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THE SANFL is in danger of losing its long-held status as the second best football competition in the country because of a talent drain to the AFL and cashed up country leagues.
The introduction of two new AFL teams has seen the number of mature-age players drafted from the SA state league almost double in the past three years.
And the problem is being exacerbated by the introduction of a player points system at community level five years ago, which some say has resulted in top-line SANFL players being lured away from the competition by country clubs who can offer them more than $1000 a game.
The result is an on-field product which has clearly dropped in standard in the past few seasons, to the point many feel there is no real difference between the SANFL and the VFL.
Nathan Batsanis is perhaps the player best placed to make a judgment on the two competitions after playing in a VFL premiership with Port Melbourne in 2011 before winning the SANFL flag with Norwood last year.
"The only real difference between the VFL and SANFL is the bigger bodies," he said.
"It's a bit slower and there's not as many goals kicked and there's more stoppages. The VFL is a really quick game, really AFL like."
An AFL recruiter, speaking on the condition of anonymity, agreed.
"I think the SANFL has gone backwards quickly in the past two years," he said.
"The VFL, SANFL and WAFL - there's not much between any of them really."
SANFL coaches and recruiting staff are becoming increasingly frustrated with the cash being thrown at players by country clubs.
"We are disgusted in the amount of money getting thrown around in the country leagues," Central District coach Roy Laird said.
"Players are encouraged to go out there rather than fulfil their full potential and play at the highest level they can and test themselves.
"It is the country level that needs drastic reviewing because it is out of hand and it is clearly affecting our own competition in a dramatic way."
“We are disgusted in the amount of money getting thrown around in the country leagues
”All but two local football leagues have recently introduced a player points system aimed at limiting the movement of players between leagues and the amount of cash clubs were spending on players.
But a source with intimate knowledge of SA football said it had created a spin-off effect.
"You can only have a couple of imported players, depending on your points," the source said.
"The country clubs are paying less people but the people they're paying are being paid a lot more because instead of paying seven or eight blokes they're only paying two or three blokes. That puts pressure on the SANFL.
"Mannum have gone and got (Magarey Medallists) Jade Sheedy and Jeremy Clayton this year. I'm sure they'd be paying them between $1000 and $2000 a game and that's fantastic money for those blokes to do it but they've moved away from the SANFL.
"I think that's only going to get worse as time goes by."
West Adelaide coach Andrew Collins said it was a big concern that it was now top-line SANFL performers, not just fringe players, who were being targeted.
"We lost Ben Fisher, a 100-game SANFL player at the height of his powers at 27 years old, because a country football club can pay arguably more money," Collins said.
"Guys like Jeremy Clayton, Jade Sheedy, they haven't retired from football, they have gone to country football but are still great SANFL footballers.
"But they have left because they don't have to train as much and get paid more. That's what is concerning."
A former SANFL player, who left his club in the prime of his career to play country football, said the increased demands of playing SANFL and the money on offer in the bush made it an easy decision for some.
"You can see why people leave, especially the fringe league players," he said.
"Why would you train five times a week and get paid $75 for playing reserves when you can train once a week in the country and get $800?
"If you're not going to make AFL why keep doing it?"
He believed it was having an effect on the standard of the SANFL competition.
"Clubs are losing a lot more players," he said.
"When I started there was still a lot of guys in the 25-30 age range still playing. They tend to leave these days.
"It's about the age you start a family. You need more money and you need to be home more so that's why they're heading to country footy."
SANFL community football general manager Glen Rosser refused to comment on whether the introduction of the points system was hurting the league competition.
"It was introduced to control the movement of players into leagues... and stop clubs spending a lot on match payments one year and going bust the next," he said.
"Has it worked? It's early days. It's under review. We review it every year."
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