Diamond_Jim

The AFL's sunk costs in refurbishing that old stadium in Shanghai aren't looking too flash

In a perverse way it makes sense but only if you assume WC plays their first final in WA. Wheels within wheels.

soft cap for 2021 has been cut by nearly a third from $9M to $6M approx. Will be interesting to see our cuts. Richmond also made big cuts last week .

That was literally the year that the premiership was anyone's and as usual we squibbed it

The soft cap for 2021 has been slashed by one third from approx $9M to $6M. Coaching and support jobs will be at a premium.

"Fellow ruckman Luke Jackson (hamstring) is on track in his rehab, with a Round 18 return on the cards for the 18-year-old." Someone's optimistic....?

Port are fiercely independent so I see them as the last to merge. The problem with being aligned is that you can have as much agreement re retention of name, jumpers grounds etc but at the end of the day the AFL team will decide strategy, team selection and player usage. The problems of not having absolute control were obvious when we were aligned with Sandringham. There is also the issue of ground rationalisation for those clubs such as North, Bulldogs etc that have their own playing arena capable of supporting small crowds. They will not wish to contribute financially to the upkeep of the former VFA grounds such as Coburg, Port Williamstown etc It'll be a tough decision for the non aligned clubs and I don't think the way Carlton ditched the Northern Blues will be forgotten easily.

? we all know what that is

You are very close I suspect A two tiered system to protect the big earners.... The hopefuls will play for less than the almost nothing they get now. Darwinism at its simplest. Nothing wrong with that but I'm not sure now is the best time given the AFL is perhaps squeezing every lemon it can find including members. Does it owe a duty to the lesser leagues....

Why would the AFL fund non aligned teams Their money (if they have any) will go to AFLW

Spargo's not the problem.

My bet is that Port and Williamstown will leave the comp and enter another league. Coburg and Franskston... who knows. The VFL experience will be the poorer for the absence of these traditional clubs and grounds.

Doubt it the ten Melbourne based teams and the four Northern teams do not play each other twice at senior level. At most they play 18 rounds allowing for a minimum of four games against WA and SA based teams. That will be the absolute cap for the VFL. I suspect it will be closer to 16-17 games to balance out the VFL (AFL) senior teams who play WA and SA teams twice

they mooted this several months ago. The devil will be in the detail. I suspect that the second team will travel with the senior team thus saving on costs. When we play an SA or WA team the second team has a bye. Port and Williamstown etc will have to align or leave the comp as I can't see the AFL funding a non aligned club.

God luck to him but I can't get excited anymore by individual honours. We've had a few over the years (noticeably missing the top goalkicker award) but team wise such little success. When was the last time a middle of the road team had three contenders??

The AFL must be workshopping how they can get Clarkson to GWS.

lot's of merit in that but the present clubs own the comp so they won't vote for their elimination PS by now we'd be third if not fourth division

Collingwood managed it against us in 2017

Horrible thing to say but the Tigers win was ok Perhaps rub Vaustin out for acting !! PS... Darwin doesn't seem to miss us for all those years we invested

22 games = same revenue The challenge is to grow the revenue Your system is great/interesting if we are looking at maintaining the momentum Keep up the thought process... there may be a compromise

Can't do us much harm

Makes sense but MFC would be screwed by it as the TV would demand the power teams play each other twice.The AFL would want that as well as it would maximise gate revenue etc. Of course if punters are charged another $30 per game on their membership for additional games the power clubs will love it as they make the most. Geelong and Adelaide as mentioned would be delirious. Just getting rid of the practice games gets you to 25 games without doing anything. Adelaide would be a lot worse with a smaller list as you couldn't even ring the changes to keep up minimum interest. Bear in mind we had already reached the top of the media rights payments on the present system and we are now facing a downturn. To improve the dollar return change may be required.

2019 was a loss of $2m which we met from cash at bank from the sale of fixed assets. 2020 is anyone's guess as we don't know what expenses were being met by the AFL and what the AFL distribution will be ($16M last year). The impact of reduced membership is unknown as we have been told what class of membership we lost. (I suspect thay were low game memberships that were last year purchased by the NT Govt as contra for our game in Darwin. If so the impact may not be that great.) In simple terms we have around $20M in assets thanks to our past and present bricks and mortar investment. In a perfect world we need to get that figure to around $50M and drive a year on year 6-9% return. (That's about what most balanced super funds deliver). This gives us around $2.5M per year to invest in discretionary improvements while adjusting the $50M base for inflation. Operating losses like 2019 will set us back badly.(the 2019 loss was due to one factor...low attendances ie on field performance). It's a good position but investing in a non realisable asset such as a training facility may not be sound. This is effectively what North has done.Contrast them with the Hawks who have substantially relied on external funding from Government and Foundation support.

Agree but as stats go it's interesting and we are way on the wrong side of that stat. Seems to me we could be better on the first goal of the match stat

You had me until Preuss as a forward ? Boy I'm missing Jackson... even if it was only his haircut T Mac is a worry ( starting to sing the old abberation blues)