I don't know how well the league can stop the unofficial stuff. If Puma want to sponsor Mon Conti and Puma would rather Mon Conti played for Richmond and Richmond would definitely rather Mon Conti played for Richmond and Puma just happen to be a sponsor of the Richmond football club, then I think Mon Conti is going to end up at Richmond. Outside sponsorships, maybe they can tell the clubs not to directly employ players themselves off-field, but even that's questionable, especially for a semi-pro league.The AFL really need to tighten up the out of the cap deals going on now the wages have risen but I'd guess that would get a to of backlash from the players association.
In terms of the official stuff, they might be able to push everything through the tiered salaries. I'm just not sure that makes much of a difference. I'm also not sure anyone at the league cares. The main vibe I get out of AFL House regarding the women's comp is 'Mission Accomplished' - particularly now that there's 18 teams. I fully expect them to push for ten games again in the upcoming CBA negotiations. Other people want to see growth for the future - I think they're done. This is the comp they want, and they're going to have to be dragged kicking and screaming toward any kind of progress.