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BC wrote: Fair point TT...I guess my opinion is tainted by the 2016 and 2017 GF's where Peel had an average of 9 aligned players during the season and yet 17 suited up for the GF two years ago and 15 last year. Clearly there's an issue when a team can load up like they did come finals time. We'll just have to wait and see what happens this year and whether the new rules have any affect.

BC I trust you had a good Christmas and all the best for 2018.

Cheers 42...same goes to you. You and I disagree on just about everything but I really admire your passion for the WAFL and your beloved SD.

BC wrote: Rd...I'm astounded the WAFC didn't stipulate that for an aligned player to qualify for WAFL finals he must have played more WAFL than AFL games throughout the season. To me that should be the first criterion as it ensures the integrity of the WAFL is maintained by having WAFL players against predominantly other WAFL players. It's particularly relevant for the next couple of years as I can't see Freo or WCE playing finals in the near future.

Spot on BC

BC wrote: Fair point TT...I guess my opinion is tainted by the 2016 and 2017 GF's where Peel had an average of 9 aligned players during the season and yet 17 suited up for the GF two years ago and 15 last year. Clearly there's an issue when a team can load up like they did come finals time. We'll just have to wait and see what happens this year and whether the new rules have any affect.

Another fair point BC, maybe the years average needs to be taken into account.

Agreed DF...and I think that was the point Schofield was making after last years GF. It seems incongruous that an aligned team relies on it's local talent during the year to get into the finals as Peel did last year with an average of 13 or so non-aligned players per game then drops half of them to make way for the AFL guys at finals time.

Maybe desperation by the WAFL Club seeking credibility.
Which it never has had and probably never will.

I would rather see PFC retain it's history and identity than for it to buy or be forced to buy a premiership under those circumstances.
And god knows I crave to win some games let alone a premiership.

Can anyone tell me why there aren't more Peel supporters posting on here other than RD? No doubt we'll get the usual crap about every time they come one here they get shit canned but to me that's nonsense as we've hardly seen any posts on here from day 1. FG had a few years ago but they haven't gravitated across to this site. Could it be Peel supporters are few and far between these days given the club has been taken over by the Dockers, but that still doesn't mitigate the fact there's no a lot of Peel supporters at games or elsewhere. Even at the last two GF's there were more Dockers colours than Peel's which could be a clue. Not trying to be a pain here...I just thought I'd ask for the opinion of others and in particular RD's....and also Claremont...what's going on there? There's one or two posters but that's about it.

BC, When you have a good look, there’s only a dozen or so regular posters on this site for the WAFL total (if that) Naturally some sides are just not going to be represented on here with those numbers. Plus there isn’t a lot to gain from speaking up on these sites for reasons you’ve already brought up. Must remember aswell the population of the whole peel region is probebly only 100,000 people. Regionally based state league clubs nation wide have always struggled to gain a massive following. I have only lived in Mandurah for a few years but I can tell there gaining more and more representation in the community. I don’t think they really engaged the regions footballing community very well some time ago, but the perception down south is starting to change I think.

TheTrain wrote: BC, When you have a good look, there’s only a dozen or so regular posters on this site for the WAFL total (if that) Naturally some sides are just not going to be represented on here with those numbers. Plus there isn’t a lot to gain from speaking up on these sites for reasons you’ve already brought up. Must remember aswell the population of the whole peel region is probebly only 100,000 people. Regionally based state league clubs nation wide have always struggled to gain a massive following. I have only lived in Mandurah for a few years but I can tell there gaining more and more representation in the community. I don’t think they really engaged the regions footballing community very well some time ago, but the perception down south is starting to change I think.

Sad but true comment. No WAFL supporter can take the high ground on this as the attendances at all games are now getting to the stage that the competition is becoming irrelevant. The people I see at Bassendean every week are now very familiar faces and many of them are people of my vintage. So what happens when we are all gone? I am hoping that Swans will continue as an entity of some description and maybe their deliberate stategy to position itself as a community based club is a move anticipating the eventual demise of the WAFL.

Rookie draft wrote: As a Peel supporter it’s refreshing to see tighter qualifying rules for the finals being applied this season. My understanding is there will be a cap of a maximum of 12 AFL listed players.

Personally I don’t think this goes far enough. I think the cap should be 10 meaning there’s more Peel or EP listed players than AFL listed. Getting more hungry for success Peel players in will only serve the club better.

In reflecting on what might have transpired had these qualifying rules been in from the first year of the alignment I think a couple of results may have gone the other way. Perhaps 2016 would have been a little closer or the result gone the other way. Pretty sure 2014 result would be reversed. I’m sure East Perth would have loved to have played a few more of their own rather than some of the Eagle duds they played that weren’t at WAFL league standard.

Swings and roundabouts. Bring on 2018.

When you say "Peel" you mean Peelmantle right? The Peel football club is longer in existence FYI.