Fairest and best should be our target for the AFL Now is the time to make the AFL the fairest and best competition in world sport. CRISIS creates opportunity. It's an old desk calendar quote but one that is particularly relevant to the AFL industry at the moment. While the Essendon drugs investigation swirls around the game, seemingly sucking out all available oxygen, a parallel universe exists that sees record ratings, attendances and memberships and, with the games biggest clubs set for September action, a big finish to a year that has seemingly been one mis-step after another. A fortnight ago I was part of an AFL study trip to the United States that met with owners of some of the biggest clubs in the world, player unions, stadiums as well as the governing bodies of American football, baseball and basketball. Our group consisted of AFL representatives, big and small clubs and our local player union. It was in many ways a group of Aussie rules patriots, who, for the sake of the continued strength of the game, were prepared to leave aside self-interest to at least collate the latest information and discussion points to build a framework for the next 25 years of the game. That AFL bosses Andrew Demetriou and Gil McLachlan were criticised for being on the trip while the Essendon issue continued to brew is a lesson in itself. Had they stayed home, they would have been no better informed on the drugs issue and decidedly disadvantaged on key points of massive importance for the game going forward. Mr Demetriou finished his tour as a keynote speaker at a symposium investigating the influence of sports betting and the best ways of conducting investigation and integrity units, of which our game is at the forefront of thinking. Make no mistake, drugs and gambling will be the biggest impediments to the fairness of competition for years to come. My point is that in an electronic age with a sophisticated business structure, the AFL is in position to be able to "walk and chew gum" at the same time. Despite at times fevered reporting on the "inappropriateness" of the AFL being overseas "at such a time," the panic proved to be completely without substance. It is time people understood the nature of business in the 21st century and accepted that overseas business is generally onerous and not some junket as popularly portrayed. So, while the football world is fixated on today's problem, it is opportune to get our game focused on the next generation of growth and development. In the past 25 years or so the VFL/AFL competition has gone from being broke and dysfunctional to being a world leader in many cases, and clearly the top competition in this country. It has done so by marketing itself and putting in place numerous artificial levellers to make sure clubs have the opportunity to compete. That has allowed the expansion of the game nationally and a foundation for the future is in place. But, as we emerge from the compromised draft and salary caps of the "development era," it is time for the AFL competition to return to being a competition. The days of using the fixture as a marketing tool should be over. Some months back, I suggested a new fixture that would see every club play each other once in the first 17 weeks and then split into a top 12 and a bottom six. The idea was to keep the same number of games to maintain the economies of the game and TV rights, have better and more relevant games through the entire season and give more clubs more chance of playing in more finals. The only knock I've heard is that it might affect stadium deals! Well, it is time to look at those deals because the greatest lesson learnt in the US is that outside of television, the stadiums are the greatest boom/bust in sport. If we are going to head down a road of greater revenue sharing - taking more money off the big clubs - then the on-field mechanisms must also be equal. Draft concessions gone. Salary cap advantages gone. Fixture advantages gone. And why don't we draw up our own charter for the game? We don't play overseas so why worry about the WADA code? Let's make AFL the cleanest game in sport. Ban supplements outside those legislated as part of a healthy lifestyle. Stand for health and safety. Ban practices we believe not suitable like supplement injections and, once and for all, smash individuals and clubs involved in cheating in any way. The events of the past 12 months, whether it be the supplements scandal or salary cap cheating, have made us realise all is not well in the game and it's time that those who love it decide what path we take. Eddie McGuire is a broadcaster and the president of Collingwood Football Club