AFL toys with plan to bring back reserves football
Stephen Rielly
The Age
March 8, 2007
THE AFL is exploring the idea of creating a national reserves competition, a league that would replace the various state-based competitions as the second tier of the game and involve a return to the days of "firsts" and "seconds".The option, one of several being examined as part of a review of the relationship between the AFL and the competitions closest to it, would be
expected to increase list sizes to a minimum of 55 players.It would sever the alignments that have existed, in Victoria for example, between nine of the state's 10 AFL clubs and the VFL since the demise of reserves football a decade ago.
Fourteen of the 16 AFL clubs have been briefed on the national reserves competition proposal and several other alternatives, including the idea of an eastern seaboard reserves competition and a stand-alone Victorian reserves competition that would effectively relegate the Victorian Football League to third-tier status.
The AFL Victoria board was briefed on Tuesday night, with other state bodies, principally the SANFL and WAFL, to whom Adelaide, Port Adelaide, Fremantle and West Coast farm out players not selected for a senior game, to be consulted next.
The impact an AFL reserves competition would have on the profile and quality of the WAFL, SANFL and VFL is expected to produce serious opposition to the idea from all three leagues.
While the consultative process is far from complete — the review is expected to continue through much of this year and is unlikely to have any changes introduced before the 2009 season — it is understood that several AFL clubs have indicated enthusiasm for the creation of a national reserves competition.
But more of the Victorian clubs have expressed interest in a 10-team Victorian league.
Either way, all have endorsed the idea of doing away with the farm system and of reclaiming or, in the cases of the South Australian and West Australian sides, gaining total control over the welfare and development of players from draft day onwards.
David Matthews, the AFL's general manager of national and international development, said the reintroduction of reserves football was being considered as the code looked to how it might satisfy its need to grow and develop.
"It's a second-tier review we're conducting because we're keen to review the structures of football below the AFL competition and how appropriate they are for the development of the game," Matthews said.
"It's a national project, not one concerned with state boundaries, that we hope will serve the game across the country for the next 10 or 20 years at least."
One of the appeals for the AFL of a reserves competition, either national or state based, is the access as many as 200 or more players could get to the elite AFL system, a figure far beyond any other elite sport in this country.
"We promote pretty heavily at the moment that the AFL offers 640 jobs for elite athletes at an average salary of $200,000. So in theory, that would allow us to offer even more opportunities than we do against other sports. That said, the AFL competition still has to be elite," Matthews said.
But the likelihood of change is being sold to the clubs on the grounds that the widening gap — financial and otherwise — between the state leagues and the AFL is starting to fail them both.
"There's a bottom-up perspective, which is how clear and how good is the pathway for a talented young player coming up through the system?" Matthews said. "There is also a top-down perspective, which is from the AFL competition's position, that asks how well are we meeting the needs of AFL clubs who want to develop their listed players and how and in what environment are we going to meet their needs?
"We then need to ask: can we make structural improvements across Australia or do we need to look at different structures to service our future needs?"
1: Present model remains or does so with minor changes.
2: A 10-team Victorian-based AFL reserves competition.
3: A 12-team eastern seaboard AFL reserves competition including Brisbane and Sydney.
4: A 16-team national AFL reserves competition.http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2007/03/07/1173166799460.html
