With Victoria once again dominating in the national draft, with no fewer than 39 players taken from the total of 75, my hat must go off to the Swan Districts club in Perth who alone had 7 players selected and 2 of those in the top 10 that’s not far shy of 10% of all players picked and that’s just one club.

Yet there is deathly silence on a possible 3rd Perth franchise, why is this? Television rights! That’s right readers although there is a strong case to possibly add another Perth based club before the end of the next decade it simply doesn’t rate at AFL HQ; to go a step further we probably have more chance of seeing a London based franchise in the league due to possible viewership.

I fully understand the want from HQ to push forward with GC17 and the future West Sydney franchises, yet the question must be asked is there the support in West Sydney for the Australian game? This I think takes us back to the national draft and the great abyss that currently is the NSW talent pool.

I’m not sure how much research has been completed into West Sydney by HQ, but I strongly object to the fact that there is a thirst for the game in the area at this time. It doesn’t seem to matter which way we look at this situation the AFL seems set on the 2 new northern clubs. I now ask the question on the prospect of 18 teams; it does seem exciting yet is it workable? I’ll try my hand at a system I have been eyeing off yet I have no doubt it will attract its knockers.

Now to the setup of an 18 team competition, we currently endure an unequal 22 round season where clubs fail to play each other on a fair home and away basis. I look to the American conference system to allow for a much fairer competition and to add a fresh new dimension. This would slightly shorten the season, yet a more elaborate finals campaign could be introduced to garner that gripping viewership the HQ craves.

Taking into account that with the 2 new interstate clubs it will create a situation where 9 clubs hail from Melbourne, and 9 from Geelong and interstate. I propose the creation of 2 conferences within the AFL, one would be known as the Melbourne Football Conference (MFC) and the other the National Football Conference (NFC).

Each club would play all and sundry in there conference on a home and away basis creating 18 rounds, with all clubs playing just 16 matches creating less player fatigue and increasing the overall standard of football. The finals would work on a top 5 from each conference with the 5th place team going into a shotgun style playoff.

This in turn would create much more interest in the whole competition as one conference maybe stronger than the other allowing weaker clubs to continue on, and it gives the finals the uncertainty factor of playing teams from the other competition for the first time. Perhaps this is what the code needs to take it deep into the century.

MFC NFC
Carlton Adelaide
Collingwood Brisbane
Essendon Fremantle
Hawthorn Geelong
Melbourne Gold Coast
North Melbourne Port Adelaide
Richmond Sydney
St.Kilda West Coast
Western Bulldogs West Sydney

Article by
Daniel Mercer