TOPIC:

On the assumption that the future of the WAFL is dependant on its "relevance" to the AFL, is there a case to be made for the WAFL as the best developer of "mature age" talent to be drafted into the AFL?
Please think about this before you start yelling at me!
Would that attract the best players who missed the AFL draft but still aspire to play AFL? eg Bolton, Schloithe, Kelly, Scott Jones
Wouldn't that keep the WAFL relevant?
Wouldn't that increase the standard of the footy played?
Wouldn't that hold a place for our Reserves comp and not cause it to go the way of the VFL model?
Importantly, wouldn't it give the WAFL supporters something to continue to follow?

Factor opinion wrote: On the assumption that the future of the WAFL is dependant on its "relevance" to the AFL, is there a case to be made for the WAFL as the best developer of "mature age" talent to be drafted into the AFL?
Please think about this before you start yelling at me!
Would that attract the best players who missed the AFL draft but still aspire to play AFL? eg Bolton, Schloithe, Kelly, Scott Jones
Wouldn't that keep the WAFL relevant?
Wouldn't that increase the standard of the footy played?
Wouldn't that hold a place for our Reserves comp and not cause it to go the way of the VFL model?
Importantly, wouldn't it give the WAFL supporters something to continue to follow?

f/o I hope you don't take my comments personally and I appreciate your motivation.

The fundamental problem is that the AFL want to CONTROL everything. One would have thought for a very small amount of money the AFL could have ensured the viability of the WAFL and the SANFL. How much have they spent on the Gold Coast? But no, DESTROY the historic WAFL and SANFL is what they are doing and the WAFC is in BED with the AFL in the destruction of the WAFL.

They have stripped the Colts and it will only be a matter of time before they are played at one venue one after the other. Stage two is the removal of the ressies from their normal time. Perhaps of all the members of the WAFC the one who is DOUBLY damned by his actions and decisions is Grant Dorrington. What an epitaph for his tombstone: I introduced Peel to the WAFL and I was part of the WAFC when the WAFL folded.

I have been a Swans starting in the 60s and I will continue to follow the WAFL until either or Swans expire. But as I have said before the AFL don't care about the history of the WAFL.

There is a lot of passion for the WAFL on this site. I have supported the WAFL since I was a kid (and I remember when the Perth Demons were a force!)
I agree with you S42 but ...
My point is that if the WAFL is important to the AFL it will survive.
So far the AFL have just thought "18 year old draftee" ... and the AFL therefore wants to control where they come from.
To get more money into the WAFL it needs to be relevant to the AFL. Soon there will be nowhere in Australia to nurture footy talent that has not reached full bloom at 18. Isn't that a place for the WAFL.
Managing to keep control, might be a different matter but if we make the WAFL indispensable within the AFL set up, isn't there a chance?

AFL is purely a business model so any rival competition is a threat to finances & control over that industry and therefore a target
AFL only thinks 18yo draftee - hence control over that system , mature aged supply is so minute it only registers slight relevance and in the future the best prospects will be eventually relocated to the VFL or whatever that sub-competition is then nameplated
The SANFL recognised the impending demise a few years back & sold back their two licences in order to manage their own destiny
Grant Dorrington was a failed coach so it is no surprise he is a failed administrator

Southerner wrote: AFL is purely a business model so any rival competition is a threat to finances & control over that industry and therefore a target
AFL only thinks 18yo draftee - hence control over that system , mature aged supply is so minute it only registers slight relevance and in the future the best prospects will be eventually relocated to the VFL or whatever that sub-competition is then nameplated
The SANFL recognised the impending demise a few years back & sold back their two licences in order to manage their own destiny
Grant Dorrington was a failed coach so it is no surprise he is a failed administrator[/quote]

He wasn't much of a player either.

Southerner wrote: AFL is purely a business model so any rival competition is a threat to finances & control over that industry and therefore a target
AFL only thinks 18yo draftee - hence control over that system , mature aged supply is so minute it only registers slight relevance and in the future the best prospects will be eventually relocated to the VFL or whatever that sub-competition is then nameplated
The SANFL recognised the impending demise a few years back & sold back their two licences in order to manage their own destiny
Grant Dorrington was a failed coach so it is no surprise he is a failed administrator

maybe he had ulterior motives all those years ago when demanding we all wear seatbelts...foresaw the crash and still kept driving the bus in the same direction ...thanks to Smokey for confirming my long held gut feel about his playing ability