Ideas and Relections

Colin Carter entered the VFL/AFL bubble in the mid-1980s, when requested by the Commission to assess the state of the game, which was then struggling. Many clubs were under financial stress, as the competition moved from amateur to semi-professional. The report, entitled VFL Football: Establishing the Basis for Future Success, changed the game, providing the League with the roadmap to the national competition that has now reached monolithic status. The Carter report was seminal in so many ways, leading to the game’s policy of ‘equalisation’—which encompassed the draft, salary cap and reduced list sizes—while also promoting revenue sharing and ‘ground rationalisation’. Carter’s job was not done then. In the late 1980s he was instrumental in forging a deal between the VFL and the Melbourne Cricket Club which saw VFL members having access to the MCG. In 1993, he was appointed to the newly formed AFL Commission, a role he retained until 2008, when he rejoined the Geelong Football Club committee, and from 2011to 2020 was the Cats president. In 2021 the AFL Commission sought his advice on the potential of a licence being provided to a team from Tasmania. That career “inside the VFL/AFL bubble” has seen huge changes inside and outside the playing field, and Ideas & Reflections is Carter’s opportunity to look back and look forward: what has worked, what hasn’t and what can be done to maintain the AFL, and Australian Football, at the forefront of Australian Sport. This is his second book on issues surrounding the AFL and Australian Football, following Football’s Forgotten Years, published in 2022.

Praise for Ideas & Reflections

Colin Carter is one of the fathers of the modern AFL. Together with Ron Evans and Graeme Samuel, they carved out a new direction. While Ian Collins sustained the football operations, they took the AFL into the modern era—a direction that repudiated elitism, privatisation, new brands, and the promotion of stars rather than teams. Their alternative: invest in the grassroots, build better stadiums, look after all the players and ensure that all the football clubs were community owned, loved and sustained. History has proved they were right. Colin has been one of the most interesting and important contributors to AFL football, not just in recent times, but in the entirety of the history of this great code.

—Bill Kelty, former secretary of the ACTU, and former AFL Commissioner

‘I worked with Colin while I was Geelong’s captain and saw first-hand how his warm nature and emotional intelligence empowered people to do their very best. He brings those attributes and his smarts to this book. It’s a great read for anyone thinking about the future of our great game.’ —Joel Selwood, Geelong captain, 2012-2022.

‘Compelling, compassionate and controversial. Colin Carter's journey through the game's recent history has reinforced him as football's conscience.’ —Caroline Wilson, journalist and commentator.

‘This book is a must read. It’s written with an insider’s eye. It’s an accurate, analytical read of the invention of the AFL and its positioning for next generational change.’ —Eddie McGuire, broadcaster and commentator