AFL competitive balance review: National reserves competition, more AFL trophies among demands from clubs
Clubs are campaigning for big changes under the AFL’s competitive balance review – and, as Sam Landsberger reveals, North Melbourne’s issue is with list management.
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The creation of more trophies and a national reserves competition are among ideas clubs and players are campaigning for under the AFL’s competitive balance review.
There is a push to create more winners in the sport to ease the competitive pressure on players as industry figures look to English football and how US sports crown conference champions.
Geelong coach Chris Scott has previously called for greater recognition of the minor premier.
English Premier League clubs compete for the FA Cup, Champions League, Carabao Cup and the EPL title while in the US “winning seasons” are celebrated widely for coaches.
NFL coach Mike Tomlin began his career with a record 17 consecutive “non-losing” seasons.
Non-losing, or “winning”, seasons are determined by winning more matches than you lose.
The A-League awards the minor premier with the “Premier’s Plate”, before teams progress to the finals series where a Champion is crowned for the winner of the grand final.
The AFL attempted to jazz up the McClelland Trophy last year by awarding a $1 million prize to the club that banked the most premiership points across the men’s and women’s seasons.
Melbourne secured that last year despite failing to win a final in either competition. Brisbane Lions reached both grand finals and secured the AFLW premiership – but finished runner-up to the Dees.
Geelong players are largely pushing for celebrating more players than the 23 who play on grand final day after embracing coach Chris Scott’s squad mentality.
The Cats only counts their players’ highest scoring 21 games in best-and-fairest voting to ensure those who are rested or injured are not disadvantaged.
This masthead can reveal several of the ideas being forward by clubs and players as part of the AFL’s all-encompassing competitive balance review.
It’s understood some clubs, including Geelong, are arguing that West Coast and Fremantle are not disadvantaged by their travel burdens because they fly business class.
Under the Collective Bargaining Agreement the WA clubs are afforded a minimum of 12 business class seats for all flights to and from the eastern seaboard.
The other 16 clubs attempt to secure exit row seating or two passengers per three seats subject to availability on Virgin Australia commercial flights.
West Coast and Fremantle have produced only three 300-game players – David Mundy (376 games), Matthew Pavlich (353) and Shannon Hurn (333).
Comparatively, rivals have produced more than 60 300-gamers in the past 30 years.
The Cats are also strongly against handing out priority picks to struggling clubs. Last year Scott described the assistance package given to North Melbourne as “blatant manipulation” of the draft.
It’s understood North Melbourne wants the AFL to open up list management as much as possible to help accelerate its list build.
The Kangaroos do not believe the free agency model works because players do not choose to join bottom clubs.
Collingwood has called for VFL curtain-raisers to be staged before AFL matches to ensure all of their staff and players are at the same ground on the same day.
The Magpies believe staging VFL and AFL matches on different days creates an unfair workload on their staff and impacts their wellbeing.
The Magpies will play a rare VFL curtain-raiser at Marvel Stadium before their Friday night match against Western Bulldogs this month.
The Pies are in favour of a national reserves competition. Adelaide, Port Adelaide and West Coast are all keen to enter the VFL in coming seasons.
But a national reserves competition does not have the support of every club.
One club boss warned on Wednesday that the exorbitant cost of staging a national reserves competition would come at the expense of grassroots football.
GIANTS COACH HITS OUT AT REVIEW PROCESS
The AFL’s competitive balance review is at risk of falling behind schedule as Greater Western Sydney coach Adam Kingsley hits out at the “stark” challenges facing northern clubs.
Wide-ranging concerns over competitive balance issues were gathered as part of the AFL Players’ Association’s Insights and Impact report, which was released on Tuesday night.
“Competitive balance is bigger than one club, it contributes to ensuring the strength of the game across the entire country and that’s where our biggest growth opportunity is,” Kingsley told the AFLPA report.
“Since moving from Melbourne, I’ve seen first-hand the challenges that northern clubs face. No doubt all clubs have individual challenges, but the ones up here are stark.
“As a code, we have to grow participation so we can recruit locally and not have 80 per cent of a club’s list come from another state, which inherently impacts player retention.
“As a code, we have to develop quality coaches and compensate them accordingly, so we don’t have coaches having to make a choice between living in the same state as their families or pursuing a career at an AFL club.
“And as a code, we have to understand that if we want to be a national competition, we should treat every aspect of the game as an opportunity to reach new people and teach them about the game we all love.
“It’s a big challenge but it’s the greatest opportunity for our industry to grow and for all those across the industry to be rewarded off the back of that.”
Just 25 per cent of the Giants’ list is from NSW or the ACT while some of Kingsley’s assistant coaches are not paid enough to relocate their families to Sydney.
“You’re on $180,000 as a coach and you rent for a family with three kids – it’s $1300 a week to rent in Sydney,” one manager has said.
The Sydney-based clubs struggle to attract the best off-field talent because of the soft cap and so assistant coaches often bounce between those arch rivals.
Last year Gold Coast’s academy produced four of the top 14 draft picks. While the talent influx angered rival clubs, the Queensland academy grew the talent pool and the homegrown talents should help the Suns’ player retention.
The talent pathways in football heartlands have emerged as problematic in 2024 with Western Australia bracing for its worst draft ever and South Australia also struggling.
Clubs have voiced their concerns over issues including cost of living variations, inequities in state-league competitions, travel requirements and fixture imbalances to the AFLPA this year.
The AFLPA pushed hard for the competitive balance review to be included in the recent pay deal that was signed off on last year.
AFL football boss Laura Kane and veteran administrator Geoff Walsh are driving the warts-and-all look at football from league headquarters.
The terms of reference are due to be agreed to by June 30, with the deadline for the review set for December 31.
But it’s understood the escalation of issues regarding the under-fire Illicit Drugs Policy and the myriad of industry issues, such as Tarryn Thomas, Jeremy Finlayson, Wil Powell, along with Indigenous pathways, have left the review behind schedule.
The goal of the review is to iron out imbalances in the competition as the league strives to deliver a competition where fans and players have a reasonable expectation that their club can field a competitive team and have a realistic chance of achieving on-field success.
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Originally published as AFL competitive balance review: National reserves competition, more AFL trophies among demands from clubs
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