whiteoak
Cancelled
Plenty of clubs have cheated in this competition and then fallen on hard times. Carlton is the prime example. They cheated the salary cap, fell into debt, were rescued by the AFL, and arguably tanked as well (though the AFL didn't want to know about it then). There's an argument put by former players that Fremantle 'cheated' in 1999. I don't believe it, but it's on the record just as Brock McLean put it on the record about Melbourne.
Essendon are still the only club to cheat the salary cap in a premiership year, and now have the PED thing hanging over them. And hey, look at the AFL assistance they're getting, Demetriou personally contacting their sponsors, among other things. If you want to find examples of impropriety in the AFL, you don't have to look very far.
The AFL are committed to 18 clubs, and there are no viable options for relocating a struggling club - except maybe to Western Australia, which is a growing state, economically prosperous, and under catered for when it comes to football.
The penalty handed out to Carlton, in comparison to today's fines, was manifestly excessive and essentially drove Carlton to the brink. So that was partly of the AFL's own doing. And to use your own language, the AFL cannot afford to lose one of the big 4 Victorian teams.
So again, an unfair and irrelevant comparison to the current MFC situation.
I would agree that the CURRENT AFL Administration is committed to 18 clubs, with the current imbalance of Melbourne teams to stay in place.
However, again I put a lot of this down to the aforementioned Victorian-centric Commission make up at present.
Hopefully a future, more balanced and less biased, Commission will realise the inevitable and apply some common sense to this farcical situation.







Smash them tomorrow at the 'G' and I might feel a touch better about it all. 




