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La Hincha wrote:

Unholytugboat wrote: What I am against is come November the letters will go out, 100 kids will be sucked up into wafl colts preseason, decimating 17s comps and waafl colts teams.

I have had the conversations with junior clubs & parents. When they eventually come back to the level they belong at the team has folded due to lack of numbers, usually only just falling short.

If they took the best of the best, no problem. But they dont.

It would be neglectful of the WAFL clubs not to invite ALL of the kids that have some sort of talent and those that are deemed potential late developers.

Nathan Fyfe is the classic late developer. Grew tall very late

Kids would be disappointed not to be invited.

Although I wasn't a top junior, I remember getting an invite to try out and it was really special to me.

The squads are more or less sorted by now and those that didn't make it have plenty of time to register with a year 12 team or an amateur club.

Once again, none of this would even be discussed if the numbers at yr 8 to yr 12 were at a reasonable level for a city this size.

LaH and also uthb I obviously wasn't aware that the WAFC now had responsibility of all junior footy. Under those circumstances it would appear that they are not doing such a great job.

Imagine a system being in place that benefits all stakeholders in community football. Not just one. Everyone with the same goal of promoting and ensuring kids stay in football.

Then u have the current status quo, the wafl gives no fucks about anyone but themselves and does not care on consider the impact they are having on the product that feeds them.

been reading these posts with interest and it seems that every level of footy is being shafted by the massive all devouring AFL machine.

UHTB, I hear what your saying as you watch your beloved ammos and juniors gradually get strangled, but we WAFL faithful feel exactly the same pain and are dealing with the same issues of watching our 100+ year old traditional comp die by a 1000 AFL/WAFC cuts. There are tiers in the footy system and the AFL sits heavily at the top, way below that on the 2nd tier are the semi-pro state leagues, WAFL, SANFL, VFL & TFL and I suppose we include the NEAFL.

The AFL is sucking the life out of the state leagues, really wanting them to throw away all their history and tradition and become dedicate u/age comps strictly as feeders to the all consuming AFL beast. I guess the same is happening between the 2nd tier state leagues and all the comps that sit below that second tier, ammo's and the like. The state leagues are doing what they can, what is necessary to survive, but I fear it is a very 1 sided fight when one entity has all the money and pulls all the strings. It's staggering that the AFL and the WAFC are blind to the fact that if you kill the goose, then the golden eggs will soon dry up. We will see an American system where youngsters stop playing if they miss the various sports drafts or before that when they don't make their college teams, they drift off and do individual activities not team sports or at best play social games in the park with friends.

MarkOlsen wrote: Grump - i take it that you were the bloke who got Life Membership at EP ?
if so well done.

Thx, very honoured and humbled.

Unholytugboat wrote: Imagine a system being in place that benefits all stakeholders in community football. Not just one. Everyone with the same goal of promoting and ensuring kids stay in football.

Then u have the current status quo, the wafl gives no fucks about anyone but themselves and does not care on consider the impact they are having on the product that feeds them.

Imagine a system - yeah we had one until 1987 until the first AFL drug empire wanker was concocted , then just to nail it shut in 1994 the second abortion totally ruined it

Current status quo - laughable statement ludicrous & non factual , it's the AFL who give no farks

The wafl has their place in the system, they just need to evolve. U can't just sit there saying look at our history etc, u need to be current. Not throw out the history but work with other stakeholders.

People ask why are the youth dropping out. I have just explained one of the major reasons. Wafl colts intake. Yet because many of you are die hard wafl people u can't see it or acknowledge it.

It needs to change and if the wafl clubs don't start changing it will be taken out of your hands for ever, wafl clubs will start to struggle further.

Every level of footy under the national league needs to adapt and evolve not just the WAFL, the AFL have given very little guidance, support or remuneration to the lower tiers of footy, WA footy relies on what we get from the 2 AFL clubs license dividends and from the lease on Subi oval that has 1 year to run then that cash cow is gone and we have to go cap in hand to the Government and their stadium managers to see what crumbs we can get.

The biggest problem is that there appears to be no long term plan for 2nd & 3rd tier footy, or if there is the AFL are not letting the stakeholders know much about it, phark me they cant even handle a situation when one of the anointed clubs coached by their once golden boy forced their players to hit the juice and they stumbled and fumbled the whole deal, trying to protect that club and that person for fear of "damaging the brand" so not much hope that they will have anyones interests besides the elite level, certainly not the state leagues, ammo's or juniors who are treated like an annoyance or a problem child that should be seen and not heard .... or is that not seen and not heard?

I think u will find all other tiers will be fine. The level of funding is minimal to them and junior / amateur clubs are required to be profitable.

Then u have the wafl, without significant funding from the wafc it would fold.

I get the reasons why, along came afl. But u can't just sit there doing the same thing for the past 100 years thinking it's all going to be OK.

How many hundreds of millions have the AFL thrown to the Queensland and New South Wales for what return? Aussie Rules is a novelty in the two northern states; the vast majority of those two states could not give a stuff about Aussie Rules. For the sake of under $20 million per year the AFL could easily ensure the viability and long-term future of the WAFL. But no what they want to do is to destroy the WAFL like they have destroyed the VFA and Tassie footy.

With the WAFL in a financially stable position there would be a flow on to the junior and amateur footy clubs.

Uthb you won't have to wait too long to dance on the graves of the WAFL clubs because if the rumoured change to the colts' competition then the WAFL is doomed and it will happen very quickly.

Dancing on graves? I am for the wafl league system, it's a must in any reshuffle.

Do what u do but not at the expense of real grass roots football.

The shit players need a spot too. Not just the best.