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We all know the current version of the Aussie rules competition stemmed from the original Victorian Football League with the inclusion of Western Australia and South Australia-based clubs.
But have the powers that be, in a pursuit to sure up what they’ve got, run the risk of flipping the competition back into a Victorian league?
It’s a multi-pronged issue, with a few points I would like to raise. First off the mark is the Northern Academies and the draft bidding process. Both are fundamentally sound, but the devil is in the detail of their execution. The New South Wales and Queensland markets have a stronger rugby and football presence to take the juniors interest away from Aussie rules.
To entice them to AFL, the northern clubs invest a sum of money and build a culture to train and prepare them for the rigors of a professional Aussie rules career. These clubs then (under the old system) could grab them at the equivalent price of a father-son pick.
This has now been changed, after Sydney swans nabbed Isaac Heeney with clubs (Collingwood springs to mind) crying foul at a potential top draft pick going at the basement price of pick 18.
Just ignore the fact that the same father-son rule has delivered Gary Ablett Jr to Geelong at pick 40, Travis Cloke at pick 39 and Heath Shaw at pick 48.
The new system (in really simple terms) will see a price attached to a player, and the clubs use their draft picks to pay that price. From the non-Northern clubs, they see it as a fair price to pay for a quality player. Other side of the coin, clubs like Brisbane who invested three years into a player will have to pay to keep them (both in draft picks and likely in contracts after first seasons.
A fix to this issue is to have the AFL run the academies. Brand them as Swans/Giants/Lions/Suns but have the cash flow from the AFL HQ.
Victoria/SA/WA/TAS can have the exact same academies, and brand them as appropriate. This way, there is a slight advantage afforded if clubs invest above and beyond, but it’s still a level playing field overall.
The other main issue is the scheduling of games to suit the Victorian market. I’m not a business major, but I understand the basics of economics.
Wherever will get the most eyeballs viewing the products and the advertising dollars, invest your time there. The problem that this has created in a short term, are NSW/Queensland/WA/SA clubs regularly playing in the ‘less popular’ timeslots or are the Foxtel games.
I’m a St. Kilda fan living in NSW/ACT region and I don’t watch St. Kilda play live that often, because we are regularly the Foxtel game. The GWS Giants and Gold Coast regularly pop up in the Saturday twilight timeslot for Foxtel viewers, giving them no exposure to the free-to-air markets outside of their local areas (7Mate plays games live in NSW or Queensland respectively).
If an ACT resident is a Gold Coast Suns supporter, they either have to get Foxtel, listen to radio over the internet of follow live scores, as they won’t get the games of free-to-air.
Fixing that one won’t be so easy, as the AFL wants to maximise its next television rights deal, which will likely include more Carlton Friday night clashes.
It could be argued that the teams need to perform better and they’ll get the better timeslots, but fans and viewers are switching off, and it won’t be so easy to get them back.
In closing, if the AFL isn’t careful, it risks alienating the non-Victorian markets to its north.
South Australia and Western Australia will survive, and some fans would argue the old SANFL and WAFL competitions were better. But the Northern states won’t. They need the governing body to hold their hand and support them, or risk drifting off to financial ruin and even folding or merging.
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