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What will we see in the 148th year?
There has been so much ongoing debate about a national reserves competition being started and the comp returning to the premier state based competition in Victoria.
I think the South Australian clubs remaining in the SANFL and the same with Western Australia for short term future will see the status quo continue at least for the next couple of seasons.
I think the AFL telling Port Adelaide to stay in the SANFL is a sign that they don't want to absorb the costs of a national reserves league at this time, especially not with the AFLW apparently not turning a profit yet. That being said, I still believe it's inevitable whether it happens in 5 years or 50 years. Clubs are always going to want an even playing field to develop their players and that isn't going to happen without every reserves side playing in the same league.
Format-wise I imagine the status quo will be the same as this year, with the exception of Tasmania playing some invitational games. I do think the pressure is going to mount on the AFL to shake up the format once they're in the VFL full-time. 22 teams in an 18-game season was laughable and that was before the draw was tweaked for the standalone clubs. Now there are going to be even more teams who don't play each other every season and I honestly think the AFL needs to look at some form of proper organisation (be it through conferences or divisions) instead of lumping this many teams into a season that is simply too short.
In terms of individual clubs, I still worry for the fortunes of Coburg and the Bullants. Coburg have at least made noticeable improvement and while their crowd figures are fairly small, they're drawing enough people to make an atmosphere on game day. But without the finances to pay the full salary cap and compete with the AFL juggernauts, I still fear for them. The Bullants are probably in an even worse position. On our trip up there a few weeks ago we noted how deserted their ground often is during games, and also how run down the stands seem (the side windows on the grandstand looked to have been boarded up due to smashed glass, and some old Northern Blues signage is still hanging up and decaying.) There's only so long a club can scrape by in my opinion before things fall apart, and I really hope Coburg and Preston can find something to build on next year. Otherwise there's a real possibility of losing them altogether.