Australia has changed and it continues to change at a fast rate every single day and every single week now.
It’s time that the AFL and the NRL actually wake up to this new reality and the players that play this game wake up to the new reality that the gravy train is over.
The time of greed and thinking it’s all about their competitions and their sports is over. It’s also time that the media wake up as well and stopped focusing all their attention on these two competitions.
Things now have to change. Once we move out of this current COVID-19 pandemic – and we will – everything will be different and the AFL, NRL, players and media need to get a grip on this.
So where should the changes be made?
There can no longer be an 18-team AFL competition. It must be reduced back to ten teams at the least and 12 teams at the most, and Melbourne clubs must either merge or move back to the VFL.
The Victorians need to wake up. The football world doesn’t revolve around them and their clubs don’t own the sport like they think they do.
So what would my new competition look like?
The interstate clubs that remain are the West Coast Eagles, Adelaide Crows, Fremantle Dockers, Port Adelaide Power, Sydney Swans and Brisbane Bears.
The GWS Giants and Gold Coast Suns merge and move to Darwin.
The Melbourne clubs that remain are the Collingwood Magpies, Melbourne Demons and Richmond Tigers.
Hawthorn and North Melbourne merge and move to Tasmania. Geelong remains as stand-alone team.
Essendon, Carlton and the Western Bulldogs all go back to the VFL.
That gives you a 12-team, truly national competition instead of what we currently have, which is basically an extended VFL.
(Paul Kane/Getty Images)
In terms of the NRL, the cuts have to be tougher and harder to get a viable competition post this COVID-19 crisis, and unfortunately once again those cuts have to come in Sydney. The cold, hard reality is the NRL is even less of a truly national competition than the AFL is.
The NRL must go from 16 teams to either eight or ten teams.
The clubs that remain as stand-alone entities are the Brisbane Broncos, Canberra Raiders, Sydney Roosters, South Sydney Rabbitohs, Newcastle Knights and New Zealand Warriors.
The Cronulla Sharks and Wests Tigers merge and are relocated to Perth immediately and become a new Perth team.
Canterbury and St George Illawarra merge and are relocated to Adelaide immediately and become a new Adelaide team.
North Queensland and Gold Coast merge and play home games in both Townsville and Port Moresby.
Penrith and Parramatta merge and move to Bathurst. This gives you a ten-team NRL competition.
The AFL and NRL should not come back in 2020 at all, and they should instead let the state leagues such as the WAFL, SANFL and NSWRL lead the way in bringing sport back. Also they should be both doing everything they can to support these state leagues and country and local competitions to get back on their feet in 2020.
Then in 2021 they can return as a slimmed-down competition with the new structures in place. The players in both the AFL and NRL are also going to need to accept that the high payments they may have been getting are now over. In fact, they may have to go out and find work in addition.
What we are seeing is a historic reset of the Australian sporting landscape. The AFL and NRL have two options: either they get on board and reset and use this as a opportunity to do what is needed to be done, or they can bury their heads in the sand and pretend everything is fine and will just return to normal once this is all over.
At the moment they seem to be doing the bury-head-in-the-sand option. Time is going to tell.
Knoxy
Guest
Why should Carlton and Essendon be kicked out of the AFL when they are two of the most well supported clubs in the league? How is alienating tens of thousands of supporters from the competition going to benefit the AFL? What is your rationale for deciding that only twelve clubs can survive? As others have said if you want to make these arguments you need to back it up with some actual reasoning.
Emorej
Roar Rookie
typical Victorian one eyed and don't get it think the world owes you everything thing you own Aussie Rules Football. The AFL in the current forms is nothing more than extended VFL.
Floyd Calhoun
Guest
So clubs like GWS & GCS have actually been propping up basket cases like Essendon? I hadn’t ever thought of it that way. No one has. Because it’s simply not true. Even during lean periods, clubs such as Essendon & Carlton dwarf those two on every level. Don’t get me started on your choice of Melbourne as a club that deserves to stay in your brave new world of footy. That makes no sense whatsoever.
Redb
Roar Guru
Except the tv ratings for non Swans or Brisbane games are rubbish in NSW and QLD. Fox numbers are skewed by traditional States watching the games featuring GC and GWS, their FTA numbers for QLD and NSW are poor. The TV deal is not predicated on GC and GWS , they mave added a little more $ at the time, but the heartland remains the strength, you cull Vic teams you lose big fanbases of AFL.
JC
Roar Rookie
Good for you jez.
Emorej
Roar Rookie
No I got the point of your contribution and if you actually bothered to read the article you will see it doesn't merge you with Carlton but send you all back still as your clubs to the VFL. See the world has changed 18 team AFL competition will not be viable you may think it is but it wont be, and while we are at it you forget that without West Coast, Fremantle, Adelaide, Port Adelaide, Sydney, GWS, Brisbane and Gold Coast your Essendon would have folded as a club a long time ago because without those clubs your club wouldn't have been propped up for so long.
Officer59
Roar Rookie
Why do you think they're not? Did you read my post? Even the NRL said they were more concerned about the clubs backed by the leagues clubs. My point is that ALL clubs are in danger. Private clubs will still receive payments from their owners in some form as it's in their interest to keep them afloat. .....what will the pokie backed clubs receive?
Officer59
Roar Rookie
NO......the make up of the teams in general would cause fans to become disillusioned & stop following league.
Ball Burster
Roar Rookie
I agree with the notion that the AFL competition needs to drop teams and with many of your prescriptions. There are some problems though: (i) It would be a mistake to expand into the NT. It would be costly and even with the best will in the world, players would just rotate through a Darwin based club. [Just cut GWS and GCS] (ii) Cutting Carlton and Essendon would be a financial disaster for the whole competition (iii) You have left St Kilda out of your reckoning. I reckon a reduction to 16 teams would be sustainable. As much as I support a national competition - with two teams from the West and SA - we would all do well to remember that support for the major Victorian clubs is national while that for non-Vic clubs is local.
Munro Mike
Roar Rookie
I share the thoughts of Clipper on this one. The author of the original article has completely ignored the 100% owned Marvel stadium; which the AFL has leveraged for a loan to underpin the competition moving forward. The AFL will be far, far more able to avoid 2 steps back. Make no mistake - if the finances are such that the NRL lose a couple of clubs - then it will be a long, long way back.
Munro Mike
Roar Rookie
#Beni Unfortunately we're heading into late Autumn and then winter. That's our peak 'flu' type virus transmission season. That's why the best thing the Govt has finally done is take over the 14 day quarantining of international arrivals. There's probably still too much not known about the virus - such that even if we stopped international arrivals entirely - and so no new 'imported' cases would be coming in - project forward 14 days - and we might think it's all good. However - there's the concern that there might be asymptomatic carriers/spreaders; there might be those with such mild symptoms that they don't bother getting tested....it would take very little for it to blow up again. That's why the rhetoric currently is 6 months - - it's setting that expectation. Yeah - perhaps if they then open up at the end of August then everyone will be so overjoyed that they will be satisfied to return the Morrison administration for another term.......
JC
Roar Rookie
Oh no jez it definitely wasn’t you personally - you’ve missed the point of my contribution. There is a real possibility people you know and love could die mate - and although other discussion is a good distraction I think the emotive nature of your article reflects your priorities are out of whack. Seriously. Maybe it’s your way of blowing off anxiety. Maybe it’s a coping strategy. But when you’re making factually incorrect statements dressed in emotive angst, then predicting pie in the sky eventualities without supporting your reasoning it’s makes it hard not to argue a case against you. In addition, you need to know you picked an Essendon supporter who works in public health on a very, very bad day mate, and the mere suggestion of us merging with Carlton makes me think anything your way coming hopefully makes you take stock next time you see fit to pull out the crystal ball. Maybe make sure it doesn’t have a virus too.
Seymorebutts
Guest
I understand its an article to provoke people to think outside the box, but Melbourne get to stay, ?? Essendon and Cartlon have to leave? That is a very hard sell ;-) Melbourne havent won a flag since 1964 , didnt play finals from 64-87 and haven't been much better since. Hate to be so brutal, my dad was a Dees man so I dont take any pleasure in ripping in to them. Carlton and Essendon are the two of the sleeping giants of the league, and will consistently pull big crowds once they put a competitive team on the park. The will sell out the MCG if they ever played each other in a preliminary final at the G. I cant see Hawthorn mergin with anyone, they have been the most successful club of the last 50 years, 13 flags or something?. They seem to be going ok of the field as well. I admit I dont know what their financial position etc is so that is an educated guess. North , Melbourne, and the Dogs ironically share virtually the same colours, have struggled for the last 20 years (ok the Dogs got a flag back in 2016) and even when they were successful were never pulling the crowd numbers that Essendon, Carlton, Collingwood and now Richmond could. So I think you might be able to make a case for those three clubs to merge. Call them the Western Melbourne Kangaroo's ;-) . And they can market three different childrens toys for merchandising, Demons, Bulldogs and Kangaroos... There would have to be a ruthless cull of their list since the league doesnt want to produce another Frankensteins monster like the Lions, but I think it would work. All the cut players would have to have their contracts paid out by the AFL and they can all apply for the draft. GWS and GC should simply be wound up, they are not sustainable now, nor do I think they will be anytime in the next 30 years. Players would be able to negotiate with other clubs for contracts, AFL raises the salary cap significantly to allow for all the GWS GC, MFC, NMFC and FFC to be absorbed back into all the other teams. Scott Morrison should be compelled to pass emergency legislation forcing Toby Greene to play for the West Coast Eagles.. Might grab Coniglio as well, Jeremy Cameron if no one is looking. Fockers can have their tagger back. Its win win as far as I can tell. That would reduce the league by 4 teams, with a 14 team comp, you extend the season to 26 games, everyone plays each other twice... teams can sell home games if they wish.. and that money can get added to their salary cap.
Republican
Guest
.......relocate North to the nations capital please.
Republican
Guest
......you are correct re the NT but its a shame because that state has the highest per cap support for the code in the nation. I believe a dynes perhaps I'm a tad bias, that the nations capital is a serious contender for a stand alone side in the AFL. This would mean a revoke of the GWS licence, while Tassie must be the AFL's number one priority in respect having a presence in the big league.
Davico
Roar Pro
Sydney a plastic Club to be replaced by teams in Tassie, Canberra and Darwin?? What time did you start drinking??
Davico
Roar Pro
Manly, Cronulla and the Titans??? Mate I'm worried about you if you think they are the safest clubs!
Davico
Roar Pro
Are you trying to say that Cronulla and Manly fans make up 50% of the fan base???
Republican
Guest
.......good point and the great irony is that the AFL have GWS. This tells me grass roots are no longer a criteria for 'elite sports' growth.
Republican
Guest
......to be sure, and his mission has been accomplished.