VFL Fixturing

[StCicatriz]

Who in the hell was in charge of this absolute mess. It seems it gets worse with every year that passes. The amount of byes the comp has is insane. Sandringham are coming up to their 2nd bye and will have a 3rd shortly.

how can you have a feeder system where half ya ****ing list cant play every handful of weeks!!!

But what's even more strange is they actually put together from criteria to assess the difficulty of each clubs fixture. Even after doing all of this they still gave what is a bottom 4 club one of the hardest fixtures in the VFL!!!!

So they don't even friggin stick to the system they spent time putting in place.

it's seriously at the stage now where the AFL clubs should just walk away from the VFL and start a genuine feeder comp potentially with zones.

 

[Nostradumbass]

Who in the hell was in charge of this absolute mess. It seems it gets worse with every year that passes. The amount of byes the comp has is insane. Sandringham are coming up to their 2nd bye and will have a 3rd shortly.

how can you have a feeder system where half ya ****ing list cant play every handful of weeks!!!

But what's even more strange is they actually put together from criteria to assess the difficulty of each clubs fixture. Even after doing all of this they still gave what is a bottom 4 club one of the hardest fixtures in the VFL!!!!

So they don't even friggin stick to the system they spent time putting in place.

it's seriously at the stage now where the AFL clubs should just walk away from the VFL and start a genuine feeder comp potentially with zones.

The VFL is an afterthought. They killed off a great suburban competition in the VFA and just ran in into the ground. It's a disgrace.

 

[StCicatriz]

The VFL is an afterthought. They killed off a great suburban competition in the VFA and just ran in into the ground. It's a disgrace.

its just nuts. its completely lost the integrity of being a genuine comp but also its so compromised through mis management it doesnt even serve the purpose of being a good development league.

just absolutely bewildering.

 

[Thuggee_Cult]

I hope they just make a national reserves comp and re-start the VFA

 

[Thuggee_Cult]

But yes, the fixturing is terrible

I play AFL masters over 45s and our fixture came out a month before the VFL one did, rank amateur stuff.

 

[JohnZ]

I hope they just make a national reserves comp and re-start the VFA

This is the answer. And if some of the non-VIC AFL teams don't want to join the reserves comp that's fine, the corresponding team just gets the bye. But it's not fair to the developing AFL players to go against 30yo semi-professionals, and not fair to the genuine VFA clubs (like Port Melb) to have to play a development squad when they want win the flag as their top tier competition.

Two very different reasons for being in the compeititon and it makes it too compromised imo.

 

[Bay53]

I hope they just make a national reserves comp and re-start the VFA

I think the VFA would die very quickly if it became a stand alone comp again. Those thinking they have a genuine crack at making an AFL list will want to play in the AFL reserves comp and those who's opportunity has passed will probably take the riches (and relatively easy training) of suburban footy.

The VFA was once a comp with reasonable money, played on Sundays and a good standard. Not sure it could ever go back to that.

 

[Bay53]

The question does have to be asked why the VFL is a 21 round comp with each team having 3 byes. Obviously with 21 teams, there needs to be a bye every week but it would fit perfectly as one per team.

I guess there is probably a push from the AFL clubs to have another bye when their senior team has the mid season break, so maybe it is two byes.

But there is probably no reason to start the comp two weeks after the AFL starts.

 

[deck]

each team having 3 byes

It's actually 4 byes as everyone had a week off for gather round. Then add in the season starts a week later than the AFL and finishes a week earlier. So in a effect you have 6 weeks less of football through out the AFL home & away season.

It certainly ain't serving the purpose it needs to for the AFL clubs.

 

[Walshawk]

The purpose of the VFL is to prepare players for the AFL. To start with, it needs to go to 22 games. From next season. I loved the old VFA but those days have long passed. If non aligned clubs can keep up, in terms of finances, on field competativeness, and facilities, they should be able to continue in the comp. Southport clearly ticks those boxes, but six stand alone VFL teams in Melbourne (Sandy about to make it seven) is clearly too many as is no enough talent to go around. Good players can earn more at suburban clubs. You could go back in time and fix the current mess, but I can’t see any way out for Preston, Coburg, etc.

The VFL currently has 14 AFL reserves teams. Tasmania will make 15. Southport makes 16. Perhaps that is the perfect number.

 

[iameviljez]

The VFL is an afterthought. They killed off a great suburban competition in the VFA and just ran in into the ground. It's a disgrace.

The problem is that it's stuck between two places IMO.

That said, I am not completely sold on the idea that the VFA was "killed off by" the AFL - frankly, it was obviously penniless by 1990s and was resuscitated rather than killed off.

 

[iameviljez]

But it's not fair to the developing AFL players to go against 30yo semi-professionals, and not fair to the genuine VFA clubs (like Port Melb) to have to play a development squad when they want win the flag as their top tier competition.

I disagree on the first part - I think it's great for the 18, 19yo players to come up against hardened full-grown men.

In terms of the standalone clubs looking to win - the problem I foresee is that without the AFL clubs involved to fund most of the teams, I don't know how a standalone competition will actually stand up financially. Sure, Port Melbourne etc can manage it, but I don't know how the smaller clubs will go.

 

[JohnZ]

I disagree on the first part - I think it's great for the 18, 19yo players to come up against hardened full-grown men.

In terms of the standalone clubs looking to win - the problem I foresee is that without the AFL clubs involved to fund most of the teams, I don't know how a standalone competition will actually stand up financially. Sure, Port Melbourne etc can manage it, but I don't know how the smaller clubs will go.

Yes it does have some benefit, but its still a dichotomy and impacts on the integrity of the competition.

The new VFA would work in the same way that the SANFL and WAFL do now.

 

[iameviljez]

Yes it does have some benefit, but its still a dichotomy and impacts on the integrity of the competition.

The new VFA would work in the same way that the SANFL and WAFL do now.

The SANFL and WAFL benefit enormously from the fact that there is just one game in their state per weekend. The VFL gets drowned out by the AFL.

The old VFA can’t come back as such. It got suffocated

 

[Art Vandelay_]

The real reason for the thread whinge alleviated by the head of football.
Crisis averted.

 

[brad]

Weirdest part of the fixture is that in a competition where you don't play every team once, Essendon somehow manages to fixtured to play Sydney twice.

 

[Atomboy]

The real reason for the thread whinge alleviated by the head of football.
Crisis averted.

Nah, it’s still an absolute joke of a comp.

Sandringham had a bye two weeks ago and then another bye this weekend.

The whole fixturing rationale is mental.

Burn it down and start again.

 

[iameviljez]

I hope they just make a national reserves comp and re-start the VFA

The other issue to resolve here is how they actually create full enough lists to have a reserves competition.

Currently, list sizes for AFL teams sit between 38 and 44 players - and clearly, it's nowhere near enough to fill 2 teams. You'd need to either recruit a whole bunch of greenhorns, or take on VFL top-up style players - thus kind-of ripping the playing heart out of what would have been the VFA anyway.