A) Set up in a reserves comp then if it is such a problem for you.
B) In that case, just send Wingard and Pittard over to Carlton. No transfer fees applicable, and it is only a couple of players, if that makes any difference then the standard at Port is much worse off than I thought.
A) IMO a reserves comp could be worse off for the SANFL clubs and survival would be even harder
B) Totally different, there's around 100 draftees per season entering the AFL from many leagues, you're saying that the AFL clubs should pay a transfer fee for every player. Like it or not the SANFL is a feeder comp for the AFL, I understand people don't like change but most of the players are playing there for one reason only, time to accept it for what it is
To be sure, our specific complaint is about two reserve entities operating in our league under different rules to us, and an agenda other than winning.
This is being highlighted by reference to transfer fees. It would be exactly the same as Carlton suddenly taking two of your better players and just handing them to another club to be used against you.
You would find these complaints would evaporate as soon as you took your reserve side out of the SANFL.
So if you would be totally cool with handing two of your better players to a rival club for no compensation, then you would have grounds to tell us that it is a fair system.
The problem here is that there are two reserve teams competing with eight fair dinkum passionate clubs, whose chief motive is winning, rather than practice.There are so many of these irregular quirks that we tend just to say "compromised", so of course we will discuss the actual examples when they turn up also.
The same people that tell me Port Magpies are there for practice only and don't care about winning are the same people that tell me Port Power only recruit SANFL players to improve their Magpies side. That sounds like a contradiction to me.
And what's your opinion? You seriously think the Magpies now take the field with a win at all costs attitude? That if your first ruckman got injured the day before, you wouldn't rest up your reserves ruck a bit, even if the game was on the line?
Recruiting players purely to boost the Magpies would not contradict the above, by the way. You can fill up on Rookies without contradicting the first law of reserves, which is they exist to support a side in a higher grade.
Whether Eddy, Irra , Leinert and co were recruited for that purpose alone might be a bit of a stretch, but it is a very, very, easy way of boosting your side, while weakening others.
What's the solution?
Get the reserves out of the SANFL.
Easy!