Ice777 said:
Who was talking about introducing extra teams?
As against what?
Dragging Melbourne sides to somewhere else against their will?
They've had the opportunity for 10 years and haven't done it. Why is now any different?
Ice777 said:
Is that the only way you constitute growing the game?
As against what they're currently doing, yes.
Ice777 said:
For one the AFL don't need an extra side right now as they have the main areas pretty much covered atm and they're more worried about taking care of the teams they already have as opposed to introducing new ones which IMO is a smart move.
No.
The AFL care a lot more about non-Victorian teams than Victorian teams.
The problem is that Melbourne AFL supporters have IQ's that generally sit around the 60 - 70 mark and they can't see that they're being shafted by the AFL.
The AFL are a cynical organisation who take their heartland for granted more than the NRL ever could.
There are 10 Melbourne-based (Including Geelong) teams in the AFL and they've won none of the last 6 comps (including this year). No non-Melbourne club has finished in the bottom 3 since 2001, no Melbourne-based team went to the preliminary final in 2005 or 2006.
The ratio of Victorian teams to non-Victorian teams is 10/6 yet the make-up of the semi-finalists does nothing to suggest that the non-Victorian clubs aren't being assisted to stay at the top of the table and there's proof that two sides are assisted by an increased salary cap.
Hell, in 2003 all 6 non-Victorian clubs made the 8.
Ice777 said:
Now, is it not growing the game in Sydney and Brisbane by spending money to get it into more schools and get more awareness of the game in people's minds? Is it not growth by getting more people to the game through the gates and actually watching the game? It's that sort of growth i'm talking about which is imperative to to the survival of all codes in the long run.
Jesus.
They've been doing that rubbish aleady for 25 years and look at the results... The amount of Sydney born and bred players in the AFL draft is, has always been and always will be negligible. In Brisbane, the crowds are dropping and the ratings don't even register.
Do you know the reason why in Sydney?
The reason is that the vast majority of Sydney kids don't relate to the Swans or the game.
The Swans don't represent Sydney, they represent a pocket that stops about 10k's from the SCG. So, how do they think they're going to change that in the greater Sydney area, by continuing to pump money into Schools who, to be perfectly honest, take the money with a nice smile, then the kids may play AFL at school but they'll play League or Soccer on the weekends.
It makes no difference because the end result is they just don't relate to the game or the Swans.
I live in an area that once was considered to be an Australian Football stronghold (pre-1990), Campbelltown. It isn't any more. The local Sydney comp team, Campbelltown are lucky to get 50 fans at their games, there are four or 5 grounds that are barely used, one I know of hasn't had a game there for years, and the game has all but been ridden into the ground.
By whom?
By the Wests Tigers.
Kids can relate to them simply because they represent them and their local area and they play a game they understand. The moment that Wests moved to Cambelltown nearly 20 years ago was the moment Australian Football began dying in the area.
And it's dead as a doornail now.
There isn't an AFL player on the planet who could walk through any large Western Sydney street and be noticed.
Ice777 said:
Look at the Swans now to what they were 10 or 15 years ago and tell me that they haven't grown from where they were.
They've grown, as you consider it, on the back of artificial help from the AFL.
The last time they flopped completely over any length of time their crowd average was 15k and less.
Their ratings haven't improved in Sydney one bit. Even their Grand Final ratings last year were less than they were for the 1996 Grand Final.
People here will watch a Grand final, they'll even watch a preliminary Final in decent numbers but only if Sydney are involved and if they begin losing, the number drops sharply.
It's a curisity once or twice a year, nothing more.
Ice777 said:
Tell me that there aren't more schools and more juniors taking part in the game than what there were 10 years ago.
Who said their aren't?
The point is, it's making no impact. It's good that they can't see it though, just means they're wasting their money.
What they have to do is put a team in Western Sydney that the kids can relate to, and it has to be a new team or it'll be a monumental flop. Even if it is a new team, it'll be a flop but nowhere near the flop it will be if they drag the Western Bulldogs up here. And it will be the Western Bulldogs. It can't be the Kangaroos, they don't pull a crowd anywhere and the other teams at least pull in Melbourne.
Ice777 said:
If you say there aren't then you can keep your head in the sand like the NRL and pretend it's not happening.
They know its happening and they are keeping an eye on it, but it isn't having the impact you obviously think.
Ice777 said:
I hope they do get of their arses to do something to combat it.
Yeah, I'm sure you and Collingwood Storm really want AFL to die in Sydney...
There's nothing to combat. They've been pushing it to Schools for decades and made little impact, the kids take the gear and may play AFL at School for a laugh, then on the weekends they play their real sport.
The ones that continue to play AFL are the kids called "uncos", they used to be Goalkeepers in Soccer but now they play AFL.
Ice777 said:
Oh and the next team WILL be in Sydney, when that will be and how it will go only time will tell. But like it or not it's going to happen eventually.
The sooner the better.
The sooner they stick a black hole, a money drain that will make the Swans and Lions look like the Australian Mint, the better.
Look at the ratings this year, on the back of a premiership, they've been nothing short of abysmal. The best rating game all year was last weekend at 160k for a semi-final. That's about what an good NRL home and away match rates on Pay TV.
AFL is 100% reliant on Sydney on the Swans table position. Whilst ever the AFL can keep them near the top by any means necessary, even at the detriment to the Melbourne clubs, they'll do just that.
