Thank you again like the 22 under 22 pack they have their own set as well the rookie and draft cards so again I’m unsure if they give out rising stars, will just keep trying and hope to get lucky aha 
Might be better to try state of origin and try and pluck one out of there.i geuss youll need to pick a state with players who have won the award. But just a suggestion
Bronze or silver 22under22 packs is your best bet.
Vale Troy Selwood 
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As I’ve finished the current season, I normally leave this write up till the final week but I just want to build a bit of momentum moving into the OR of the footy !!
AI Decision-Making & Game Flow
- AI needs to be less predictable—right now, they follow the same patterns, making games feel repetitive.
- They rarely switch the play or use short kicks to open the field. Everything is too direct.
- AI should have different playstyles based on team identity—some should be more attacking, others more defensive.
- Clock management is non-existent —AI should recognize game situations (e.g., slow the play down when leading late).
A.I is massive for me in the game, this needs the most attention for us to have the best possibly experience the A.I has to be flawless in 2025
Tactics & Customization
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Custom stoppage setups —let us position midfielders how we want, rather than relying on preset structures.
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Flooding back in defense —players should be able to drop numbers behind the ball after a centre bounce.
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Tactical changes should actually matter —right now, setting defensive or attacking tactics doesn’t feel impactful.
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You should be able to have a option pre game or mid game to stick a 7th man in defence to play loose
Online Gameplay Balance
- Online gameplay needs balancing to ensure fair competition. Some mechanics feel overpowered, leading to frustrating experiences.
(Speckies, On the run goal kicking)
New Features Suggested
Ruck Contests & Stoppages
- Manual ruck hit-outs —timing should matter, so lower-rated rucks can still outplay better opponents. (This would take away stat based determinations)
- More ruck tap options —directed taps, lob taps, and longer pushes into space should be possible.
- Ruck follow-up play —rucks should react naturally and chase their own taps instead of becoming unresponsive. ( I wouldn’t make these user based this would be implemented into the A.I )
- Grab ball from ruck – This would add another dynamic especially for the stronger ruckman
Player Movement & Fatigue
- Speed needs to be realistic —ruckmen shouldn’t be able to chase down small forwards.
- Fatigue should impact kicks and movement —longer kicks should lose power/accuracy, and tired players should noticeably slow down.
- Tap ball forward – We have a tap ball along ground option which can feel clunky and slow, would love an option to tap the ball into space when it is bouncing up in front of you
It would be handy for: - Breaking out of congestion —tapping the ball into space instead of picking it up under pressure.
- Smart team play —players could knock the ball forward to a teammate rather than getting tackled trying to gather it.
Goal Kicking & General Kicking Mechanics
- Goal kicking should be harder —right now, set shots are too easy with no real challenge. (Graphically looks amazing though)
- On-the-run shots should be nerfed or made harder , instead of just holding R2+O (which is almost 99% undefendable)
- Weather conditions should affect kicks —wind should impact all kicks, and wet weather should cause more ball spills.
Animations
- I want to see more animations in the game, Get robbo back in the suit to get to work otherwise i’m happy to chuck it on and give you some good ones
Collisions & Marking Contests
- More ball spills needed —footy is a 360-degree game, not just kick-mark-repeat.
- Better contested marking —packs should create chaos, not just clean marks every time.
Umpiring Decisions & Rule Enforcement
- 50m penalties should be in the game for things like running through the mark etc
- The “stand” rule – I don’t care for it to be a free kick but even the umpire through the audio saying stand to make it feel somewhat realistic
- More free kicks should be included, like kicking in danger more in the backs, high tackles etc (Including more animations, bigger hits, gang tackles, tugging the jersey ?)
New Game Modes & Features (NEW GAME)
- My Career Mode —a long-requested feature seen in other sports games, allowing players to create and develop their own player.
- Custom Teams Online —letting players build and use custom teams would increase creativity and engagement.
Pro team
1. Progression & Rewards System
- Daily & Weekly Challenges: It was great to see the daily rewards implemented, weekly challenges are great as well, so wrapped about these inclusions.
- Seasonal Pass – I feel this needs a bit of a tweak, I have been able to finish the season pass with roughly 35 days to spare each time, Would be an amazing addition if once you unlocked level 40 you then had the chance to pro long your journey to unlock some amazing packs which reward the real grinding players who are committed to the game. It slows my engagement of the game down and potentially others once you reach max level and you don’t really need to continue grinding playing the mode unless you play online every time
2. More Content & Player Variety
- Legends & Historic Players: Introduce all-time greats from different AFL eras as special cards (e.g., Gary Ablett Sr., Wayne Carey).
- We’d love to hear from someone at the company about this, rather than negative feedback get loosely thrown around. If there are licensing issues behind the scenes with AFL we’d love just a bit of transparency and I’m sure everyone would understand
- Dynamic Chemistry System: I think this is a big one, this would force teams to have a different side rather than just using the best high rated cards
- Customizable Jerseys & Logos: Let players design kits and stadiums and bring them into pro team. Running around with my former local team jersey would be epic
- This will also bring a more content for the streamers who showcase this game to their followers
3. Competitive & Social Play Improvements
- Weekend League Equivalent: I love the Ladder concept of premiership mode but I feel its basically a play as many games as you can to move into higher ranks. Would be great to see it turned into win – loss Move up and down mode, I know the player base isn’t as big as a FC25 for example but you could earn extra progressional steps for beating players higher up than you, which then moved further up each rank.
( The concept would be very similar to SEASONS in Fifa )
Squad Battles ( In conjunction with still Coach battles etc)
- Having a 20 match max weekly play on this type of mode, you earn extra points for playing on harder difficulties if you successfully win, you are then placed into different ranked tiers depending on the amount of points you accumulated over different difficulties. Better rewards for the more points you accumulate obviously.
Better rewards for the higher scores accumulated
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Trading – Now yet again I know the card base isn’t as strong as other international sport games but being able to use pro team coins or footy points to purchase objective based players or just higher ranked players to improve your squad is a must.
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Even selling dups to the marketplace to other players who don’t have these rather then a quick sell option
4. Monetization & Pack Improvements
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Game Codes & Community Rewards: Add limited-time codes for free packs or player boosts.
- Ross has given out codes for correctly guessing afl scores throughout the season but would love to see this spread over X posts or even over the big ant forums
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Contract Packs – I do appreciate the fact they gave us the option of selling packs now as imo the contract packs are now over satiated within the game and almost become irrelevant for their initial purpose (Due to player base complaints)
(I’m just not sure if the demand for needing these cards desperately like in the early stages will ever be relevant again as I have 100s of contracts at my disposal)
5. Gameplay & AI Enhancements
- Better Online Balancing: Reduce exploits like overpowered on the run goal-kicking mechanics or poor defensive AI. Which just relate back to my original AI improvements needed
- Fatigue & Stamina Impact: Make endurance more realistic so high-intensity players tire over a match.
- Live Roster Updates: Adjust ratings based on weekly AFL performances.
This is a massive one for me, I purposely wouldn’t care if we logged on and the player cards that have been released had a full overhaul of stats and overall ranking, then if you received cards with correspond to the current season 2025 player cards, they update on their weekly game performance, imagine holding a 80 ranked Cam Zurharr and he comes out and kicks 3 bags in a row and suddenly you have a 90-91 ranked POD you can add to your lineup
As I always say I love this game because I f***** love footy and I appreciate so much we have the opportunity to have a AFL game for all us lovers of the sport, I know there have been some streamers who use their platforms to discuss the issues about the game but I believe the more feedback and positivity you give back to the game we will eventually get the product us consumers want.
Ill leave it at that for now but even if some of these wants seem too much to ask for just having them out there i’m hoping they get read and taken on board !!
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Great write up mate. Very in depth.
Two other things I discussed on a brief stream last night were:-
Pro Team cards - show that you have X other cards of the same player (I.e you already have the 2024 version, so you know if you should get the 2023 version you just pulled).
Camera Angles - more settings so you can fine tune how you want it.
I.e Centre Bounces/Boundary Throw Ins to already be in the direction of your camera angle (end to end, or side on) instead of swinging around after the tap.
The speed of the swing after possession change in End cameras.
The delay for the swing after a possession change (or a manual swing (L3?)) so you do it after a congested play instead.
An angle you can tilt side angles towards the possessing team’s goal. (I.e 30° up field)
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I like all these mate !!
I like the ruck end to end view you’ve mentioned 
The L3 Camera change once you mark it needs to be instant once you mark it too, the animation doesn’t allow you to look left and right until you’ve finished pushing back off the mark. So by the time you’re ready to kick, any chance of switching to a easy target is minimised
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Anything on that piece of paper there that will give us all a hint on that ‘Hidden Objective’? 
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Haha next week, I’ll drop a hint.
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For curiosity… how many people have hit that objective so far? (I know I am not one of them 
)
When I checked a few weeks about was about 70 people so far.
Purely would have come down to chance.
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Great write up DA.
I think some of the ideas are already there, but they are not implemented in a way where you feel you have full control (e.g. the ruck taps).
I think trigger points for 50m penalties were reduced because players found them too frustrating. I just wish you couldn’t be tackled when kicking close to the man on the mark.
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Thanks mate,
My biggest take from it is the AI which then flows into gameplay. If the AI is as smart and reactive as we want a lot of the smaller issues (ruck taps) become irrelevant as everything starts feeling that it should act the way we want.
I’ve seen a reply from Ross on X, although it was in relation to the cricket title he said their main focus was on improving the AI and gameplay, I’d love that to be filtered down to this game as the main priority 
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I don’t mind getting tackled when kicking close to the mark… well… sorta… maybe instead it could be the AI easily smothers…but at the moment the tackle means you have to push back off the mark, like you should.
With a switch to it being a smother, I’d also like to see an option to push back quickly. (I.e hold sprint without a direction?) At the moment every player takes their sweet time to push back.
This, plus a quick set shot mechanic, so you can rush a bit more if you’re against the clock.
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That’s encouraging!
I just played a quick game. It’s funny, I enjoy 23 and I’ll keep playing but I can see how the strong kick to kick vibe would be deal breaker for some. I’m currently playing without vibrate and everything set to manual which I think is a more interesting challenge than trying to beat hard mode with a team of spuds.
Sorry SS I don’t know how to multi quote but I think you’ve just identified a future enhancement - hold a button to back up. Perfect.
And I think I know what the hidden objective could be - I was thinking that it had to be a single event - so my guess is that it’s a drawn match.
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@dont_argue04 I agree with you, AI should smarter depending on the game situation, like if my team is dominating the on the wing, they should react and change for the next quarter, the wind when taking a set shot needs some fixing as well @JNT_BA
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I just played out a drawn match (Tug-O-Footy coach battle), and then won in overtime, and didn’t get the objective.
But it could still be branches of a drawn match (like Draw a match, and lose…. Or draw a match without scoring in the second half…) haha… not sure.
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Bugger. I thought I had it!
I guess LL would have overtime…maybe you can get a ‘real’ draw in PC? But that would be like three people.
Ok just brainstorming:-
- play all immortals in one team
- complete all season rewards
- win an LL comp
- win a coach battle on Hard
I don’t think it will be something completely random like hit the post three times or use some obscure mix of cards. Starting to get curious now.
I’m one of the few that have completed it.
You could be onto something with the LL I reckon. One of the things I did was complete the Season 1 All Australians LL around the time it triggered for me. Could be worth a shot?
Lots of objectives again this week - love it!
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