VFL, NEAFL merger: AFL to pay for travel, Southport wants in
The AFL has addressed if VFL and NEAFL clubs will need to pay for travel from 2021, while the coach of a state league power says the absence of second tier football would be devastating for Queensland players.
Local Footy
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Southport coach and former VFL assistant Steve Daniel says Queensland football would be left “devastated’’ without a second-tier league.
Speaking after the AFL announced the North East Australia Football League (NEAFL) would merge with the Victorian Football League (VFL), Daniel said a lot of the work to develop football in the state would be lost if there was no strong competition for aspiring players.
He said they would go interstate in search of a higher standard that could help them get drafted to the AFL.
“If the NEAFL was to go and there nothing to replace it, all the good talent up here, and all the good work the AFL have put into Queensland football, it would just go down the drain,’’ Daniel said.
“So all the talented kids from the Gold Coast Suns and the Brisbane Lions, they’d all head off to WA, SA, Victoria, all those Academy kids will take off straight away.
“So we have to be in a strong competition. Southport has to be in a second-tier competition for a pathway for young Queensland footballers. Same as Aspley and the other clubs. To lose a second-tier up here in Queensland, that would be devastating, it would all be devastated.
“We’ve got Mackenzie Willis, Matt Shaw, Braydn Crosley, Seb Tate, we’ve got about 10 players who have come from the Suns or Brisbane Lions because they want to get redrafted.’’
HOW STATE LEAGUE FOOTBALL WILL LOOK IN 2021
The AFL confirmed today that it would meet the travel costs associated with flying players interstate.
It also confirmed no team from Tasmania would be involved next year, with the focus to remain on the state league.
Daniel, a former Gold Coast Suns assistant coach, said the club would have to decide if it would be part of the revamped VFL, but Southport had always strived to play in the best competition it could.
“Personally, I think the club will jump at the chance,’’ he said.
Daniel said he and his players were excited at the prospect of joining the VFL, which he described as a “true major league’’.
He said the Sharks would struggle with the points system if they dropped back to the QAFL.
“Out of our list of 42 at the moment, we’d only be able to keep eight players,’’ Daniel said.
Asked how the NEAFL compared to the VFL, Daniel said he fell back on the opinion of Werribee’s Josh Clayton, a former Southport player.
Clayton told him the NEAFL grounds were bigger and the football was more open. He said the VFL played a “more contested’’ brand.
Southport president Alan Mackenzie said: “We haven’t got much detail yet other than what’s been in the press release, so there will be further discussions.
“But it looks like they’re going to try and continue that level of competition in some form, so that’s good, but it all depends on the detail, the funding and how it all works out.
“But it’s good news to see that they’re contemplating trying to keep a high-level second tier competition available for Queensland players and young Queenslanders coming through as well.
“It depends on the detail, but we’ll certainly be investigating it.”
Aspley general manager Mark Perkins said his club was also seeking more details.
“We can’t decide what we would like to do next year in terms of VFL because we need more information. We don’t have any at the moment, apart from the fact it’s an option for us,’’ he said.
“We need the finer details before we can even go any further, and we’ve asked for that today.’’
In a statement provided to Leader Local Footy, Sydney University acknowledged the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are extremely proud of what our club has achieved being part of the NEAFL competition since its inception in 2011, and as a club we strive to provide the highest level of competition possible to our players, which we achieved through our participation in the NEAFL competition,” president Sam Power said.
“Our commitment to providing the opportunity to play in the highest level of competition to our players will remain as we continue to work through and pursue options for 2021.”
In a statement today Redland said it was disappointed to find out about the VFL-NEAFL plan via an email.
“The Redland Football Club now awaits information, detail, and criteria from the AFL around future competitions structure so we and other impacted clubs can commence planning for the 2021 season,’’ it said.
The Victorian AFL clubs have been given three options for their VFL involvement next year: run their own teams, align or farm their players out to multiple clubs.
Richmond, Collingwood, Geelong, Essendon, North Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs fielded their reserves teams in the VFL last year, and Hawthorn (Box Hill Hawks), St Kilda (Sandringham) and Melbourne (Casey Demons) had alignments.
North Melbourne has made no announcement about its future in the VFL but there is speculation it has dissolved its VFL program given the departures of football manager Andrew Carson and coach David Loader weeks ago.
Officials from VFL clubs expect the Magpies, Cats, Tigers, Bombers and Bulldogs to keep their own VFL teams despite the financial squeeze.
Williamstown chief executive Jason Reddick said this afternoon his and the other VFL clubs had been working with the AFL to retain the VFL as a second-tier competition.
He said the Seagulls were well placed to remain a stand-alone club in 2021.
Reddick also said the Towners were committed to fielding their women’s team in the state league.
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