Back then training was 2 nights a week and most players weren't anything near professionals.Andy Collins is right though, AFL lists should be 50 players minimum. They were before the AFL chopped out the reserves comp and now many times our VFL team is running around with over half our team not AFL listed players.
There's no reason for each club to have 50 on the list for a sport that requires 22. The best thing for VFL players would be to have less total players on AFL lists and more ability to recruit from state leagues mid year, like the supplemental period. Or to carry more players over summer but then cut down in season and then be able to replace either from your replacement players or a general pool of replacement players.
Something like 50 over summer, 40 in March, ability to add a supplemental player for any season ending injuries could work. That way you'd make sure your state league guys are all playing in a high standard.