By sports editor Russell Bennett
The full, 99-page G25 Strategy final report has begun to surface throughout Gippsland, and it highlights real concerns about the way community football is administered throughout the region.
To address various concerns and develop a long-term plan for the region, AFL Victoria engaged Melbourne-based boutique strategy consulting firm ColganBauer to conduct an independent review into the structure of Gippsland football.
Its focus was on creating a structure to ensure the sustainability of the game in the region moving forward, with a view to developing a strategy for football in Gippsland otherwise known in some circles as the ‘Gippsland 2025 Strategic Plan’.
Overall, the G25 Strategy highlights three key challenges – the declining participation base of football; current league structures that, it states, “are not sustainable”; and the model to support the running of football in the region having “broken down”.
“During 2019, AFL Gippsland was operating at a loss,” the report states.
“As a result, the AFL Gippsland Commission resigned and were replaced by an interim commission. The current commission does not include anyone from the local area (Gippsland).”
The report also acknowledges that, after the implementation of the Morwell-based Regional Administration Centre (RAC), several leagues left “citing poor service levels or increasing costs as the primary reasons”.
It then adds: “Without changes, the existing model is likely to fail”.
As things currently stand, of the eight senior leagues in Gippsland, only the Gippsland League and the West Gippsland Football Netball Competition are currently administered through the RAC.
The report also highlights the need “to reverse the deterioration of AFL Victoria’s relationship with the region”, and states that “the reputation of the RAC in the region is currently negative, with leagues highlighting RAC costs as an issue”.
Further, it reads: “Given the ambiguity in RAC service offering and lack of financial reports, leagues/clubs were unclear about what the pricing they were paying the RAC for delivered”.
Crucially, the report recommends the RAC report through AFL Victoria and not the AFL Gippsland commission, which it proposes redefining as an “advisory board” consisting of people from throughout the region.
“The relationship between AFL Victoria and participants in the region is hostile. There have been several changes implemented by AFL Victoria in Gippsland that have not been viewed positively by participants.” – ColganBauer’s G25 Strategy final report
It also calls for more support from AFL Victoria for the Gippsland region, adding: “It is ColganBauer’s view that AFL Victoria stepped back too far from administering football in Gippsland. AFL Victoria should increase its role in the region by supporting Gippsland stakeholders”.
The final G25 Strategy report goes into detail about the challenges of running the game in the Gippsland region.
“Governance has broken down in Gippsland, created by a disconnection between the stakeholders from AFL Victoria, AFL Gippsland, the leagues and clubs,” the report states.
“The breakdown has led to a decline in trust with stakeholders looking to take back greater management control.”
The report outlines the potential causes of this “breakdown in relationships” as: multiple previous reviews that led to limited or no action; a communication failure between the stakeholders, with changes not properly explained or understood; the lack of regional representatives on the AFL Gippsland commission; and unclear responsibilities in the region.
Interestingly, the report also states that under the current country football regional structure across the state, “AFL Victoria appears to have reduced the level of support of country football; (and) they also provide limited oversight of what was occurring at a regional level and have limited control over the commissions.
“In Gippsland, this led to a situation where the commission did not have the appropriate support to deliver the services.
“The relationship between AFL Victoria and participants in the region is hostile. There have been several changes implemented by AFL Victoria in Gippsland that have not been viewed positively by participants.
“The rationale for decisions has been poorly communicated to participants, and there is limited contact by AFL Victoria with some clubs and leagues.”
As explored by the Gazette last month, a 45-page interim report into the G25 Strategy was released and the first two key recommendations for senior football included integrating all Alberton Football Netball League clubs into the Mid Gippsland Football Netball League to create a 15-club competition in time for what would be an 18-round 2021 season featuring a top eight finals structure; and creating “divisional football in the western corridor of the Gippsland region by 2025”.
The G25 Strategy report covers competition, development, and growth areas specific to Gippsland and is structured around three key components: playing the game, growing the game, and running the game.
The second ‘Playing the Game’ recommendation in the full report is to “develop a model in the western region to manage the competitive balance by 2025”, and that includes a “shift to divisional football in the western corridor, with the West Gippsland competition and Ellinbank League maintain(ing) their heritage”.
The report recommends for this “to be implemented at the point of best fit before 2025”.
Other recommendations in the G25 Strategy report include updating salary caps prior to 2021 (including a reduction in salary caps of all senior Gippsland competitions); and reviewing the player points system to continue to incentivise junior retention and development.
Out of the final G25 Strategy report, there are five recommendations related to addressing the current challenges associated with running community football in the region. They are: Increasing coordination in the management of football in Gippsland; updating the Gippsland RAC operating model; RAC financial management; delivering a volunteer support program; and improving club finances.
The initial G25 interim report was released back in March, and left many stunned.
That 86-page report made a series of draft recommendations and was criticised in some corners for its lack of focus on the premier league in the Gippsland region, the Gippsland League.
The same criticism has been levelled at the final 99-page Strategy report, as well as a perceived lack of attention given to netball in the region.
The report clearly states that AFL Victoria is to review and respond to it within six weeks of the receipt of the final report, adding “this should include a timeline for recommendations that are not impacted by Covid”.
In regards to the issues highlighted within the final G25 Strategy report, Richard Black – head of AFL Gippsland – told the Gazette: “AFL Victoria and AFL Gippsland are in the process of reviewing the report and will provide a response on each of the recommendations once this review has been completed. We thank everyone who has provided feedback through the consultation process of this report to ColganBauer. The priority for AFL Victoria and AFL Gippsland is to continue to develop and grow community football in the Gippsland region and we believe that the G25 Strategy Report will play an important part in this process”.
