The Riddell District Football League would consider putting its hand up to be part of a trial of AFL Victoria’s proposed equalisation measures.
League officials, including operations manager Toby Boyle, met club presidents last Monday night to discuss a number of issues, including AFL Victoria’s proposals.
Under the plan, AFL Victoria is considering a statewide salary cap, other equalisation provisions such as a player points system and appropriate enforcement polices.
“We basically explained to [the presidents] that everything done in 2015 will be a trial and there are no conditions to bind them,” Boyle said.
“We don’t know whether we’ll be part of the trial and whether we have to put our hand up or be nominated.
“I think that we’d put our hand up, but it depends on which one we’re asked to trial. There’s no point trialling something that will not work for our league.”
Boyle said the consensus among the clubs was that they supported a salary cap.
“Something needs to be done but [the clubs] are a little apprehensive it will work,’ he said.
“In the AFL, the league hands out the money for the salary cap. Here the money is generated by the clubs themselves. Some clubs believe others may rort the system.”
Boyle said the league believed the points system was the best option to support the salary cap to help even the competition.
And he said the current unevenness across the clubs’ junior systems was something that needed to be accounted for. He said it was possible that clubs with smaller junior programs could receive more points than clubs with big junior programs.
“The biggest task in my role is getting the junior structures of all clubs sorted out,” Boyle said. “We’re aiming have at least two teams per club per age group. Having an even number of teams is a long way off though.”
The league is also seeking feedback from the clubs on the make-up of the finals series.
Boyle said the league was happy with the current top-six system.
“We sent the clubs a survey asking what system they’d prefer,” Boyle said.
“The league’s happy to stay the way it is and we think it’s about right for the number of the clubs we have. If clubs think they want to change it, we’ll look at it.”
