The worst 4 teams in the comp at the moment:

Carlton, Hawthorn, Essendon* and Collingwood

These teams are the most successful of all time, its so sad to see what has come of us and the other 3

What has caused this debacle?

Pride, little understanding of the system... stupidity.. bad list management and the fact that just because you WERE succesful doesnt mean you will be succesful going forward...

Better wake up !!!!

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Like a few others I don't agree with everything you say Synbad, but there's nothing in that statement I can find fault with.

Our failure to embrace the draft until recently is really hurting us, almost as much as being pinged for "those picks".

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feed in priority draft picks for sustained failure, draft concessions for interstate teams, and salary cap concessions and there you have it.

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A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty" -Winston Churchill

L.M 35-06

Isn't this the nature of football these days? Every team will have its turn at the bottom and depending how good they are with their drafting, list management etc. will depend how long they stay down.
Eventually everyone will get a turn down the bottom and some come up quicker than others.
That what a salary cap and draft is mean't to do. Our only problem is that when it was our turn to be at the bottom we virtualy got nothing for it, so we will be one of the clubs that will have to wait a little longer.

And in that post, Jbee, you have neatly summarised the AFL system. Sad but true

I believe a time will come when fans turn their back on the AFL and start paying attention to suburban footy such as the VFL as their competition of choice. I'm sure it's under similar restrictions but gee it's refreshing to watch - so much more honest in its play, commentating, the sight of cars parked around the boundary with occupants tooting goals ...

Very insightful post

The whole system has been so tightly managed to make it as fair as possible to all clubs that it has gone overboard and favours interstate clubs.
The AFL tried to make an even playing field but in doing so has made a lopsided competition. Brisbane is a great place to live. If I had the choice of moving to Brisbane or say Adelaide, I would move to Brisbane in a flash. Houses are cheaper and and the weather is better than in Melbourne yet the Lions get 10% extra on theire salary cap. It does not make sense. The arguement is that they cannot make as much on endorsements there, yet their coach flogs houses in Melbourne and i have heard Akamanis and others on the radio in Melbourne. I simply cannot follow the logic here.
On top of this, Brissiey get to select 2 local players every year. If Reiwald had of lived 50K closer to Brissie, they would of had him to. All of the interstate teams have an advantage with local players over Victorian clubs. They have the state to themselves or maybe one other. In Victoria you have 11 clubs looking over the local talent. I am sure it must happen that interstate clubs see a 14year old potential super and they tell the kid, "heres a grand, go play basketball for a couple of years" and we will pick you up when your 17. Jeez, in that situation. I would.
The there is sponsorship. obviously it must be easier to find sponsors if there are only one or two clubs in the state than 11. With sponsorship comes money, with money comes better facilities so injuries are managed better, better and more coaching staff and better and more recruiters. The only Victorian clubs who have wealth right now are Essendon* and Collingwood who are both shyte. Maybe the lesson from this is, that it does not matter how well you are set up in Victoria, there are other factors more important.
This rant was brought to you by Extreme Frustration Inc.