The WA Football Commission could be rebranded as AFLWA in a bid to get the extra funding from the AFL that would help the WAFC and the State Government finalise a deal for football’s shift to the new Burswood stadium.

The name change could hold the key to securing about $700,000 in extra annual funding commitments from the AFL.

The money would bridge the gap between what the Government is prepared to guarantee the WAFC in the first 10 years of the new stadium’s life — about $10.3 million a year — and almost $11 million a year that the football commission wants.

The West Australian understands that a Government negotiating team and the WAFC now have what is effectively an in-principle agreement for football’s move to the new stadium, which is dependent on the AFL making up the funding deficit.

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WAFC chief executive Gavin Taylor said nothing had been “formalised or resolved” but indicated all parties were “closer than we have ever been”.

He confirmed one of the recommendations of the Boston Consulting Group’s review of WA football, that the WAFC consider calling itself AFLWA, was now a negotiating tool in a bid to secure a new funding model.

Camera Icon The new Perth Stadium viewed from East Perth. Credit: Ian Munro/The West Australian

Mr Taylor stressed that the name change was a “rebranding” only and would not involve structural or constitutional change to WA football.

“We have had preliminary discussions with the AFL about their investment into WA football,” he said.

“We are having conversations about AFLWA, their investment into the talent pathway, their investment into WA principally, but we haven’t finalised any formal proposals or had anything signed off yet.

“That is part of the negotiations that the football commission is having with the AFL at the moment.

“It was one of the recommendations of the BCG report as part of the structural review of football. It is something that we are considering with the AFL.

“It would not be changing the governance structure of the football commission but the concept of having a more aligned brand associated with the AFL we think has got some value. We have to work that through with the AFL — how that would work and what it would actually mean.”

Mr Taylor hoped the stadium issue would be resolved within “the next few weeks”.

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The extra AFL funding would be aimed towards WA’s talent development pathway and the WAFL colts competition in particular, one of the key targets for reform in the BCG report.

Under proposed reforms, still being negotiated with WAFL clubs, colts teams would still play under club banners in a nine team competition but coaches would be employed and paid centrally in a bid to achieve a more consistent outcome from WA’s talent programs.