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Stale WAFL: Time to turf AFL players from the finals

Roar Rookie
26th September, 2017
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Roar Rookie
26th September, 2017
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The WAFL finals series this season once again showed the WAFC need to seriously sit down and address the massive elephant in the room: the unevenness and unfairness of the league come finals time.

Last season there was a huge cap of 17 AFL players allowed to take the field in the same WAFL team.

In the off-season the WAFC lowered this number… by two, to 15.

They still have to play a minimum of five AFL games to qualify, but when your AFL affiliate cannot make finals, this is barely an issue. As a result, in the eight years of formal WAFL partnerships, eight alignment teams have made the grand final.

My solution is any player that has played more AFL games then WAFL games at the end of the regular season cannot partake in finals.

Out of the premiership winning Peel Thunder side that played in Sunday’s grand final, 13 of the 22 players featured in at least one AFL match this year. Of those 13, nine would be out under this new ruling.

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The Thunder also had 14 Fremantle players when they beat South Fremantle in the qualifying final three weeks ago, and 15 Dockers were in action when Peel ended Subiaco’s 19-match winning streak in the second semi-final.

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Not only does this situation give one team an advantage, you have to feel for the guys that play all year, only to get cast aside come finals time.

Don’t get me wrong, Peel were the best team on the day. But while Subiaco had their chances, and should be commended on how competitive they were, it was boys playing against men.

The 2017 WAFL team of the year featured five Subiaco players (Jordan Lockyer, Leigh Kitchin, Kyal Horsley, Lachlan Delahunty, Liam Ryan), with only two from Peel (Sam Collins, Rory O’Brien).

There was a massive difference between the two teams in the regular season, but being able to have 13 AFL-listed players in the finals makes a huge difference – Peel are six wins and zero losses in the last two post-seasons.

The WAFC need to take a stand and make the now-stale WAFL fresh and fair.

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