The Future of the World 15s - PLEASE READ

[c4v3m4n]

Hello everyone, Pacific Islanders Head Coach c4v3m4n here.

As many of you would have recently noticed, the World 15s board is getting quite crowded, what with 4 different competitions. Not only that, but (no offence seriously) but the British 15s? Next thing we know there will be a London 15s based on FF scoring (however that works).

What I am about to propose at first seems ludicrous, but if you look at the bigger picture, it makes a lot of sense and I personally believe its the best way forward for all competitions.



The Future of the World 15s.

I suggest that all four competitions unite under the one banner, the World 15s. 4 competitions over 6 continents.

The World 15s competition would be broken down into four divisions if you like:

• The Asia-Pacific 15s: This division would contain teams using the Sportsbet fantasy scoring system. Nothing changes.
• The Europe 15s: This division would contain teams using the AFL Dream Team fantasy scoring system. Nothing changes.
• The America 15s: This division would contain teams using the Supercoach or Virtual Sports scoring system.*
• The Africa 15s: This division would contain teams using the Supercoach or Virtual Sports scoring system.*

*SuperCoach would get first choice on location.

Sounds logical doesn't it? Well here in lies the first problem.

For this to work, it would mean that most World 15 teams and ALL of the British 15 teams would have to relocate. But honestly, let's face it, it's just a name and re-branding your teams wouldn't be that difficult. I can help out with creating new logos and guernseys if need be.

Personally I feel this would look better from an outside point of view for a couple reasons:

• There would be NO double up of locations, as there already are. English Lions, London Royals and well the entire British 15s. Russian Roulettes and Moscow Spetsnaz is another. Provides more diversity as well.
• Plus, it also means that it stops this from getting out of hand should another competition wish to be formed.

Running of the New World 15s

Should we head in this direction and have four division united under the name "The World 15s", I believe that a couple of things would need to change in the running of each team and the overall competition.

• One FF member can only coach ONE New World 15s team. There are plenty of members that want to be a part of this magnificent competition yet they can't because some members coach more than one team. This is only fair for everyone. This is one rule I am strongly for IMO.
• I would love to see assistant coaches involved more, but how, I'm not quite sure yet. Any suggestions are welcome.
• Contraversially, I believe that the New World 15s should be run by an independent committee of FF members, not involved in any team to eliminate any bias. They would be primarily be responsible for fixturing, rule discussions, trade vetos, drafting etc. for all 4 divisions.
• Now there would still be a head of each division as is, who would responsible for scoring, ladder updates, statistics etc as normal, however I feel that the responsibilities should be split up to take loads off those already running it.
• Personally, I feel that the rules for each division should be uniform throughout the "New World 15s" competition, providing less confusion between each competition. Again, this isn't hard, the only thing that cant change would be the number of teams per division as that is already set.

The Forum

Now in order to declog the forum, we can go one of two ways:

Option One - Keep the World 15s child board, however:

• One sticky super directory, containing a list of all the teams in each division.
• One sticky thread for Fixture, Results and Ladders for each division.
• One sticky thread for Rulebook for each division.
• One sticky thread for Discussion for all divisions.
• One sticky thread for Trade Discussions for all divisions.
• Four stickied threads for the week for each division for team sheets, results etc.
• A thread for each team with must be prefixed by the division abbreviation (APXV, EXV, AFXV, AMXV).

Option Two - Child Boards

The main "New World 15s" board would only contain:

• A sticky thread for a super team directory
• A sticky thread for Committee news and discussions
• Other threads that seem necessary

Then there would be a child board for each division that would contain:

• A sticky thread for fixture, results and ladder
• A sticky thread for a team directory
• A sticky thread for the rulebook
• A sticky thread for a discussion board
• A weekly thread for team sheets, results etc.
• A thread for each divisional team with the appropriate division prefix (APXV, EXV, AFXV, AMXV)

Conclusion

I think this covers pretty much everything about my beliefs about the future of these "15s" competition. Honestly, it's not a hard change, some names need to change, some non-playing personnel installed at the top, change the forum board around slightly and hey presto!

Welcome to the World 15s.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts about the changes. I know some of you won't agree, but it's the best way forward IMO. I'm more than happy to relocate in order to provide a uniform, semi-professional fantasy competition.

Obviously if we are going to look at going down this pathway, we will need an official vote by all 15s coaches and assistant coaches at some point, probably sooner rather than later.

[Scrads]

A BIG tick from me, I like it a lot. Especially the 'universal rules' across all comps. I reckon though Colli, Ossie, Holz and MTTY should be the people responsible for creating this set of rules (with guidance to large public feedback). A big portion of the off-season would need to be dedicated to unifying all the rules and stuff, and then also actually enforcing the changes on the teams (drafts/delist periods for list sizes etc). I think coaches who currently have more than one team should have the option of keeping them, but new teams should be given to new coaches only.

Very big fan of the idea though, I love it.

[CrowsFan]

I wont voice my opinion just yet, but if we were to proceed with this perhaps the way we could decide who moves to the Americas and who moves to Africa could be decided on who wins the WXV grand final next week. If the Cobras beat the Armadillos this week then it will be an America vs Africa final. It would be only fair that the winner of the first season didn't have to relocate ;)

[Jay]

keep the 4 seperate comps BUT a board for each comp is essential

just my opinion

[Ziplock]

We need the separate boards, although whether the competitions need to be specifically united under one rule set, I'm not entirely sure.

[Purple 77]

As usual c4, appreciate the amount of work and planning you put into these things.

But this is my brutal, honest opinion, and it is likely I will rack up the boo's. (note I am not getting into you c4)

Why not just have:

------XVs competitions
---------------> World 15s
---------------> Euro 15s
---------------> British 15s
---------------> Asia 15s

Is it safe to assume the teams that have doubled up in locations (London Royals, English Lions etc.) would prefer to keep their names instead of relocating, changing the league name AND sharing with another league?

And if there were leagues sharing boards (this idea states two boards would be shared between two leagues if i interpreted that right), then what is the point in getting four new ones anyway? Are we not trying to separate the boards so we can separate the competitions hence confusion?

IMO, ossie85 made this competition, called the World 15s. Why should he, and I suppose the first people involved, change for anyone? The new competitions are copies of the World 15s, why should the original change?

My selfish reason: If this idea was to go through, I would have to relocate. I am not relocating. I chose the Berlin Brewers. I know it's not hard to change, but I put hours, if not days of work into the Berlin Brewers. If I knew that this would eventually change to suit other competitions, I would not have chosen Berlin Brewers.

But I do agree with c4 that coaches with multiple teams should "share the fun." I have one team. I could have gotten more if I wanted to. But I wanted others (not accusing anyone) to have the opportunity instead of me running 2 or 3 teams which would dilute my focus and activity on those teams as I would have to worry about the basics of others. Other coaches see this too and I know a few that have already stated they would happily give one up.

And as for running of the competitions, I think if ossie85, Holz, MTTY and Colliwobblers are struggling to run it by themselves, IMO it is up to them to get help. I also think there wouldn't be many people that would want to run this competition and not be part of it at the same time.



So to sum this up, why not keep it simple and have 4 boards for each respective league?

[Maca24]

Worlds was the original shouldn't have to change. The only thing I have an opinion on is people with more than 1 team. I dont like it (I've just got a 2nd) but I'd happily give it up if we make it a rule we can only have 1 team each. And we need one board for each like purple mentioned. The British should relocate and flower off for all I care :p it was much better with just an euros and worlds.

[meow meow]

This isn't the AFL. You don't need to change the rules every week. Seperate boards and the problem (if there even is one) is solved.

I wouldn't have a problem with the 1 team rule coming in. I've already told Holz that I would step down as head coach of the soon to be 2012 Euro champions the Swedish Metal at the end of the season to give someone else a go in one of the major comps (SC, DT).

[Holz]

There is one thing im against depending on clarification. That is the universal rules aspect of it. I understand that it would make it easier for people but really that should be only for people with more than one team. In the euro I have a few different rules e.g. a cap of players and next year i will be introducing the rookie list for teams which adds a spice to the game.

If this got voted in C4 would i have to move my capsize and rookie list rules to the agreeed upon rules?

Another question I have is when you say only 1 New team for each coach I assume you just mean teams so for example its not possible to have a worlds and euro team?

IM not sure about  this, I understand if you have 3,4 teams but I have put alot of effort into my worlds team and to be honest I would like to see it through, I Have built the team around youth and will wait 2-3 years for success. Obviously im not giving up my euro team. I cocach with BB in the british and im going to give that up.

What im planning to do is to expand the comp as the euro is only 14 members, I have already replaced a few coaches who fell out and I have brought  in new coaches and in the coming years I will be planning to expand the comp to a 16 team competition.

[Spinking]

I think c4's ideas have alot of merit and I would be supportive of most of those changes.

I do however see Purp's point about the existing teams who would have to move.  My teams haven't played a season yet, so I probably am less attached to them than some who have had to go through the highs and lows of a season, and done significant work on their teams.

My other comments would be:

I am supportive of invididuals only having one team (although I know others are against this).  Only concern would be how many people want to be permanently attached to one of the lesser scoring systems.  Personally I'm happy to cut my teeth in the virtual sports / sportbet comps, but the only reason I'm in these is because there are no spots available in the DT / SC versions.  I believe there are a number of coaches in the same boat.

I think c4's suggestion makes sense from a clarity point of view if we want to attract new players.  I particularly like the idea of the league administrators having some form of overarching body ensuring that the comps remain strong.  Perhaps a key function of this new body could be to identify a pathway for new coaches to get involved, and to help find them a role with the most appropriate comp.

Ultimately my final thought is that we need to be respectful of Os's wishes for the development of the competition.  He is effectively the 'Godfather' of the concept, and has built the Worlds into an awsome competition.  Personally I'll be putting my thoughts forward in this sort of forum, but will respect and support his decisions in regards to this.

Great work c4. 

[Maca24]

Spinkings on the money I think.

[Purple 77]

Spinkings on the money I think.

As do I

[MTTY]

I'm happy to go either way. Ultimately i think Ossie and, to a greater degree than Colli and myself, Holz should have most of the say. As Ossie brought the whole concept to our attention and Holz, soon after, used the other obvious and more exposed game scoring in DT.

[Purple 77]

I think there should be another option in the voting. Where it says "No Leave it as it is", does that mean what it is right now? Or to have the basic four boards for each respective league that ossie suggested a while ago? I interpreted it as the way it is now, that is, the crowdedness, not many would want that

[Holz]

I think c4's ideas have alot of merit and I would be supportive of most of those changes.

I do however see Purp's point about the existing teams who would have to move.  My teams haven't played a season yet, so I probably am less attached to them than some who have had to go through the highs and lows of a season, and done significant work on their teams.

My other comments would be:

I am supportive of invididuals only having one team (although I know others are against this).  Only concern would be how many people want to be permanently attached to one of the lesser scoring systems.  Personally I'm happy to cut my teeth in the virtual sports / sportbet comps, but the only reason I'm in these is because there are no spots available in the DT / SC versions.  I believe there are a number of coaches in the same boat.

I think c4's suggestion makes sense from a clarity point of view if we want to attract new players.  I particularly like the idea of the league administrators having some form of overarching body ensuring that the comps remain strong.  Perhaps a key function of this new body could be to identify a pathway for new coaches to get involved, and to help find them a role with the most appropriate comp.

Ultimately my final thought is that we need to be respectful of Os's wishes for the development of the competition.  He is effectively the 'Godfather' of the concept, and has built the Worlds into an awsome competition.  Personally I'll be putting my thoughts forward in this sort of forum, but will respect and support his decisions in regards to this.

Great work c4.

I do agree with spinking here, I dont mean to offend but i see the worlds and euro as the premier comps, with the worlds the number 1 and the euro perhaps for the DTers. Spinking is the next on my list of future coaches as was whatlez who took over a team 3 weeks ago. My plan to get new coaches involved is as i said if a coach pulls out I will offer spinking the job and if not one of the expansion clubs will go to him.

If other people are looking to get into the Euro and would see themselves as DTers PM me.