WESTERN Australian football is set for a shake-up, with declining under-18s talent and a fully integrated WAFL women's competition placed squarely on the agenda by a once-in-a-generation review.
The Boston Consulting Group has handed the WAFC 19 recommendations – 18 of which have been accepted – after examining the state's football structure.
As part of the reforms, WAFL clubs are set to lose control of talent pathways and a 'player first' approach will be taken with the underage competition, in line with the NAB AFL Under-18 Championships model.
From next year, the WAFC could take control and centralise talent management after criticism from AFL clubs that WA was the "worst or second-worst" state at preparing draft-age players for the elite level.
Talent produced by WA has been described as "inconsistent and in decline", with the number of top-20 draft picks falling by 16 per cent each year for the past decade.
The WAFC has resisted another recommendation to replace the WAFL Colts competition with a separate six-team underage league.
Meanwhile, a women's competition aligned to WAFL clubs is scheduled to be trialled in 2018. A female talent program will also be established as a pathway towards the AFLW competition.
Among the other recommendations accepted by the WAFC:
- Changing the nine-team WAFL competition to an 18-game season per club instead of 22 rounds so each team plays the other twice.
- Seeking a long-term WAFL broadcast deal to maximise relevance, sustainability and exposure of WA's top competition and position the WAFL as the premier state league in Australia.
- Renewing West Coast and Fremantle's partnership with East Perth and Peel Thunder respectively until 2021.
- The need for WAFL clubs to be financially viable and, in the event of financial distress, mergers should be preferred over bailouts by the WAFC.
- Investigate opportunities for sharing services and branding (ie. AFL WA)
The structural review of WA football was undertaken with a clear plan for football to remain the No.1 sport in the state.
Geelong president Colin Carter, who in 1985 completed a report proposing a national competition for the VFL, was part of the Boston Consulting Group team examining WA football.
More than 70 football stakeholders were interviewed and 1000 people surveyed as part of the review.
"The time was right to take a step back and conduct a once-in-a-generation review to identify what's being done right and where reforms needs to be made," WAFC chief executive Gavin Taylor said.
"A key finding of the review is that WA footy is fundamentally in good shape, however there are clear challenges facing our game.
"We will now discuss the report in detail with the WA football community and are seeking their feedback on the reforms during a six-week consultation phase as well as their input about implementation strategies."
