Originally Posted by
MFKS
How about promote 2 ZPL clubs next year and bring it up to a 10 team comp for a start. You never know the ZPL sides may actually be competitive not get tonked every week raise the standard and only playing each other twice may also help keep things fresh. NewFM Clubs themselves agreed to this with Northern months ago provided they meet the same criteria current clubs are expected to.
Relegate the bottom two at end of season and promote the top 2 from ZPL again. Shake the comp up and force the clubs 3-8 to pull their finger out cause if they continue to be mediocre the Zone Leagues await for them. The only issue I have with this is that it promotes finances to be directed into players pockets rather than long term development. If clubs are continually looking over the shoulder about regulation investment in junior development, improved pitches, inproved facilities don't take back seats they take back of the bus seats year after year after year.
Would also have No 2 play off against the 2nd last side in NPL with an NPL place at stake. I wound rather see the entire promotion/relugation system be based on mutiple years and club championships not just once a year first grade results. Club Championship points over previous rolling three years. Encourages everything FFA/Northern are promoting, youth development within clubs, stable finances, stable playing groups.
If club X has had three seasons of good 17, 19, 23's but one year where 1st just dont cut it they get demoted and the club potentailly loses all that they had invested in those younger grades becasue they can move around without a point system. Watch Lakes Youth grades and see how many of them move to other clubs in 2015, al the time and money Lakes invested is basically wasted to them now becasue of 1 year of First Grade results.
Needs to be shaken up at both ends. Promotion to NPL needs to be more realistic for New FM sides and relegation needs to occur more frequently for the shite sides. Promotion is available? Hold your NPL Licence and win First Grade, it is that simple. What people need to do is now allow New FM clubs to adjust to the NPL Licence requiements. If Northern sink the effort into rasing New Fm that they have spent the last ten years rasing NBN standards up New FM will become what you would like it to be. But the clubs need time to reinvent themselves to do that, and encouraged to invest in more than just player payments. To do that and be encouraged to do that they need some level of stability.
**** the reserve grade off NewFM DOES NOT HAVE Reserve Grade...... it has U23's with a number (Max 5) overage players. That was done to allow a level of depth for First Grae and players to return from injury via 23's. And few clubs ever use more than a few of the overage spots from what I see. To be able to keep players fit and bring them back from injury is important for coaches and needs to be maintained.
First grade and Yoof grade only. Make these clubs actually develop juniors to actually underpin their club going forward. NPL Licences are aimed at just that. But unless you are aware of the reasons why NewFm Clubs have not all jumped at this in the single season it has been in place then it is not something to be critised. Some clubs have genuine reasons for not immediately having 13/15/17's under their banners in 2014. That does not mean they are not moving forward so they can do so, they are just doing it in a way that suits their own individual circumstances.
As for Cessnock players with 200 games of experience and they are still this mediocre?? Obviously the club is doing really well if in the 10 years or so it took to achieve that they are unable to develop better players to replace them. Wheres the junior development to be able to find the kids to replace blokes who are this far off the pace in this comp with a better calibre of player???
Finally some good positive feedback, these are the things we need on this forum, NewFM comp can only get better with more development and support of all concerned including Northern. It takes time, NBN has taken time and it needs to flow onto NewFM, as reported in the Herald today there are 5 teams trying to get up into this comp and that is a positive. Once it becomes a 10 team comp and they have all the guidelines in place it will then be ZPL turn to step up and come in line with NewFM so we can have promotion and relegation making the top comps the strongest possible. 
