SANFL 2025

[Interceptor]

The SANFL has had to ride some serious bumps over the last 40 years or so, but feel that the comp is now at the crossroads more than ever before.

I don't think there will be an SANFL league competition in 2030. There will be more investment and focus on the junior programs and the U18 competition will be the pinnacle for SANFL clubs. SA's version of the Coates Talent League.

That's a very pessimistic point of view, but kind of understandable.
What do you think would be the trigger for this?

It's often been claimed that a fully fledged AFL reserves comp would turn the SANFL (and WAFL) into "3rd tier" comps.
Yes, it probably would drain more players away, but would it end those leagues?
I doubt it.

The 150th year of the SANFL is coming up in 2027, I'm pretty sure it will get that far at least.

[am Bays]

IMO, The SANFL isnt going anywhere in a hurry, based on the financials behind the industry.

There are three good reasons why I say this:
1. The SANFL is bankrolled by the SMA and the associated SA Govt Act of Parliament that provides surety of income for both the SANFL and SACA (if you think Max was leaving footy park with out guarantees for the SANFL you were dead wrong - he played Foley on a break). As long as there are 40000 (on average) VFL franchise fans rocking up each week buying tickets and parking (part there of), food and drink the SANFL will be OK.
2. The fact the AFL is prepared to chuck in $500 000 a year to the SANFL for "development" money each year in lieu of having to fund a fully fledged reserves competition (SANFL were effectively brought off by the AFL to change the rules last season), means there is no AFL reserves competition coming any time soon. Not when there's AFLW comps to fund, clubs getting antsy on soft caps and a Tasmanian team that will need up to $30 Mill a year from the AFL to operate (like Gold Coast, GWS and Brisbane).
3. The fact that 6/8 SANFL clubs turnover $5Mill a year (inclusive of their licensed premises) means there are six relatively strong clubs. Unsure of South as I cant find their financials on their website. West is the undoubted concern.

Now I'm not that naïve to think everything is rosey and there are challenges like there always has been over the last 40 years. The competition will evolve over the next 10 years undoubtedly. Will a club potentially relocate, strong chance. Will the expenditure of clubs have to be rationalised undoubtedly but I'm confident I'll still be rocking up to Stratarama stadium or whatever the Bay oval will be called to watch the Bays in the SANFL for a long time yet.

[DOC]

Re above South financials:

We were carrying a small amount of debt, around 100k from memory, in order to be eligible for the last of the FO funding disperesment.

[dedja]

IMO, The SANFL isnt going anywhere in a hurry, based on the financials behind the industry.

There are three good reasons why I say this:
1. The SANFL is bankrolled by the SMA and the associated SA Govt Act of Parliament that provides surety of income for both the SANFL and SACA (if you think Max was leaving footy park with out guarantees for the SANFL you were dead wrong - he played Foley on a break). As long as there are 40000 (on average) VFL franchise fans rocking up each week buying tickets and parking (part there of), food and drink the SANFL will be OK.
2. The fact the AFL is prepared to chuck in $500 000 a year to the SANFL for "development" money each year in lieu of having to fund a fully fledged reserves competition (SANFL were effectively brought off by the AFL to change the rules last season), means there is no AFL reserves competition coming any time soon. Not when there's AFLW comps to fund, clubs getting antsy on soft caps and a Tasmanian team that will need up to $30 Mill a year from the AFL to operate (like Gold Coast, GWS and Brisbane).
3. The fact that 6/8 SANFL clubs turnover $5Mill a year (inclusive of their licensed premises) means there are six relatively strong clubs. Unsure of South as I cant find their financials on their website. West is the undoubted concern.

Now I'm not that naïve to think everything is rosey and there are challenges like there always has been over the last 40 years. The competition will evolve over the next 10 years undoubtedly. Will a club potentially relocate, strong chance. Will the expenditure of clubs have to be rationalised undoubtedly but I'm confident I'll still be rocking up to Stratarama stadium or whatever the Bay oval will be called to watch the Bays in the SANFL for a long time yet.

Mostly yes.

The SMA was set up to provide financial sustainability for both the SANFL and SACA (the SACA had $90M in debt before this, whilst the SANFL had a significant asset in Football Park, albeit with a heavy debt burden because of you know who) to give full responsibility to operate (therefore costs) and receive all revenue from Adelaide Oval, but was predicated on certain average attendances as you have alluded to. Port’s attendance mark is lower than the Crows, so below 40K. The State Govt retained ownership of Adelaide Oval.

The football and cricket income stream was supposed to be supplemented by events such as concerts, but they have been few and far between.

The SMA were so concerned about attaining those required attendance figures that they decided to build the hotel to supplement revenue.

Yes, the financial rewards are good in good times, but as per this year, Port’s attendances have fallen below the required mark.

Even though the SMA is joint SANFL and SACA, footy does most of the heavy lifting when it comes to revenue.

So yes, you are correct about the funding model, but it requires constant management to keep it sustainable.

The issue for the longevity of the SANFL isn’t financial, it’s the sustainability of the clubs from both their individual financial and football performances. By that I mean that each club must be able to stand on their own financially (in addition to the financial sustainability of the League) as well as work their zones and attract enough talent to their clubs to be successful on-field.

We currently have West which is severely struggling on both counts, and South which is faring better but not at the level required. The debate on the continued inclusion of the AFL reserve teams excluded, the SANFL needs 8 strong clubs to prosper … it doesn’t have that now.

If West were to fold, then we’re down to 7 clubs + the AFL reserve teams. Whilst I agree that they’re not leaving anytime soon, if they did then the SANFL would find it difficult to be relevant with only 7 teams.

It just provides further challenges to manage … if we had the calibre of a Max Basheer at the helm then I’d feel more comfortable, but with the current management I’m not so sure.

The worst should have been past us, but unfortunately it’s a constant battle.

The AFL reserves teams massively complicates the situation, so it’s not easy. Despite what the happy clappers may believe, it severely undermines the integrity of the competition; there’s no possible way to ‘equalise’ these teams to the other 8 clubs … but that argument is best left to the dedicated thread.

[Booney]

Best wishes to Timmy Russell at the Eagles. He's a champion bloke and he's copped some rotten luck. Hope he's well soon.

[wenchbarwer]

Best wishes to Timmy Russell at the Eagles. He's a champion bloke and he's copped some rotten luck. Hope he's well soon.

I forget which local baseball team he's involved with, is it Torrens?

Sounded horrible what happened, he's indeed a great bloke who puts a smile on your face.

[RB]

Best wishes to Timmy Russell at the Eagles. He's a champion bloke and he's copped some rotten luck. Hope he's well soon.

I forget which local baseball team he's involved with, is it Torrens?

Woodville.

Awful accident, puts the thumping the Eagles got into perspective.

Hopefully Timmy's back on his feet soon.

[Booney]

Dual Fos Williams Medallist Jez McLennan quit Central District to join Port Adelaide’s SANFL team this year to boost his chances of being drafted for a second time.

On the weekend – just a month after he was overlooked in the AFL mid-season draft and saw his former Bulldogs teammate Mani Liddy claimed by the Power – McLennan found himself back playing country footy with his junior club.

In a strange scenario, McLennan, who is one of the SANFL’s best players and represented the state against the VFL at Tanunda in April, wasn’t selected for the Port Magpies for their clash against South Adelaide last Saturday because their side was jammed full of AFL-listed players.

Instead, the playmaking half-back was shunted to play with his former country club, Tanunda Magpies, in the Barossa, Light and Gawler Football Association.
Nearly a decade since he last pulled on a Tanunda guernsey, the 24-year-old made his A-grade debut for the club against Central Gawler and starred, winning “a heap of the ball’’ and kicking a goal in the Magpies’ 132-point demolition of the Tigers.

Tanunda coach and former Power player Sam Colquhoun said McLennan, who played on the ball and at half-back, “looked a class above others, as you’d expect’’.
“It was probably a one-off but our boys loved having him in the side and played with an air of confidence that we probably haven’t seen this year,’’ Colquhoun said.

McLennan was originally named in Port’s extended squad to play struggling South at Noarlunga Oval before dropping out of the final team.
With the Power’s star off-season recruit Jack Lukosius returning from injury through the SANFL, Port, unusually, fielded 20 AFL-listed players against the Panthers.

The other two players who filled out the Magpies’ 22 were SANFL captain Nick Moore and McLennan’s fellow marquee player, midfielder and former North Melbourne VFL star Jack Watkins.

Under SANFL rules governing SA’s AFL clubs in the state league competition, Port and Adelaide must play their available AFL-listed players in their league team before calling on their SANFL-listed talent.

If not required by Port, overage players (aged above 21) have the option of playing in the SANFL reserves with their former league club or in another competition.

McLennan chose to play for Tanunda, rather than Central’s seconds.

Another Port top-up player, Rome Burgoyne, was also overlooked by the Magpies for SANFL selection on the weekend. But he was able to line up at league level for his former club Woodville-West Torrens because he is only 18 and on Port’s under-21 SANFL list.

Port was contacted about McLennan’s plight but politely declined to comment.

Incredibly, the stacked Magpies lost to ninth-placed South, which had only won one game for the season, by seven points in what Panthers coach Jarrad Wright described as “one of the best wins I have been a part of in my eight years at the footy club’’.

[mots02]

Dual Fos Williams Medallist Jez McLennan quit Central District to join Port Adelaide’s SANFL team this year to boost his chances of being drafted for a second time.

On the weekend – just a month after he was overlooked in the AFL mid-season draft and saw his former Bulldogs teammate Mani Liddy claimed by the Power – McLennan found himself back playing country footy with his junior club.

In a strange scenario, McLennan, who is one of the SANFL’s best players and represented the state against the VFL at Tanunda in April, wasn’t selected for the Port Magpies for their clash against South Adelaide last Saturday because their side was jammed full of AFL-listed players.

Instead, the playmaking half-back was shunted to play with his former country club, Tanunda Magpies, in the Barossa, Light and Gawler Football Association.
Nearly a decade since he last pulled on a Tanunda guernsey, the 24-year-old made his A-grade debut for the club against Central Gawler and starred, winning “a heap of the ball’’ and kicking a goal in the Magpies’ 132-point demolition of the Tigers.

Tanunda coach and former Power player Sam Colquhoun said McLennan, who played on the ball and at half-back, “looked a class above others, as you’d expect’’.
“It was probably a one-off but our boys loved having him in the side and played with an air of confidence that we probably haven’t seen this year,’’ Colquhoun said.

McLennan was originally named in Port’s extended squad to play struggling South at Noarlunga Oval before dropping out of the final team.
With the Power’s star off-season recruit Jack Lukosius returning from injury through the SANFL, Port, unusually, fielded 20 AFL-listed players against the Panthers.

The other two players who filled out the Magpies’ 22 were SANFL captain Nick Moore and McLennan’s fellow marquee player, midfielder and former North Melbourne VFL star Jack Watkins.

Under SANFL rules governing SA’s AFL clubs in the state league competition, Port and Adelaide must play their available AFL-listed players in their league team before calling on their SANFL-listed talent.

If not required by Port, overage players (aged above 21) have the option of playing in the SANFL reserves with their former league club or in another competition.

McLennan chose to play for Tanunda, rather than Central’s seconds.

Another Port top-up player, Rome Burgoyne, was also overlooked by the Magpies for SANFL selection on the weekend. But he was able to line up at league level for his former club Woodville-West Torrens because he is only 18 and on Port’s under-21 SANFL list.

Port was contacted about McLennan’s plight but politely declined to comment.

Incredibly, the stacked Magpies lost to ninth-placed South, which had only won one game for the season, by seven points in what Panthers coach Jarrad Wright described as “one of the best wins I have been a part of in my eight years at the footy club’’.

Another wanker trolling comment aimed towards the doggies fans…. Following multiple made on Liddy across the MSD.

No wonder you cop it from multiple posters in here, shame you can’t take it as well as you instigate it.

[gazzamagoo]

[quote="Booney"]Dual Fos Williams Medallist Jez McLennan quit Central District to join Port Adelaide’s SANFL team this year to boost his chances of being drafted for a second time.

On the weekend – just a month after he was overlooked in the AFL mid-season draft and saw his former Bulldogs teammate Mani Liddy claimed by the Power – McLennan found himself back playing country footy with his junior club.

In a strange scenario, McLennan, who is one of the SANFL’s best players and represented the state against the VFL at Tanunda in April, wasn’t selected for the Port Magpies for their clash against South Adelaide last Saturday because their side was jammed full of AFL-listed players.

Instead, the playmaking half-back was shunted to play with his former country club, Tanunda Magpies, in the Barossa, Light and Gawler Football Association.
Nearly a decade since he last pulled on a Tanunda guernsey, the 24-year-old made his A-grade debut for the club against Central Gawler and starred, winning “a heap of the ball’’ and kicking a goal in the Magpies’ 132-point demolition of the Tigers.

Tanunda coach and former Power player Sam Colquhoun said McLennan, who played on the ball and at half-back, “looked a class above others, as you’d expect’’.
“It was probably a one-off but our boys loved having him in the side and played with an air of confidence that we probably haven’t seen this year,’’ Colquhoun said.

McLennan was originally named in Port’s extended squad to play struggling South at Noarlunga Oval before dropping out of the final team.
With the Power’s star off-season recruit Jack Lukosius returning from injury through the SANFL, Port, unusually, fielded 20 AFL-listed players against the Panthers.

The other two players who filled out the Magpies’ 22 were SANFL captain Nick Moore and McLennan’s fellow marquee player, midfielder and former North Melbourne VFL star Jack Watkins.

Under SANFL rules governing SA’s AFL clubs in the state league competition, Port and Adelaide must play their available AFL-listed players in their league team before calling on their SANFL-listed talent.

If not required by Port, overage players (aged above 21) have the option of playing in the SANFL reserves with their former league club or in another competition.

McLennan chose to play for Tanunda, rather than Central’s seconds.

Yep, most probably would.
Again, I don't think we'll see him back at Central,
he'll make more money & enjoy himself more at Tanunda,
also I get this feeling that he's not really welcome back at Central.
Luca Whitelum has fitted into his position very nicely too.

[Booney]

Dual Fos Williams Medallist Jez McLennan quit Central District to join Port Adelaide’s SANFL team this year to boost his chances of being drafted for a second time.

On the weekend – just a month after he was overlooked in the AFL mid-season draft and saw his former Bulldogs teammate Mani Liddy claimed by the Power – McLennan found himself back playing country footy with his junior club.

In a strange scenario, McLennan, who is one of the SANFL’s best players and represented the state against the VFL at Tanunda in April, wasn’t selected for the Port Magpies for their clash against South Adelaide last Saturday because their side was jammed full of AFL-listed players.

Instead, the playmaking half-back was shunted to play with his former country club, Tanunda Magpies, in the Barossa, Light and Gawler Football Association.
Nearly a decade since he last pulled on a Tanunda guernsey, the 24-year-old made his A-grade debut for the club against Central Gawler and starred, winning “a heap of the ball’’ and kicking a goal in the Magpies’ 132-point demolition of the Tigers.

Tanunda coach and former Power player Sam Colquhoun said McLennan, who played on the ball and at half-back, “looked a class above others, as you’d expect’’.
“It was probably a one-off but our boys loved having him in the side and played with an air of confidence that we probably haven’t seen this year,’’ Colquhoun said.

McLennan was originally named in Port’s extended squad to play struggling South at Noarlunga Oval before dropping out of the final team.
With the Power’s star off-season recruit Jack Lukosius returning from injury through the SANFL, Port, unusually, fielded 20 AFL-listed players against the Panthers.

The other two players who filled out the Magpies’ 22 were SANFL captain Nick Moore and McLennan’s fellow marquee player, midfielder and former North Melbourne VFL star Jack Watkins.

Under SANFL rules governing SA’s AFL clubs in the state league competition, Port and Adelaide must play their available AFL-listed players in their league team before calling on their SANFL-listed talent.

If not required by Port, overage players (aged above 21) have the option of playing in the SANFL reserves with their former league club or in another competition.

McLennan chose to play for Tanunda, rather than Central’s seconds.

Another Port top-up player, Rome Burgoyne, was also overlooked by the Magpies for SANFL selection on the weekend. But he was able to line up at league level for his former club Woodville-West Torrens because he is only 18 and on Port’s under-21 SANFL list.

Port was contacted about McLennan’s plight but politely declined to comment.

Incredibly, the stacked Magpies lost to ninth-placed South, which had only won one game for the season, by seven points in what Panthers coach Jarrad Wright described as “one of the best wins I have been a part of in my eight years at the footy club’’.

Another wanker trolling comment aimed towards the doggies fans…. Following multiple made on Liddy across the MSD.

No wonder you cop it from multiple posters in here, shame you can’t take it as well as you instigate it.

[dedja]

Classy

[wenchbarwer]

There's no need fort anyone's knickers to be in a twist, that line was written by Andrew Capel, not Booney

[dedja]

With the emoji?

[Booney]

There's no need fort anyone';s knickers to be in a twist, that line was written by Andrew Capel, not Booney

Now now, we don't like facts in here.

[dedja]

A stacked Port reserves side still manages to lose to South and will miss the finals again.

Mmmmmm, I love them facts.

[Booney]

With the emoji?

HAHAHAHAHAHA emojis are upsetting people.

GAGF

[dedja]

Still classy.

[Booney]

"Vaffunculo" I think they say.

[dedja]

You seem happy, is it pension day?