’All animals are equal but some are more equal than others.’ Substitute teams for animals and one feels that this has been the mantra of the AFL for many years.
The Sydney Swans had their cost of living allowance (COLA), new clubs in Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney had a gluttony of prized early draft picks and certain clubs in inner city Melbourne had a monopoly over the marquee fixtures such as Anzac Day and Queens Birthday.
It is however in stark contrast to the VFL era where the absence of a salary cap, ensured wealthy clubs could cherry pick the best talent from other clubs or interstate.
It is only now that the AFL equalisation measures have really helped enrich our great competition. Rightly or wrongly the COLA was abolished, the draft order returned to normal, father son rules have been altered – all of which help level the playing field above and beyond the salary cap.
The last and most recent measure is designed to decrease the gap between the wealthiest and poorest clubs. The revenue tax was abolished after two years and replaced by a discretionary fund. Football department spending is capped and money spent over this cap is heavily taxed. It is sports socialism at its best and has helped maintain a level of parity unrivalled across most sporting leagues in the world.
All in all the measures as a collective whole have given the league a level of balance that is reaping great profits for the clubs and its fans.
The AFL commission sets the platform and the clubs too are to be congratulated for improving professionalism, training facilities, recruitment and sports science to ensure that the on-field performance is maximised whether a team is in the rebuilding phase or not.
The proof is in the numbers. An even competition can be analysed across seasons but also within seasons. Since the inception of the AFL every team bar Melbourne and Richmond have made a grand final and there have been 12 different premiers (this does not include GC or GWS). If we look within a season, this has been the most even season of competition in the history of the game.
(AAP Image/Julian Smith)
There are several ways to look at this but essentially an even competition sees lower ranked teams beat higher ranked opposition and the gap between sections of the ladder is small. After 11 rounds of the season there were only two wins separating fifth to 15th and Sydney and Hawthorn sat in the bottom six.
For five consecutive rounds, the 17th-ranked team beat their much higher ranked opponent. It seems apt to review the statistics after the 17 rounds where most teams have played each other once.
If we look only at matches where a lower-ranked team plays a higher-ranked team, the so-called inferior team has won more than 50 per cent of the time (23 out of a possible 44 matches). We have seen more close games (49 in total when a close margin is arbitrarily defined as a margin less than 15 points) in this season than ever before.
There are however areas to still improve on. The 22-game fixture and its framework for deciding which teams play each other twice is still a source of conjecture.
Certain clubs have relatively substandard facilities but this an evolving landscape. North Melbourne are the latest club to have developed an excellent facility and the only club lagging behind in that department is Brisbane.
The issue of game day revenue is a thorny one. As an example, most of the tenants of Etihad stadium (bar Essendon) have deals that will rarely see them make a profit. This should change with the AFL takeover of the stadium.
Equality is crucial to ensure that all clubs have a legitimate chance of success. This is the essence of any sporting league for both clubs and supporters alike, and the AFL are to be congratulated for the administrative decisions that have underpinned this.
At least for now, we can say that all football teams are truly equal.
Dalgety Carrington
Roar Guru
Pretty much. The 1991 WA SOO team was mostly Eagles and Malthouse did his best to kill it off after that after he thought it derailed their 1991 campaign. They also got to pick the eyes out of WA's '85 Teal Cup winning team.
Lroy
Guest
Dude, that myth has been debunked so many times I cant believe its still in circulation. Do a google search of the state games in 1986 and tell me how many of them ended up at the Eagles.... the top 17 WA players in 86 were taken by Victorian clubs in the days before the Eagles were incorporated.
The Doc
Roar Guru
Thanks for the comment Darrin. Yes you make a fair point. Friday night is the marquee game of the round and in a perfect world everyone would get equal access. going through it very quickly - adeliade, geelong, bulldogs, WCE, sydney, GWS seem to have several (this includes thurs night games). Saints, port, ess get a couple each. I think this is reasonably fair given it has rewarded the successul teams from last year and traditional big clubs - pies, blues, ess, tigers do not get many friday night games at all. We have to mindful of the amount of money the tv broadcasters put in and they need to get their moneys worth - it is naive to think this isnt a factor (rightly or wrongly). As long as the afl sticks to this years model of spreading the marquee/stand alone matches across the previous years successful teams I dont have many complaints
The Doc
Roar Guru
Thanks for your comment Roger Of Sydney. The Port adelaide story is an interesting and complicated one. Most of this is anecdote from my Port following mate but Port broke ranks as SANFL would not sacntion allowing Port Magpies to join AFL thereby Port created a separate entitiy in Port Power - with different department, HQ etc. SANFL had a conflict of interest from memory in managing the ground and licence rights and I believe took revenue from the gates for Power games as well
Bearfly
Roar Rookie
The AFL make a big noise about equality, yet they fail in a big way with one vital equality measure - that being the draw, and in particular the scheduling of Friday night games. As we all know, Friday night games are high rating matches and give clubs (and their sponsors) national exposure - yet the scheduling of Friday night games is far from equal and therefore the biggest fail by the AFL in their "so-called" efforts to create equality. This inequality must be addressed ahead of "TV broadcasters demands" by scheduling every club with 1 home Friday night game each to at least bring some parity to a very unfair and unequal schedule. Until that happens, the AFL are only paying lip-service to their "so-called" equality measures.
Wilson
Roar Rookie
Players who have purchased Sydney property/properties have also profited the most from capital gains in the past few decades. Sorry that is just a fact.
Wilson
Roar Rookie
How exactly are the Melbourne teams a burden? High memberships, history, large attendances... The list is endless. MASSIVE BURDEN
Wilson
Roar Rookie
The players don’t pay for drinks and coke whenever they head out to a club there ... Yeah they do. The good soil is often more expensive in Perth too.
GJ
Guest
I think you have misunderstood what I've written ..
Roger of Sydney
Guest
Never forget in all this we have an expanded VFL not a true AFL because Port Adelaide broke ranks with a SANFL & WAFL agreement The VFL / AFL will never allow the GF to ever be played anywhere but the MCG. As for the Cola allowance WCE, you are kidding, a house in Sydney suburbs that cost $2 million would below a million in a WA suburb. The cost of living in Sydney is far greater than any other capital and although AFL players make enough to survive their money in pocket after expense is less if the play for Sydney or even GWS. Sorry that is just a fact.
Pope Paul VII
Guest
While your club was naming itself after a flower everyone else was working.
anon
Roar Pro
Sydney deservedly had COLA and has access to academy players because if they had to rely on recruits from the southern states like Brisbane, they would also be a basketcase club. The southern states and Victoria especially have a massive advantage over QLD and NSW teams because their recruits can simply demand to be traded to their home states -- which many invariably do. COLA simply neutralised the 'mummy boy factor'. This advantage far outweighs any advantaged gleaned through COLA or having first access to academy players.
The Doc
Roar Guru
Thanks for the comment ashley. I guess in in essence that is equality isnt it - creating a model where no team can have a monopoly on success. It is usually a combination of a top team bottoming out and other teams rising up to fill the void. I am not certain it as just a case of bring the top teams down. I disagree that the skills have been poor. what is skillful football is always a complex discussion and very much in the eye of the beholder depending on age of the viewer and personal bias on what they deem skilful. I think the athletism and fitness of players is quite simply the best it has ever been. The defensive structures and pressure being applied at each and every contest is amazing. The skills by hand and foot under pressure and fatigue again is excellent in my view. Yes there are errors but is that a lack of skill or outstanding pressure - i think it is the latter. Disagree with the last statement - always want a contest and blowouts are boring even if one team puts on a clinic of brilliance. But that is just my personal viewpoints and can appreciate you feeling the other way
The Doc
Roar Guru
Hi GJ, yes the academies have been helpful particularly to those in the eastern states but again there is regulation on those with clubs having to commit early in the draft to secure these players or risk losing them. thats my understanding but happy to be corrected
Cat
Roar Guru
How exactly are the Melbourne teams a burden? I keep hearing 'there's too many teams in Melbourne', but not one of the people who keep using that line will back it up with logical reasoning why.
Cat
Roar Guru
Even if you ignore the contract and are willing to play in a smaller stadium you will still NEVER get the GF to be played at the highest finishers ground. The amount of logistics that are involved are impossible to do with only a weeks notice. Best you could get is a stadium rotation with the grounds locked in a year or two ahead like the US Super Bowl
Craig Delaney
Guest
I have no problem with Danger. He gave everything to the Crows as a player and as a club man. I will be deeply disappointed if we lose Lever and McGovern as I don't think they have yet repaid the Crows or, perhaps more importantly, the Crows' fans who invest great loyalty in the club and the players. If they do a Danger then I will fare them well, but that means them playing a lot more for Adelaide with the dedication of a Danger. I think this is a sleeping issue for the AFL. Supporters are relied upon to be loyal. It is part of the AFL business model and it pays a good chunk of the players' training and pay cheque. Disloyalty to supporters can come home to bite.
The Doc
Roar Guru
Thanks for the comment WCE. I think the COLA had its place in getting the Swans up and running in a rugby league city. It helped them retain players and served its purpose and now its been abolished. Not sure about the cost of living in WA in the late 1980's and 1990s compared to sydney so Ill refrain from comment. That being said, WCE has a brilliant stadium deal and is one of the most profitable clubs in the AFL for 2 decades now so I am not sure what you have to complain about. Not sure the damage is done - an even competition is a good one and a successful sydney helps the AFL enormously. They have maintained their success even after COLA was abolished and after being excluded from trading (or something akin to that) which shows they are a quality side with good football recruitment, development and coaching.
The Doc
Roar Guru
Thanks for the comment rusty. An issue I have grappled with for some time (even if I am born and bred victorian). I have a clear bias here which makes it difficult but as alluded to below, no other stadium bar ANZ stadium has the capacity to hold the biggest game in australian football. A GF is once in a lifetime and having 40,000+ miss out would be disappointing. It is a money thing and the corporate tickets that get dished out to sponsors (fairly or unfairly) eat up a chunk of tickets as do allocation that goes to individiual clubs which they sell of as big money spinners (again wrongly in my view). Also how do you determine who gets the home venue - is the first placed team? but what if they lose their first week qualifier or the preliminary. Could get messy there but food for thought.
The Doc
Roar Guru
Thank for the comment Paul. Yes 3 flags (+ runners up) is a fantastic return over 26 or so years of football. Geez I wish the blues had that kind of record in the AFL era. I love the underdog and looking forward to saints and dees breaking their respective droughts hopefully in the next few years.