Xman wrote:And further to that, the AFL and players association are taking steps to address this issue. Meanwhile the NRL seem happy to let the broncos and storm dominate their competition in a desperate bid for TV cash. For shame.piesman2011 wrote:Yeah it was quite a good read. The thing that I found interesting was when someone ( not in this article) was talking Brisbane broncos and saying that they out spend the biggest AFL clubs on football spending by 5 million dollars a year. This would be a gap of 10 to 20 million dollars a year in football spending over other NRL clubs like the Raiders. The storm was also receiving an extra 6 million a year if I remember correctly for its football spending from news limited that would again dwarf many of the other clubs. And sorry to repeat myself, but which two teams have won 7 of the last 15 grand finals?
This article says the gap of biggest AFL clubs spending being 5 million a year more then the smallest AFL club is to much and is causing problems with evenness. my question would be what sort of unevenness would a gap of 15 million like in the NRL has cause with quite a few less players in a team as well. I'm sure others have brought this to the attention of the NRL in the past.
AFL players' association boss Matt Finnis warns the fabric of the AFL will come under threat unless changes are made to stop rich clubs dominating.
Finnis said the performance gap between the league's highest-spending and lowest-spending clubs was becoming so entrenched that it appeared existing equalisation measures such as the draft and salary cap couldn't change it.
"The last five years the top four spending teams are consistently winning more games than the bottom four spending teams," Finnis told reporters on Tuesday night after the AFLPA's annual general meeting.
"We should be very careful about not getting caught up on something which may be a cycle, but it would seem now that the evidence is suggesting it's more than a cycle.
"If we don't address the issue perhaps the trends might continue to the point where it does pose a threat to the very fabric of our competition."
Finnis' comments come after AFL chairman Mike Fitzpatrick declared the league one of the world's least-equalised competitions in terms of revenue-sharing, of those that have an equalisation policy.
The AFL will meet officials from all clubs on Wednesday to discuss the issue.
Finnis said the AFLPA had not proposed a specific solution but Wednesday's meeting provided an opportunity that needed to be seized upon.
The issue has divided clubs, with officials from richer clubs such as Carlton, Collingwood, Hawthorn and Richmond having met separately recently to form a unified front against proposals involving redistributing money to poorer clubs.
AFLPA president and Collingwood midfielder Luke Ball said club loyalties also made it hard for players to have a united voice on the issue, although there was widespread support for an equal competition.
"We want all our players drafted to every different club to go in knowing they're going to be given every possible chance to be part of a successful team," Ball said.
Ball will also speak at a two-day conference on concussion.
It starts on Wednesday in Melbourne and involves representatives of various sporting codes.
The AFL is expected to announce revised concussion guidelines on Wednesday and Ball said players supported the way the league was handling the issue.
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/af ... z2NzDdcYzW
The most lopsided competition in the entire world me thinks.............
