Major changes to the league are near

[Koutafidamedis]

Definitely agree about West Sydney - even if they spend $200 million on this ridiculous fishing expedition, it's hard to see them getting anywhere much.

Not unless they use the $200 million to bribe people to attend anyway

Surely they will still get better crowds than Dees.

 

[Wonaeamirri33]

Child please. Adults talking here.

Do you know you're posting on the main board?

 

[Perry Pie]

Surely they will still get better crowds than Dees.

I would get a better crowd than the dees if I did a strip in Flinders St, & I am ugly!

 

[Wonaeamirri33]

(2 utterly reality-deprived bogans here, it seems like... )

Unfortunately for you, neither Collingwood or Carlton will exist after the end of the day tomorrow, due to the expected invasion of flying pigs hell-bent on the destruction of Visy Park and the Lexus Centre, and the forcible abduction of all Pies and Blues players and officials.

None will be spared... I'm as sure of that as I'm sure that I'm being sarcastic

PS- Incidentally, I've heard that experiments with rats have demonstrated that they have a better grasp of football knowledge, and greater innate intelligence than the average Collingwood or Carlton troll...

 

[Wonaeamirri33]

There will be a lot of free tickets handed out at schools etc.

There'd have to be... and I suspect that would need to happen for a long time into the future too.

 

[ziad]

Western Sydney and Gold Coast will both flop, especially western sydney. You can't make AFL supporters out of people who have no interest in the game.

do yu get sand in your eyes with your head in the sand.

half of victoria now live on the gold coast. western sydney has the population of what is left in victoria. It is a region that loves sport and is loyal.

Money will win. the bigger threat is to weak melbourne clubs in terms of sponsorship and longevity.

 

[Wonaeamirri33]

The fact that hardly any of them actually support Aussie Rules MIGHT be a problem, yes?

By that logic, we should start a club in America, or maybe Brazil - I mean, they've both got a HUGE population base, and they love sport...

 

[Mitchell Madness]

divisions to make an even draw only.

the ladder must remian. You play each team in your division twice, the other teams once.

If you have this where there are divisions and say 4 of each qualify, you may end up with a team in fourth in one division winning more then the team in 3rd in the other but missing out.

 

[Hass]

The problem with just keeping one division while expanding the league is that it creates a lot of dead space.

Let's say the AFL eventually goes to 20 teams. By halfway through the season you are going to have more and more teams playing for pride. The alternative is increasing the number of finals places available from 8 to 10, but that makes the battle for places at the top of the league less compelling.

Once you go up to 22 or 24 (which is feasible if we're looking 20 or 30 years into the future) the amount of dead space would be critical.

At that point you really need to consider switching to some sort of division/conference system or promotion and relegation.

A time will come when the AFL needs to make the switch. That time isn't right now, but a single league and ladder isn't sustainable forever.

 

[Snooperclyde]

The problem with just keeping one division while expanding the league is that it creates a lot of dead space.

Let's say the AFL eventually goes to 20 teams. By halfway through the season you are going to have more and more teams playing for pride. The alternative is increasing the number of finals places available from 8 to 10, but that makes the battle for places at the top of the league less compelling.

Once you go up to 22 or 24 (which is feasible if we're looking 20 or 30 years into the future) the amount of dead space would be critical.

At that point you really need to consider switching to some sort of division/conference system or promotion and relegation.

A time will come when the AFL needs to make the switch. That time isn't right now, but a single league and ladder isn't sustainable forever.

Progress is around us and will leave us in it's wake if we choose.

 

[Adrian Shelton]

Promotion/relegation would have been fine and dandy 20 yrs ago but the corporate crooks/vfl bosses of the 80's messed that up didnt they

 

[FootyJunkie]

Promotion/relegation would have been fine and dandy 20 yrs ago but the corporate crooks/vfl bosses of the 80's messed that up didnt they

1970 would have been the best time to do some sort of "league merger", kind of like what was happening in the States at the time with gridiron when the NFL and American Football League merged. Would have been before the VFL started raiding other states for players. Looking at the Big 4 leagues at the time...

VFL - 12 clubs
VFA - 10 clubs in 1st Division (10 clubs in 2nd Division)
SANFL - 10 clubs
WAFL - 8 clubs

I would have had a "Premier League" called the AFL which would contain 3 VFL clubs, 2 VFA clubs, 2 SANFL clubs, and 2 WAFL clubs = a total of 9 clubs.

So...

AFL - 9 clubs
VFL - 9 clubs
VFA - 9 clubs in 1st Division (9 clubs in 2nd Division)
SANFL - 8 clubs
WAFL - 6 clubs

The lowest of the VFL clubs in the AFL would relegate back to the VFL the following season and replaced by the VFL Premiers. Same for the other leagues... which would have opened the possibility of having say 2 WAFL clubs facing off in the AFL GF where the loser would drop back to the WAFL despite finishing 2nd in the AFL, so the AFL GF would actually turn into a relegation match!!! AFL GF could be played in the state where the last AFL Premiers come from, kind of like the America's Cup.

Other leagues could have joined in and restructuring implemented if the AFL board considered a league such as the old TFL to be up to standard with the other state leagues, which could very well have been in 70s, I don't know.

Had this all happened, we could have got a situation now where it was 9 clubs in each of the AFL, VFL, VFA, SANFL, WAFL. Sydney and Bribane belonging to the VFL which could have rebranded themselves as the EFL if it included GWS and Gold Coast. State leagues would have bigger price tag for rights and would get national exposure in other states.

 

[Mr Meeseeks]

Promotion and relegation is an awful idea.
So are divisions/conferences.

Why do people have this obsession with copying overseas formats???

We just need one big group like there is now. The draw is all over the place but it makes our game unique. If a team has a better draw, they get found out in finals anyway (ie Collingwood this year).

It aint broke.