East Perth Eagles - WCE player restrictions for finals?

[MortlockWatcher]

Just wondering - the VFL had or still has a 12/10 rule which prevented a club from filling their sides with AFL listed players at the expense of 'true' club players.

Do the Eagles 2's have the same sort of restrictions for finals to prevent a total farce in the finals?

Having 17 Docker players selected to play for Peel a couple of weeks ago absolutely smashes the integrity of the WAFL (not that it had any anymore after these disgraceful alignments came in) and makes more people turn to proper grass roots footy instead, where the playing field is somewhat more level.

 

[Spearhead]

Just wondering - the VFL had or still has a 12/10 rule which prevented a club from filling their sides with AFL listed players at the expense of 'true' club players.

Do the Eagles 2's have the same sort of restrictions for finals to prevent a total farce in the finals?

Having 17 Docker players selected to play for Peel a couple of weeks ago absolutely smashes the integrity of the WAFL (not that it had any anymore after these disgraceful alignments came in) and makes more people turn to proper grass roots footy instead, where the playing field is somewhat more level.

You are dead right MW and unfortunately there is no rule/restriction on how many AFL boys the Eagles Reserves team can play & I think they have had nearly 20 players already qualify for the WAFL finals as well. The comp has fastly turned into a farce by this alignment rubbish but as long as there is an EP dominated WAFC dont expect things to change any time soon, after all they have to win a Premiership somehow however tainted it may be!

 

[chazwazza]

The same has happened over here in the SANFL where Port Power reserves have already got 18 AFL players that qualify for SANFL finals, that's a whole team on the field at any one time made up of AFL players competing against a traditional club with none.
Like East Perth, Port Magpies (now Power Reserves) haven't won a flag for over a decade, haven't won a final since 1999 and haven't played in a final since 2008. Now they're top of the ladder and will probably waltz into a GF and a flag.
If it wasn't such a disgrace to the great history of both comps it'd be funny.

 

[Beetlebum]

Players need to have played 5 games or more for East Perth (if they traveled as an emergency and didn't play for West Coast it is included) to qualify for finals.

If West Coast qualify for the finals all their players are available for selection at least for the 2nd Semi.

Of the West Coast listed players Barrass, Brennan, Butler, Carter, Colledge, Hill, Karpany, Lycett, Maginness, Main, McGinnity, McGovern, McInness, Powell, Sheed, Sinclair, Smith, Tunbridge and Wilson all qualify. 19 players in total. Barrass and Powell have played only for East Perth reserves so it seems unlikely they'd be considered for selection for the league.

I've always supported a full AFL reserve grade competition, this doesn't seem to be on Gil's agenda so the only way you don't bastardise the league and keep the AFL/SANFL clubs happy is to give them full reserve teams controlled solely by the AFL clubs within the leagues, which was initially proposed here and totally rejected by the 9 WAFL clubs.

This seems to be effectively done in the SANFL with the Magpies aligning with the Power and the Crows having their own stand alone team. Can see in the years to come the Eagles with their base at Lathlain ground sharing with Perth in a 10 team competition with Freo taking the Peel licence to Cockburn.

There's no ideal way around this, I think these problems aren't caused by West Coast, Fremantle, Peel or East Perth alignments, it's the other 7 clubs plus Peel and East Perth who threw their toys out of the pram with every scenario that was raised by the commission to the point where this is what we ended up with. And the best players week in, week out at East Perth are the ones that were already there to begin with, exactly like it was in 2000-02.

Would love to hear the other 7 WAFL club presidents come out and instead of bleating about the current alignment deal actually provide a suitable alternative, they've had nearly 2 years to formulate something decent, still waiting. Hopefully it's sorted at the end of this year with the review.

 

[chazwazza]

It's a dogs breakfast in the SANFL. Port have the possibility to play 23 AFL players against a traditional SANFL club in a final.
How can that be equitable?
How is it that the only salary cap that the AFL deems to be fit to be policed is that of the AFL, all else apparently doesn't matter.
It's a disgrace.
In my mind they are two invitational teams, allowed to field teams in the SANFL to give them a competitive run and development. That is all they should be. They shouldn't be playing for points or other awards.
They don't fit under the salary caps so they shouldn't be playing finals. There are no other answers to this problem.

 

[Beetlebum]

In my mind they are two invitational teams, allowed to field teams in the SANFL to give them a competitive run and development. That is all they should be. They shouldn't be playing for points or other awards.
They don't fit under the salary caps so they shouldn't be playing finals. There are no other answers to this problem.

I agree with that for the WAFL as well, at least up to a point. If the outcome of the games between say Swan Districts and Fremantle or Subiaco and West Coast mean nothing results wise what incentive is there for the WAFL clubs to put out a decent line-up? If they don't put out a strong team then the competitive nature of the league and the benefits to the AFL clubs is lost.
If these are purely glorified trial matches why would any WAFL or SANFL club that is competing for a premiership want to risk their best players suffering injuries or getting suspended, especially late in the season. I know that if I were coaching East Perth and we were playing Fremantle or West Coast in Round 12 I'd be leaving out most of my best 18 with nothing to be gained.

What has amused me during the last alignment at the end of the 90's and start of the 2000's was that Fremantle and West Coast were dire during that time. West Coast especially had fallen on hard times they hadn't known, hardly any of their listed players that played in the East Perth premiership teams amounted to anything in the AFL.
Granted that wasn't full alignment as most people assume, that last 1 season in 1999 when Claremont had the Eagles and South Freo had the Dockers, it was only inter-state players aligned to East Perth and South Freo. The concept, despite having little positive impact on the AFL teams died in the arse once East Perth and South Freo played in the Grand Final in 2001.

The salary cap issue (and the points cap which we have in the WAFL, not sure about the SANFL) is a whole other discussion when it comes to the AFL players. Outside of a full AFL reserve grade competition I don't see any way to keep the WA and SA local clubs and the support base happy as well as the AFL clubs happy. The AFL clubs will never go back to spreading the talent pool and nobody likes the idea of WAFL aligned clubs or full on Dockers/Eagles teams in the league stand alone. If they do have their own teams they have to play for points and premierships or it becomes a bigger farce than it already is.

We feel it the most because SA and WA are the hardest hit, in Victoria there's so many AFL teams that it makes no difference to the VFL competition and nobody really cares about the NEAFL and Tassie doesn't have a team. Here and in SA we've both got well over a century of history and tradition in our leagues and this concept just pisses all over it.

 

[chazwazza]

I understand the concern not playing for points but I really don't think there's another way to do it that keeps the salary cap relevant and fairness for the state league clubs. Maybe play for points but don't compete in finals, they can aspire to win the minor premiership and that's all. It's not just the salary cap that's unfair, it's the access to another group of players, national draft, that state league clubs don't have access to.
It's a balls up and a disgrace and someone, somewhere in power has to stand up and do something about this. It's not good enough.

 

[Freofalcon]

Just another Royals flag with an asterisk next to it.

 

[masai]

Still reckon the system the WAFL used up to 2012, was darn good. It was balanced and worked for the WAFL & AFL.

Now the balanced has been broken and the AFL have busted the scales.

All AFL players were spread around the league and got to compete against each other ( AFL team mates ).

Ah damn, what would I know !!!.

 

[chazwazza]

Agree, it was a happy medium that always existed in the SANFL, both AFL teams won AFL flags in that time, but no, the next AFL fad has to be fed.

 

[chazwazza]

Maybe this should be adapted for your up coming finals.