Aerie wrote:There is so much done to equalise sporting competitions throughout the world (drug testing, salary cap, drafts, handicaps) and what has happened to the SANFL is going the polar opposite to this. No matter which way you look at it, the introduction of two AFL Reserves teams is not fair.
There are positives and negatives and those who see a fair, even competition, as the number one consideration are rightly bemused by what has happened.
From an AFL viewpoint, the consideration of an even, fair competition is outweighed by the need for developing players and for them, currently at least, the best option is to do this in their own backyard both in terms of value for money and strength of competition. They will tell themselves that there is increased exposure to the SANFL. Dittmar said it's been great, then when asked if he'd been to an SANFL game this season, said "no, but have enjoyed watching some games on tv, especially the Clare game".
I am not convinced that the increased exposure to the SANFL via commercial TV is even close to benefiting my club enough to outweigh the negatives that come with the new format. There is no more coverage of my SANFL club than there was before. In fact, I would say there is less. I guess we'd have to wait to see the finances from this years Annual Reports to really know.
There are other ways, including having a weekly SANFL game at Adelaide Oval, that would give the competition prestige and generate interest. The use of social media and the web is more important than paying $1,000,000 to have the game shown on Ch7 - which is essentially the only benefit the AFL clubs have bought (via sponsorship) to the competition.
The Eagles vs Sturt game at Unley Oval, with a crowd of 4000, which was directly up against both Crows and Power games on the same day told me that there is enough interest in the SANFL for it to be viable without the "assistance" of AFL clubs.
What is desperately needed is the SANFL administration to apply the spirit in which 5RPH and LifeFM have to the competition to generate interest and use the capital they should have to make it high quality for the current HD generation.
I think the SANFL would be best to cut ties with Port and the Crows at the end of the season. If Port Magpies win the SANFL premiership this year, it will be an absolute disgrace.
There are other ways to keep relevance for a younger generation of footballers and an alignment between the AFL and SANFL and that is to supply Port and Crows with top up players via Under 20's to use in whatever competition they could go to (preferably AFL Reserves or at least VFL). I believe this could apply nationally with alignment of elite Under 18 sides to all AFL and State League clubs, but that is another matter. Keep Junior Football, Development/Reserves Football and State League Football - which can all still be feeders to the AFL - separate.
For now, I reckon the SANFL bite the bullet and go it alone. The mainstream media, who all seem to be official ambassadors for the Crows (
http://www.afc.com.au/the-club/information/ambassadors), will give the SANFL hell, but I'm not convinced it is the mainstream media who will ensure the SANFL survives and prospers anyway.
The SANFL will never be the number one show in town, but it has a niche, and I'd love to see the SANFL and its clubs make every post a winner NOW, while there is still strong enough links to SANFL clubs for the majority of families in South Australia.
