Preston have released a statement thanking their 2025 playing group, with a line near the end stating they have aspirations of returning to the VFL for 2027 or 2028.
Are we going to continue to bury our heads in the sand and hope the Grim Reaper just goes away? It's time for all of us who support standalones to begin talking about the future realistically, using the facts we see in front of us to guide our direction. The AFL continues to assure our boards that we have a relevant place in the future of the game......yet they have now callously tried to wipe two clubs out (they haven't succeeded at Frankston, yet). Preston's debt could be wiped out quite easily, but it doesn't suit the AFL's interest for that to happen. With Sandy splitting from St.Kilda now bringing a Saints team in, and Tassie, that would be 23 teams which they know is way too many. Someone had to go, and Preston are unlucky enough to be the club in struggle town at the time.
We need to be realistic about what is in the AFL's best interest. Ultimately they will bow to the wishes of the Eagles, Dockers, Crows and Power and form a true reserves competition. It is impossible for that to not happen. Fairness to those clubs dictates it must happen. They won't go to two divisions, as no AFL club will tolerate being relegated into a competition against part time footballers each week. I had hoped that at some point they would recognise the need for Victoria to have a strong state league (a pathway to good foottball and a possible stepping stone to the AFL for the many kids who don't get drafted), but it now seems that they truly don't care about that. Arrogance? Do they think that football culture in Victoria is strong enough for us to thrive without a state league? It's possible. But either way, they continue to show little regard for what is left of the VFA.
The bottom line is that there are now 5 well established clubs remaining from the VFA. Casey are not among that, as they are nothing but Melbourne reserves now. I imagine the same pretty much applies at Box Hill. Sandy are going it alone, but they're almost starting from scratch from what I can see, such is the disillusionment among the old Zebs supporters. Let's hope they make a go of it. I really believe that if we lose two of the remaining 6 (if we include Sandy), then we're all doomed. Financial position, history, and every other factor we think is in our favour will be irrelevant - there simply won't be enough standalones left to justify keeping us around in the competition, paving the way for what the AFL truly want.
I saw a post on social media this week that was interesting - suggesting the standalones look to bring on board enough clubs from metro and regional Victoria to form a breakaway state league. The suggestion was that we look to wind the clock back and bring in a lot of things that have been lost to the game and driven people back to local footy. As a Frankston supporter, I truly believe that our crowd numbers this season have not only been because of performance on field, but that games at Kinetic very much have that old school feel and sense of community. So perhaps this idea has some merit. How we fund this competition is not something I can answer......but I'd love to see our clubs getting together and discussing it. We can't just sit here waiting for the axe to fall on us.
Issues such as obtaining sufficient numbers of umpires required for each game to be played. I'm sure the AFL would do everything in their power to stop a competition being run again outside their jurisdiction.
Maybe the first step would be to encourage local clubs to participate in a mini championship, such as inviting the top 3 from the major suburban (and country) comps into a fixtured competition with a view to turning it into a state league/association.
The AFL would probably look at excluding players in the competition from the AFL national draft as a way of killing the comp off in its infancy.
* Also.. Its great to see a Werribee supporter posting here.. Long overdue!
G'day Pim, and welcome......yes it's good to see a Werribee supporter posting!
I think there's quite a few metro clubs who would be strong enough financially and reputation-wise to come aboard (Keilor, Vermont, Heidelberg, Noble Park, Rowville & Cheltenham come to mind), and yes, invites could go to regional centres like Ballarat, Bendigo, Gippsland, etc.....the issues regarding financial support are definitely problematic, which is why I see the need for the clubs to band together to acquire financial support as a strong and united group. NorthPort you're dead right, the AFL would look to throw any spanner in the wheel that they could - they don't want any league, let alone a state league, operating independently.
I also think Sandhurst and deer park could be options deer park recently joined the edfl after winning 7 wrfl flags in a row and Sandhurst are the strongest club in bendigo
Preston have released a statement thanking their 2025 playing group, with a line near the end stating they have aspirations of returning to the VFL for 2027 or 2028.
The fight isn't over yet.
Are we going to continue to bury our heads in the sand and hope the Grim Reaper just goes away? It's time for all of us who support standalones to begin talking about the future realistically, using the facts we see in front of us to guide our direction. The AFL continues to assure our boards that we have a relevant place in the future of the game......yet they have now callously tried to wipe two clubs out (they haven't succeeded at Frankston, yet). Preston's debt could be wiped out quite easily, but it doesn't suit the AFL's interest for that to happen. With Sandy splitting from St.Kilda now bringing a Saints team in, and Tassie, that would be 23 teams which they know is way too many. Someone had to go, and Preston are unlucky enough to be the club in struggle town at the time.
We need to be realistic about what is in the AFL's best interest. Ultimately they will bow to the wishes of the Eagles, Dockers, Crows and Power and form a true reserves competition. It is impossible for that to not happen. Fairness to those clubs dictates it must happen. They won't go to two divisions, as no AFL club will tolerate being relegated into a competition against part time footballers each week. I had hoped that at some point they would recognise the need for Victoria to have a strong state league (a pathway to good foottball and a possible stepping stone to the AFL for the many kids who don't get drafted), but it now seems that they truly don't care about that. Arrogance? Do they think that football culture in Victoria is strong enough for us to thrive without a state league? It's possible. But either way, they continue to show little regard for what is left of the VFA.
The bottom line is that there are now 5 well established clubs remaining from the VFA. Casey are not among that, as they are nothing but Melbourne reserves now. I imagine the same pretty much applies at Box Hill. Sandy are going it alone, but they're almost starting from scratch from what I can see, such is the disillusionment among the old Zebs supporters. Let's hope they make a go of it. I really believe that if we lose two of the remaining 6 (if we include Sandy), then we're all doomed. Financial position, history, and every other factor we think is in our favour will be irrelevant - there simply won't be enough standalones left to justify keeping us around in the competition, paving the way for what the AFL truly want.
I saw a post on social media this week that was interesting - suggesting the standalones look to bring on board enough clubs from metro and regional Victoria to form a breakaway state league. The suggestion was that we look to wind the clock back and bring in a lot of things that have been lost to the game and driven people back to local footy. As a Frankston supporter, I truly believe that our crowd numbers this season have not only been because of performance on field, but that games at Kinetic very much have that old school feel and sense of community. So perhaps this idea has some merit. How we fund this competition is not something I can answer......but I'd love to see our clubs getting together and discussing it. We can't just sit here waiting for the axe to fall on us.
I agree with all you said but the issue is what clubs could compete if they are willing to join the league and how much support will they get
Issues such as obtaining sufficient numbers of umpires required for each game to be played. I'm sure the AFL would do everything in their power to stop a competition being run again outside their jurisdiction.
Maybe the first step would be to encourage local clubs to participate in a mini championship, such as inviting the top 3 from the major suburban (and country) comps into a fixtured competition with a view to turning it into a state league/association.
The AFL would probably look at excluding players in the competition from the AFL national draft as a way of killing the comp off in its infancy.
* Also.. Its great to see a Werribee supporter posting here.. Long overdue!
* It's time to restore the VFA name.
G'day Pim, and welcome......yes it's good to see a Werribee supporter posting!
I think there's quite a few metro clubs who would be strong enough financially and reputation-wise to come aboard (Keilor, Vermont, Heidelberg, Noble Park, Rowville & Cheltenham come to mind), and yes, invites could go to regional centres like Ballarat, Bendigo, Gippsland, etc.....the issues regarding financial support are definitely problematic, which is why I see the need for the clubs to band together to acquire financial support as a strong and united group. NorthPort you're dead right, the AFL would look to throw any spanner in the wheel that they could - they don't want any league, let alone a state league, operating independently.
I also think Sandhurst and deer park could be options deer park recently joined the edfl after winning 7 wrfl flags in a row and Sandhurst are the strongest club in bendigo
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