Cmndstab’s “Rendell on 5AA” thread - “Rendell was just on 5AA, was scathing when talking about how poor this year's draft is, he also basically said that Gold Coast/West Sydney will be unbeatable from 2014/2015 forward.” - raised a really interesting secondary point.
Birdmanptr questioned the future of the clubs: Richmond, Melbourne, Bulldogs, Carlton and Sydney given the way Rendell sees the draft concessions for Gold Coast/West Sydney will impact on the comp. A few people had some fun at Port’s expense, but the issues raised about Port’s tall men stocks are real. And at some stage over the next 4/5 years even Geelong and St Kilda will slide over the top of their slope, and start looking at their next rebuild.
Adding two more teams is going to increase the pressure on the available pool of footballers to draft. Already AFL teams are looking outside football, at basketball, rugby and Gaelic Football players. But the debate between the relative merits of athleticism over footy smarts is suggesting limits there.
At this point the long accepted advantages of a 12 team elite Australian Football competition make themselves painfully obvious. As well as the instant advantage that the pool shrinks from over 800 (considering 18 teams at 45 players including rookies) to less than 600 (12 at 45 – 50), we get a truly Home and Away comp. Each team plays every other twice, for a 22 round season.
When the advantages of such a comp have been mentioned, the assumption has always been that this is in the Too Hard Basket.
But now, perhaps not. Bringing in the two new teams without culling any old ones adds to the pressures that suggest the old model is crumbling. And if it IS going to break, fix it first! The next TV rights deal won’t achieve the billion dollars being talked about with 10-12 hack teams and 6-8 elite teams, and little chance of addressing that imbalance.
So, how can we go about this?
A Modest Proposal. (with apologies to J Swift).
Birdmanptr questioned the future of the clubs: Richmond, Melbourne, Bulldogs, Carlton and Sydney given the way Rendell sees the draft concessions for Gold Coast/West Sydney will impact on the comp. A few people had some fun at Port’s expense, but the issues raised about Port’s tall men stocks are real. And at some stage over the next 4/5 years even Geelong and St Kilda will slide over the top of their slope, and start looking at their next rebuild.
Adding two more teams is going to increase the pressure on the available pool of footballers to draft. Already AFL teams are looking outside football, at basketball, rugby and Gaelic Football players. But the debate between the relative merits of athleticism over footy smarts is suggesting limits there.
At this point the long accepted advantages of a 12 team elite Australian Football competition make themselves painfully obvious. As well as the instant advantage that the pool shrinks from over 800 (considering 18 teams at 45 players including rookies) to less than 600 (12 at 45 – 50), we get a truly Home and Away comp. Each team plays every other twice, for a 22 round season.
When the advantages of such a comp have been mentioned, the assumption has always been that this is in the Too Hard Basket.
But now, perhaps not. Bringing in the two new teams without culling any old ones adds to the pressures that suggest the old model is crumbling. And if it IS going to break, fix it first! The next TV rights deal won’t achieve the billion dollars being talked about with 10-12 hack teams and 6-8 elite teams, and little chance of addressing that imbalance.
So, how can we go about this?
A Modest Proposal. (with apologies to J Swift).
AFL Mark2 will be an Australia wide, 12 team elite Australian Football competition run by the AFL commission and starting in 2014.
Immediately start planning that at the end of the 2013 season all AFL teams are de-licensed and either return to the appropriate State-based competition or become part of AFL Mark 2.
Over the next 3 years identify the 12 clubs (not teams) Australia wide that are best placed in commercial and administrative expertise and potential to support and enhance the development of their football team. This is not a level playing field for the existing or proposed teams now. The more teams in any one market, the more competition there will be for the commercial and administrative firepower necessary to support a team.
It is probable that before 2013 some clubs, recognizing the likelihood of their “demotion” would fold. While this would carry short term pain to be managed, it would have long term benefits for the remaining clubs.
The trade-off for the AFL commission is that the money pie can be sliced differently. Instead of stretching it to 18 slices, 12 teams can be given greater financial support to ensure even and professional facilities and amenities and there will still be more to support the state-based and grass-roots competitions.
What do you think? Viable? If it happened, which 12 clubs would be AFL Mark 2?Immediately start planning that at the end of the 2013 season all AFL teams are de-licensed and either return to the appropriate State-based competition or become part of AFL Mark 2.
Over the next 3 years identify the 12 clubs (not teams) Australia wide that are best placed in commercial and administrative expertise and potential to support and enhance the development of their football team. This is not a level playing field for the existing or proposed teams now. The more teams in any one market, the more competition there will be for the commercial and administrative firepower necessary to support a team.
It is probable that before 2013 some clubs, recognizing the likelihood of their “demotion” would fold. While this would carry short term pain to be managed, it would have long term benefits for the remaining clubs.
The trade-off for the AFL commission is that the money pie can be sliced differently. Instead of stretching it to 18 slices, 12 teams can be given greater financial support to ensure even and professional facilities and amenities and there will still be more to support the state-based and grass-roots competitions.
