World Footy News

The South Australian National Football League has rejected the Northern Territory's bid to place a side in the SANFL in 2009. The AFLNT is now determined to secure a place in the West Australian Football League or one of the AFL Queensland competitions. In the longer term, the South Australian league risks losing its widely held status as the premier state league.

Despite state and federal funding, at the end of the day if the numbers did not stack up then it is the correct decision. However as discussed in articles on this site, the future structure of Australian Football in Australia is by no means certain, and if a clear second tier competition of choice is to emerge, then the SANFL may now have missed its chance.

The SANFL was the Northern Territory's preferred option, given the league's status and the historical connections (both with players flowing to the SANFL and SA originally being responsible for much of the "European" exploration and administration of the region). We had more on the background to the NT's bid in Territorians looking to step up.

With the SANFL deferring any possibilty until at least 2010, the AFL NT's Tony Frawley has stated that the Territory will definitely be in another state league next year, with a possible announcement within a few days. The areas of concern for the SANFL were finances and player concessions needed and sought by the Territory to be competitive. The latter will not be so great an issue in the WAFL or AFLQ, but if successful in joining either of those leagues, the Territorians may decide to stay on. With the new AFL club on the Gold Coast looming and talk of the Northern Territory falling within a concession zone for the new side, perhaps in the longer term southeast Queensland will be the best fit. Or maybe the SANFL will be the final goal, allowing it to expand back out to ten teams and showcasing some of the Top End's best.