TOPIC:

Just heard on ABC news that the AFL is looking at the idea of a national reserves competition!!!!!!!
Gill Mclaughlin made the announcement but also commented that he is not sure about the concept??

Given most clubs have fallen over themselves to establish womens teams, they now cant cry poor regarding a reserves comp, certainly both WA clubs are more than flush with funds and could easily accommodate a national reserves team.

It would be a positive for the integrity of the WAFL & SANFL but on the flipside the funding currently provided by the AFL teams to the 7 WAFL teams would likely be withdrawn leaving a budgetting blackhole for most clubs, so that would need to be addressed.

In theory this would be a great step forward for the WAFL, hopefully we would see Peel be swallowed up by Freo and we are back to an 8 team comp.

that is interesting news SS. I wonder what the AFL is seeing as major benefits and if they outweigh the cost? Clubs would have to double their travel budget which for Collingwood and Essendon is about $10 given they don't travel but for the likes of WCE and Freo, it would be horrendous.

If that were to happen it would mean bigger squads for both WA reams and guess where they would be coming from.

That would be the compete death knell of the WAFL..

Any talent at all would be sucked out to fill the comp up.

Media, sponsor and crowd wise relegated to a third tier suburban league, it would be broke within a year.

The final death knell.

BC wrote: that is interesting news SS. I wonder what the AFL is seeing as major benefits and if they outweigh the cost? Clubs would have to double their travel budget which for Collingwood and Essendon is about $10 given they don't travel but for the likes of WCE and Freo, it would be horrendous.

Yep MASSIVE additional expense and every squad around the national would at least double over night. with that and the colts gone, you might as well shut down the wafl now.

Oh yeah and if West Coast and the Dorks have to fund reserves and travel that's the end of any funding for WAFL.

Good night Irene

Peter North wrote: If that were to happen it would mean bigger squads for both WA reams and guess where they would be coming from.

Yep. Only way I could see it surviving in any shape is to merge with Ams and run it as a A Grade Suburban Amateur comp because that's about the amount of money and talent it would have left.

This would be the final nail in the WAFL coffin Im afraid.
Hopefully it doesnt get off the ground.

Would be a dream come true for Grassy.

Yeh, it would decimate the WAFL and SANFL - instantly relegated to 3rd tier status with the best players sucked out to top up reserve team lists.

Forget channel 7 coverage - all media focus would shift to the reserve teams. Which in turn leads to less interest from sponsors (and after we're facing money being taken away to fund the reserve comp).

Would the VFL cease to exist - or could the remaining clubs rebuild the league out of the ashes?

OR here's another scenario - rather than the AFL clubs all being forced to fund a reserves team - could East Perth and Peel for example suddenly find themselves playing in a 2nd tier national comp with a mix of the existing reserve/alignment sides?

Peter North wrote: Would be a dream come true for Grassy.

Yeah him and 3 other people will be down at Maddington Oval watching what ever was left of Perth, because all of Eagle Park in Lathlain will be hosting AFL Reserves.