West Coast chief executive Trevor Nisbett says the Eagles won’t push for a stand-alone reserves side if their new alignment with WAFL club East Perth works.
West Coast and Fremantle will fork out $450,000 each a season for their new alignments with East Perth and Peel Thunder respectively, with the five-year deals to start from 2014.
Under the current system, Eagles and Dockers players were spread across all nine teams in the WAFL.
But the two West Australian AFL clubs were unhappy with the arrangement and wanted instead to field stand-alone reserve teams in the WAFL so they could better manage their players.
That bid was unanimously rejected by the WAFL clubs, but the new deal will at least give West Coast and Fremantle a better management system over their players than the existing format.
Under the new agreement, the seven non-partner clubs will have their annual grants increased from $425,000 to $525,000, while East Perth and Peel will receive grants totalling $350,000.
Fremantle and West Coast will also have the final say in appointing the senior coach of their aligned club, in consultation with that WAFL outfit.
Nisbett said the new deal would put Fremantle and West Coast on a more even playing field with Victorian powerhouses Geelong and Collingwood, who boast their own stand-alone reserve teams in the VFL.
Other Melbourne-based clubs have alignments with VFL sides, with several – including Richmond and Essendon – having also committed to fielding stand-along outfits.
Nisbett denied suggestions the WAFL would be compromised by the new alignments.
“There’s been some rhetoric this morning – some absolute nonsense about West Coast and Fremantle not giving two hoots about the WAFL competition,” Nisbett said on Wednesday.
“Well that’s just absolute nonsense. It’s insulting when people say that.
“I hope (this alignment) is going to be in place forever and a day. This looks like a sustainable model – a model that can help the other (WAFL) clubs.”
West Coast had previous alignments with Claremont and East Perth more than a decade ago, while Fremantle were linked with South Fremantle at one point.
Those partnerships had mixed success, but Nisbett believed the new model would produce better results for the AFL and WAFL clubs.
Peel Thunder have never reached the WAFL finals since their inception in 1997, and WAFC chairman Frank Cooper hoped the new alignment would help the struggling club’s financial position and boost their on-field results.