TOPIC:

If WCE/FREO gave every WAFL club a one off payment of 1 million dollars to secure the immediate futures of each club in order to reduce debts (ie not to increase player payments or CEO salaries) which would at least in the short term keep the WAFL healthy , WCE segregated themselves from East Perth once they move to Brownes stadium, Freo logically becomes Peel as that club financially a basket case, with the money being a good will payment in order for their reserves team to be accepted in to the WAFL as a stand alone club, would we being the WAFL Football community now accept their entry under these or similar conditions???

The way things are going the comp is going to go broke so by ensuring the short term health of each club at least they will have competitive opposition each week, alternatively they won't want to be playing in it anyway if the level drops off significantly. Some might argue the comp isn't worth saving from a WCE or Freo POV but if we have to make change to ensure our state football league is to continue its beautiful history then what better way to do it from within, with funds generated by west Aussie footy lovers at the end of the day. Surely such donations would be a healthy tax write off over a few seasons, would give WAFL a chance to regenerate with an inevitable new look but still with the 8 original clubs. It will hurt when players end up playing against the club they were originally zoned in as juniors for those clubs supporters but if that is the price of survival and a pact with what could be looked at as a fresh start and regeneration of the league, with a signed pact from all in the comp to live within their means to ensure survival up against the historical purges for short term gain and glory, maybe just maybe the fantasy world of our 2 AFL clubs existing for the joy and benefit of football as a whole in this state could be achieved.

Where will the money come from is a legitimate question but as many people have said if they had to start and redesign a new comp from scratch the costs would be astronomically more in the end. Having the foresight to invest in order to save in future is what all big companies do and ethically it would be a honourable thing and the right thing to do to protect our state footy from victorian control. The option of losing our own comp's control to the victorian management flies in the very face of why the Eagles & Dockers exist in the first place. If WAFL footy was to fold it would be an embarrassment for our state which to me would only be topped when the soccer revolution gains momentum.

In a perfect world the original 8 remain but we all know its unsustainable in its current format. Like the Adelaide crows set up, no reserves for either club so the talent pool for non AFL clubs is slightly richer. Non AFL registered players making up squad numbers have a maximum age of say 22/23 so they can't just filter 6 x Paul Johnson types in to the team to ensure they can't be super strong year in year out and total domination as we all know injuries will hit the AFL side in some seasons. Retiring AFL players don't continue at AFL clubs but to the club they were originally zoned to in order to spread their knowledge and craft to the wider WAFL. that would be payback for the lost years in a small way at least.It would mean there will be years these sides win flags but if WAFL footy could live on I'm at least prepared to consider either this or a similar type set up on the premise that the AFL clubs also understand it is their duty to support & promote the WAFL as a competition that is vital to them remaining strong at the next level, as part of their fabric up against some prostitute comp they treat like a rag doll for their selfish benefit.

Just read this back, fcuk me, I must be going soft

Good post DW as usual.. Mate you should of been a journalist.. Aw maybe not as you write more about WAFL than the guys who have to fill up a page each week in the Someday Times.. And I reckon half of them just write it from the stats and cheat reading posts on here LOL
Will come back on your post at a later date.. Good read
Maybe I NEED time to let your post sink in and analyse it.

Good input and Food for thought as usual