In the workshops I run for businesses, I sometimes pose this question: "If you had to close your business today and create a new one tomorrow, what would you do differently?" The idea is to get management to realise that just because something is "there", doesn't mean it should be and that there will always be new and (often) better ways if we just relax the status quo and start with a clean sheet.

Such an approach may have been the thinking behind the differences that World Series Cricket brought to that game.

So, if we had to close the AFL and create a whole new competition, what would be different? What could we do better?

I am interested to hear what members think what "World Series Football" would be like. Consider rules, number of clubs, finals, grounds, administration... everything is up for grabs.

I’ll throw up a crazy one...

I’d like to see the resurrection of state league football. Not a national league, but rather a state conference system. Ideally, 10 teams from each state league, who each play each other twice. At the end of 18 Rounds (did I do the math right??) the top two from each league go trough to play for the Australian Football League Premiership. The champion of the state is the team who wins the state league minor premiership. The AFL finals would be a knockout based series. The argument against is that that the elite talent pool would be too thin for this to work, but in an ideal world, that’s what I’d want it to look like. 

This borrows somewhat from the American NFL model of conferences. Games in Vic and other states would return to local grounds. Problem is, with the advent of the Eagles and Crows and to a lesser extent Power and Dockers, the state league clubs like Sturt and Claremont would have no chance to resurrect fans. 

 

 

Different times and sports when WSC was introduced plus perhaps most importantly one day cricket was at the time a proven hit in the UK albeit ignored by Cricket Australia.

The revolution was also in the form of TV coverage and of course player payments.

I would like to see a version of AFLX played at lower levels so we can see if it works as a game. If they then want to add the razamatazz later .. fine ...but it needs to be proven as a game. Think Rugby sevens as a model.

I would like to see the game improved for TV at AFL level with multiple choice of camera angles plus viewer controlled commentary.

I would like to see an MCG where, as in the old days, you could move vantage points during a game rather than be herded into allocated areas even if the crowd is only 30,000.

Would be better for spectators.

I think a new AFL would have fewer teams in Melbourne. Maybe just 6. The strong clubs like Collingwood, Richmond, Hawthorn and Essendon might be the first four, then the other clubs would have to merge or start from scratch to form the last two. Much and all as I love the history of the Melbourne Football Club, in a clean sheet future, all it has going for it is its name.