Nicotta

Roar Rookie

Joined May 2011

Views

Published

Comments

Published

Comments

Nicotta hasn't published any posts yet

I personally think the introduction of a second tier could help both boost the league’s quality and expand it at the same time. To start with, a few NRL or AFL teams could start up franchises for this A2-League (such as Parramatta, Wollongong, Canberra, Carlton, Geelong, etc) with the Tasmanian bid also given permission, and the remaining spots could be filled with current state league teams, with funds to grow the state clubs’ standards coming as reward for qualifying for this second tier.

The current state teams joining would win qualification through either winning their respective leagues, or via a play-off system. For example, higher quality leagues (such as NSW and VIC) could see their champions or however many automatically qualify, with lower quality leagues (such as NT and ACT) having their champions enter a qualification play-off.

There are current 9 leagues at this level, so spots would be limitted. Maybe the AFL and NRL-supported franchises could start off in the A-League, allowing more state league clubs to participate in a possible 12 or 14 team second tier. It would work best if the second tier saw its bottom teams relegated back to state leagues, however this could cause problems in the number of teams in each state league… I’ll leave this to the FFA.

The point of this improving the A-League, is;

1. Current AFL and NRL fans would be interested in following their new A-League (or A2-League) team’s growth.
2. The threat of relegation would lift performances in both tiers.
3. As A2-League teams join the top tier, more funds would be thrown at them, lifting the standards of these clubs, and eventually the standard of the A2-League as they start to relegate back down.

Are super clubs the way to go in Australia?

View Comment

Football

2011