The AFL has told its clubs that it is embarking on what it’s calling A Competitive Balance Review.
A widespread attempt to greater equalise the competition, if you will.
It could well be the next instalment of Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible franchise, but the Northern Academy and Next Generation Academy systems are said to only be part of a far bigger body of work that the league is taking on.
An online hook up was held on Thursday afternoon between the AFL and the club’s football department heads. It was headed by the AFL’s executive GM of football Laura Kane, its GM of football operations Josh Mahoney and league consultant Geoff Walsh.
The 18 clubs will make submissions to the AFL on a range of topics in the coming weeks and months as the league collates the information and feedback.
Rest assured though, there is angst. Relatively widespread angst. A lot of it triggered by the Suns’ four academy first rounders.
It’s prompted quite a few clubs to reveal their own sense of injustice, whether it be travel, academies, NGA, whatever.
And there are a lot of factors to competitive balance and a review of it. Financial strength, crowds, travel, cost of living, percentage of home-grown players, it’s all going into the melting pot to generate another version of give and take.
Without doubt, the Northern Academies are an advantage. That’s exactly why they were set up. To give an advantage to those clubs who don’t have any other advantages.
Unlike power clubs down here. Collingwood for example get Nick Daicos at 4, Isaac Quaynor as an academy pick, post $6 million profit and they travel six times. I’m not picking on Collingwood; I could have picked most clubs down in Victoria. It’s just an example – and the reality.
And the moment the Suns, who have never played finals, have been a basket case, just sacked yet another coach, and had an Academy that has far from set the world on fire, land four kids in one draft…the world closes in. The Suns sell two games to Darwin for heaven’s sake.
They play a home game against Collingwood and 18,000 of the 22,000 there are Pies fans.
Clubs like GWS and Gold Coast don’t have father-sons and don’t have big crowds and have to travel 13 times.
Would it not be okay for them to have one advantage?
On this front specifically, have the AFL got the strength to withstand the blowback?
Because they know that where they invest, they get development.
Tasmania was stuffed in terms of kids coming through. They put them into the elite talent pathway and low and behold, three get picked in the top 17.
Should the Northern Academy clubs get the 20 per cent discount? Maybe, maybe not. But they’re still going to get the picks anyway.
The clubs were a while ago now sent a survey by the league regarding questions over things like father-sons and academy rules and all of that.
There is a feeling among some of the clubs that the league has largely made up its mind on a revised equalisation model. After all, you know what the Victorian clubs are going to say and you know what the interstaters and northern clubs are going to say.
Because this is a comp where we’ve got 18 teams and only 23 rounds. Nine teams in one city. What is equal tomorrow might not be equal next week. It’s that sort of competition.
But the clubs believe the league is really getting its act together on this front now.
Steve Hocking leaves at the end of 2021. Brad Scott comes in still sort of feeling his way in terms of admin, but he leaves after 12 months, Laura Kane is kind of in, Gil is kind of going, but this feels like they’ve now got their house in order.
And at the very time they’ve got their house in order the clubs are full of angst. It certainly has created an interesting dynamic.
