Good points.

Another option might be a like for like trade rule. You want Lever, you must give up a player of equal ability in present terms, not future terms.

That said, I still want AFL to be as much as a genuine competition as possible. I get free movement, but again as a fan I don’t want to watch my team with 80% mercenaries.

Perhaps 70% local talent target per team would be a fair expectation?

Really want to get to Perth Stadium!

Some of the best Stadiums in Australia I’ve been to for massive games are;

– MCG – home of AFL (and 1956 Olympics)
– Lang Park – home of State of Origin (and Reds)
– Stadium Australia – home of NRL Grand Final (and 2000 Olympics)

The list goes on… but the two recent additions are;
– Adelaide Oval (2014)
– Perth Stadium (2018)

For mine, if I’m in ANY of those cities, I’m 100% trying to get to a game. So next time you are at the airport, I’d encourage you to see more than the airport and experience the state of the art stadiums! Good thing in Oz, after footy their is cricket.

Star and a flag for the academy system idea Matto. Whoever develops the talent, that team/city reaps the rewards.

Just need to be careful with ‘scholarships’. System could be gamed and corrupted by rich clubs/associated schools as they recruit players at young ages from poorer clubs/associated schools.

That is part of the reason, I came to the conclusion that ring fencing based on state of origin would work.

And the 6 state zones suggestion does not have to be definitive. Could be 5 zones;
1. QLD-NT
2. NSW
3. Tasmania
4. WA-SA
5. Melbourne.

In this variation, WA+SA form a collective zone due to both being ‘small town’ cities in comparison to Sydney/Melbourne. SA (1.2 million population) would pick some overflow drafts from WA (1.67 million).

Another variation is 3 zones;
1. QLD-NT
2. WA-SA
3. Melbourne/NSW/Tasmania.

I know as a QLD we are parochial, we want as many of the local boys given a chance as possible to play for Lions/Suns.

This is the sort of things that needs to be looked at.

For Dangerfields story… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Dangerfield

The short version;

Dangerfield was with Crows for 8 years. His first year of AFL with Crows he played 2 games and studied in Geelong. Went on to play for Crows till he was 25. When he was 23 he made the All Australian team.

This supports what you are saying that the Cats were not interested until he became a great player.

However I think Danger was genuine. The world would have been his oyster in terms of clubs. But he chose Geelong because it was his home, the club also bought Selwood from West Coast and also with great pay deal.

Sydney and Melbourne are both BIG cities. Like Melbourne with Geelong and other locations nearby, Sydney has Newcastle, Illawarra and Canberra nearby. Very expensive though.

Perhaps it is more of a big town v small town thing. Either way, it supports case for some cities to have State of Origin zones. I would love to see the Swans have more NSW players, and Lions have more QLD players. That is one rivalry which hasn’t been developed over the years, and could do with local talent.

Sydney 4 million.
Melbourne 3.8 million.

Of the other AFL club cities,
Brisbane 2 million
Perth 1.7 million.
Adelaide 1.2 million
Gold Coast 570k (but close to Brisbane)
Geelong 170k (but close to Mebourne)

Thanks Mal !

Mal one more thing, could you have a word with Queensland Rugby League and see to it all the forwards who go through the meat machine of State of Origin get a proper acknowledgment and send off. These were your boys who did the job year after year. And I’m sure there bodies are a wreck because of it.

Felt annoyed that some players like JT get a great send off in SoO III 2017 (and your my hero JT!!), but others get completely forgotten as though they are nothing. ie. Nate Myles, Sam Thaiday, Aidan Guerra, Justin O’Neill and Jacob Lillyman. They 100% need a proper send off those boys!!

You are onto something here…

Soccer needs to establish itself for two pathways/alliances;
1. Soccer pathway
2. Developing kicking skills. FFA could aim to team up with AFL/Rugby in their pursuit of excellence in kicking, kicking techniques. Rugby kickers in Australia are horrendous compared to England, South Africa and NZ. AFL players often start off with soccer, and then finish with soccer. Why not tie into their pathway/system.

You are onto something here…

Soccer needs to establish itself for two pathways/alliances;
1. Soccer pathway
2. Developing kicking skills. FFA could aim to team up with AFL/Rugby in their pursuit of excellence in kicking, kicking techniques. Rugby kickers in Australia are horrendous compared to England, South Africa and NZ. AFL players often start off with soccer, and then finish with soccer. Why not tie into their pathway/system.

I don’t have the Roar on my icon along with Rugby/Rugby League and AFL. I probably should, but this has what has turned me off soccer;

1. Club soccer fees for young kids (pre-teens). Too high. High fees means parents who have laid out so much cash and want to see results. It adds pressure at an age where it shouldn’t be so high. I’m talking $700+. These fees are used to pay for clubs to fund chance at winning FFA Cup.

2. At young age, the season is too long. 26 weeks. Other codes are not this ridiculous.

3. Games are shown on round pitches. Why? Don’t do this. Don’t ever do this (or as last resort).

To bring me back I want value for money. How about this. Ring fence seniors from fee gouging juniors. Set a maximum price for junior soccer participation fees across the country at a reasonable level. The participation fee also doubles as membership with your local A-League team.

Basically, you get to use the membership for free entry to A-League games at games which are not historically sold out. That at least would get me in through the gates. Fill the stands. Look better on TV. Get my kids into it. They become adults. They are then a 2nd generation supporter.

Nice framework and breakdown.

I would follow what you said, but have 10 home and away games within your division only. Each team awarded Divisions Premiers Title.

A Champions Cup then held amongst 6 Division Premiers. Come up with a fair quirky finals structure like SR, and boom. Rugby Premiers Club Champion.

You do this for 13 weeks for Super Rugby Class. Repeat again for the Everyman Class (I’ll get to this shortly).

Adds far more excitement. TWO champions. TWO finals series. More is more. People also see Rugby is for the Everyman, not just giants.

But each team has a size class like boxing;
1. Super Rugby class. As per normal. No restrictions.
2. Everyman class. Average playing height of team of 175cm applies. Some type of muscle mass ruling applies also. Benefit of this. Enables game to expand to Asia. Other pros below.

Why create a two classes?

Well, Players are getting massive. And I mean massive. Both height and muscle mass. People look at the game and don’t want their kids playing against giants. Personally I hate watching Rugby when players get too big. They don’t represent me. Dial it back a notch. Think Wallabies 1991, or Grand Slam, and just a little bit smaller than that, not much just a little. That is the everyman class. Even though we might never make it, at least we are can believe we could if we really wanted to.

Here Here!

How about fans ownership of clubs.

Give him an honourary trial for a barbarians game!

Also Scott how do you embed images in your article?

Queensland Maroons are admirable in so many areas.

But the one thing, the one thing I think they should hang their heads in shame over is treatment of the forwards.

Forwards go through the meat grinder of State of Origin year after year.

Yes fantastic send off for JT (your my hero BTW JT). But what of the boys who toil their butts off (your my hero to Thaiday 🙂

Doesn’t seem to be raiding the best performing club type thing. Here were the podium finishes going backwards in time from 2017 to 2008;
Adelaide 1, 5, 7, 10, 11, 2, 14, 11, 5, 5
Fremantle 16, 3, 6, 2, 6, 11, 6, 14, 14
West Coast 8, 6, 2, 9, 13, 5, 4, 16, 11, 15
Port Adelaide 5, 10, 9, 5, 7, 14, 16, 10 10, 13

Lions dynasty held together. Akermanis was a big reason for this. He used to do commentary with Lions permission. He was paid well for commentary, which enabled him to get paid less by the Lions. So his team mates could get paid more.

Lever got one thing right. He is headed to an MCG tenant club. And it’s Tigers or Demons battle for top 4 in 2018. Hawks and Pies off the pace at the moment.

If Tigers or Dees can make the top 4, it is equivalent to winning the minor premiership with all it’s advantages. Home ground finals giving better odds for a home ground GF at the MCG.

What I want to know is, what club did Lever support growing up?

When an AFL players 10-12 year career is over, they are 10-12 years behind in their next career. Unless of course their next career is AFL related.

Whoops.

Let me reframe things Matt.. I’ll say who has the greatest to least advantage at the MCG and explain why;

1. MCG Tenants. Tigers/Hawks/Pies/Dees. They play home games at MCG. Whichever team of this bunch is best, they are a chance at a top 4. They don’t need to be top team, just top 4, that gives minor premiership advantages. In then rolls the home MCG finals. Plus they sleep in same bed etc.

2. Geelong. Simonds Stadium is 115m wide. Most unusual ground to play on in the AFL. Skinnest in the comp. And it is LOOOONG too. Nearly 180m, v most grounds which are around 160m. Helps make their home ground a fortress. Helps them make finals. Team has to be good as well obviously. Get to sleep in owns beds in finals series. Fans have short drive compared to interstaters.

3. Brisbane Lions. Ground dimensions of Gabba nearly identical to MCG. This gives Lions an edge over Docklands team in my opinion. Lions also have connection with Melbourne through merger with Fitzroy. Will have a crowd support for that reason. Downside it the travel factor and not sleeping in normal beds.

4. Swans. They played on an MCG equivalent sized pitch (135m wide). They know how to use the space. They have a connection with Melbourne through South Melbourne Swans. Will have crowd support for that reason.

5. Docklands Teams. St Kilda, Bulldogs, North Melbourne, Carlton, Essendon. Despite being a Melbourne team, only the Saints and Bulldogs have cracked a final since 2001. Yes I 100% agree, they have crowd support, but in my opinion, the Docklands playing width works against these teams come MCG finals. In general they get only slightly more games at the MCG than interstaters. Get advantage of sleeping in own beds and being in familiar town.

6. Gold Coast Suns/GWS. Both around 133m-130m width. Closer than some to the MCG width of 140m. No historical connection with Melbourne. Have to travel interstate.

7. Crows/Power. Adelaide Oval about 122m wide. Interstate team + smaller width. No historical supporter base in MCG, but at least driving distance for committed fans. Have to sleep in hotel room though, not in their own bed.

8. West Coast/Fremantle. Longest travel distance plus Subiaco 122m wide ground. Will change soon, West Coast/Fremantle going to 130m at Perth Stadium. Still not MCG equivalent 140m in my opinion though. 130m might mean neither an advantage of disadvantage in home and away season. Should have pushed harded for an exact MCG match. When you have to travel so far, you need all the advantages you can get. Missed opportunity.

True!

And irconically, Dees are the team who haven’t benefited in the past decade and still looking to break the drought.

Agree with you 100%. Third game would need to go with team who finishes highest. I’ll be writing a followup at some point and will say as much.

For interstate clash, MCC, AFL, Victorian Government would demand MCG hosts a final if this were to have any chance at all.

But again agree, WCE/Fremantle are at a disadvantage if playing at MCG in game 2 due to travel distance. Open to suggestions there. First thing that comes to mind is prelim rights. Teams which play the Friday night are team who has to clock the highest distance Grand Final week.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery Connor 🙂

1. Tigers. Tigers will become the new Hawks. Defensive team. Swarming defence. Will add attack next season.
2. Sydney. Stuffed up start of 2016 and ran out of puff making finals. Will get next season right from the start.
3. GWS. Great list. Play on 2nd skinniest ground in the comp. Helps strengthen home ground advantage.
4. Adelaide. Won’t get the 6-0 start like they did in 2017. Will still be a force and will be better at the MCG in 2018.
5. Geelong. Not many teams play well on the skinniest pitch in the AFL against quality Geelong teams. Odds in Geelongs favour to make finals.
6. Melbourne. Next best MCG tenant team. Lever set to join them from Crows to add some starch at the back.
7. West Coast. Pedigree club like Swans. Need one year to mature with loss of experienced heads and adapting to new stadium.
8. Western Bulldogs. Can they find the Bulldogs spirit and style of 2016?
9. Port Adelaide. Couldn’t beat top 8 sides. But if they mirror the swarming defence of the Tigers, they’ll be there deep in September.
10. Essendon. Agree Jobe Watson out. Need a few years to be a force.
11. Lions. If they secure Hodge, Lions will be the biggest mover in 2018, and a top 8 team by 2020. Need to also, AFL in QLD is dying.
12. Hawthorn. Lost Hodge. Rebuilding. That said. They are the dark horse of the competition.
13. St Kilda. Agree. No Nick Riewoldt.
14. Fremantle. Will be learning to play at new stadium. Will rise in 2019/2020.
15. Collingwood. Lottery team. Some days GF quality. Other days an also ran. Need to get consistency.
16. North Melbourne. Rebuild phase.
17. Carlton.
18. Gold Coast. Seriously need to emulate GWS recruitment strategy.

Then for GF… I’ll go with one MCG tenants to make it. 8/10 last GF finalists have been MCG tenants. If a tenant team can secure top 4, it is equivalent to a minor premiership advantage.

2008 – Hawks (Premiers)
2009
2010 – Collingwood GF (Premiers)
2011 – Collingwood GF (runners up)
2012 – Hawks (runners up)
2013 – Hawks (Premiers)
2014 – Hawks (Premiers)
2015 – Hawks (Premiers)
2016 –
2017 – Richmond (Premiers)

Cotchin is the real deal. Leigh Matthews rated him over the weekend broadcast in the same category as Michael Voss. HUGE wrap!!