There’s more to NEAFL changes
THE NEAFL’s list rule changes are enough to strike fear into any non-AFL club in the league.
You play football to win premierships above all else.
It’s why NEAFL clubs invest hundreds of thousands for players and coaches wages each year and when the cash is repaid with a trophy it gives boards incentive to keep going.
For that to happen every club wants to believe they have a chance at a flag. Maybe not every year but it’s what they work towards.
The decision by officials to take the shackles off AFL clubs Gold Coast, Brisbane, Sydney and GWS by removing the limit of 16-listed players in an AFL side playing against a non-AFL club in a final won’t give the competitive balance the league is after.
Yes, Brisbane’s undefeated year came on the back of a freak season where they had little injuries and it’s unlikely to happen again.
Most AFL clubs go through struggles with injury, affecting their ability to remain competitive at both senior and NEAFL-grade levels in a competition that doesn’t have a reserves team. But the other changes are more than enough to make up for that, providing the chance for AFL teams to get mature-age talent outside of their list to use when hit by injury so they don’t have to field academy players or local players not even playing in a league like the QAFL.
AFL clubs playing at home as a curtain-raiser to a senior game generally take a player off at halftime to use as an emergency for the AFL team, creating a 23 verse 21 and if injury strikes then it can leave them short on the bench. the changes will help that.
The change was made to bring the NEAFL in line with the VFL but if development of AFL players is their aim, they will get more than enough of that throughout the regular season.
You’re asking players who have come off AFL lists – or playing at the highest level they can and often all working full-time – to go up against players in AFL systems being given better resources and time to work on their craft.
THE DECISION BY OFFICIALS TO TAKE THE SHACKLES OFF AFL CLUBS ... WON’T GIVE THE COMPETITIVE BALANCE THE LEAGUE IS AFTER.