WAFL Expansion is the only way it can Survive.

[jmac91]

In my Realistic Future of the WAFL Portfolio in the FJGD board, I expanded the WAFL to every Region in the State. After reflecting on the portfolio and looking at the WAFL now with clubs struggling like West Perth, I think the only way the WAFL can Survive into the future is to expand all across the state. If this means Relocating teams or straight up Expanding the competition. I personally think that this is the way the WAFL needs to take to survive. I have compiled a list of places that should get a team in order. By the way I am not including Joondalup because they sort of have a team already with West Perth.
1. Bunbury/ the South West
2. Geraldton/ the Mid West. These 2 teams are a given considering the Population and the talent of both regions.
3. Rockingham/ Kwinana. A great population and a town that deserves a team and will support them.
4. Cockburn. I think if the Dockers get a stand alone Reserves team I think they would play out of Cockburn. But besides that with the Cockburn Oval Complex and the population of the town, I think they should have a team, even if it is the Dockers Reserves.
5. Albany. The McGovern's. No other explanation needed.

 

[Spearhead]

The WAFL by 2020 should have been set up more like this-

West Perth (Joondalup/Wanneroo/Yanchep-North West Metro Area)
Swan Districts (Midland/Guildford/Bassendean, Swan Valley, Perth Hills-Mundaring/Kalamunda- North East Metro Area)
Perth (Canning/Gosnells/Armadale- South East Metro Area)
Fremantle (East & South Merged, Fremantle/Melville/Applecross/Cockburn- South West Metro Area)
Peel (Mandurah/Pinjarra/Rockingham/Kwinana- Peel Area)
Claremont (Western Suburbs/Golden Triangle-North Fremantle-City Beach- Western Suburbs Metro Area)
Subiaco (Scarborough-Sorrento- North Mid Coastal Area)
East Perth (Mt Lawley/Morley/Mirrabooka- Central North Metro Area)

WCE Reserves
Fremantle Reserves

 

[kid_a]

Would love to see a couple of regional teams come in.
Geraldton and Bunbury are probs the best bets, although East Freo wont be happy about that given the amount of talent they aquire from the Geradton area.
Kalgoorlie and Albany perhaps a chance later on.

 

[MortlockWatcher]

This was tried about 20 years ago with the Kalgoorlie Miners and a Bunbury-based composite team. the WAFC tried their hardest with very large inducements to clubs to get the WAFL clubs to vote yes but failed abysmally.

Realisticially that was the one shot to make it work. The money that would be spent on airfares and buses to ferry teams around to matches would be much better spent on grassroots development and there wouldn't be significant infrastructure and sponsorship support to make these teams strong enough to compete as a viable, ongoing concern.

The WAFL is struggling to get enough money as it is from the AFL while the grassroots (metro, country, seniors, juniors and women) are scrabbling for every cent they can to keep footy alive, especially in the Midlands and Wheatbelt.

 

[Spearhead]

Correct MortlockWatcher new teams coming into the WAFL from Geraldton, Albany & Kalgoorlie is pie in the sky stuff.
A Bunbury SW team could possibly be a chance but that would also then impact their own SWFL.
It looks like the 2 AFL Reserves teams are here to stay and help finance the WAFL but with a limit of 10 teams maximum going forward.

-Logistical nightmare
-Cost...Where is the money going to come from to finance these teams?
-Travel factor
-Diluting of already stretched talent base

Ideally if the WAFL was started with a WA population similar to now the teams would look something like-

Joondalup-Wanneroo (currently West Perth-NW Metro)
Swan Districts (currently Swan Districts-NE Metro)
Canning Districts (currently Perth-SE Metro)
Fremantle (currently East & South Fremantle-SW Metro)
Claremont-Subiaco (currently Claremont & Subiaco- Western Suburbs Coastal Metro)
Perth (currently East Perth- Central North Metro)
Peel (currently Peel *Fremantle Reserves- Rockingham, Kwinana, Baldivis, Mandurah, Pinjarra, Waroona, Harvey area)
Geographe (Australind, Eaton, Bunbury, Collie, Busselton, Dunsborough, Margaret River area)

Plus Fremantle & WCE Reserves teams.

 

[scalives]

It's a Perth based Competition. Plus the country leagues are just starting to get back to full strength after the GWS and GC dafts.
And um there is no way on God's green earth that East and South will merge.

 

[TWLS]

Bob Shields who is connected to the Perth Demons had some comments on the weekend.
He predicts there will be less than 10 teams in the WAFL 5 years from now due to the WAFC having financial problems and 10 teams is unsustainable long term.
Is he right.

 

[scalives]

Bob Shields who is connected to the Perth Demons had some comments on the weekend.
He predicts there will be less than 10 teams in the WAFL 5 years from now due to the WAFC having financial problems and 10 teams is unsustainable long term.
Is he right.

Well he is right seeing that West Perth nearly folded this year. If two teams have the same problem at the same time I bet they won't be bailed out and be made to merge.

 

[royaldave]

Bob Shields who is connected to the Perth Demons had some comments on the weekend.
He predicts there will be less than 10 teams in the WAFL 5 years from now due to the WAFC having financial problems and 10 teams is unsustainable long term.
Is he right.

Bronte Howson said as much a few years ago - he can't see the sponsorship money required to sustain 9 teams (as it was then) continuing.

Some thoughts -

Peel's struggle to become successful (prior to being swallowed up by Fremantle) shows how difficult it would be for a regional side.

Pros of doing this would be easier exposure for regional kids in the colts (not having to move to Perth).

Cons however is the added travel costs and has been rightly pointed out the WAFC is not doing as well as they used to.

Ultimately the WAFC will dictate what happens according to what they can afford and what they think is best for developing fodder for the AFL.

Other issues that could impact club numbers - in future colts could be dragged away from the clubs TAC cup style, there is rumour of dumping the reserves - and linked with this is the rumour that women's football will either replace it or at the very least take the reserves time slot prior to the league.

The performance of the Eagles in the WAFL may have an impact as well. If the eagles were to smash the comp (very unlikely IMHO) then the WAFC could take the (extremely short-sighted) view that forcing a few clubs to merge would strengthen their opposition.

 

[MortlockWatcher]

There is nowhere near enough money to make a true statewide league sustainable. On top of this, there is no way that the current clubs would allow the loss of their country zones.

The situation has been floated and rejected before with the Kalgoorlie Miners, Bunbury and Geraldton proposals roughly 25 years ago, and that was when there was more money around.

Eight teams would allow greater funding (12.5% rather than 10% of the pie … or 16.7% rather than 12.5% if Peel and WCE Res aren't included in the funding) from the commission and AFL clubs and it would have the potential to improve the quality of players on WAFL lists.

The colts has already begun moving to a TAC Cup-style and the Reserves will more than likely wind up after 2020 or 2021. As much as they deny it, this is why the WAAFL has become the Perth Football League over the summer. When these guys come out of the WAFL system, they will expect to be paid to play outside the WAFL system despite being 'Reserves players'.

Every WAFL match day in five years (or less) will consist of a Colts game, a Womens game and the WAFL League game.

 

[masai]

I threw up the option of the Black Ducks gobbling up the limp Demons, and creating a team that takes in the eastern hill / foothills area.

That brings us back to 8 traditional teams.

Eagles buy the Lathlain complex.

They could merge the Garlics and the Oobie Doobies ?. They have the northern corridor.

We need to get our heads out of the sand and realise that Perth has spread out, and thus the supporters are not living in the inner city. We need to be open to a re-shuffle of the teams locations and numbers.

Peel must stay, they are slowly building in a growing area.

For the record, I was happy without the AFL having their own sides. Happy with blending their players around the WAFL sides.

 

[Zurgblade]

The WAFL need to invest more money into its marketing campaign. It needs a bigger online presence show casing current and up and coming talent. Take note of what all the big codes around the globe do to attract a wider audience and replicate a viable model.

Yes our market isn't as big as the American market, but look at how big NCAA basketball is in the US at the moment. It regularly show cases the games super stars and is probably growing quicker than the NBA.

Everyone in our state loves footy, the crowds that both Fremantle and West Coast get at Optus is a testament to this. Yet crowd attendance at WAFL league and colts level are very poor.

 

[dzussy]

The WAFL need to invest more money into its marketing campaign. It needs a bigger online presence show casing current and up and coming talent. Take note of what all the big codes around the globe do to attract a wider audience and replicate a viable model.

Yes our market isn't as big as the American market, but look at how big NCAA basketball is in the US at the moment. It regularly show cases the games super stars and is probably growing quicker than the NBA.

Everyone in our state loves footy, the crowds that both Fremantle and West Coast get at Optus is a testament to this. Yet crowd attendance at WAFL league and colts level are very poor.

The derbies still get decent crowds so there is still a flicker there. Swans seem to have it together at Bassendean, always a good atmosphere there and the can bar is always chocas. Who knows how East Perth will fare, how many have they lost since the alignment? A few I think, they will probably come back. Im suprised the comp didnt take to opportunity to have a marquee ground like Subi or the WACA and play games there or even market double headers. The comp needs something edgy without taking away the basics. Anyway I will go to Lathlain to watch Perth v West Coast on April 6th. Go home after and watch the Eagles play the Pies in the evening on TV. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday.

 

[Silent Alarm]

Merging current teams would be a dying shame. Basically all of these clubs are 100, 120 years old. You can't get rid of that history and all these clubs still have a brand and name that has some gravitas attached to it. I'd rather see them play in their proper form in the amateurs than be merged with 'Southern Cowboys' and 'Joondalup Jacks' type horseshit.

I don't get this whole TAC thing... what's the go? Are they changing zones so there'd be a general Fremantle team, a Cockburn districts team, etc? Or what?

Reserves being abolished and guys dropping down to their original amateurs team is good I reckon. Build up rapports and have sister club allegiances. This could benefit both local clubs and WAFL clubs – more resources being pooled toward the same thing, with clubs either side inevitably getting better players.

 

[kranger]

So i’ve been thinking about the quality of the spectator experience at WAFL games. I’ve been wondering if the new Perth Stadium has lifted the bar of what people now expect at football games. Could better spectator areas be a good basis to grow WAFL crowds?

I am loving this idea of the WACA Ground being redevelopment, with community facilities, such as public gyms and swimming pools etc, whilst also returning WAFL games to the ground. Having a Game of the Week played there on a Friday night, with workers filling in from the City's offices, and families making a trip in to the City on a Friday night seems exciting:

https://www.waca.com.au/waca/waca-ground-development

But on a similar topic, I saw this post which details the catchment area in the Perth area for each of the WAFL clubs:

https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/wafl-zoning-and-expansion.1085307/

It seems very odd how the urbanised area for South Fremantle seems to be split in half by East Fremantle's area. With South Freo comprised of the Spearwood area and then the Armadale area. It seems odd to make kids who live east of Armadale travel all the way to Fremantle for colts or development trainings.

Just to make the images in that other post more comprehensible I made my own version of the map. So this first image is a compilation of the previous post linked which shows all of the WAFL clubs catchment areas (and their home grounds with their respective dots). I have also showed a version which shades green any of the outskirts which can’t really be considered an urbanised area, either being bushland or farmland with some possible residents scattered throughout.

The above image is good to show that the extent of West Perth, Swan Districts, South Freo's and Peels catchments are not as significant as what they may first appear compared to the small areas of Claremont and Subiaco. You will also notice the outer extremities of West Perth, Swans and Peel are cut off, just so the image doesn't make the interesting bits too small.

This next series of images shows on the left the current situation, but zoomed in to better show the Perth area. The image on the right shows a conservative change to the current catchment arrangement, with East Fremantle moving to the Dockers new training centre at Cockburn, and taking most of South Fremantles catchment area in the east. In return South Fremantle gets the area west of Kwinana Freeway to themselves. The thinking here is that South and East Fremantle can properly establish their better defined areas, and also bring a team closer to the south eastern suburbs of Perth (which seems neglected by any WAFL club).

So I have a more radical idea to improve spectator experience which follows on from the catchment area shuffle of the Fremantle clubs, which begins with ranking the relevant sports fields in Perth.
* Perth (Optus) Stadium is the primary field which can handle crowds of over 20,000 for oval or rectangle sports. So good for AFL and Scorchers and the WAFL grand final.
* Perth Oval (HBF Park) is a secondary field which handles crowds for rectangle sports of less than 20,000. So Rugby and Soccer etc.
* The WACA Ground is a secondary field which handles crowds for oval sports of between 10,000-20,000. State cricket and WAFL Game of the Week.
* WAFL fields are a Tertiary field (third level) that can handle oval sports crowds below 10,000. Regular WAFL games.
* Subiaco Oval will be demolished as currently happening.

However do we really need 8 separate WAFL fields for games, especially when considering how close Fremantle and East Fremantle Ovals are to each other. And consider how clustered together all the clubs (besides Peel and West Perth) are to the inner suburbs. Now Traditionalists will hate where this idea is going, I already know that. But it is about time the WAFL and WACA work together to save costs and provide better facilities for spectators, officials and players. And the State Government needs to step in here to ensure the competition survives through lower operating costs whilst better facilities can be provided to local communities.

Victoria moved towards field consolidation for games, using only the MCG and Docklands in the Metro area, and look at how fantastic those spectator facilities are compared to the suburban fields. One reason they can be so much better, is because of the greater number of games played at them which makes operating the venues more financially viable.

Again in the below image on the left is the current situation. The image on the right is the radical change scenario, which focuses WAFL games into four fields (excluding Peel). There is a limitation to this idea, which is that Claremont has just finished rebuilding their fields, otherwise them and South Fremantle probably would have been playing out of Fremantle Oval instead. And VenuesWest take ownership of all of the fields, instead of Local Councils. VenuesWest would also take control of the WACA Ground and Perth Oval. VenuesWest can then give management rights to third parties who can do it more efficiently such as with the Perth Stadium management rights. This can ensure better maintenance of the WAFL fields moving forward.

This radical idea changes the catchment areas a bit. South Fremantle crosses the river into North Fremantle. Claremont and Subiaco both grow north. East Perth grows towards the south, and Perth grows to the east. And there are simplifications to the boundaries everywhere.

As you can probably see above, the arrangement for this field consolidation is as follows:

Team..................Games Played At...............Teams Train At
Claremont..........Claremont Oval..................Claremont Oval
South Freo.........Claremont Oval..................Fremantle Oval

West Perth........Joondalup Arena.................Joondalup Arena
Subiaco.............Joondalup Arena.................A new training field within their catchment area

Swan Districts...Bassendean Oval................Bassendean Oval
East Perth.........Bassendean Oval................Lathlain Oval

Perth.................Gosnells Recreation Oval...Gosnells Recreation Oval
East Freo..........Gosnells Recreation Oval...Cockburn Aquatic and Recreation Centre

Peel...................Rushton Park......................Rushton Park
West Coast........Away Games Only..............Lathlain Oval
Fremantle..........Don't Play WAFL.................Cockburn Aquatic and Recreation Centre

So a new field is located at Gosnells near the train station and to bring the WAFL to the south eastern suburbs. And games are consolidated into Claremont Oval, Joondalup Arena, Bassendean Oval and Gosnells. Having a round of games every week (minus the Game of the Week played at the WACA), instead of only a round of games every second week in winter will make the venues better utilised. However you wouldn't want to trash the playing surface with two teams training there. So instead one team is always at a more central training ground for their catchment area. It also makes better use of the Dockers and Eagles new training grounds.

I've just added in this extra comparison of the current catchment area to the possible radical boundary changes, as it is easier to see the changes without the 'non urban' areas being greened out.

As part of this consolidation, community facilities would also be focused into each of these Tertiary level of Perth sporting venues, such as community function rooms that can hosts kids karate or senior bingo nights, similar to what is happening at Victorian AFL clubs training HQ's. And to try and help further, the WACA is to schedule the highest level of cricket games at these venues in summer.

WA Footy State training could also be moved to Fremantle Oval and Subiaco new training grounds, for better utilisation of those fields, since they would be the only ones without multiple uses. It does also leave the question of what happens to Leederville and East Fremantle Oval. Well East Freo would probably be sold off for housing. But Leederville is very difficult, as it would be a shame to lose a venue so close to the City. Perhaps for now, Floreat Athena (Soccer Club) can move in from Britannia Road Reserve (Litis Stadium) around the corner which apparently has concrete cancer and needs to be demolished, and Perth Glory can move in for their training grounds, along with State Soccer trainings. This means the venue is retained for sporting purposes in the future.

Ofcourse, this idea for consolidation could go in so many other forms. Perhaps South and East Freo could move their playing fields to Cockburn. Claremont and Subi could play at Claremont Oval. East Perth could move to Joondalup and Perth could move to Bassendean. There could be so many configurations, but I used the above diagram as an example of the idea for consolidation of playing fields, infrastructure spending can be focused so spectator facilities can be improved whilst keeping down future operating costs.

All of this, is obviously to try and attract more crowds to the WAFL and to grow the game, and make it financially sustainable in the future. So what does everyone think?

 

[kid_a]

So i’ve been thinking about the quality of the spectator experience at WAFL games. I’ve been wondering if the new Perth Stadium has lifted the bar of what people now expect at football games. Could better spectator areas be a good basis to grow WAFL crowds?

I am loving this idea of the WACA Ground being redevelopment, with community facilities, such as public gyms and swimming pools etc, whilst also returning WAFL games to the ground. Having a Game of the Week played there on a Friday night, with workers filling in from the City's offices, and families making a trip in to the City on a Friday night seems exciting:

https://www.waca.com.au/waca/waca-ground-development

But on a similar topic, I saw this post which details the catchment area in the Perth area for each of the WAFL clubs:

https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/wafl-zoning-and-expansion.1085307/

It seems very odd how the urbanised area for South Fremantle seems to be split in half by East Fremantle's area. With South Freo comprised of the Spearwood area and then the Armadale area. It seems odd to make kids who live east of Armadale travel all the way to Fremantle for colts or development trainings.

Just to make the images in that other post more comprehensible I made my own version of the map. So this first image is a compilation of the previous post linked which shows all of the WAFL clubs catchment areas (and their home grounds with their respective dots). I have also showed a version which shades green any of the outskirts which can’t really be considered an urbanised area, either being bushland or farmland with some possible residents scattered throughout.

The above image is good to show that the extent of West Perth, Swan Districts, South Freo's and Peels catchments are not as significant as what they may first appear compared to the small areas of Claremont and Subiaco. You will also notice the outer extremities of West Perth, Swans and Peel are cut off, just so the image doesn't make the interesting bits too small.

This next series of images shows on the left the current situation, but zoomed in to better show the Perth area. The image on the right shows a conservative change to the current catchment arrangement, with East Fremantle moving to the Dockers new training centre at Cockburn, and taking most of South Fremantles catchment area in the east. In return South Fremantle gets the area west of Kwinana Freeway to themselves. The thinking here is that South and East Fremantle can properly establish their better defined areas, and also bring a team closer to the south eastern suburbs of Perth (which seems neglected by any WAFL club).

So I have a more radical idea to improve spectator experience which follows on from the catchment area shuffle of the Fremantle clubs, which begins with ranking the relevant sports fields in Perth.
* Perth (Optus) Stadium is the primary field which can handle crowds of over 20,000 for oval or rectangle sports. So good for AFL and Scorchers and the WAFL grand final.
* Perth Oval (HBF Park) is a secondary field which handles crowds for rectangle sports of less than 20,000. So Rugby and Soccer etc.
* The WACA Ground is a secondary field which handles crowds for oval sports of between 10,000-20,000. State cricket and WAFL Game of the Week.
* WAFL fields are a Tertiary field (third level) that can handle oval sports crowds below 10,000. Regular WAFL games.
* Subiaco Oval will be demolished as currently happening.

However do we really need 8 separate WAFL fields for games, especially when considering how close Fremantle and East Fremantle Ovals are to each other. And consider how clustered together all the clubs (besides Peel and West Perth) are to the inner suburbs. Now Traditionalists will hate where this idea is going, I already know that. But it is about time the WAFL and WACA work together to save costs and provide better facilities for spectators, officials and players. And the State Government needs to step in here to ensure the competition survives through lower operating costs whilst better facilities can be provided to local communities.

Victoria moved towards field consolidation for games, using only the MCG and Docklands in the Metro area, and look at how fantastic those spectator facilities are compared to the suburban fields. One reason they can be so much better, is because of the greater number of games played at them which makes operating the venues more financially viable.

Again in the below image on the left is the current situation. The image on the right is the radical change scenario, which focuses WAFL games into four fields (excluding Peel). There is a limitation to this idea, which is that Claremont has just finished rebuilding their fields, otherwise them and South Fremantle probably would have been playing out of Fremantle Oval instead. And VenuesWest take ownership of all of the fields, instead of Local Councils. VenuesWest would also take control of the WACA Ground and Perth Oval. VenuesWest can then give management rights to third parties who can do it more efficiently such as with the Perth Stadium management rights. This can ensure better maintenance of the WAFL fields moving forward.

This radical idea changes the catchment areas a bit. South Fremantle crosses the river into North Fremantle. Claremont and Subiaco both grow north. East Perth grows towards the south, and Perth grows to the east. And there are simplifications to the boundaries everywhere.

As you can probably see above, the arrangement for this field consolidation is as follows:

Team..................Games Played At...............Teams Train At
Claremont..........Claremont Oval..................Claremont Oval
South Freo.........Claremont Oval..................Fremantle Oval

West Perth........Joondalup Arena.................Joondalup Arena
Subiaco.............Joondalup Arena.................A new training field within their catchment area

Swan Districts...Bassendean Oval................Bassendean Oval
East Perth.........Bassendean Oval................Lathlain Oval

Perth.................Gosnells Recreation Oval...Gosnells Recreation Oval
East Freo..........Gosnells Recreation Oval...Cockburn Aquatic and Recreation Centre

Peel...................Rushton Park......................Rushton Park
West Coast........Away Games Only..............Lathlain Oval
Fremantle..........Don't Play WAFL.................Cockburn Aquatic and Recreation Centre

So a new field is located at Gosnells near the train station and to bring the WAFL to the south eastern suburbs. And games are consolidated into Claremont Oval, Joondalup Arena, Bassendean Oval and Gosnells. Having a round of games every week (minus the Game of the Week played at the WACA), instead of only a round of games every second week in winter will make the venues better utilised. However you wouldn't want to trash the playing surface with two teams training there. So instead one team is always at a more central training ground for their catchment area. It also makes better use of the Dockers and Eagles new training grounds.

I've just added in this extra comparison of the current catchment area to the possible radical boundary changes, as it is easier to see the changes without the 'non urban' areas being greened out.

As part of this consolidation, community facilities would also be focused into each of these Tertiary level of Perth sporting venues, such as community function rooms that can hosts kids karate or senior bingo nights, similar to what is happening at Victorian AFL clubs training HQ's. And to try and help further, the WACA is to schedule the highest level of cricket games at these venues in summer.

WA Footy State training could also be moved to Fremantle Oval and Subiaco new training grounds, for better utilisation of those fields, since they would be the only ones without multiple uses. It does also leave the question of what happens to Leederville and East Fremantle Oval. Well East Freo would probably be sold off for housing. But Leederville is very difficult, as it would be a shame to lose a venue so close to the City. Perhaps for now, Floreat Athena (Soccer Club) can move in from Britannia Road Reserve (Litis Stadium) around the corner which apparently has concrete cancer and needs to be demolished, and Perth Glory can move in for their training grounds, along with State Soccer trainings. This means the venue is retained for sporting purposes in the future.

Ofcourse, this idea for consolidation could go in so many other forms. Perhaps South and East Freo could move their playing fields to Cockburn. Claremont and Subi could play at Claremont Oval. East Perth could move to Joondalup and Perth could move to Bassendean. There could be so many configurations, but I used the above diagram as an example of the idea for consolidation of playing fields, infrastructure spending can be focused so spectator facilities can be improved whilst keeping down future operating costs.

All of this, is obviously to try and attract more crowds to the WAFL and to grow the game, and make it financially sustainable in the future. So what does everyone think?

Enjoy and admire the thought and effort you have put into it.
In some respects I agree with you, the "zones" need to be trimmed and perhaps we could see more clubs sharing grounds for matchdays, the most obvious being East Freo and Sowfs sharing games at Freo oval (personally I think its heresy to have South Freo play games at Claremont, not just geographically but historically Sowfs have been a club full of immigrants and aboriginal players and very blue collar whilst Claremont have been very much a white collar club...and suburb...since they began).
I think starting off by lowering admission prices is a good way to go, why pay 15 bucks for a wafl game at the gate when you can pay the exact same amount to get a left over seat online at the AFL if you buy a kids ticket for the same price? (trust me since 2012 all I have ever done is buy kids tickets to sports events whether here in sweden, in the netherlands or back home in aus....nobody checks or cares, as longs as it zaps green through the gate you are sweet to go)

They should slash admission prices....with more people coming through the turnstyles they are more bound to make up the money with food and drink sales at the clubhouse etc.
They should really plan out the fixture to maximise attendances, carefully pick dates and times that could help draw in more people.
Bring back the regional games or have a "regional round" each year.

 

[Ausbenito]

You make some good points am starting to concede the reserves may need to be replaced by a feeder club from the amateurs which at the top level will no longer be the amateurs ie paid players and have a very close alignment but still see the 9 WAFL clubs surviving and their top sides fed by the big amateur clubs which seem to be gaining support from players and volunteers.
So a West Perth would be closely linked financially and spiritually to Kingsway or Whitfords East Perth to a Ballajura or Ellenbrook eventually Claremont to North Beach or West Coast Perth to Maddington or Curtin South Fremantle to Jandakot or CBC East Fremantle to Willeton or BullCreek or North Freo Swans to Swan Athletic or Bassendean etc.
I think it would work best with a one club alignment and the top side playing games at the WAFL ground joint memberships as well it would help attract fresh blood to WAFL clubs and players who may not have played WAFL.
The Womens comp is a great initiave and the sooner it expands the better to become the one and only womens comp in Perth.





The colts has already begun moving to a TAC Cup-style and the Reserves will more than likely wind up after 2020 or 2021. As much as they deny it, this is why the WAAFL has become the Perth Football League over the summer. When these guys come out of the WAFL system, they will expect to be paid to play outside the WAFL system despite being 'Reserves players'.

Every WAFL match day in five years (or less) will consist of a Colts game, a Womens game and the WAFL League game.[/QUOTE]

 

[StCicatriz]

AFL directive is now moving away from supporting the state leagues to more expanding the AFL sides

more chance of a joint WAFL club ticket getting up to be a 3rd AFL side

 

[Mighty Eagles]

2. Geraldton/ the Mid West. These 2 teams are a given considering the Population and the talent of both regions.

Greater Bunbury has a population of 80,000, which is double that of Greater Geraldton (40,000).

While the Mid West is a hot spot for junior talent, geographically it's a nightmare - nearly five hours away from Perth.

Bunbury would be a much better city to host a team, but as someone pointed out earlier, the WAFL is effectively a metropolitan-based competition. Regional cities follow their local team like a cult, and just wouldn't adopt a new club in the WAFL.

Their best chance of success would be to have an existing club promoted to the league, but that would never happen as the country-footy politics is so immense, they'll have more haters than lovers.

 

[kranger]

So i’ve had a recent change of heart. Previously I’ve been opposed to a third Perth AFL team for fear of what it might do to the WAFL sides.

But why not optimise the use of Optus Stadium and get another team playing AFL there. You could even close level 5 to make it reduced operating cost and reduce capacity of 40,000 bring spectators closer together for better atmosphere.

The new AFL team would be based out of Arena Joondalup. Joondalup would cover Perth’s northern suburbs. It would also draw more AFL money into WA and our facilities instead of having AFL money going to support Victorian teams and therefore local Victorian jobs.

Fremantle would cover Perth’s southern suburbs. Eagles would cover Perth’s central suburbs. Which would also align with a north, central and south area used by WAFL teams.

Anyway, how would a third WA AFL team impact the structure of the WAFL.

Fremantle and the new Joondalup AFL side would be given stand alone WAFL teams as their reserves.

Claremont and Subiaco merge.

East Perth and Swan Districts merge.

And then Perth is split into 6 areas. The North West, North East, Central West, Central East, South West and South East. Peel Thunder would continue to cover Mandurah separately.

West Perth represent North West and are based out of Joondalup Arena.

The merged Swan Districts/East Perth team are North East and play at Bassendean Oval.

Perth are based out of Lathlain Park and are Central East.

Whilst the merged Claremont/Subiaco team are Central West based at Claremont Oval.

East Fremantle are based out of Cockburn as South East.

With South Fremantle representing the South West from Fremantle Oval.

Then you just need to have some fun with the fixtures, but the Eagles, Dockers and Joondalup WAFL teams would have home games at Optus Stadium as curtain raisers to their relevant AFL team.

The AFL clubs would have their pre-season games and their Womens teams play their games at the other oval in their area (ie Bassendean, Claremont and Fremantle Ovals), to help those field development as well.

And then the WAFC and state teams move into the WACA, perhaps also with Friday night WAFL game of the week.

Just thought I would put it out there as an alternative idea.

 

[kranger]

With NT Thunder folding from the NEAFL, could it be worth having a look to introduce them into the WAFL along with a Freo Dockers WAFL team.

Have 12 teams in a 22 round season.

 

[kid_a]

With NT Thunder folding from the NEAFL, could it be worth having a look to introduce them into the WAFL along with a Freo Dockers WAFL team.

Have 12 teams in a 22 round season.

I wouldn't mind seeing the Thunder rekindled and brought into the WAFL, but doing that wouldn't really solve any of their main issues that forced them out of existence in the first place...cost of travel, lack of funds, scheduling for players getting to and from away game etc.

The only upside to playing in the WAFL compared with the NEAFL is that they'd have more eyes on them and could potentially attract more/bigger sponsors and perhaps get larger home crowds.

 

[kranger]

Ok so new idea for a WAFL restructure:

• Freo Dockers get stand alone WAFL teams - 11 team comp, 22 round H&A season, everyone has 2 byes.
• Eagles and Freo only ever play away games so the non AFL teams get 12 games at their home ground for increased game day revenue.
• Reserve’s are dropped as a comp, and are replaced by the women’s comp. Maybe upping the Colts from U19’s to be an U20’s/U21’s comp.
• All 11 teams have a League team, Women’s team and Colts team.
• The Freo and Eagles women’s teams could be restricted to being U19’s only to not over power the non AFL clubs. And get young girls some experience in the comp.
• The Freo and Eagles colts teams could be restricted to U17’s/U18’s only for the same reasons as the women’s restriction.
• Have East Fremantle move into Fremantle Oval and share upgraded facilities with South Fremantle, with some funds being contributed from the sale of East Fremantle Oval for housing.

 

[andana]

funds being contributed from the sale of East Fremantle Oval for housing.

The oval is owned by East Freo council.

 

[kranger]

The oval is owned by East Freo council.

True, and East Freo have now committed to staying at East Freo Oval.

It just seems like a missed opportunity to really build one good footy field with updated facilities for spectators, players, sponsors etc.

One boutique stadium that could maximise the capital expense by hosting a WAFL game each week, that would also host freo’s AFLW games and AFL pre-season games.

Possibly making the operating of the single oval self sufficient and not be a drain on the two relevant local governments that need to upgrade two independent ovals.

But oh well.

Anyway, it would be nice to expand the WAFL to have a Freo stand alone team, especially if it means the Dockers can strengthen the league and contribute they more funding to the WAFL like what the Eagles do for their stand alone team.