The SANFL is under attack again. Since the advent of the Adelaide Crows in 1991 and Port Adelaide Power in 1997 the SANFL has made many sacrifices for a national competition of Australian Rules football. Throughout its history the SANFL had free reign to operate as it saw fit.
Today there are many restrictions placed upon the local grassroots competition and many demands continue to be made as the corporate dollar, the media and television coverage tightens the noose around the SANFL's neck. With both the Crows and Power experiencing financial difficulties it is the SANFL that cops the blame particularly from armchair critics who have never seen a local game of South Australian football.
Now there are calls to destroy the SANFL, hand back the two AFL licenses (the SANFL paid top money for years ago), slash the salary cap, allow the Crows and Power field reserves teams and ultimately denigrate the SANFL into a feeder competition just for the AFL.
The media's focus on the AFL comes at the detriment of the SANFL (despite, at times, just as many punters attend an SANFL round as a Port Power home match), where crowds and interest wane when trivial gossip stories dominate news broadcasts. Last year's SANFL grand final had 35,000 - more than any Port Power home game in recent years!
The SANFL is a great product. It's cheaper to attend, you can stand and share a beer with your mates, your kids can kick the footy on the ground at half time, you can walk onto the oval at 1/4 and 3/4 time to listen to your team huddle, you can find a car park and pay nothing, you don't have advertising forced down your throat, you can show passion and not get admonished by the politically correct, you can buy a pie and drink and not go broke, and afterwards you can walk into the clubrooms and meet your favourite player.
SANFL supporters do not want to see their competition massacred for the convenience of pay TV subscribers nor for the celebrity suits in football headquarters in another State. SANFL supporters have suffered enough and do not want to see their league clubs emulate the poor cousins of second-tier leagues interstate.
The SANFL IS Australia's second-strongest Australian Rules competition in Australia. The SANFL plays Australian Rules not AFL. The SANFL is a proud, strong community-based competition.
Our Pride. Our State. Our Football. Hands Off Our SANFL!
Courtesy of Peter Broelman, Australian Cartoonist of The Year.......a cuppla times recently.....but who's counting
