I think a lot of you may be missing one important point. IMO I don't think it's so much about people all of a sudden not going to Titans games on the Coast and instead going to the AFL games, I think it's more about getting young kids interested in it enough that they may want to play it.
The AFL is in a strong enough financial position that they can throw money at it and West Sydney for years.
The next round of tv rights may not be as lucrative as the current ones due to the GFC but if my memory serves me correct the current ones were worth more than $500 million more than the RL ones.
Hunt may not be able to pull on an Australian jersey but really what are they worth? How many countries are competitive? Australia, New Zealand and England and it's not even that long ago that the latter two weren't competitive. I mean League is at least third banana in NZ behind Union and Netball in popularity stakes and probably the same in the UK albeit with Union and Soccer.
There's plenty of countries that have small local Aussie Rules competitions. The AFL currently bring them all out here and play an International Cup without Australian professional player involvement. Probably not that much different to the early days of International League with the Aussies being the only team ever likely to win.
I don't think a sport like AR will ever be international, for one thing the playing arena is just too big compared with League, Union and Soccer and also initially there are a lot of different skills to learn. Soccer is a prime example, at it's highest level the players are unbelievably skilled but at the lowest level anyone can play it, all you need to be able to do is run and kick, the ball is round so it doesn't do funny things.
As for AR players crossing to RL I don't think it would be that easy for the simple fact of the tackling, it's completely different. AR clubs are addressing this these days as it is a very important part of the current game and is becoming more and more each season. Clubs now employ League people to come and teach them.
A number of Melbourne teams get together with the Storm, they drill us on tackling and we show them kicking.
I played 18 years of AR and one season of League when I was unfortunately living in Canberra for a time. At the time I was 6ft 1, 105kg with high pace, good hands, good kicking skills on both sides and loved the collisions. I couldn't tackle for sh*t. After so many years of playing and training for AR I just couldn't come to grips with the tackling, it didn't worry me being tackled but I just found it unnatural to duck my head and drive into someone, I didn't know how.
As a young kid there was a South Australian player recruited to Footscray/Western Bulldogs, in one of his very first games he ducked his head down and tried to go through a player, he's been in a wheelchair ever since. It was really emphasised to everyone at all levels after that not to duck your head.
Another thing about League is that it's an ideal sport for tv because the pitch size is so much smaller. To have a full appreciation of an AFL game you need to see it live as there can be a lot of set up work going on 50 to 100 meters away from the actual play, tv cameras can't pick this up.
As far as loyalty goes, how much is there these days? How many players are running around in league that have played at more than one club? There are quite a few in the AFL but the majority of these are because they've been discarded by their original clubs. Make no mistake, clubs will play the loyalty line as long as it suits them but as soon as they consider you surplus to requirements or they may be able to get something for you they'll be shopping you around quicker than you can blink.
Chris Judd was and still is called a greedy judas for leaving the West Coast Eagles and going to Carlton. What did he owe them? Not much I'd say, it wasn't like the club took a punt on him, he was drafted at number 3 so plenty of other clubs would have picked him up if the Eagles didn't, they were just lucky. He gave them 6 seasons of the best first 6 seasons that a lot of people have ever seen, he captained them to a premiership, he won club B&F awards and a Brownlow Medal.
Switching codes/sports, Scott Draper - tennis/golf, Shane Naylor - sprinting/bobsled, plenty of players who were international/state level at both cricket and football eventually choosing one over the other, Mundine, Dean Brogan - NBL/AFL. Who cares?
It's probably a good coup for the AFL at the moment but he's a young bloke who's gone for a base of less money (yes he will get a lot in endoresments/incentives) who it appears is after another challenge. IMO it's a big risk to take and good on him for having the guts to give it a go.
