TOPIC:

Firstly let me congratulate Subiaco on a well deserved premiership. This outcome was predictable to many supporters from about the mid way point of the season when it became clear that Subi were going to finish on top of the ladder.

I watched the game on TV yesterday and enjoyed the first quarter and a half when West Perth really took it up to the Lions and we had a contest . Then Subiaco went into another gear and blew the Falcons away in 15 minutes. I started watching the third quarter but soon got bored and went out and did some work in the garden when the inevitability of the result became obvious.

This one sided Lion Fest would have only been enjoyable to Subiaco supporters and I wonder if even some of them deep down would have preferred to be made to earn their premiership and thus the sense of achievement would have been greater perhaps?

There appeared to be no atmosphere in the ground and I was reflecting on how electric the feeling was just 5 years ago at the end of one of the most pulsating WAFL Grand finals ever in front of over 20000 people. Compared with that, yesterdays game was just a joke. And yes there have been some competitive Grand Finals other than the 2010 GF over the past 6 or 7 years and this has been the first really lop sided one for a while but really given what has happened to the WAFL this year, it was always inevitable that season 2015 would end with a whimper.

I cannot remember a season where the focus has been so much on off field controversies at the expense of the actual footy. From the West Perth/Channel 7/9 dispute to the embarrassing situation of the Peel reserves team running around in a qualifying final to a TV station dictating the times that WAFL games be played to the now massive gap between the clubs with rich resources and others that are struggling. It hasn’t been an enjoyable season even though some of the footy has been exciting and unpredictable. The focus has not been on this though.

I agree with other posters who say that the first step to make 2016 a better year will be to banish the final 5 forever to the dustbin of history whatever the TV stations say . This system gives too much advantage to the team that finishes on top and in reality West Perth did not stand a chance yesterday in the warm weather given that they had played 3 finals with no break and Subiaco had only played one game. Some of the West Perth fans have been tough on their team I think, they were still trying their guts out but had no more to give.

I find it hard to imagine at the moment how any team who missed the finals this year can push up and challenge the well resourced teams, particularly Subiaco and the aligned teams. The whole secret of success in the WAFL appears to be how many high paid Victorian recruits you can attract or how many AFL players your parent club happens to give you on a given weekend. Before the trolls start, yes I know my club are not perfect with this in that Swans had a lot of recruits in the 2010 premiership team, but events since then have show that this was not a position that was sustainable and led the club into financial trouble. The difference with the clubs mentioned above is that they are set up for sustained success and therefore this predictability of the same teams being in the finals will make it difficult for the WAFL to market itself as an exciting competition.

I have read all the usual sniping and trolling comments on this forum since yesterday and I am not interested in that stuff or blaming individual clubs or people for the issues above. I am just really glad the season is over because I am jaded with the WAFL at a level like I have never been before and I would like to know if anyone has a view that would give me a more positive outlook on next year.

I am in a similar boat to you Mike. The WAFL has been my passion for 35 years and I will follow the mighty Black & Whites until the day I die but the comp is a complete and utter farce in so many regards and the fact the WAFC refuse to acknowledge any of them makes it not even worth it anymore. Already 6 months before the first bounce of 2016 and 3 sides are absolute certain finalists due to riches 6 other clubs cant compete with meaning the rest of us are fighting for 1 spot and for maybe 5 clubs that 1 spot might be unachievable by May. And then you put all of your limited resources into developing quality home grown boys from your own zone only to be drafted elsewhere or even worse by WC or F and therefore playing against you and then you have $ubi making behind the scenes offers to your reigning F&B even tho they are past the points cap and no doubt others but according to the WAFC there is nothing to see here all is great in WA as WC & F are winning and making plenty of money FFS!

The jaded & saddened feeling comes from decisions that have greatly affected then disaffected loyalists of the WAFL - by this so-called WAFC Commission

Just remove the sick , farked up AFL influence from our league entirely and let the league do what it does best - nurture & produce talent Mike

They cause too much damage & the proof was this year in particular

Fark off AFL & piss off to Vicco where you belong I say

mikeh wrote:
This one sided Lion Fest would have only been enjoyable to Subiaco supporters and I wonder if even some of them deep down would have preferred to be made to earn their premiership and thus the sense of achievement would have been greater perhaps?

mike...ask the Subi players who did the preseason, trained three times a week, played in every game, front up for recovery then went off to work if they felt as though they earned it and whether they have a sense of achievement? I bet they do and am left scratching my head trying to figure out where a comment like that would have come from. they finished 4 games clear at seasons end and won the GF by 11 goals based on talent and hard work...nothing more, nothing less and to suggest anything different is absurd.

Furthermore I found it quite disturbing and damning listening to Schofield being interviewed on Sport FM on Friday morning, he mentioned he worked his Footy manager hard into the ground to get the best recruits to the club oh really Jarrad have you no faith nor care for your own juniors in your zone?
What is the supposed charter from the WAFC for each WAFL club?
7 WAFL clubs recieve the same amount of $$$$ grant maybe their needs to be a pro rata payment on how many locals are actually being fostered in each clubs zone and $50k or so taken off the grant for every Interstater recruited?!

BC wrote:

mikeh wrote:
This one sided Lion Fest would have only been enjoyable to Subiaco supporters and I wonder if even some of them deep down would have preferred to be made to earn their premiership and thus the sense of achievement would have been greater perhaps?

mike...ask the Subi players who did the preseason, trained three times a week, played in every game, front up for recovery then went off to work if they felt as though they earned it and whether they have a sense of achievement? I bet they do and am left scratching my head trying to figure out where a comment like that would have come from. they finished 4 games clear at seasons end and won the GF by 11 goals based on talent and hard work...nothing more, nothing less and to suggest anything different is absurd.

Seriously BC the fact you cant figure out exactly the point Mike has made in his post probably means you are a certainty for a future spot on the WAFC!

I get it BH...but took exception to the comment I've quoted...to me the entire piece smacks of sour grapes but he's entitled to his opinion. you swans fans think the entire competition revolves around swans and don't like it when you're found wanting...to quote Ma Sheila "tough titties".

Beasley Hutton wrote: Furthermore I found it quite disturbing and damning listening to Schofield being interviewed on Sport FM on Friday morning, he mentioned he worked his Footy manager hard into the ground to get the best recruits to the club oh really Jarrad have you no faith nor care for your own juniors in your zone?
What is the supposed charter from the WAFC for each WAFL club?
7 WAFL clubs recieve the same amount of $$$$ grant maybe their needs to be a pro rata payment on how many locals are actually being fostered in each clubs zone and $50k or so taken off the grant for every Interstater recruited?!

the primary responsibility for every club is to win flags for its players, staff, members and supporters. if players are developed to get to the next level along the way then that's great but its a by-product. just ask Perth supporters if they would get more pleasure watching the likes of Franklin, Glass, Bateman run around in the AFL or winning a flag at WAFL level...it's a no brainer as far as I'm concerned.

BC wrote: I get it BH...but took exception to the comment I've quoted...to me the entire piece smacks of sour grapes but he's entitled to his opinion. you swans fans think the entire competition revolves around swans and don't like it when you're found wanting...to quote Ma Sheila "tough titties".

I'm very disappointed that you have taken this as sour grapes BC, as it was certainly not coming from that place when I wrote it. Of course the Subiaco players worked hard and deserved their premiership and their feeling of acheivement, I am not disputing that and I thought I had given that recognition in what I wrote ( obviously not enough for you) and if you reread the thread you will see that I wrote that I was not blaming individuals or clubs for the situation. Look I am a Swans supporter but I am not looking at it from my clubs standpoint, it is more the broader point of view of the entire competition going forward for the next 10 - 20 years but I may have been a little wishful in my thinking expecting this from a group of people who just want to go on the defence as soon as they see a comment that they perceive as anywhere near critical to their club. Hope this clarifies for you what I was trying to say. If not I don't care anyway. Enjoy your celebrations

Yes, but Perth like most WAFL clubs do not have the resources to continually buy premierships!