TOPIC:

Barney wrote: A/man, I don't like your summer league idea. Players need the break from playing. Do think there should be a Friday night game played every week early in the season when the weather is still warm.

Sunday games could be looked at again, I know players don't like them because they leave the club late and they have to work on Monday. Maybe try a 12 noon start? Sunday games would allow people who play amateurs on Saturday a chance to attend games.

But it might prevent families from attending who's kids play juniors on Sunday. I'd imagine that would be a higher percentage.

the reality is the wafl has been (and continues to be) smashed from pillar to post. and its now at the point of being totally unbalanced. now the public are supposed to take it seriously??

the only way for it to survive or thrive is to combine the WAFL with the SANFL clubs and run a 18 teams comp and re-name it something like the AFL-Elite League.

may sound pie in the sky, but if done correctly it could easily attract commercial interest and the standard would be very good. it would put all clubs on a national stage and that is the way to generate serious sponsorship money for clubs.

bouncy castles, free entry to bald people, all the other fluff just doesn't cut it for the long haul. Band-aid attitudes will see the same battles and it is a battle we are all losing. SA also.

I am more convinced than ever that this is the only way to go, rather than keep treading the survival line, or waiting like a orphan for someone with loads of money to come to the rescue. options have been used and now the two states should come together and try to make it work. if Foxtel or even a Channel 9 got on board, you can guarantee they would promote it well. The foxtel cup a small example of the potential it could have.

the code of Australian rules itself fundamentally needs a league of a more elite profile to keep the conveyer belt flowing with quality ready made footballers. this would provide that, and a competition with integrity along the way. The WAFL and SANFL clubs keep a high profile and retain their history. It would make for very exciting winter afternoons with so much good football to watch, along with the AFL.

Our code is being challenged so much more these days. If we develop depth within our ranks, it shows stability, growth and a better spread of profile. how is that not better ? This is what needs to be looked at to get crowds back, and I have no doubt people will embrace it and start talking about local footy clubs more. I would love to watch Swan Districts play North Adelaide at Bassendean, or go home at night and perhaps watch West Perth play Central Districts from Adelaide. Its a win for everyone. Both comps need a jolt now. Everything else has been exhausted.

The idea is good but your flogging a dead horse. The WAFL survives and only barely on handouts from the AFL teams through the WAFC and from sponsors. Gate takings and memberships are largely irrelevant. An increase of ten percent or even twenty percent won't help the bottom line much and how many dollars of marketing would that take. No doubt it would give the league more credibility though which would help attract media plus sponsors etc. Perhaps if the WAFL presidents had let the AFL teams have their own reserves teams that might have improved crowds.

Just also proves that winning a flag does not entirely help a WAFL club, WP will lose a massive figure for their 2013 year upwards of 100K.

anchorman wrote: I know that it is a very sore point about what is happening in the WAfL at the moment,but I believe it is happening right throughout the Australian football scene.
Put aside the hate for the Dockers,Thunder,Eagles,East Perth for a while.Lets talk about what the clubs can do to help the WAFL regain some interest.What can your club do to help save the competition?
I have a suggestion to start.

I am ready for the fire.

Anchordude .... mate you contradict yourself .... you ask the above here - and then say I am just talking about my own team ..... well helloooooo champion , it's what you bloody asked me to type in you silly sausage !!!!!

So ..... when are you shelling out for your clubs centurion membership - your club needs you

anchorman wrote: Barney you have some good points,but again like southerner you are relying on hand outs from the two AFL clubs.
I am talking about what YOUR CLUB can do to put bums on seat for the WAFL to survive.
Yes money will help but it won't get people through the gates to watch the games.If you are relying on the two AFL sides to prop you up every year with hand outs,it becomes like the dog chasing its tail.
BUMS on seats is what I am talking about.How YOUR CLUB can get people to attend the games.
It is time the clubs stopped looking for the easy way out,do some work and get to the people.

Didn't mention one single handout from the AFL clubs. The only thing that was close was the $10 levy and members would pay for that, not the club. Just like they pay a levy on their tickets now for public transport.

Won't hurt the two clubs to do their bit to make the WAFL stronger. Would mean a better standard of competition for their reserves players to train in. A stronger WAFL might also mean the two AFL clubs pay less royalties and keep coin in their own bank account.

Plus they do hardly anything as far as game development in this state, especially Fremantle. Time they pulled their finger out.

Underdog wrote:

Barney wrote: A/man, I don't like your summer league idea. Players need the break from playing. Do think there should be a Friday night game played every week early in the season when the weather is still warm.

Sunday games could be looked at again, I know players don't like them because they leave the club late and they have to work on Monday. Maybe try a 12 noon start? Sunday games would allow people who play amateurs on Saturday a chance to attend games.

But it might prevent families from attending who's kids play juniors on Sunday. I'd imagine that would be a higher percentage.

The difference is the juniors don't pay entry or spend at the bar. Amateurs do.

seems the subject gets little substance response. probably sums up where we are at as a league to be honest. When even a simple task like just discussing ideas, has posters going around in circles before anything else.

drastic changes are needed for long term survival. Very easy to write it off as unachievable. Club presidents need to think way outside the square and so does the league chiefs. But the last 25 years probably highlights their lack of foresight and the result is the absolute shambles we have now.

need to think different, drastic and aggressive. Its the only way.

The comp is in a tough spot right now.
In 10 or 20 years will it get easier if we keep plodding as we are ???
Everyone knows that answer.

One good thing happening now is clubs here ARE getting good facilities such as Claremont, WestPerth and Perth, and South Fremantle it appears will benefit from the Dockers upgrading out to Cockburn. East Fremantle could also benefit if they ground share with Souths.

These things are at least the foundation for change, into the sphere of a professional & high profile competition.

There is nothing to lose by delving into a link with the SANFL or at least taking such an idea on board. Clubs from both the WAFL & SANFL have proven recently they are at a better level than some of the VFL's clubs. The VFL is being completely overrun by the AFL clubs anyway, so a national link with them is pointless. WA & SA is good fit.

I just don't see anything else getting people interested. Vouchers, Theme days, Kids Free Days and all the other things may work for a certain week (like what WP have done) but it doesn't answer the long term problems. None of it will make a concrete difference & that is what we must be aiming for. I truly believe that now more than ever.

It cant just be the clubs that carry the responsibility of promoting the comp and getting more bums on seats and bigger memberships. The WAFC must bear much of the load and responsibility as it is due to their decisions that the 7 real clubs now find themselves in even more difficulty and facing two teams potentially loaded with fulltime professional athletes.

The WAFC controls the purse strings and both local AFL clubs are making very nice profits even after substantial dividends to the WAFC. I'd like to know where the money from those divvies has gone?

From the clubs pov, they have to make some very difficult decisions which can result in substantial cost savings, like ground sharing. we have 7 clubs plus the ferals and the Crabs and 8 playing venues. Only one ground is shared, Leederville. As hard as it will be for the clubs they may have to bite the bullet, the first ground sharing arrangement should be the 2 Freo teams as they have a history of ground sharing up until the 50's. Swans and Perth as the 2 eastern suburbs teams and both struggling financially, should ground share and the obvious venue would be to retain an upgraded Basso to keep a presence in the north east corridor. When Subi looked at moving from Subi oval the preferred and obvious option was to share with western neighbours Claremont at Claremont oval but the then Council would not have a bar of it, so they ended up at Leedo sharing with the Ferals and with very low ground maintenance fees as a consequence.

The other obvious thing that is totally lacking by the WAFC is any reasonable level of promotion. What do we get apart from a qtr page advert once a week in the Worst? Things like sponsored articles in the paper and on radio would put the comp in front of so many more people but the WAFC seems to have no commitment to the comp that is the historical basis for all other levels of comp in WA.