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Recently it was announced that North Ballarat would not field a team in the VFL in 2018. It was also announced that Frankston would return to the competition meaning that, with the inclusion of the North Melbourne reserves, the number of clubs competing will rise to 15.
Further, the VFL reserves – the Development League – will cease from next year. The changes at VFL level are nothing new, teams have been coming and going from the competition since its beginning.
But in modern times the VFL seems to have struggled with its identity and purpose, trying to be at least two different things at the same time.
The primary, but not sole purpose of the VFL is now as a reserves competition for Victorian AFL clubs. As a result of this there are three different types of teams competing in the VFL; the direct AFL reserves clubs, the clubs with an alignment with an AFL club, and the independent standalone clubs.
The second group, which from about 2001 until very recently contained the majority of teams, now consists of only three – Box Hill, Casey and Sandringham, and of these only Sandringham really has an identity separate to that of its AFL affiliate.
But, depending on what happens with a St Kilda reserves side in the future, it might lose its identity too. There is a problem with this though; the structure of the competition is not good for reserves.
Look at this season for example. Sandringham’s first game was not until the 15th of April – that’s four weeks after the start of the AFL season, and meant that players who were not selected for St Kilda could not gain form or fitness in the reserves for those weeks.
As this was true for basically all teams, some might say that there is no problem, but it does demonstrate the problems of trying to be both a reserves competition and the premier football league of Victoria.
Every year the call for a dedicated AFL reserves competition seems to grow louder, not just from Victorians, but also from traditionalists in Western and South Australia who also find AFL reserve’s sides in their state leagues.
A true reserves league would not only allow for all the reserves teams to compete in a more even way, but would allow the state competitions to become what they should be – competitions showcasing the best non-AFL talent in their state. The problem is that this would require AFL list sizes to increase from around 40 players now to around 50 or so in order to have enough players to fill out a reserves side.
That’s 900 AFL listed players. The other option is to have non AFL listed players supplement the reserves list, but this would still mean taking out players from the VFL and other competitions.
So, the question is, is there enough talent for both the AFL reserves and state leagues to prosper? Or is the current arrangement the best way to ensure that competitions such as the VFL survive?
It’s not a short term question either. Any change will take years to put in place and will take a lot of funding and commitment from the AFL in order to succeed.
It will also take engagement from the fans and clubs as well. If the clubs give the fans something to support, a team that they feel linked to, then the competition will be in a good place. The VFL (or VFA as it was then) was at its peak when it offered something different for fans to watch, whether that be different rules or different times.
What the VFL can offer in modern times is something different to the AFL – the experience. If the VFL can become the premier suburban and regional competition in Victoria, then it can offer what the AFL no longer can, high quality football in a smaller, suburban environment.
Basically, that’s what it offers now, but in a standalone competition. VFL clubs could also be allowed to form links with TAC cup sides, which would allow under-18 footballers in Victoria to gain experience against older more developed players.
Some TAC cup games could then be played as curtain raisers before VFL games, and AFL reserves teams could do the same for AFL matches (if the AFL allows it).
The VFL and its rich history are under threat, but with some reform the competition can not only be saved, but can be made into an important part of the Australian football landscape.
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