G25 strategy findings released
The final recommendations from the G25 strategy undertaken by AFL Victoria and Colgan Bauer have been released, with the main recommendation being the Alberton Football League merge with the Mid Gippsland league.
This would create a 15-team competition next year.
This would see an 18 round season with an annual rotation of home and away games, followed by a top eight finals structure.
With more teams playing finals, the league would remain financially stable and sustainable. The rationale also touched on the future growth of the area, with little expected, meaning clubs would struggle to hold onto valuable talent.
A larger league and stronger teams would see the clubs remain stronger for longer and provide a larger appeal for players to stay.
It’s not the first time Alberton league clubs have applied to jump across to Mid Gippsland, however, the previous attempts have been denied by the league.
With DWWWW folding in 2018, only six teams competed in the Alberton league last season and the issue of sustainability continued to lurk in the background.
It’s understood that the Mid Gippsland and Alberton leagues met last week and have begun to discuss the future, even this season, with the junior competitions to play against each other after both senior seasons were cancelled, with a draw to be released in the near future.
There has been no decision made however on whether the Mid Gippsland league will accept all six clubs, but the discussion will be raised going forward as planning for 2021 swings into action.
Other recommendations included updating the salary caps across the Gippsland senior competitions, helping each league attract and retain talent in the region.
The issue was raised during the meetings conducted, explaining that rising cost and revenue pressure of running a club was mounting. Player payments were identified as the primary pressure driver going forward.
Out of the COVID-19 pandemic, clubs will face greater financial challenges as mentioned in the G25 recommendations by Colgan Bauer, which was the rationale around updating the salary caps by the time season 2021 rolls around.
Originally the West Gippsland and Ellinbank and District league were recommended to amalgamate, however that stance has changed after both leagues pushed back strongly. Now, the recommendation notes a shift to divisional football, with both leagues keeping their heritage.
This would see a promotion/relegation system and would be decided by the average club win rate over three years, giving both leagues the stability they have been yearning for, with this recommended for 2025.
Originally two clubs were recommended to move into the Alberton league, but the West Gippsland presidents banded together to strongly dispute that.
The shift to divisional football looks likely in the future according to Warragul Industrials president Dale Bainbridge with the growth of the western corridor in mind.
“Change is going to have to occur at some point. Who knows where we will be in five years, but this has given everyone time to consolidate and see where it’s going, because it’s moving quickly,” he said.
“There’s no way you would rule that out in the future, it’s definitely a possibility, it has to come organically though, it can’t be forced,” he added.
However, the West Gippsland league have also explored other options, meeting with AFL Outer East in late June, but no decisions have been made yet regarding the meeting.
While the recommendations have been released, there has been no decisions made yet, with leagues and clubs set to discuss the findings in the future.