Reform plan to save the WAFL
Two WAFL club directors have rebelled against the competition's traditionalist values, warning that the competition is in "terminal decline" and recommending drastic reforms.
The ideas include rebranding the competition as AFL WA to boost its profile and cash in on AFL marketing campaigns.
The strategic plan - Saving the WAFL: A Way Forward - was devised by Swan Districts directors Howard Dawson and Paul Douglas without the prior knowledge of their club and painted a dire picture of the future for the competition unless it was overhauled and significant financial model changes were made in WA football's structure.
It said the competition was in terminal decline and in "failed survival mode", citing an ageing supporter base, diminishing crowds, fragile balance sheets, decreased media attention and competition for corporate support as major challenges.
Five key recommendations were proposed to protect the long-term interests of the competition and help it thrive:
·Instigate negotiations with the AFL to rebrand the WAFL as AFL WA.
·Urge the AFL to buy the West Coast and Fremantle licences from the WAFC.
·Initiate a review to determine what administrative functions could be reassigned to the AFL, with a view to reducing the size of the WAFC and cutting costs.
·Urge the AFL to increase its annual development commitment to WA football to $3.75 million, with the money to be directly managed by WAFL clubs.
·Immediately evaluate the sale options for the lease of Subiaco Oval (Patersons Stadium) for redevelopment.
The final recommendation was already being considered by the WAFC before the "Saving the WAFL" plan was presented.
Dawson and Douglas first discussed the plan with WAFL council of presidents chairman Haydn Raitt in Fremantle last month.
The pair presented it to presidents and chief executives of each of the nine WAFL clubs and WAFC chairman Frank Cooper at a meeting last week.
The plan met with mixed reactions. One club representative described the plan as simply a "running commentary" on issues that are well known to all WAFL stakeholders.
Raitt said the plan, which he was treating as a discussion paper, was seen by some club leaders as being too radical.
He expected resistance from the commission, which would relinquish much of its control of WA football under the plan.
"We all agree on the problems that are facing the WAFL - declining membership and gates and so on," Raitt said.
"They're problems we all see and even the commission see as well. But the way forward and some of the ways they've outlined of fixing the problems, we haven't discussed. That's probably where it's at and I suppose at the next presidents meeting we'll have a chat about it.
"Of course the commission don't like it because it basically sees the demise of the commission."
The council of presidents will discuss the proposal when they meet again next month.
"A little bit of a feeling from some of the presidents is the way forward is too radical," Raitt said. "But there's been nothing done from a (council of presidents) committee level until we meet again."
In a statement to _The West Australian _ yesterday, the commission said the paper "primarily relates to WAFL sustainability, an issue that is already high on both the WAFC and WAFL agenda and is currently being worked on together".
"The chairman of the WAFL council of presidents has told the WAFC that it has had no formal consideration by them and is not endorsed by them," the statement said.
"The council of presidents agreed to forward the paper to the WAFC under strict confidentiality for information purposes only. The WAFC has not been asked to consider the paper. Before any such request is made, the paper needs to be given due consideration by the council of presidents."
