Should we help the poor Victorians?

[Grim Reaper]

Does anyone think that the Victorians have lost the plot when it comes to playing footy and that maybe the interstate community should have a charity match to help save Victorian football?

[SBR]

Does anyone think that the Victorians have lost the plot when it comes to playing footy and that maybe the interstate community should have a charity match to help save Victorian football?

Yes and No, let them rot in their own failure

[The Portonian]

Good topic, seems to be a current rage in AFL media circles with the likes of Barassi chiming in with his idiotic reasons and thoughts.

I read an article from Barassi stating that the AFL should hold an enquiry into why the Vic clubs are struggling. Hah, what a fecking load of crap, first of, AFL = Australian Football League, not Victorian, if the clubs can't sort out their own administration and player problems, too fecking bad, it's a professional era after all. We never saw the likes of Freo getting an enquiry thrown their way as they peetered along for a decade of amazing under achievement and bad management...they got off their arses and made the changes they needed and worked their way into the realms of respectability this year. The other interstate powerhouses (pretty much everyone bar Freo prior to this year), have achieved success largely on their own. Even discounting the very generous help that Sydney and Brisbane had in their struggling years, this was done for a valid reason to promote and advance the game in foreign (rugby) territory. West Coast, Adelaide and Port have done it all themselves, with no help, a lot of hard work on and off the field, excellent club management. It's about time the Victorian clubs started admitting that they just haven't worked as hard all these recent years while they rode the gravy train of football superiority.

Straight from Barassi's mouth;

'Number one in a professional game is usually money, I suspect it's got something to do with money,"

Talk about simplistic idiocy, everything is about money Barassi you idiot. But lets look at the real truth shall we? All the AFL clubs partake from the enormous money trough that is the AFL coffers, all get a fair and "equal" share of the pie but not every team uses the funds wisely. Victorian teams are bloated, sure they live in the richest (arguably) city in Australia, there are ten of them (can't really count Geelong in that however), they compete for corporate sponsorship in a tighter net, there are two or three Vic power teams who benefit a whole lot more than others. Simply put, it comes down to management, some do it well in Victoria, others just plain suck at it and aren't prepared to make the hard choices in order for their club to flourish. Few could argue that Collingwood aren't the richest club in the country, full stop. Yet they are, as recent history shows, one of the poorest in terms of returns on the field...they do not manage themselves well for a variety of reasons.

More from Barassi;

"You don't want any one section to be continually dominating unless of course they get it through fair means. That's a different story altogether, but that's the reason why I take this stance."

It's the stance of an elitist wanker Barassi, pure and simple. So now its case once again of "them vs us" is it? For the past five years (dear oh dear, five whole years), the title has been taken by Queensland 3 times, SA once and NSW once...and will be an interstate trophy once again this year. Sour grapes old boy, sour grapes, what about all the years when the comp first went national and the interstate teams (barring the Eagles who were the first to crack it for the big prize) struggled most direly..where was your concern then I wonder? It's not about states, it's about teams and there is factual proof that says all the interstate based teams have supporters nationwide...it's called nationalism and it is supposedly, what makes the modern game of AFL great.

Ahh, Brian Cook, CEO of Geelong, a man who I thought was going to say something intelligent at first but then realised he was just as stupid as Barassi;

But Geelong chief executive Brian Cook, whose club failed to make the last eight this year, said the focus needed to shift away from what was wrong with Victorian football and move onto what was right with the interstate set-ups.

Smartest thing he's said all year...albeit out of true context.

"Having the pick of the best in their state is the big thing, so they naturally get the best talent"

Hrm, forget something small Brian? The draft perhaps? You idiot, all clubs partake of the draft, you can't get players without it except for trading with other clubs or the father-son rule (which by the way, favours Vic teams far more than the interstate ones and is easily proven). If a club scouts well and does it's homework, then works behind the scenes well with it's recruiting staff to ensure they can nab the best possible draft choices that fit their desired team structure, then of course they will succeed. How many interstate youngsters have been the top line draft attractions and ended up in Vic club hands? A fecking lot, that's how many...they don't always get to stay home where they grew up.

"They recruit very well, they seem to develop their players very well, and they seem to actually fast track the development of their younger players."

It's called club management Brian, something the Vics have yet to remaster, instead relying on luck and the invariable cry of "no fair!" that always seems to rise up when they Vics fail yet again, at the serious end of the season.

"So all of those things - there must be reasons behind that, it's not simply luck."

So, Vics believe in luck...no wonder their clubs are struggling like a pack of amateurs. Pure and simple, footy is a business now, you either learn to run it successfully or you go to the wall and remain mired in mediocrity. That is pretty easy to believe when one looks at Geelong for example, a club that has had some very talented lists in the past few years but has always, for some easily fathamoble reason, failed to deliver when it really matters.

Victorian teams would be helped by one thing and one thing only, a bloody reality check to their own failings and shortcomings. None of em are prepared to take the leap and leave Melbourne in order to promote the game and in the end advance themselves into a powerhouse position. They all think that Victoria is still the home of real football and that they are the only pioneers and masters of the game. They refuse to believe they are simply not up to the task of being successful in an ever demanding competition and in the end, all the whining in the world and crying for handouts from the AFL, is not going to help them. Get off your arses and be accountable for yourselves if you really want success to be translated to your club.