Gary Buckenara column: How to fix ‘broken’ VFL to create real junior talent pathway

The VFL competition as it stands is broken for three key reasons, including the fact it discriminates against certain players. Recruiting expert Gary Buckenara reveals why and how the AFL can fix it and solve a major pathway problem.

Marlion Pickett of the Tigers kicks during the VFL Grand Final.

The issues for the VFL caused by the coronavirus pandemic should be used as the catalyst to fix a broken and discriminatory competition.

The AFL and AFL Victoria have two options: Keep the league and current pathway (if you can call it that) as it is, or use this as an opportunity to analyse how it’s been running, realise major changes need to be made, and act.

The VFL is broken for three key reasons:

1. It’s not an even playing field

2. It discriminates against certain players

3. It is not a true pathway to the AFL

We all love the Marlion Pickett and Tim Kelly stories – both out of the WAFL in Western Australia — but the fact is these stories are few and far between in Victoria because the current VFL is so limited.

The VFL isn’t a fair competition as it features a mixture of stand-alone clubs (Frankston, Port Melbourne, Williamstown, Coburg and Werribee), AFL affiliate clubs (Box Hill, Casey Demons, Northern Blues and Sandringham) and AFL clubs (Essendon, Collingwood, Geelong, North Melbourne, Richmond, Western Bulldogs).

There is no balance. AFL and AFL affiliate clubs benefit because they have access to full-time coaches and development coaches as well as AFL talent, whether they’re developing or established senior players who are returning from injury or looking to regain form.

Stand-alone clubs can’t compete with the kind of money AFL-aligned clubs have, until now, been able to throw at their VFL programs.

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Marlion Pickett went from the WAFL to the VFL to the AFL Grand Final in one year.

Secondly, the VFL discriminates against players who are not drafted, later developers and players from the country.

There aren’t enough spots for these players in the AFL or affiliate teams each week because AFL-listed players are playing, while stand-alone clubs such as Port Melbourne and Williamstown have established teams with senior players. So, 18 or 19-year-olds who weren’t drafted can’t get games there either. They’re forced to play at local level, which isn’t ideal for their development. Most players still want to be drafted.

If country kids aren’t drafted, they have to move to Melbourne because there’s no “pathway” competition in the country. They have to either make the decision to move away from their family despite not playing AFL football or essentially give up on their dream.

All this means the current VFL competition is not a proper pathway to the AFL.

If you’re not drafted at 18, where do you go? You sign with a VFL club, but mostly you can’t get a game because AFL-listed players and established senior players have priority.

In my roles as a recruiter at Hawthorn and then as general manager of stand-alone VFL clubs Frankston and North Ballarat, I have had many chats with young players about them being disenchanted with the pathway — they want to know the best way to stay relevant to AFL recruiters. Many have put their dream on the backburner to pursue other interests, like careers and travel.

VFL teams are currently dominated by AFL-listed players. Picture: Ian Currie

I have also spoken to many parents who are disappointed and dismayed that the pathway in Victoria has suddenly disappeared for undrafted 18-year-olds.

I have even advised players to try the WAFL or SANFL, but for young hopefuls at 18, it’s a huge decision to chase their dreams interstate with no guarantees.

We’re losing and will continue to lose potential AFL players unless we fix this pathway problem. So how do we do it?

The first step is to bring back the AFL reserves competition for the 10 Victorian clubs and play the games either as curtain-raisers or at venues such as Punt Rd and Whitten Oval.

Clubs are being forced to slash costs in the football department but not all assistant and development staff will be lost.

Clubs could have access to top-up players for their reserves teams, who come out of the VFL, and would train once a week (at night) with the AFL-listed players who aren’t selected for AFL. That’s how it used to work in the days gone by.

The second step would be a return to a true VFL competition. I would love to see the current stand-alone VFL teams and clubs with AFL affiliates be joined by teams from the country and other major regions.

Essendon players, including Stephen Milne, celebrate after winning the 1999 reserves grand final.

Create a 14-team competition featuring the following teams: Port Melbourne/Oakleigh, Williamstown/Western region, Werribee (including the Lara, Melton and Bacchus Marsh regions), Coburg/Northern, Box Hill/Eastern, Sandringham, Frankston (including Dandenong and Peninsula), Calder, Geelong, Warrnambool, Ballarat, Bendigo, Shepparton (including the Murray region) and Gippsland.

This new VFL would be a professional, high-standard league that would be a clear second-tier competition that undrafted players can strive to be part of knowing they have a clear option for footy post their draft year where they will actually have the opportunity to play seniors and receive appropriate development to potentially reach the AFL.

These new clubs could also absorb the current NAB League teams and become one club with three teams – under-17s, under-19s – as I wrote in my last column the AFL should raise the draft age to 19 – and VFL seniors.

This would create a genuine pathway and enable players to stay at the same club throughout their footy journey if they go undrafted or who are still finding their feet as a late developer. It would keep the dream alive for Victorian footballers, as it is for players in Western Australia and South Australia.

I think of Rowan Marshall. He was a later developer through North Ballarat Rebels and North Ballarat Roosters in the VFL and got his chance because of that pathway. He was lucky he was at a then-TAC Cup team that had this pathway. Today, the Rowan Marshall story is lost to football because the pathway is broken for country players.

This would also be the model for women’s football once AFLW players play only in the AFLW. Currently, they play VFLW in the winter due to the short AFLW season. All VFL teams would expand and have women’s teams.

After being overlooked in his draft year, Rowan Marshall played for the North Ballarat Roosters for three years before being rookie-listed by St Kilda.

It would need to be an even playing field with a salary cap and players only able to play for the team in their region and a restriction on interstate recruiting. It also means players from the country wouldn’t need to relocate to play footy at a higher level than local leagues.

Top-age players in the Under-19s could also be selected to play with their VFL clubs and play as the 23rd player to get exposure to playing against senior bodies.

There would obviously need to be strict rules in place, but this model would provide opportunities on so many levels. There would also be massive opening to sell this new VFL to a TV network with statewide exposure and I am sure companies like NAB, which is already a huge footy partner, would seriously look at being the VFL major sponsor.

The current VFL competition is broken and the pathway is unfair, so it’s time we do something about it. While some of my suggestions might need finetuning, the model I am proposing would provide a better pathway for the talented Victorian footballers and later developers into the future.

GARY BUCKENARA’S PLAN TO OVERHAUL THE VFL AND TALENT PATHWAY

— Commit to a new statewide VFL competition

— AFL Victorian clubs have their own AFL reserves competition

— Raise the draft age to 19

— Cancel the draft in 2020

— Raise the pathway ages to under-17 and under-19 (up from 16 and 18)

— Current NAB League teams join forces with VFL teams and become one club with multiple teams, including women’s teams

— Reduce AFL list sizes to 35 with 10 top-up players

— AFL clubs who traded for 2020 draft picks are allocated those selections in 2021 draft

Will Bucky’s plan fix the VFL? Leave a comment below