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You may agree with parity, but at what point is that a reward for poor performance? In some cases a whole history of poor performances.
Surely the Salary cap & Draft was at least aiming at parity of opportunity. Thats something that never occurred in the VFL. Given that, the results for some clubs haven't changed very much from one administrations set of rules to the next.
The salary cap and draft are two pillars of parity/equalisation (which is equality of opportunity, not outcome, which is what we talk about when we talk about equalisation). However we have never had a pure draft or salary cap (although have come close with the draft) and if anything the AFL is going backwards on these things considering third party payments, club academies, banking salary cap space for next year etc.
Another pillar of equalisation is the fixture which, with the way our competition is structured competitively and financially, has a huge bearing on the finances of the clubs and hence their ability to invest in their resources and compete on an equal footing.
I would beg to differ about results not changing very much.
St. Kilda and the Bulldogs have had close to their most successful periods in their history over the last 20-25 years albeit falling short of the ultimate prize.
Hawthorn and Geelong have bucked the trend over the recent past and gone from middle of the road clubs to powerhouses, Geelong maybe a little less so.
North have been quite successful over the last 20-25 years as well, which bucks the trend for the majority of their existence (they capitalised on some short term rule changes in the 70's and some savvy management which was a bit of an anomaly compared to their history).
Carlton has fallen off the perch and is no longer the powerhouse they once were.
Melbourne is an anomaly and probably the "anti-Hawthorn" having gone from powerhouse to outhouse however in the period 1987-2006 was one of the more "successful" Victorian clubs despite again falling short of the ultimate prize.