Western Region FL - Divy 1 2018

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Yes I believe there is a meeting tonight where they will "shut the doors for a season".

No surprise the league is struggling, when they have no interest in what the clubs have to say.

I would find it very surprising if they fell over completely. I am sure that they can get 50 blokes together to get through a season regardless of how badly they would perform.
 
so with Parkside gone, all other teams will now have 2 byes, or will the WRFL put up a team from Division 2, would anyone want to come up in late February?

Why did Parkside choose to come up and when they were not ready?
 
so with Parkside gone, all other teams will now have 2 byes, or will the WRFL put up a team from Division 2, would anyone want to come up in late February?

Why did Parkside choose to come up and when they were not ready?

Don't think they had a choice mate.. But it's a relegation system so clubs should have to go up and take on the challenge. Just can't play div2 all the time and win premiership after premiership if this was to happen.
Interesting to hear the reason they have folded. It's not because they have moved up, surely it's the club itself. What I mean is clubs need people to have plans and structures in place.. Do they have the support?? I can only assume the answer is no..
As I have mentioned before without juniors always going to be a constant battle for survival.. No ones fault, but things sometimes must end and we move on..
All the best to everyone involved..
 

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Hearing also that Port Colts and Sunshine Heights are really struggling. The Colts will survive but struggle to fill 2 sides each week. Hearing some old heads will front up for the twos!! Good luck playing them at their home base..
 
Terrible news, but surely someone needs to cop responsibility.
Premiers to Folding within 6 mths.
85 yrs of great local football history...Done.
Would be nice to hear from a current Parkside person to explain exactly what happened.
Nearly 120 years old,and couldn't agree more with who's responsibility is it ?Surely it starts with the committee who the members voted in to take club forward (1st divi) at annual meeting in November .
 
Yes I believe there is a meeting tonight where they will "shut the doors for a season".

No surprise the league is struggling, when they have no interest in what the clubs have to say.
Yes meeting scheduled for tonight starts at 7 pm will be interesting to listen to presidents recommendations stay tuned;)
 
Don't think they had a choice mate.. But it's a relegation system so clubs should have to go up and take on the challenge. Just can't play div2 all the time and win premiership after premiership if this was to happen.
Interesting to hear the reason they have folded. It's not because they have moved up, surely it's the club itself. What I mean is clubs need people to have plans and structures in place.. Do they have the support?? I can only assume the answer is no..
As I have mentioned before without juniors always going to be a constant battle for survival.. No ones fault, but things sometimes must end and we move on..All the best to everyone involved..


but they can do this in WRFL, Clubs have been refusing to go up for years, Altona did it what about 5 years ago. Parkside unfortunately got a lot of guys in a couple of years ago from outside the club who were only looking for cash, glory and Divsion 2 premiership, not wanting the hard stuff in divy 1. Got the flag and they will go elsewhere to do same thing either EDFL or another club in WRFL, got a name of winning flag, the continuing cash chase.

Nathan is caught up in turmoil, Can't see the magpires staying around, bad result but they have been on unstable base for few years, BIT LIKE THE bROOKERS WHO ARE JUST HANGING IN THERE, THEY ARE ALIVE BUT??
 
but they can do this in WRFL, Clubs have been refusing to go up for years, Altona did it what about 5 years ago. Parkside unfortunately got a lot of guys in a couple of years ago from outside the club who were only looking for cash, glory and Divsion 2 premiership, not wanting the hard stuff in divy 1. Got the flag and they will go elsewhere to do same thing either EDFL or another club in WRFL, got a name of winning flag, the continuing cash chase.

Nathan is caught up in turmoil, Can't see the magpires staying around, bad result but they have been on unstable base for few years, BIT LIKE THE bROOKERS WHO ARE JUST HANGING IN THERE, THEY ARE ALIVE BUT??

Gday Footy Mad, yes they did allow it a few times as I even think Deer Park did it about 5-6 years ago, but I stand to be corrected! But they made a stance to stop giving clubs an option, which ultimately is the best way forward as per other leagues..
Maybe the WRFL should consider having 2 sides less in div1 maybe. Could have started this year seeing Port Colts might also be struggling a bit.. Bit late now.
 
Gday Footy Mad, yes they did allow it a few times as I even think Deer Park did it about 5-6 years ago, but I stand to be corrected! But they made a stance to stop giving clubs an option, which ultimately is the best way forward as per other leagues..
Maybe the WRFL should consider having 2 sides less in div1 maybe. Could have started this year seeing Port Colts might also be struggling a bit.. Bit late now.

Clubs in WRFL still get a choice. When we won the flag at YSE in 2012 we were given choice to go up or stay down, choosing to go up. 2013 Glenorden won it and stayed down.

Rules are if you elect to stay down and win it again then you have to go up, you don't get a choice if you go back to back in div 2.
 
as some of the posters above have said this has come about by not recruiting blokes willing to take on the next challenge who would rather be the big fish in the small pond, and it's not just guys from this situation plenty of blokes out there playing at levels below where they should be

As I posted previously div 2 flags are a poison chalice
 
Gday Footy Mad, yes they did allow it a few times as I even think Deer Park did it about 5-6 years ago, but I stand to be corrected! But they made a stance to stop giving clubs an option, which ultimately is the best way forward as per other leagues..
Maybe the WRFL should consider having 2 sides less in div1 maybe. Could have started this year seeing Port Colts might also be struggling a bit.. Bit late now.

Yes, and it is a bit pie in the sky but is really showing the need for restructure of North/West football, Port Colts should never have been in the WRFL and dont want to start discussion now with new seasons about to start, but it obviously needs to be done sooner than later, WRFL/EDFL are too close to be apart. Maribyrnong river is all that splits leagues

Everyone knows everyone or played with or against (TAC or senior) or went to school with or played against each other in school, seems to easy but will it happen?
 

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Port Colts have been in the competition since 1982 i.e. 32 years and they front up for another season albeit much weaker than they have previously been. They have won Premierships and have had some great rivalries during this 32 year period. On what basis do you assert that they did not deserve to be allowed into the competition?

I wrote 2 years ago that Port Colts and other inner suburban clubs would struggle going into the future due to the demographics of the area and the lack of juniors. The influence of soccer has been devastating in the junior ranks as they get the kids from the age of 6 and they have excellent programs. The fees they charge are obscene and 50% of these fees subsidize Football Australia. The once powerful South Districts now play in D2 in the Ammos's and are a Yuppy latte sipping inner suburban club. There would be many former painters and dockers who would be turning in their graves.

By 2024 Aussie Rules will be in a lot of trouble as clubs will struggle to recruit talented players as the pool shrinks. Junior soccer involvement outranks Aussie rules 3:1, plus women's soccer has exploded in popularity. They are the mother's of tomorrow and they will inevitably have a big say what code their kids play.

The AFL have spent millions in QLD & NSW and took their eye off the homeland. Good luck trying to reel it back.
 
Port Colts have been in the competition since 1982 i.e. 32 years and they front up for another season albeit much weaker than they have previously been. They have won Premierships and have had some great rivalries during this 32 year period. On what basis do you assert that they did not deserve to be allowed into the competition?

I wrote 2 years ago that Port Colts and other inner suburban clubs would struggle going into the future due to the demographics of the area and the lack of juniors. The influence of soccer has been devastating in the junior ranks as they get the kids from the age of 6 and they have excellent programs. The fees they charge are obscene and 50% of these fees subsidize Football Australia. The once powerful South Districts now play in D2 in the Ammos's and are a Yuppy latte sipping inner suburban club. There would be many former painters and dockers who would be turning in their graves.

By 2024 Aussie Rules will be in a lot of trouble as clubs will struggle to recruit talented players as the pool shrinks. Junior soccer involvement outranks Aussie rules 3:1, plus women's soccer has exploded in popularity. They are the mother's of tomorrow and they will inevitably have a big say what code their kids play.

The AFL have spent millions in QLD & NSW and took their eye off the homeland. Good luck trying to reel it back.

Great post Moody, That soccer ground is basically next door to the footy ground. That alone Can't be good.. And yes not many kids in area..
Hope the Colts can keep going as they do have history and some great well known identities. Was always tough playing at Colts back in the day...
Now what if the VFL turns into something of a AFLreserves comp and Port joined. Could the Colts be a Port seconds club and turn it into a feeder type set up..
 
The once powerful South Districts now play in D2 in the Ammos's and are a Yuppy latte sipping inner suburban club. There would be many former painters and dockers who would be turning in their graves.
And there you have it... Herein lies why inherently many clubs in the WRFL more than other competitions are struggling and why the competition is itself in trouble. Many don't actually see that the world has changed. Here is a business analogy, your family business sells shoes from a shop front and incurs all costings of rent, sales staff, electricity, etc. it always has and it always will. Yet all of your 'successful' and 'thriving' competitors' have a warehouse with minimal staff, minimal overheads and imports from O/S, a great website, brand and online presence and is killing it and everyone is starting to move that way but you don't because it's your family business and your family would roll in their graves if you changed or moved with the times and started making money instead of continually struggling. See where I'm going here?
If your club keeps selling VB because you want to sell VB and you have always sold VB but your players, partners, families and supporters want to drink a latte, a Sauvignon Blanc or a FUJI water then guess what? You change to meet your market or you die.
Parkside, Port Colts, West Footscray (on their current mentality), insert many other clubs names here (cough, cough Lavo) are victims of this and South Melb Districts have in my eyes been smart and found a better and smarter way.
Clubs listed above and all others need to take stock and move with the times and lead with new initiatives. Sadly the Western Region in general is made up of a negative and old school mentality and until it changes then watch clubs fold, watch the uneven nature of the competition continue and ultimately keep whinging and using the 'poor me' victim mentality when if you want to make a change and move forward you must be pro-active and look and think outside the square...
 
And there you have it... Herein lies why inherently many clubs in the WRFL more than other competitions are struggling and why the competition is itself in trouble. Many don't actually see that the world has changed. Here is a business analogy, your family business sells shoes from a shop front and incurs all costings of rent, sales staff, electricity, etc. it always has and it always will. Yet all of your 'successful' and 'thriving' competitors' have a warehouse with minimal staff, minimal overheads and imports from O/S, a great website, brand and online presence and is killing it and everyone is starting to move that way but you don't because it's your family business and your family would roll in their graves if you changed or moved with the times and started making money instead of continually struggling. See where I'm going here?
If your club keeps selling VB because you want to sell VB and you have always sold VB but your players, partners, families and supporters want to drink a latte, a Sauvignon Blanc or a FUJI water then guess what? You change to meet your market or you die.
Parkside, Port Colts, West Footscray (on their current mentality), insert many other clubs names here (cough, cough Lavo) are victims of this and South Melb Districts have in my eyes been smart and found a better and smarter way.
Clubs listed above and all others need to take stock and move with the times and lead with new initiatives. Sadly the Western Region in general is made up of a negative and old school mentality and until it changes then watch clubs fold, watch the uneven nature of the competition continue and ultimately keep whinging and using the 'poor me' victim mentality when if you want to make a change and move forward you must be pro-active and look and think outside the square...
 
Well put Laverton Magpies.
In our comp money bags shifted the landscape with Marby and other clubs had to raise the bar. All I read in this forum is sooking from clubs about money bags new toy Deer Park. I'm told on good advice from our premiership coach that Deer Park have initiated sponsorship and coterie arrangements that will see them untouchable for years to come.
Didn't eddie ( the w***er President ) not go up to Div one after a premiership but waited to the club was ready.Looks a pretty wise move to me!
Maybe Parkside should have had a similar plan after playing in and trying to win so many Grand Finals.
 
I am still not convinced that parkside will not get a team on the park for 2015 but the fact that they are obviously struggling is as much a reflection on the management of the WRFL as it is on Parkside as a club.

In the last 8 or more years there has only been 1 club that has made the step up to Div 1 successfully. In this time what have the league put in place to rectify this.... you guessed it NOTHING. (although if you asked them they would suggest that adding a division 3 was the answer which seems to have been the one and only goal in the last 5 years)

I have said (and probably written on here) a number of times that the league needs to take the lead on this issue. It would not be that hard to put a working group together (made up of people from some of the better run and more successful clubs as well as people from clubs that have made the step up and failed) and task them with coming up with some sort of template that teams should follow to make the transition easier.

They could start working with clubs in Div 2 before the midway point of the season to ensure that the winner is in a position to go up. By that time you can narrow the winner down to 4 - 6 clubs which is not a huge number to work with.

Included in the template should be things on player contracts, sponsorship, merchandise, coaching, junior footy, committee structure...... on and on you go. Just go through each section with the 4 - 6 clubs and make sure they are headed in the right direction. Most of them would have the majority of this stuff in hand but I am sure all clubs could learn a few things.

Using player payments as an example you would be surprised how many different ways there are to structure you player payments system and how many factors are involved (frequency, spread of $$, fines, transparency etc). Knowing this in May or June the year before promotion would make the transition much easier (as would ensuring 80% of your list is signed by the end of the season).
 
The most logical action the WRFL should take moving forward, is that if you don't have a full book of juniors, regardless of how successful you are Division 2, you cannot make the step up to Division 1.

Parkside while they have a great history, for the last few years have been nothing more than 40 - 50 blokes turning up to play footy on the weekend. And once that current group fragments under the realization that they will now be required to front up to a real contest week in week out, what do they have left?

So the WRFL needs to do whatever they can, to ensure this doesn't happen again. And to do this they need to get out and meet with the clubs, and listen to their concerns, and provide whatever they reasonably can, to help each club grow.

Parkside will not be the last club to be in this situation. With the growth areas in the outer west now providing more clubs each year, something needs to change to preserve the history of the clubs in the inner West or they will simply fall away.

Whatever that assistance is I don't know, but get out to the clubs and discuss the possibility of mergers with them, help them with their finances etc ... don't just leave them to their own devices, as Parkside are just the tip of the iceberg in my opinion.
 
The most logical action the WRFL should take moving forward, is that if you don't have a full book of juniors, regardless of how successful you are Division 2, you cannot make the step up to Division 1.

Parkside while they have a great history, for the last few years have been nothing more than 40 - 50 blokes turning up to play footy on the weekend. And once that current group fragments under the realization that they will now be required to front up to a real contest week in week out, what do they have left?

So the WRFL needs to do whatever they can, to ensure this doesn't happen again. And to do this they need to get out and meet with the clubs, and listen to their concerns, and provide whatever they reasonably can, to help each club grow.

Parkside will not be the last club to be in this situation. With the growth areas in the outer west now providing more clubs each year, something needs to change to preserve the history of the clubs in the inner West or they will simply fall away.

Whatever that assistance is I don't know, but get out to the clubs and discuss the possibility of mergers with them, help them with their finances etc ... don't just leave them to their own devices, as Parkside are just the tip of the iceberg in my opinion.

Good post. Similar sentiment to mine

I should have added to mine- It is the "working part" and not the club that wins it who should be responsible for deciding if a club is ready for Div 1 or not.

Using Sunshine Heights as an example when we won in 2008 we just went full steam ahead at Div 1. As a proud club we had no intention of shirking the issue. In hindsight the club was so far off being ready that I still cant believe we stayed up as long as we did. If there was an independent group going over a checklist of things required to go up to Div 1 there is no way we would have passed and the decision would have been taken out of our hands.
 
And there you have it... Herein lies why inherently many clubs in the WRFL more than other competitions are struggling and why the competition is itself in trouble. Many don't actually see that the world has changed. Here is a business analogy, your family business sells shoes from a shop front and incurs all costings of rent, sales staff, electricity, etc. it always has and it always will. Yet all of your 'successful' and 'thriving' competitors' have a warehouse with minimal staff, minimal overheads and imports from O/S, a great website, brand and online presence and is killing it and everyone is starting to move that way but you don't because it's your family business and your family would roll in their graves if you changed or moved with the times and started making money instead of continually struggling. See where I'm going here?
If your club keeps selling VB because you want to sell VB and you have always sold VB but your players, partners, families and supporters want to drink a latte, a Sauvignon Blanc or a FUJI water then guess what? You change to meet your market or you die.
Parkside, Port Colts, West Footscray (on their current mentality), insert many other clubs names here (cough, cough Lavo) are victims of this and South Melb Districts have in my eyes been smart and found a better and smarter way.
Clubs listed above and all others need to take stock and move with the times and lead with new initiatives. Sadly the Western Region in general is made up of a negative and old school mentality and until it changes then watch clubs fold, watch the uneven nature of the competition continue and ultimately keep whinging and using the 'poor me' victim mentality when if you want to make a change and move forward you must be pro-active and look and think outside the square...


So true. There is still and always will be a South Districts because of this. A once Powerhouse Div 1 Club in what was a very strong competition back then saw the writing on the wall swallowed their pride and kept solid foundations in place by building a strong junior spine and aligning itself with the VAFA. Completely different culture at that club now ( sad for some ) that replaced one of the best in local footy anywhere in the country, however that was then and this is now and it suits the people that inhabit that club current day just fine. And guess what ?

They are open for business.

Good Post Laverton Magpies. Spot on the money.
 
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Interesting read in the herald sun online in regards to Glenn Manton taking Albion to court over unpaid $$$.Not a good look for Albion

Good spot. Read they haven't fully paid him for capt/coaching back in 2011. Pretty ordinary as he did the job for $20,000 which is cheap in this market. They still owe him $7500 and want to pay $400 a month in instalments. I wouldn't be happy with that. Pretty poor from Albion.. Gee whiz a lot of clubs struggling financially in the WRFL it would appear..
 
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