FRANKSTON has rejected an alliance with AFL club Kangaroos next season, and yesterday warned the Tasmanian Devils they should do the same.
The Kangaroos have been courting the three non-aligned VFL clubs to establish a place for their players to strut their stuff when they are not needed for AFL duties next season.
Frankston yesterday sent the Kangaroos a letter declining the offer of an alignment, leaving Tasmania and North Ballarat as the only two possibilities.
However, Frankston's football operations manager Bryan Mace said Tasmania - which had the best season of the non-aligned clubs - was strong enough to go it alone.
And North Ballarat's football operations manager Tim Baker said his club was wary of why the Kangaroos' alliance with Port Melbourne broke down mid-season.
Frankston's reasons for rejecting the Kangaroos were the same reasons why Mace advised Tasmania to follow suit.
Mace, who has 40 years of VFA and VFL experience with Frankston, said the Kangaroos got the boot because:
* Frankston was not financially destitute, as many clubs were when they took on alliances five years ago to survive.
* AFL players rarely trained with their adopted clubs, played on game-day and then left, making it difficult to develop strong bonds with their new teammates.
* AFL coaches dictated to aligned clubs what positions their drafted players were used in, whether or not the local player was better in that role.
* The $140,000 AFL grant to the non-aligned VFL clubs would be slashed under an alignment.
Frankston had an hour-long meeting with Kangaroos chief executive Geoff Walsh and football manager Tim Harrington last week.
"We then discussed it at board level and today we've sent a letter to North Melbourne thanking them for their time and effort, but we'd be remaining a stand-alone club," Mace said.
He believes Tasmania's destiny should remain in its own hands.
"For the short time Tassie has been in the VFL, they have done extremely well on the field, they are very professional and always get a lot of people to their games," Mace said. "I think they'd be better off carrying on in that vein for the next three or four years and see what they can achieve."
North Ballarat will decide over the next few weeks whether or not to take on the Kangaroos.
"It would help in getting a few AFL players dropping back, that's a big benefit," Baker said.
"But their alignment with Port Melbourne broke down, so you've got to look at that and be wary."
AFL Tasmania general manager Scott Wade said the Devils would not accept a full alliance.
However, they would consider a partial alliance in which Kangaroos players are farmed out to two clubs.
By: JAMES BRESNEHAN
Last Modified on 29/09/2005 08:51