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With a crucial expansion period just months away at AFL Headquarters, it is never too early to think of the future, and just what the future may hold. And is that future a brand new knockout cup, running parallel to the Premiership Season?
Forget State of Origin. Most footy fans seem to cling to a fantasy that State Vs State football is a special form of the game, with only the superstars going head to head.
In reality, State of Origin does not suit the AFL. It is best to have only a Victoria V South Australia V West Australia “Tri-State Cup” competition played once every 4 years only.
With 18 clubs in the competition by 2013, and 20 (according to Andrew Demetriou) by around 2020… it hardly seems likely there will be 20 teams competing for the one cup, year in and year out? I would think not.
Below is a summary of what I believe the future holds for the biggest game on the continent:
1) AFL Premiership
With 20 teams competing, the season should be cut to 19 rounds of regular season football, along with a top 10 Finals Series. Simple enough, and very fair!
2) Coca Cola Cup
For the purpose of this article, we will assume that a multi-million dollar corporation will sponsor a brand new AFL competition, with huge prize money and media/profit generation exceeding that of the regular comp.
I reckon a “Championship of Australia” format should be adopted, which would pin all 20 AFL Clubs, along with 12 of the best State League clubs from the SANFL, WAFL, VFL and possibly a NT or NZ or ACT representative team, dependant on who did NOT receive that coveted 20th license in the AFL Premiership.
Similar to the World Cup of Soccer, this competition is simply 8 groups of 4 teams, followed by a “round of 16 knockout” phase, and then Quarter Finals, Semi Finals and the Final.
Not only would this new knockout competition be a huge boost to our hard working state league clubs, but opportunities like incorporating the 9 point super goal, matches played in both regional/metropolitan venues and giving a new dimension to our game would be beneficiary to all involved.
So there you have it… a new dimension to our great game, and goodness knows we will need it with 20 clubs in the most popular league in the country.
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