To truncate or not to truncate, that is the question as the reality of a six-month A-League off-season sinks in and the motivations for that move are examined.

Football Federation Australia is set to delay the A-League season start to October with an expected end date of May - a change from this past season's August to March structure. Why? Because, according to the FFA and many a fan and pundit, the A-League cannot compete against the traditional footy codes, the AFL and NRL, as they approach their finals series.

It's been a recurrent theme in recent seasons: A-League gets buried in terms of traction up against its rival codes, with the lack of significant advertising from the FFA and little media attention conspiring to deliver poor crowds; there's no momentum behind the A-League season; crowds don't drastically increase when the egg ball codes conclude; and that malaise hangs around until the finals series.

Unless the FFA significantly bolsters its marketing campaign heading into the season (unlikely given the current financial strains), or the Australian football community reexamines its crowd expectations and stops comparing itself with the rival codes (even more unlikely), then the A-League season will always start under this cloud.

The October move makes sense in this regard. It works for events such as the Bathurst 1000 and Melbourne Cup (Spring Racing Carnival), who fill the void left by the footy finals.

The key is momentum.

Consider the figures for the A-League grand final, on the weekend of the NRL's season opener. While the Brisbane Roar attracted 50,168 to Suncorp on Sunday, the Broncos NRL season opener pulled 45,119 on Friday night. Yes, one was a season opener and one was a grand final, but when you consider the dominance of the Broncos and the NRL on the Brisbane psyche and the limitations of the A-League's lack of free-to-air coverage, that's a pretty impressive feat.

The national average audience for the grand final was 232,000, up 25,000 on last year's edition. It peaked at 416,000 during the penalty shootout, on a par with the NRL's Fox Sports ratings. When you consider last year's A-League grand final included two clubs from the two biggest markets in Australia, Sydney and Melbourne, and this year's included a regional club, those figures make for encouraging reading.

The reason for those strong numbers is because the A-League and Brisbane Roar had a season of momentum behind it relative to the NRL opener. When the A-League season starts in August, the momentum is well and truly with egg ball codes. At least under the new season structure the situation will be reversed. As the Brisbane case study shows, the A-League will have momentum on its side when the crossover of seasons occurs.  

After all, why try and compete with a stronger opponent in their prime when you can compete with them in your prime?

Yes, the A-League needs to stand on its own two feet and not relent too easily to rival codes, but unless it adapts to Australia's sporting landscape, it will continue to be buried. It needs to do all it can do maximise its potential exposure, even if it means a shorter season by a few weeks.

That's the reality it faces in this market.