COUNTRY footy might not be broken, but the cracks are starting to show, according to Peter Jackson.
After 84 years of the Victorian Country Football League, Mr Jackson said its leagues and clubs were ready for an administrative shake-up.
"I got the feeling they were looking for something to happen - something needed to change," he said, unveiling his review recommendations last month.
Mr Jackson's four-month review of the governance and structure of country football was announced by AFL chief Andrew Demetriou in May, sparked by the shock departure of long-serving VCFL chief executive Glenn Scott.
At the time, Mr Demetriou said the AFL was "alarmed" by Mr Scott's departure and "disappointed with the process undertaken by the VCFL board".
In turn, VCFL president Nicholas Rolfe labelled the AFL review "a shot at the (VCFL) board".
While Mr Jackson's review recommends winding up the VCFL and its board, he insisted it was not an AFL takeover.
"What we're not doing is removing the governance of country footy from country Victoria," he said.
"We think we've got to get more resources out into the regions (because) the current governance structure overall is just too costly, whether you look at league structures, umpires, or head office."
He said a lack of collaboration between VCFL leagues, and between the VCFL and AFL Victoria was hurting country football.
"I don't think it's an intentional lack of collaboration, it's just the structure of country football ... just doesn't encourage collaboration.
"There's a lot of people out there working their butts off but it's all about operation, it's all about week-to-week, year-to-year.
"We need to have a longer-term plan and I think until you do that, you're not going to see growth and improvement in the game itself."
