to be an Aussie and will sing it every time.

[SainterK]

If it wasn't for the peripheral pageantry, we'd just be watching guys kicking a ball in a paddock.

As for the National Anthem..... a dreadful dirge.... but I'm proud to be an Aussie and will sing it every time.

The guy who wrote it used to work with children's choirs, that's why the tune goes up and down so much. I learnt about it at school, it wasn't written for the purpose of our national anthem, it was just later adopted as our anthem....

[desertsaint]

I should say though, I agree with losing the song Waltzing Matilda....read the words sometime and tell me if it fills you with national pride?

i reckon most of us know the words backwards?
and it is reflective of our background - that rebellious, larrakin, easy going, anti-authoritarian streak we have, and of principle, and of our unique countryside and language, etc - much more australian than the stupid boring dirge-like anthem.
go to a wallabies game and listen to waltzing matilda and not be proud!

actually the perfect anthem would be a mix of that song and a similar tale of from an aboriginal perspective - the powerful may think they rule - but we'd rather die on our feet than lay down.

[Stillwaiting]

They're one of the silly and quirky little things that makes our game our game.

Spot on, exactly why we should keep it. When the soccer players run out it is as boring as batshyte, then agaim so is soccer

[perfectionist]

Peter Landy would describe the banners as a relatively recent "new innovation". There were no banners 45 years ago, just streamers tied to the wire mesh of the players race. They then ventured out onto the field, first as relatively small run throughs, only wide enough for one or two players at a time, but they grew bigger very quickly, far too quickly as it turned out. By the 70s they were huge and they became very unstable. Some crashed onto some of those holding them up, but, from memory, when one crashed onto players as they were running through, the VFL stepped in and banned them. There was some outcry and some fast negotiations and they became smaller again. But then they became bigger again. Maybe someone in the cheer squad has a more complete chronology of these events.

Having said that, they don't seem to be doing all that much harm and provide a community activity and focus for some Saints stalwarts. They add to the theatre of the event, if only for a few minutes. Keep 'em, I say.

[Milton66]

Of course we should sing the anthem...I love the motive behind it, and that it's symbolic of us honouring this fine country.

You won't however get me to agree that the song itself is fantastic, I would also argue that none of our national songs are particularly good.

It would be nice if they showed the words on the screen.

Everyone sings the first line... mumble mumble memble then... advance Australia fair!

Yep change th flag... get rid of the British symbol of colonial oppression.

Whilst our forefathers fought under it, they also for our independance and freedom (well actually my forefathers were all peasant donkey riders, but that's another story).

The thing I love about the anthem sung during the finals is the roar from the crowd a few seconds before the end. It's a part of finals football and sets it apart from the regular H&A season.

Agree. It makes the hairs on my back stand up.

[Milton66]

I should say though, I agree with losing the song Waltzing Matilda....read the words sometime and tell me if it fills you with national pride?

i reckon most of us know the words backwards?
and it is reflective of our background - that rebellious, larrakin, easy going, anti-authoritarian streak we have, and of principle, and of our unique countryside and language, etc - much more australian than the stupid boring dirge-like anthem.
go to a wallabies game and listen to waltzing matilda and not be proud!

actually the perfect anthem would be a mix of that song and a similar tale of from an aboriginal perspective - the powerful may think they rule - but we'd rather die on our feet than lay down.

Beds are Burning by the Oils?