Adelaide legend Mark Ricciuto calls for SA powerbrokers to do what's best for footy in the state
ADELAIDE legend Mark Ricciuto calls on SA powerbrokers to put aside self-interest and do what's best for football in the state.
SUNDAY'S Showdown was perhaps the greatest of them all - even though Crows fans wouldn't agree.
It was everything that AFL footy at its best should be - fast, skilful, tough, exciting and entertaining.
And as Showdown fans left AAMI Stadium for the last time, it served as a timely reminder that for South Australian football to not only survive, but prosper, it needs two healthy and successful AFL clubs.
Right now, SA footy is at the crossroads for a number of reasons.
Crows will have reserves team, just not in SANFL
Decision makers from all corners of the game need to draw a line in the sand, put egos, agendas, grudges and history aside and think about what is critical in shaping football in SA for decades to come.
Unfortunately from what I hear, there seems to be too many individuals focused on looking after their own backyards which is threatening to blow the massive opportunity SA footy has been given.
I’m talking about the transition to Adelaide Oval and the fresh start both AFL clubs and the SANFL have been given. The SA football model needs to change.
Football in this country is rapidly changing. And if SA does not change with it, it will continue in the direction that it is heading - backwards.
Finals inspire us to push on
I don’t want to offend people who staunchly defend the SANFL but we need to be realists. It changed massively in 1991 when the Crows entered the competition, then again in 1997 with the emergence of the Power.
Whether we like it or not, AFL is king, that’s where the money is generated and the SANFL just like the WAFL and other competitions throughout Australia are a long way behind. They are now basically feeder competitions. For some reason people at the SANFL are hellbent on trying to keep the SANFL as the ‘second-best’ competition in Australia.
But what does that mean? What is the relevance of that? How does that grow the game in SA? What does grow the game in South Australia is the development of kids. The SANFL needs to make sure that adequate money is put into development programs across the state. Whether it’s done by the clubs or the SANFL itself, it needs to be a top priority more than being the second-best competition in the country.
Kids grow up now dreaming of playing for the Crows or Power, not Norwood or West or Glenelg. The SANFL needs to embrace change rather than oppose it.
We’ve got some clubs on the brink of going broke, crowds are disappointing, running costs are going through the roof and if business in this state is a reflection of SANFL clubs, they are in for as tough a year as they’ve ever had.
I’m not saying that’s anyone’s fault, but it’s reality.
Right now huge decisions are being made about the distribution of money from Adelaide Oval and who gets what.
How much do the two AFL clubs get? The SANFL? Stadium Management Authority? Cricket? Everyone wants a piece of the pie.
The size of the pie will be determined by the number of people who go through the gates at the redeveloped Adelaide Oval. Therefore the success of the AFL clubs will determine the flow of money back to all levels of the game.
So in order for this to happen, the Crows and Power need to be given the money and resources that they need to be not just competitive but successful in the AFL competition. There is a direct correlation between money spent at AFL clubs and their positions on the ladder.
This has had a serious, negative affect on Port Adelaide and to a lesser extent Adelaide in recent years but Port and the Crows definitely haven’t always helped themselves off-field with some disastrous management decisions recently.
The decision-makers in SA football should be doing everything they can to make Adelaide and Port as profitable and successful as they can be. If the two AFL clubs are consistently playing finals football and winning their fair share of premierships, then there will be enough money generated for everyone underneath.
Hird hits back at Ricciuto claims
The first big call for the decision-makers of SA football is how and where the two AFL clubs have their reserves sides.
The last five premiers in the AFL have all had reserves sides. If Adelaide and Port don’t next year, they’ll be the only ones without them.
We should be leading the AFL, not the last two to follow.
If the SANFL doesn’t want the Crows in the competition they had better make sure they do their research properly. I personally think there will be big ramifications for the SANFL if they don’t bring them in.
Channel Nine hasn’t just decided to sponsor the SA Amateur Football League for no reason. They will probably start broadcasting the Crows’ reserves side on TV every week if they play at amateur level, let alone people who would go to watch them play instead of going to a SANFL game. What would that do to the SANFL?
It would be a disaster. It would take even more focus off the competition that it can ill-afford to lose, let alone take out another 15-20 of its best players and put them in another competition.
When I heard the other day that the Crows can’t wear the Crows jumper - or even be called the Crows - in the SANFL, I could not believe it.
The only reason I could get from people was that it would take away from kids wanting to support SANFL clubs.
Surely kids are going to barrack for whoever they want? You can’t lie to your kids and say ‘they’re not the Crows’ when they are.
Isn’t the most important thing getting as many people to a Sturt-Crows Reserves or Glenelg-Crows Reserves game as possible?
Port Adelaide on the other hand needs to make a tough call. Unfortunately I think the Port Magpies are dead.
If the Power is serious about being successful in the AFL, they need a Power reserves side either playing in the SANFL or another competition in exactly the same way the Crows are pursuing.
Port’s history with the SANFL in terms of trying to get into the AFL should not affect the future. Grudges need to be put to one side.
The health of SA football starts at the top.
The Crows and Power have to be successful in the future. Get these two clubs right and the rest will follow, including the viability of the SANFL, whatever that might look like.
But one thing’s for sure, we must stop trying to hold on to what it used to be in its glory days because it’s never going to be that again.
Instead of trying to fight each other, dwelling on the past or looking after individuals’ needs and wants, let’s come up with the best model for football in this state to lead the country for generations to come.
