Opinion Make the SANFL great again

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I've always thought for the most SANFL to become more relevant in this era it needs to move/remove the weaker clubs and either bring in promotion relegation or have a Hills team/Victor Harbor/ Mount Gambier type teams to appeal to the masses.

Or have Norwood, Centrals, South and the Eagles (that covers each area, but happy to debate which teams )approach a breakaway group of the VFL and set-up a southern league

In my opinion, SANFL in its current form really has lost its relevance

Yeah I agree it’s not 1910 anymore and all the teams need to be in the Adelaide area. Expand it out and bring in some big country towns and make it a promotion/relegation system


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Yeah I agree it’s not 1910 anymore and all the teams need to be in the Adelaide area. Expand it out and bring in some big country towns and make it a promotion/relegation system


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If AFL clubs are struggling to remain viable and SANFL clubs are too I doubt that country/ammo clubs are are viable in a promotion/relegation competition
 
It depends how you look at things.

SANFL fans complain about the Crows/Port/AFL etc, but never seem to acknowledge that the SANFL is now largely funded by AFL generated revenue.

The SANFL are making millions a year from stadium revenue and I have only been able to find info from 2018, but from what I can find they apparently made 12 million dollars from Adelaide Oval revenue for that year. If those numbers are right then based on the SANFL's total revenue for 2018 it works out that both clubs appear to contribute roughly between 35-40% of the SANFL's total revenue via Adelaide Oval generated revenue. That's a huge chunk and yet SANFL supporters act like both clubs are a scourge on the league, whereas it's actually the other way around.

You take that source of revenue out of the equation and the league just wouldn't exist in the form that it's currently in.
The AFC has funded the SANFL since 1991.

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Born in 88, my only memories are of t he crows, so SANFL has never really been my go. I don't really watch SANFL besides the odd crows televised games, but a couple of ideas;

- consider more rule changes to speed up the games and increase the scoring. Last touch is a great start, but what more can be done? Do they do 6-6-6?

- push social media presence hard. Market it more to youth.

- look to LIV golf and Big Bash for ideas to make it more 'fun'.

Tough in the depths of July out at the ponderosa or in a blizzard at noarlunga though.
 
Port Adelaide will ramp up its bid to exit the SANFL when the AFL’s chiefs descend on Adelaide for Gather Round this week.
The Power and Adelaide Crows want to join a new national second-tier competition or the VFL from next season in a bid to eliminate the development disadvantages the clubs believes are hampering it.

Adelaide and Port Adelaide play last-touch out of bounds rule in the SANFL, don’t have regular exposure against AFL-listed players from 14 AFL-aligned clubs in the VFL, and are subject to heavy top-up player restrictions. There are also travel and scheduling headaches which affect their emergencies and holdover players.

West Coast is expected to fall in-line with the Power and Crows’ calls for a new national state-league competition as the AFL considers sweeping reform to the state leagues, draft system and trade mechanisms under a competitive balance review.

Port Adelaide football boss Chris Davies said entry into a new second-tier comp would be the “fairest outcome”, while Adelaide chief executive Tim Silvers said there was “no doubt” the Crows would want to be part of it. But Adelaide and Port Adelaide’s exit remains a major bone of contention in South Australia due to contracts tying the clubs to the SANFL.
The Power is confident the AFL will be able to override the deal as part of a decision to create a new national second-tier competition or permit its entry into the VFL. Port Adelaide’s chiefs will push the move with league bosses as part of informal talks this week as well as more serious discussions at a meeting of football general managers in Melbourne this month.
https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/spor...n/news-story/7a995dda07d3f180bf5df39f8575f0dd







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feenix67 you and I know each other from darkfall days.

I am very much in the minority on the Port Boards when I state that I want Port and Adelaide to remain in the SANFL and to renegotiate having their own development zones.

In 2028 AFC members get back 100% ownership of your club.
I believe the AFL want all its eggs in one basket before that becomes the case.

The SANFL then gets trickle down finance with no control.

While the divide and conquer mentality is promoted west of Bordertown, the AFL is in full control.
The question is: can that situation change for the good of South Australian football or is the SANFL to become the West Nhill football league in perpetuity?

There are obvious advantages to our clubs by having control of the development of local players.
Of having Junior sides in which our draftees play based on their current ability not just to make up the numbers.

Obviously as someone who sees value in our pre-1997 premierships, I do not want to see further devaluation of the SANFL.

But as I said, I'm in the minority.
 
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The only way to truly make the SANFL great again is to get rid of the AFL reserves sides.
That and promotion and relegation through all the leagues in the state. Create a pyramid a la the English football leagues.
The traditional SANFL clubs have a huge advantage already so shouldn't be too much of a shake up. The new teams would simply replace us and Port.
 
That and promotion and relegation through all the leagues in the state. Create a pyramid a la the English football leagues.
The traditional SANFL clubs have a huge advantage already so shouldn't be too much of a shake up. The new teams would simply replace us and Port.
Why do that if it’s not all the way through the code?
 

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Why do something good because Victorians don't want to do something good?

Because it'll be good.
Why will it be good?
Just because you like the idea or are there some well considered far reaching benefits to this?
From a SANFL club perspective I can’t see one good thing about it. You’re saying SANFL clubs should entertain the idea of dropping to a lower level without ever having the possibility of reaching a higher level.

There’s a similar problem with soccer in this country, the problem of promotion and relegation through the entire code as is the norm in most traditional soccer countries, the A-League don’t want to entertain the idea of the clubs dropping to a second division and then there’s the problem of funding lower clubs that rise to the “Premier League”.
This is the same problem with Aussie Rules, most people who think this is a good idea are those that aren’t invested in lower comps, as soon as it’s suggested that P&R goes right through the code right up to and including AFL clubs being relegated suddenly it’s not such a great idea and excuses abound as to why the top echelon should be excluded, effectively making it a protected sporting cabal.
 
IMO there is no way back to the glory days for the SANFL but that is not necessarily a bad thing.

The quality is going to be less due to the AFL draft. The AFL is going to continue to take a dozen of the best young players each year and though some come back, the reality is that every SANFL team is missing between 6 and ten players who would be considered a star player if they played in the local league.

Losing Port Adelaide will hurt only because of their history in the SANFL and for most supporters beating the magpies is one of the most enjoyable days at the footy you can have. For Port to stay they would need to get rid of the "one club" rubbish and have a solely Port Adelaide team with a Port Adelaide zone. It won't happen.

To be honest, no-one cares about Adelaide reserves. Certainly not Adelaide supporters who never attend games to support their team.

Relegation won't work, there is too much of a gap between SANFL and the Ammos / country teams. Does anyone think that PAOC , Glenunga or Port District will attract the same number of supporters as Westies or South?

It needs promotion that it is the second best footy league behind AFL, it is a family oriented league with local players, and a cheap enjoyable day out for the family.
 
IMO there is no way back to the glory days for the SANFL but that is not necessarily a bad thing.

The quality is going to be less due to the AFL draft. The AFL is going to continue to take a dozen of the best young players each year and though some come back, the reality is that every SANFL team is missing between 6 and ten players who would be considered a star player if they played in the local league.

Losing Port Adelaide will hurt only because of their history in the SANFL and for most supporters beating the magpies is one of the most enjoyable days at the footy you can have. For Port to stay they would need to get rid of the "one club" rubbish and have a solely Port Adelaide team with a Port Adelaide zone. It won't happen.

To be honest, no-one cares about Adelaide reserves. Certainly not Adelaide supporters who never attend games to support their team.

Relegation won't work, there is too much of a gap between SANFL and the Ammos / country teams. Does anyone think that PAOC , Glenunga or Port District will attract the same number of supporters as Westies or South?

It needs promotion that it is the second best footy league behind AFL, it is a family oriented league with local players, and a cheap enjoyable day out for the family.
Agree with all of this bar the port bit, they’ve become almost as irrelevant in the SANFL as Adelaide, supporters don’t turn up to games, it’s now almost as quiet after a Port goal as and Adelaide one. I don’t really enjoy going to Sturt games against Port as it’s all so bitter and negative bickering. I’m happy to see the back of them asap. The next round of damage the AFL will do to the SANFL at the behest of both AFL clubs won’t be far away which is a great concern for me.
 

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