Any of the top three teams in New Zealand football's national league would be competitive with professional clubs in the bottom half of the A-League table.
That's the view of Ivan Vuksich, the chairman at the helm of the Auckland City team which will represent Oceania at the Club World
Cup in Morocco next month.
It's an encouragingly upbeat assessment of the technical output of the ASB Premiership, which last weekend kicked off its 10th season as a franchise operation and this summer gets its first tweak with the inclusion of an age-group team at the expense of a provincial entity (Manawatu).
But fellow key thinkers in the game are just as quick to point to structural flaws and fundamental problems for our flagship domestic league.
Beyond issues of the playing standard, they question whether a league which costs over $600,000 a year to run still meets its original stated objectives of improving the sport's financial viability and long-term sustainability within the current structure, given few people seem to be watching.
Further, in some quarters they even wonder if a return to a club-based format would bring a more loyal and passionate following, and maybe a more evenly spread competition than the current one - which only the two Auckland clubs have ever won.
There is a general acknowledgment that national league crowds have dwindled in recent summers with the league surviving mainly due to the largesse of community gaming trusts, given entrants must cough up an annual $65,000 plus GST entry fee.
Even for Auckland City - arguably the most well-supported team - attendances are a fraction of what they were when the 8-team summer league was launched in 2004.
For every dollar of income taken at the gate, pokie machine losers probably contribute at least another $20.
Vuksich reckons the league, which has featured over 50 players that have been or gone onto be professionals, has got an image problem.
"People perceive that our league is second to the A-League so why would you bother going to watch? And that's our problem.
"The product is not as bad as what people think.
"I think the top three or four from our league could compete with the bottom half of the A-League. So we're not that far away... People say 'oh yea but Waitakere got beaten 7-0 by the Phoenix', yes but that was seven years ago.
"It certainly doesn't happen now. We've played two A-League teams and had two wins. Central Coast Mariners - we beat them 3-1 and they went on to win the league that year. That might be a good omen for the Phoenix."
But with New Zealand Football having a restricted budget, there is a limit to what can be done - though he does back the existing format.
By contrast, former Waitakere United chairman Rex Dawkins sees big clouds on the horizon.
Dawkins is no longer actively involved with Waitakere, but after long spells as an administrator, national councillor, and even a sponsor (Lotto) he has a breadth of significance in the game at national league level few could match.
"Outside of the local derbies in Auckland there is very, very little support," he says.
