QUEANBEYAN Tigers co-coach Josh Bryce has slammed the North East Australian Football League for opting to re-structure the competition now and not doing so when they started it.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It comes after the Queanbeyan Tigers pulled out of their three year competition contract two years early last week, along with the Belconnen Magpies and the Sydney Hills Eagles, with each club citing financial reasons for dropping out.
Their decisions also came after the NEAFL told them it would re-structure the competition once club contracts had expired, and it would establish singular representative franchises in each region of the competition.
It proposed each club would contribute $150,000 per season for the newly formed teams while ceasing NEAFL involvement themselves.
While Bryce agreed with the new competition model, he said it was a poor decision on the NEAFL's part to only implement it now.
"I think it would have been a lot more beneficial for AFL in the reserve competition and for the local clubs if there had have been a stand alone representative Canberra team straight away," he said.
Bryce said having the five senior Australian Rules clubs in Canberra combining for one representative team right from the start of the NEAFL would have been a perfect model, with the same happening in Sydney, Brisbane, and the Gold Coast, to play with the reserve teams of the AFL clubs already in those regions.
Meanwhile the Tigers NEAFL side stood up at Dairy Farmers Park after a tumultuous week last Saturday, going down to competition front-runners the UWS Giants by only 114-77.
While the margin was still 37 points, it dwindled in comparison to some other losses the side has suffered this year. Young gun Darcy Spinks also kicked four goals in the effort.