But.. but... the WAFL is amateurish, it just is. It's poorly run.
Expansion National reserves competition in 2025. Are you in favour?
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In what way mate? Trying to understand where you’re coming from as the Eagles are not competitive in this so called amateur comp
And I agree the WAFL could be run better but they should not have to deal with clubs like the Eagles who can’t get their act together.
- Sep 22, 2011
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All that is an enormous restructure and for no real gain.
Regional VFL clubs have been tried before and none of them have worked well. They just don’t have support. Creating three new ones is a waste of time and an enormous waste of money.
The Victorian system has come about after decades of refining and sometimes painful restructuring, and it is by far the best system as it gives everybody the flexibility to do as they please. Be that an AFL reserves team, a senior VFL team, or an alignment.
Again… it makes no sense to blow all this up just to try to fix something interstate.
If the interstate state leagues really don’t work for reserves then they can have a reserves league. There’s 8 AFL clubs around the country and soon there will be 9. Southport would likely be interested, and others may be depending on how it looks. That’s 10 or more teams.
It’s the only true solution.
Well don't think they will have to next year. It's almost certain they'll leave for the VFL (IMO).
I guess my view is the wafl were so paranoid about a dominate Eagles they made sure it wouldn't happen (60% TPP, limited access to existing WAFL players, etc.). I think they weakened the integrity of the game in WA so much by forcing a team to be weak. Now joining the VFL is now the best option. As for the admin - they are by far the most useless in any level of sporting administration. In my view anyway.
The Eagles seconds are weak all on their own. They didn’t need any help to be one that.
This Eagles seconds problem is do overblown it’s not funny. The club has been decimated by injuries abd hence it filters through.
West Perth at the moment are decimated by injuries and struggling to be competitive but I am not seeing them asking for help. You just get on with it.
I know you love your club but you need to accept the fact that 95% of the Eagles issues are internal.
Actually I'm E.Perth supporter. I just hate the way the WAFL has run the competition.
How do you think it should be run?
The Eagles in the WAFL, made their bed and now are struggling to sleep in it.
Back a number of years, Eagles & Dockers spread their players around the WAFL. From talking to a number of players, this system worked relatively well (let’s say it achieved 75% of AFL teams aim’s).
Then the AFL clubs reckoned that they could do better. Freo aligned with Peel (good to lift Peel and handy alignment for Freo). Eagles tried to “massage” an alignment with East Perth, then went it alone. They went alone because they wanted to have the major say with the alignment team.
The best approach for the AFL teams in the WAFL setup, is to work with the WAFL, rather than try and think they know better. A gently gently approach from the AFL teams may work better. “We give this, you give this, we all get this”.
I'm neither strongly for, nor against, the idea. However, a national reserves competition will relegate the state leagues to an even lower level of importance than they have now.
It won’t relegate the level of football but I agree it will relegate their exposure. They will still be stronger sides than AFL seconds sides.
I think that, over the long term, it will really hurt the state leagues... simply through perception.
Players, deep down, want a crack at AFL - especially those who are playing well at state level. That means that the allure of being in the reserves system affiliated with a top-level club, even as a reserves-listed top up player, will probably hold greater appeal than playing in a state league.
You'd want to be under the eye of one of the AFL coaching staff, playing alongside the AFL listed players, and getting your match report in front of the recruiters each week. Certainly, at Geelong, guys like Tom Atkins, Tom Stewart, Matty Egan, James Podsiadly and Shane Mumford all came from our VFL side, and there have been others that didn't carve out a great senior career but got to be full-time footballers for a few years.
you realise the same applies to the vfl at the moment. Afl teams and alignment teams get $100,000 less than the traditional teams. Most of what is in the wafl is the same as what is in the vfl.
another nonsense paranoid anti wafl rant.
I wouldn't mind seeing that from an SANFL supporters point of view. From a Crows supporters point of view, I'd think that would be a massive waste of time and money. I would think the AFL have an obligation to provide as much of a fair playing field to it's AFL teams as possible, first and foremost, and the "interstate" AFL teams would have precedence over the VFL clubs.
Clive Kepler
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Total waste of money.
- Sep 22, 2011
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Fair playing field: Everybody plays in their state league, as they always have.
This is the best solution for everybody in terms of costs, convenience and the larger pyramid below (which is also the responsibility of the AFL now, since they assumed it).
If that is not working then I do think the AFL has a responsibility to use their influence and financial resources to fix / improve the situation in the state league across al states. The highest quality, most strategically aligned state leagues possible is the best for all.
I raise the Victoria-less Reserve league (8 or 10 clubs) as a possible compromise beyond that if things really can't be fixed at state league level.
I think it's a step too far to basically demand that another state (Victoria) tear apart their effective structure because one or two states can't get their own in order.
Which is effectively what is being demanded. "Ditch the VFL so we can have a national reserves, cos our state league doesn't work."
And I do realise the AFL has already kind of done this by admitting the four northern clubs into the VFL, which was a ridiculous move. The time and resources should have gone into the northern state leagues and getting them up to stratch.
Fair call. IMO Port and Crows have been completely unreasonable in the whole reserves fiasco. Give them the option of joining up with the northern states/Southport or suck it up and keep it as is.
South Australians have been boasting for decades that the SANFL is the strongest state league comp in the country and nothing compares.
Similar statements from Sandgropers over the last few decades also.
Made their beds….
Similar statements from Sandgropers over the last few decades also.
Made their beds….
Werribee played off in the grand final because Victoria has by far the largest talent pool and it’s daylight to second.
It’s a pure numbers game and the Vic Metro and Vic Country surplus kids go somewhere each year you know…
Now, Werribee tends to get stacked because it had one of the best coaches in the league (Barlow) and a history of getting mature age players drafted. Barlow himself, Pods etc. Mannagh and Clohsey proving that point last year.
So the best mature age players tend to all go to Werribee, Williamstown and Port where they get mass exposure.
Werribee would have absolutely belted both East Freo and Glenelg last year and I scouted plenty of WAFL and SANFL football last year.
The standard is not at all comparable and I agree with a previous poster, some of the big suburban clubs in Melbourne would probably touch up some of the bottom 4 sides in the WAFL and SANFL.
- Sep 22, 2011
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I wonder how many people saw Box Hill v GWS yesterday to get a good look at how “national reserves” looks.
GWS don’t have sufficient VFL squad players who can travel interstate, or who they want to pay to have interstate. So they come to Melbourne and just draft in a few random local players to fill a team.
The result is predictable, these guys aren’t really up to it and even if they were, they’re coming in for one-off games and know nothing of their teammates, coaches or plans. They’re literally just placefillers for empty uniforms.
Box Hill slaughter them, of course. They kicked a few consolation goals in the second half but it was 70-19 at half time and the game was well over.
Neither team gets a good hitout in such a blowout.
The people who push for AFL reserves “just cos it makes sense” generally have no idea of the actual practicalities of it. If you want to do it properly, to allow for injuries you need up to 60 players who are committed or “full time” enough (read: paid properly) to be proper squad members who travel with the teams.
It’s an enormous expense that the game can’t afford for little return.
The best model is strong state leagues. It always has been and it always will be. That’s where the money needs to go. Travelling reserves is just dumb.
GWS don’t have sufficient VFL squad players who can travel interstate, or who they want to pay to have interstate. So they come to Melbourne and just draft in a few random local players to fill a team.
The result is predictable, these guys aren’t really up to it and even if they were, they’re coming in for one-off games and know nothing of their teammates, coaches or plans. They’re literally just placefillers for empty uniforms.
Box Hill slaughter them, of course. They kicked a few consolation goals in the second half but it was 70-19 at half time and the game was well over.
Neither team gets a good hitout in such a blowout.
The people who push for AFL reserves “just cos it makes sense” generally have no idea of the actual practicalities of it. If you want to do it properly, to allow for injuries you need up to 60 players who are committed or “full time” enough (read: paid properly) to be proper squad members who travel with the teams.
It’s an enormous expense that the game can’t afford for little return.
The best model is strong state leagues. It always has been and it always will be. That’s where the money needs to go. Travelling reserves is just dumb.
Cubs2Lions
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The Northern clubs won’t like the idea of improving state leagues given how poor standard the NEAFL was compared to the VFL for example.
Maybe what needs to happen is clubs to have a top up list (similar to COVID) where 10-15 extra players come in that can only play reserves (if needed) but continue playing for their original club in the state league but also perhaps breaking the reserves league into 2 conferences with equal travel involved in a 18 round season while keeping the state leagues as they are.
With a model of 2 conferences of 9-10 teams (once 20 teams come in) in a 18-20 round season, you could have a Super Bowl type knockout season before a grand final of the number 1 seed from each conference and that could perhaps limit travel while adding numbers on a list.
It’s difficult to find a solution though as the VFL would be dead without its current set-up and SANFL would struggle once Port joins the reserves full-time so the AFL have ducked another thing, as per usual.
Why would the SANFL struggle without Port?
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I would much prefer the VFL return to Vic only, the western AFL clubs sort out their bullshit with the WAFL and SANFL and make it work, and the spend goes into improving the QAFL and AFL Sydney.
There’s obviously an imbalance of quality second tier players with not enough in NSW and Queensland, so how do we get them up there from the southern states to even out that imbalance. Make the on-field quality of the VFL, WAFL, SANFL, QAFL and AFL Sydney as close as possible.
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