UPDATE: PORT Adelaide has promptly rejected a South Australian Football Commission proposal for a stand-alone reserves team saying it would rather stay with the "status quo" for 2014.
The commission wants the Power and Crows to operate stand-alone reserves team, similar to many of their Victorian counterparts.
However, under the plan, the Power will lose their junior teams, which range from under-13s to under-18s.
"We are disappointed but not surprised by the SANFL commission's preferred model," Port Adelaide chief executive Keith Thomas said in a statement.
"As a club with a long history of deep community connection, we have made it clear from the outset that we believe that any model that precludes Port Adelaide from retaining these links through our junior programs would not be positive for SA football and certainly not good for our club.
"Accordingly, we will opt for the status quo in 2014, and reassess our options beyond that.
"We will continue to pursue the goal of creating an AFL development side as a matter of priority."
On Tuesday the SANFL put forward a proposal that would stop Adelaide and Port Adelaide players being forced into various state league sides when they are not playing senior football.
For Port Adelaide, it would mean integrating the SANFL Magpies into the Power structure. The Port Adelaide Magpies would become the Power's reserves team.
While Adelaide would run its own reserves side for the first time, it wouldn't be permitted to compete under the Crows name.
The new model for the state competition was formally presented on Tuesday.
Club bosses will now present the plan to their respective boards, with final ratification expected within a fortnight.
"It is the commission's belief that the recommended model protects the integrity, the relevance, game development and club and competition viability," chairman John Olsen said.
"It provides the SANFL and its clubs with certainty about the future of our competition while also providing the Adelaide and Port Adelaide football clubs the best competition outside of the AFL in which to test themselves.
"The alternative to this course of action exposes the SANFL to reduced corporate interest and reduced media coverage while also threatening the relevance of the competition as the best outside of the AFL."
There has been a lot of resistance in South Australia to the prospect of the AFL giants fielding stand-alone sides because of the fear they would dominate the SANFL competition.
The model aims to limit such a possibility by restricting 'top-up' players for both the Crows and Power sides to 18 to 22-year-olds.
Adelaide's reserves team would not host home games, playing all its matches away, allowing the existing teams to create more competition.
The Power and the Magpies have run separate football structures in the past, but the new model would see them integrate their football program.
Port had already expressed some concerns about the strict requirements laid out in the SANFL plan.
President David Koch has previously voiced reservations about being forced to shut down the Magpies under-age and reserves teams as part of the proposed restructure.
Adelaide and Port Adelaide would also have to agree not to poach staff from existing SANFL clubs.
Matt Thompson is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter @MattThompsonAFL
