Complacency has definitely crept in thou gh, when i reflect back over the previous few years, there was a constant drive/emphasis on behavior and the repercussions for the club as a whole - mostly driven from the playing group during games - players would pull players out of hazardous situations, or moving away/bringing themselves off from retaliating to incidents.
My suspicion is that this is more the case than anyone consciously thinking "no more aaa, time to belt someone" and I didn't mean to suggest otherwise.
An interesting example is Rosewater. Prior to their AAA they had a relatively poor record. Haven't heard a peep from them this year. The Clubs who manage to maintain constant vigilance (which is bloody difficult) seem to manage best.
Do you think that clubs that have been under scrutiny the most, or have been on AAA in the past seem to be noticed more when they offend/re offend than clubs that generally have a good reputation?
e.g. Broadview Cat 'A's - i wouldn't think anyone would consider them a poor side with offending, but they consistently each year get their couple of reports (as do most clubs), but nothing is heard... Salis West (1x U18) and Ingle Farm (2x new recruits) have two reports and there are fears of relapse.
2017 - 0
2016 - 3
2015 - 2
2014 - 3
2013 - 4
Undoubtedly.
However, I don't think its appropriate to downplay an incident on the basis of a player being an u18 or new recruit.
The Club is responsible for everyone who represents it from the President to the worse player in the D-Grade (at one stage I was both)