It’s fair to say there’s been a lot of talk over the years of the inequities of the national comp in favour of the Victorian clubs and there is some fair arguments to back that up. Let’s be frank, whether or not it is a level playing field is irrelevant, the AFL is borne out of a state comp and by and large, some opinions rightly or wrongly still see the comp as “Vic central”. Back in the late 80s, to simplify, the West Australian football commission bailed out the VFL – financially- in exchange for a licence to bring in a club from the West, enter the West Coast Eagles. This is how it looks externally, because of the financial situation it was a fait accompli - feel free to correct me if warranted.
I’m not going to get into arguments here, I’m here to state facts. Let’s look at the competition if it was completely and undeniably fair.
There would be an even amount of teams spread across the nation, all clubs would get equal access to draft and each team has equal travel (even though this is geographically impossible).
I’ll state clearly that this is how I think it would look like – make no mistake this is not what I would prefer it’s just how I think it would appear – if it were to be – completely “fair”
3 teams from each state/territory (taking into account ACT is NSW), the West Australian, South Australian, QLD and NSW teams would remain and the current Vic clubs would go back to the VFL and South Melbourne and Fitzroy would be reinstated into the VFL. The desired result would be that
There would be new teams from Vic, Tas and the NT, all up 21 teams. Much like the big bash, new teams.
Obviously we can see numerous faults in this model. For starters it is highly unlikely that Tasmania and the NT could sustain 3 teams each, hazard a guess the crow eaters and sandgropers would likely go follow the WAFL and SANFL. A certainty would be that in Victoria the VFL would once again be the most attended and watched league in the land. It is more than likely the top end talent would go to the VFL teams in Victoria leaving the 2nd tier players in the National comp.
Like it or lump it, clearly the bulk of football followers are in Victoria. It may leave a sour taste in your mouth but the fact is the game began in Victoria – it is the home of footy, it’s impossible to argue that and the numbers are there to back it up– this cannot be disputed.
Since the inception of the “AFL” the attendance and TV ratings are that of a population 3 or 4 times our current 24 million. For example only 4 years has the attendance been less than 5 million since 1990 regularly 6 million plus and even 4 seasons of 7 million plus. Overall attendance of the AFL is around the 15th mark – take into consideration, our population and the lesser amount of games (by a lot!) compare to other leagues and on average attendance it is 4th, this is very healthy amongst the world leagues.
Point of all that is whether or not the opinion is that it is “unfair” or the term “V/AFL” HQ are doing something right and it is not going to change anytime soon. Admittedly the league did lose a lot of supporters when Brisbane took over Fitzroy and South Melbourne left to go to, and become Sydney and again, hazard a guess HQ won’t be endorsing any mergers or takeovers of current Vic clubs for that reason. Even the lesser Vic clubs have 40K plus members – that’s just too many bums on seats to snub in the name of a “National” and even comp.
On a sidenote the GF is the largest attended single championship event in the world (source Wikipedia) and that is why the GF will stay at the MCG – capacity- and no I won’t be debating on this subject, there are other threads you can post your view on that topic.
Clearly the comp is not as even as would be liked by HQ – regardless of the rhetoric from the mouthpieces that it is “National” and “even”, that’s just insulting our intelligence.
In a nutshell it is what it is and living in WA, being at the coal face I hear it more than those in Vic and the opinions are justified but to have a truly “National” and “equal” comp is simply not achievable. So you have options, if you are not from Victoria you can follow your local league or accept it for what it is and support your team – hard and passionate like! And relish when you win it (deny that WC, Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane and Port and inevitably GWS fans).
So do you follow or do you snub? Your choice
I’m not going to get into arguments here, I’m here to state facts. Let’s look at the competition if it was completely and undeniably fair.
There would be an even amount of teams spread across the nation, all clubs would get equal access to draft and each team has equal travel (even though this is geographically impossible).
I’ll state clearly that this is how I think it would look like – make no mistake this is not what I would prefer it’s just how I think it would appear – if it were to be – completely “fair”
3 teams from each state/territory (taking into account ACT is NSW), the West Australian, South Australian, QLD and NSW teams would remain and the current Vic clubs would go back to the VFL and South Melbourne and Fitzroy would be reinstated into the VFL. The desired result would be that
There would be new teams from Vic, Tas and the NT, all up 21 teams. Much like the big bash, new teams.
Obviously we can see numerous faults in this model. For starters it is highly unlikely that Tasmania and the NT could sustain 3 teams each, hazard a guess the crow eaters and sandgropers would likely go follow the WAFL and SANFL. A certainty would be that in Victoria the VFL would once again be the most attended and watched league in the land. It is more than likely the top end talent would go to the VFL teams in Victoria leaving the 2nd tier players in the National comp.
Like it or lump it, clearly the bulk of football followers are in Victoria. It may leave a sour taste in your mouth but the fact is the game began in Victoria – it is the home of footy, it’s impossible to argue that and the numbers are there to back it up– this cannot be disputed.
Since the inception of the “AFL” the attendance and TV ratings are that of a population 3 or 4 times our current 24 million. For example only 4 years has the attendance been less than 5 million since 1990 regularly 6 million plus and even 4 seasons of 7 million plus. Overall attendance of the AFL is around the 15th mark – take into consideration, our population and the lesser amount of games (by a lot!) compare to other leagues and on average attendance it is 4th, this is very healthy amongst the world leagues.
Point of all that is whether or not the opinion is that it is “unfair” or the term “V/AFL” HQ are doing something right and it is not going to change anytime soon. Admittedly the league did lose a lot of supporters when Brisbane took over Fitzroy and South Melbourne left to go to, and become Sydney and again, hazard a guess HQ won’t be endorsing any mergers or takeovers of current Vic clubs for that reason. Even the lesser Vic clubs have 40K plus members – that’s just too many bums on seats to snub in the name of a “National” and even comp.
On a sidenote the GF is the largest attended single championship event in the world (source Wikipedia) and that is why the GF will stay at the MCG – capacity- and no I won’t be debating on this subject, there are other threads you can post your view on that topic.
Clearly the comp is not as even as would be liked by HQ – regardless of the rhetoric from the mouthpieces that it is “National” and “even”, that’s just insulting our intelligence.
In a nutshell it is what it is and living in WA, being at the coal face I hear it more than those in Vic and the opinions are justified but to have a truly “National” and “equal” comp is simply not achievable. So you have options, if you are not from Victoria you can follow your local league or accept it for what it is and support your team – hard and passionate like! And relish when you win it (deny that WC, Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane and Port and inevitably GWS fans).
So do you follow or do you snub? Your choice
