TOPIC:

au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/sport/wafl/a/2...to-fly-flag-in-wafl/

Well its confirmed going by this. A good voice for WAFL in what is sure to be an interesting year.

GREAT RESULT

Let's hear him fire up!

Just what I asked for.

Onya Brett...a true WAFL man at last in the system

Must say I have been pretty impressed with Raponi's passion from afar...good to have him on side.

Great decision. It now remains to be seen if he can live up to it. I wish him all the best.

at least Raponi is a wafl man 100%.

I hope he pushes a semi national format. those who say its not achievable should take note of the A-League and FFA, who have announced they are in the process of starting a new National state league comp along the lines of a second division. The FFA have stated it will lift the profile of state football (soccer) to a whole new level. They have identified for their code to prosper, they need to lift the profile of the state league. This is a huge boost for local soccer clubs Australia wide.

Pity the AFL cant see what the FFA obviously do.

Unachievable ?? who knows, but at least they have the guts & foresight to give it a go. They stated the idea has been 2 years in the making. It could be a huge leg up for soccer and the clubs as a result. Well done to the FFA. Ive been on about this for a while. Everything the FFA have publicised is along the lines of what the WAFL & SANFL should do. And perhaps the VFL too.

Clubs will die off if something like what the FFA are doing isn't looked at. Its basic business. Think bigger be bigger, its simple.

Agree Jardine - great post, mate aussie rules is falling further and further behind, as you say if it doesnt think bigger the WAFL will just be , if its not already totally irrellevant.

the current structure is set up to just fade away into the sunset.

All too late the horse has bolted

Nah, dunno if the horse has bolted. It could be done, but it is seriously running out of time.

That first year Williamstown beat Claremont in the Foxtel Cup, it was made very clear at the end of the game that they were building towards a 30,000 plus crowd within 5 years.

The problem with this is the average Joe probably really doesn't care about a knock-out comp, more so than not having Foxtel.

What is to stop Foxtel with all their money from cohersing with $$$ some traditional clubs to form a second teir league for extra content on their FoxFooty channel? If they were able to guarantee financially ruined clubs a chance at survival, then the WAFL or SANFL might be a second option for these clubs.

Think about it, its a cheap way to get established clubs in your league, and some credability. Andy D was touting WP to be WA's 3rd AFL club.

Failing this, they just make all new clubs and people will fowllow - the same as 20 - 20 cricket, however I'd prefer them to take the same aproach the Major League has with the Australian baseball and have established teams like the Brisbane Bandits and Perth Heat.

In 20 years time a deal between the second teir league and the AFL could be done, where say Norwood or Subiaco would then be put into the AFL. An under acheiving club ie North Melbourne could be demoted. This would fix quite alot of the AFL's existing problems. Its would obviously be based on performance and viability.

Or if one or two of the other commerical free to air stations got together (say 9 and 10) and shared costs, built up an interconference competition to cut down travel costs, then it would ve viable. with the right advertsing sponsorship.

Look at the soccer in this country. The Western Sydney Wanderers are getting bigger crowds than the AFL's GWS and the NRL's Penrith Panthers and Wests Tigers.

Old school football is still a viable product, and the clubs and loyalty could be rekindled with the right injection. I'm just not sure if the traditional methods of delivering it are viable anymore...

I'm not sure if this will happenin in Raponi's time, but he certainly needs to look at the viability of the clubs he is about to serve ... This includes the survival of WP.

The AFL (AD) have openly said they have bench marked their NEAFL experiment to be brought up to the same level as the WAFL. Once this is achieved, the horse has bolted. The playing between the NEAFL and the WAFL this year is no coincidence.

MikeXU1 wrote: Nah, dunno if the horse has bolted. It could be done, but it is seriously running out of time.

That first year Williamstown beat Claremont in the Foxtel Cup, it was made very clear at the end of the game that they were building towards a 30,000 plus crowd within 5 years.

The problem with this is the average Joe probably really doesn't care about a knock-out comp, more so than not having Foxtel.

What is to stop Foxtel with all their money from cohersing with $$$ some traditional clubs to form a second teir league for extra content on their FoxFooty channel? If they were able to guarantee financially ruined clubs a chance at survival, then the WAFL or SANFL might be a second option for these clubs.

Think about it, its a cheap way to get established clubs in your league, and some credability. Andy D was touting WP to be WA's 3rd AFL club.

Failing this, they just make all new clubs and people will fowllow - the same as 20 - 20 cricket, however I'd prefer them to take the same aproach the Major League has with the Australian baseball and have established teams like the Brisbane Bandits and Perth Heat.

In 20 years time a deal between the second teir league and the AFL could be done, where say Norwood or Subiaco would then be put into the AFL. An under acheiving club ie North Melbourne could be demoted. This would fix quite alot of the AFL's existing problems. Its would obviously be based on performance and viability.

Or if one or two of the other commerical free to air stations got together (say 9 and 10) and shared costs, built up an interconference competition to cut down travel costs, then it would ve viable. with the right advertsing sponsorship.

Look at the soccer in this country. The Western Sydney Wanderers are getting bigger crowds than the AFL's GWS and the NRL's Penrith Panthers and Wests Tigers.

Old school football is still a viable product, and the clubs and loyalty could be rekindled with the right injection. I'm just not sure if the traditional methods of delivering it are viable anymore...

I'm not sure if this will happenin in Raponi's time, but he certainly needs to look at the viability of the clubs he is about to serve ... This includes the survival of WP.

The AFL (AD) have openly said they have bench marked their NEAFL experiment to be brought up to the same level as the WAFL. Once this is achieved, the horse has bolted. The playing between the NEAFL and the WAFL this year is no coincidence.

It won't be a case of the NEAFL reaching the WAFL standard it will be a case of the WAFL sinking to the depths of the NEAFL standard. Part of the degradation is happening with the exodus of players from the WAFl due to the host club alignment.

With respect to Raponi it will be good for the WAFL to have a spokesman who is concerned with the WAFL. Notwithstanding that Raponi is such a person he has to ensure that West Perth, if they haven't already paid the tranfer fee to Swans, that they do so in a timely fashion.