SA Footy

Happened upon this article below from Fox Sports http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,24474348-23211,00.html.

The VFL and the WAFL (with expected ratification from, no surprises , the AFL) trying to take our competition down a peg-or-two:

SANFL recruiting bill doubles
By Zac Milbank
October 10, 2008
PLAYER transfer fees between state leagues are set to double, leaving SANFL clubs fuming.

Payments - now at $10,000 a player - will increase to $15,000, with a further $5000 to be paid should the recruit play a second season in the SANFL.

The radical move has been moved by the interstate transfer regulation sub-committee and is set to be ratified by the AFL. The SANFL's representative on the sub-committee, operations manager Glen Rosser, voted against the proposal in vain, with opposing state leagues - including the VFL and WAFL - having the final say.

"It's a fairly healthy increase aimed at reducing the number of recruits moving to South Australia - that's the bottom line," Rosser said.

Central District chief executive Kris Grant is leading the charge against the move, saying he was bitterly disappointed with the decision.

"It's another indication that the AFL don't wish us to operate a successful league competition," Grant said.

"They're putting barriers up to stop player movement. They have this perception that we have all this money which is not quite right.

"They want to protect the VFL in particular and aren't really interested in whether we have a successful league competition."

Woodville-West Torrens - having signed 24-year-old Geelong midfielder Jay Cheep from the VFL - will still be prepared to pay the extra money for quality recruits.

"It's probably going to affect Victorian and Western Australian clubs' recruiting more than us," Eagles chief executive John Kantilaftas said.

"We will still go and get the players. Do you think Central won't go and recruit Ian Callinan or Glenelg won't go and recruit Ben Kane? Of course they will. We're not happy paying double the amount but it won't stop us recruiting the best players in the country to the SANFL.

"We just have to be far more careful about how we do that and who we go for in terms of (the player's) character."

The Eagles have also confirmed retired Crow Ken McGregor will play at Oval Avenue for the next two seasons. "I'm pumped to be back with the Eagles. I'm really looking forward to it," McGregor said.

"I've played there most of my life so it feels like I'm coming home."

Alby_Green wrote:"It's another indication that the AFL don't wish us to operate a successful league competition," Grant said.

Correctamundo.

The AFL must be fuming that we're not AFLSA yet and merely a feeder comp. I used to think most of us were being paranoid in that regards but they're doing everything to make sure that the second tier is not a viable option for the football going public.

Careful Kris/Glen,

You lads may be asked for a "please explain" from the AFL for having an opinion, and breathing.

**** the AFL...I think this will only have a minimal impact on clubs recruiting players from interstate.

I blame Andrew Jarman...as soon as he joins the WAFL, the WAFL and their long-lost best buddy, the VFL, form an alliance against the SANFL.

That's fine - we'll just have to keep belting the living suitcase out of both state competitions each time we come up against them.

I thought this was topic was raised under recruits .
But I mentioned the VFL site and was told I was wrong.If this is between State leagues what happens when you recruit someone from Country Vic NSW or WA.
And would say a VFL side pay a Ceduna club 15 grand for a player?

Mickyj wrote:I thought this was topic was raised under recruits .
But I mentioned the VFL site and was told I was wrong.If this is between State leagues what happens when you recruit someone from Country Vic NSW or WA.
And would say a VFL side pay a Ceduna club 15 grand for a player?

If they did, it would be a ripper night in Ceduna with $15k on the bar...dip over to Smokey Bay for a tonne of razor fish and make it a great night...

TigerBoss wrote:

Mickyj wrote:I thought this was topic was raised under recruits .
But I mentioned the VFL site and was told I was wrong.If this is between State leagues what happens when you recruit someone from Country Vic NSW or WA.
And would say a VFL side pay a Ceduna club 15 grand for a player?

If they did, it would be a ripper night in Ceduna with $15k on the bar...dip over to Smokey Bay for a tonne of razor fish and make it a great night...

Do you get where I am coming from Tiger Boss ?
Well yes it would be a ripper night

well when the boot was on the other foot 20 years ago & more, the victorian clubs kept turning up in s.a. (wa & tasmania as well) with brown paper bags & they didn't care about anything but themselves & while they still only care about themselves & can they 'backflip' on what they used to do themselves ? (i doubt we have used brown paper bags though)


perhaps they should look at a real 'player retention scheme' rather than this b...s..t which is trying to do the same, perhaps some talkback calls should be made both hear & interstate, ie start banging the drums

We need Zac Millbank to take this on as an Advertiser project and keep drawing attention to it. Bayman has all the arguments spot on IMHO - as someone said, there was further discussion in the 2009 recruits thread as well.

I can't reconcile the views in this thread to the views that SANFL fans had of the VFL's recruitment tactics in the 80s Is it OK now it's us? I feel like we have turned into the VFL of the 80s. We have so many Victorian recruits in our comp our State team had more interstaters than South Australians.

If the AFL were trying to destroy the "second tier" then how is this an example when the VFL and WAFL agreed to it? Shouldn't the original club get decent compensation for losing a player they have invested junior development $ in?

Plus is $5,000 going to stop us recruiting the next Grima or Allan?

careful big brother may be watching. just another attempt by the AFL to have total control of all areas of footy in australia. the SANFL is in good shape with numbers up and a good standard of footy which people want to watch. the AFL want more people watching foxtel from there home rather than supporters going to the local grounds to watch footy.

hondo71 wrote:I can't reconcile the views in this thread to the views that SANFL fans had of the VFL's recruitment tactics in the 80s Is it OK now it's us? I feel like we have turned into the VFL of the 80s. We have so many Victorian recruits in our comp our State team had more interstaters than South Australians.

If the AFL were trying to destroy the "second tier" then how is this an example when the VFL and WAFL agreed to it? Shouldn't the original club get decent compensation for losing a player they have invested junior development $ in?

Plus is $5,000 going to stop us recruiting the next Grima or Allan?

I think the main difference between the VFL of the 80's and the SANFL now is that back in the 80's we didn't suddenly change the rules and double the fee for transfers between borders.
I am unsure about the AFL's involvement with this new change as the article said it was proposed by the "interstate transfer regulation sub-committee", but Central's chief executive Chris Grant seems to link it with the AFL in his comment, "It's another indication that the AFL don't wish us to operate a successful league competition,". So either Chris Grant is just making unfounded accusations or this sub-committee is either a branch of the AFL or is heavily influenced by the AFL in its proposals.

I too don't like the direction the AFL has been trying to coerce us toward for a number of years now, but I can understand why they do it ... Business is business (especially when it's BIG business), take the fact that it's football out of the equation and there's nothing uncommon about their motives or direction. (Still sux I know, just saying it's understandable)

therisingblues wrote:

hondo71 wrote:I can't reconcile the views in this thread to the views that SANFL fans had of the VFL's recruitment tactics in the 80s Is it OK now it's us? I feel like we have turned into the VFL of the 80s. We have so many Victorian recruits in our comp our State team had more interstaters than South Australians.

If the AFL were trying to destroy the "second tier" then how is this an example when the VFL and WAFL agreed to it? Shouldn't the original club get decent compensation for losing a player they have invested junior development $ in?

Plus is $5,000 going to stop us recruiting the next Grima or Allan?

I think the main difference between the VFL of the 80's and the SANFL now is that back in the 80's we didn't suddenly change the rules and double the fee for transfers between borders.
I am unsure about the AFL's involvement with this new change as the article said it was proposed by the "interstate transfer regulation sub-committee", but Central's chief executive Chris Grant seems to link it with the AFL in his comment, "It's another indication that the AFL don't wish us to operate a successful league competition,". So either Chris Grant is just making unfounded accusations or this sub-committee is either a branch of the AFL or is heavily influenced by the AFL in its proposals.

As WWT out going CEO said

We will still go and get the players. Do you think Central won't go and recruit Ian Callinan or Glenelg won't go and recruit Ben Kane? Of course they will. We're not happy paying double the amount but it won't stop us recruiting the best players in the country to the SANFL.

"We just have to be far more careful about how we do that and who we go for in terms of (the player's) character."

If you have the money and they want to come then the clubs will get them.I think it might stop the project players from coming and more local project players getting the chance instead.

One advantage is that it also cuts the other way should a player wish to return to the VFL, or be targeted by a VFL / WAFL club out of the SANFL.

Sojourner wrote:One advantage is that it also cuts the other way should a player wish to return to the VFL, or be targeted by a VFL / WAFL club out of the SANFL.

My understanding is that the formula is not the same though - ie it is a cheaper buy for leagues to recruit from us than for the equivalent player to be bought by a SANFL club.

Eg if a Callinan type came from Canberra, his SANFL Club would now be up for $20K in transfer fees. If an equivalent player went from here to play in the ACT, the price would not be $20K into the SANFL club's coffers.

It's all about a perceived capacity to pay based on the fact SANFL clubs have pokie licences, and about a reticence for the SANFL to be a higher quality competition as a result.

The SANFL always has the option of opting out of the whole system - after all they only pay because they agree to. There is no law that can make them. Of course if they do that they wouldn't get the tranfer fees when raided by the AFL!

doggies4eva wrote:The SANFL always has the option of opting out of the whole system - after all they only pay because they agree to. There is no law that can make them. Of course if they do that they wouldn't get the tranfer fees when raided by the AFL!

I reakon West Adelaide would vote against such an option...