Kangaroos to the Gold Coast?

[CyberKev]

Seems like a good move to me.

The Roos have been a touch on the nomadic side for awhile now, so if they're looking to settle on a firm homebase, I would think that the Gold Coast would be as good as anywhere.

In Melbourne, the club has debts, poor facilities and a dwindling supporter base. A move to the Coast (and an accompanying association with the wealthy Southport club) would certainly rectify the first two problems. Over the long haul, a continued existence in Melbourne isn't going to solve the final matter so they might as well bite the bullet now for the long term viability of the club.

I think an AFL club can make a strong fist of it on the Gold Coast, and we know from past history that the AFL is willing to put in the hard yards to establish and develop a club long-term in unfamiliar climes.

I just think it needs to be done quickly before the Kangas haemmorage more finances and before RL gets too much of a headstart with the Titans. That being said, its definitely not an either/or scenario for mine, as both codes could survive well in the environment (assuming hard work and solid management).

 

[camsmith]

Nup dont like it.

Another Melbourne club going down the drain while Sydney and Brisbane get money thrown at them from the AFL.... doesn't sound good to me.

How about the AFL think about Melbourne teams for a change, look at who has won all the premierships in the last 10 or so years.... Interstate teams are going along great, its the struggling teams in the heartland of AFL that are in need of support from the AFL.
From a biased Melbournian AFL lover, it will be a sad sad day when there are more interstate teams than Melbourne teams (and at the cost of those melbourne clubs)

No doubt North Melbourne Supporters aren't doing themselves any favours, that attendance of last years final (vs port?) was a disgrace, but perhaps if the AFL gave them a bit of help they wouldn't have to play all over the place and could look at building up the supporter base again.

I dont know im just a traditionalist.. im all for interstate teams, but just not at the expense of Melbourne ones, teams that have been around for years and years.

continued existence in Melbourne isn't going to solve the final matter so they might as well bite the bullet now for the long term viability of the club.

Didn't i hear the same sort of thing about the Saints not long ago.. now look where they are!

 

[Glenn]

The Kangaroos are in need of help no doubt about it, with support dwindling, debts mounting etc.
The AFL has given a lifeline in the past to the Western Bulldogs who were struggling IIRC (and still talk of mving then as a second Sydney team).
Carlton are now in all sorts of problems, there is a oversupply of teams in Melbourne and only so many $$$$ to go around

 

[stevo]

Don't think the GC is the right place. Maybe Cairns or Darwin. I'm sure either of these towns would be more then happy to have a team up there. The locals will defianately be in it for the long run and from the very start too. Moving to the GC would be a waste of time and money IMO.

 

[Twizzle]

logistically its very expensive to run a club out of Carins or darwin, travelling costs are horrendous, and they really dont have the supporter base that Gold Coast has.

the GC has a lot of expat Vics and second generation Vics, you only have to look at the succes of the Southport Sharks which has been long term, and I believe they are making a bid for the Roos

the move to GC solves 2 problems, it bails out the Roos financialy and gives GC a team which I think they will support very well

seems like a good idea to me

 

[choc_soldier]

The GC would be the next logical choice.

But I read somewhere that a second team in Sydney is being looked at, to perhaps be based at Blacktown (in the greater western suburbs of Sydney).

http://afl.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&spg=display&articleid=250929

 

[meltiger]

Nup dont like it.

If you were a kid growing up in the Nth West, would you support Essendon or Nth Melbourne?

Historically Essendon have been much stronger than Nth Melbourne two clubs within 10 minutes of each other. It's no real suprise that Essendon are a powerful club whilst Nth struggle.


Mate we had 28,000 paid up members last year, Nth Melbourne managed to draw 25,000 to their finals game at Telstra Dome.


Simple fact is, Nth Melbourne have no fans and to be honest with you and maybe it's local biases coming out here, Essendon serve the Nth West, Footscray serve the West, I would rather lose Nth than lose the Western Bulldogs.

 

[cumberlandsashes81]

But I read somewhere that a second team in Sydney is being looked at, to perhaps be based at Blacktown (in the greater western suburbs of Sydney).

http://afl.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&spg=display&articleid=250929

The new AFL stadium approved for Blacktown (at Blacktown's Olympic Park) is apparently going ahead (with construction commencing at the end of 2006) and will be completed in 2008. So, it seems that this second Sydney AFL team is almost certainly going to happen in a couple of years (can the AFL afford both ventures?)...

I know this has been said before but pursuing Western Sydney is a serious risk for the AFL as we all know Western Sydney is Rugby League's heartland. While I recognise that none of the AFL's expansion plans have ever failed (unlike the NRL's) this is an extradordinarily risky venture and if one of their expansionist ventures was going to fail it might just be this one.

Looking at the statistics, the NRL has four teams in the greater West of Sydney who all have very strong local support: Wests Tigers (average 2005 home crowd: 19,423); Bulldogs (18,132); Parramatta (16,529); Penrith (15,576).

Add to this the number of semi-professional lower competition Rugby League clubs (i.e. NSWRL Premier League and Jim Beam Cup): Wests Magpies, Wentworthville, Sydney Bulls, Cabramatta Two-Blues, St Marys-Penrith Cougars, and Windsor Wolves. I realise these clubs are not big crowd-pullers but Wests, Sydney Bulls and Windsor have all shown they are able to attract reasonable numbers of spectators (for their level of competition) on occassion. Though it's not just about numbers of spectators but the people who are involved in the club, and the corporate sponsorship these clubs attract.

Obviously there are also a very large number of Junior League clubs all over the Western Sydney region. I don't know how many kids are playing RL in Western Sydney but it would have be significant.

What I'm trying to demonstrate is that this is not an area where support for Rugby League is soft (dare I say, like the Eastern Suburbs?). On any given weekend a large percentage of Western Sydneysiders are going to RL games, watching RL on television, playing RL themselves, or watching their kids play RL.

The AFL has to compete with all of this in order to make a club work... If they do compete successfully and make it work then the AFL will truly have confirmed itself as one of the best-run sporting competitions on earth. It's a big ask, though. Surely the Gold Coast option has a much greater chance of success?

 

[chileman]

So Canberra was never really in the picture for a team??

 

[Glenn]

Seems the Roos are finally going to give up on the Canberra experiment, which can be described as half-hearted at best.

 

[meltiger]

Trimmed post

Quite simply, that would already be a contender for post of the year in the AFL forum!

 

[stevo]

It may cost alot for a team up in Cairns or Darwin but atleast it will be well worth it.

I used to live in Darwin and they are really into their AFL (there's heaps of Vics up there!), i don't think people realise how much they love footy, well any footy to tell the truth. Maybe play half the games in darwin and the other in Alice Springs.

Cairns from what i remember of Lions games and Cazaley's (sp) Leagues Club they are right up there too.

 

[Twizzle]

I usd to live in Darwin as well and it was predominantly League and Union, but the population is simply too small and only a fraction of the Gold coast population

 

[CyberKev]

So Canberra was never really in the picture for a team??

Canberra has a good number of ex-pats from the AFL states, but they haven't overly warmed to the Kangaroos. Whenever Sydney comes to town each year, the Roo fans get lost amid the sea of red & white.

For mine, the Brumbies are the biggest show in town, but the margin is anything but massive. The Raiders have their fans, but when the Dragons came ot play in the capital last year, you couldn't see a lot of green among the waves of red & white.

An AFL side may make it in Canberra, but the area doesn't seem to have the corporate clout ot support one fulltime. That said, Canberra would hold up stronger than Cairns and Darwin in this regard.

What isn't up for genuine dispute is the reality that Western Sydney is a pipedream location for the AFL, regardless of the club they'd prefer to relocate. For mine, putting a second side anyway in Sydney will be a herculean task.

The Gold Coast is by far the best avilable option and, dare I say it, the Kangaroos seem to be the most logical choice.

 

[CyberKev]

Didn't i hear the same sort of thing about the Saints not long ago.. now look where they are!

The Saints have been battlers for much of their existence, but can still maintain a strong supporter core, as evidenced by its membership soaring over 34,000 on the merest hint of success.

The Kangaroos had a great record during the nineties, but despite being a dual premier during this time failed to wow with its membership contingent.

The Kangaroos have always maintained lean support and while they remain in Melbourne always will.

 

[camsmith]

If you were a kid growing up in the Nth West, would you support Essendon or Nth Melbourne?

Historically Essendon have been much stronger than Nth Melbourne two clubs within 10 minutes of each other. It's no real suprise that Essendon are a powerful club whilst Nth struggle.

True, North can get supporters though, like StKilda has. Or they should atleast be given the chance.

Mate we had 28,000 paid up members last year, Nth Melbourne managed to draw 25,000 to their finals game at Telstra Dome.

Yep and that was pathetic. I agree.

Simple fact is, Nth Melbourne have no fans and to be honest with you and maybe it's local biases coming out here, Essendon serve the Nth West, Footscray serve the West, I would rather lose Nth than lose the Western Bulldogs.

North would have have the least amount of fans in the league, so if any Melbourne teams move somewhere, it will be North and know that.
I just hate the fact thats the AFL is even thinking about starting up a new club somewhere at the expense of a historic Melbourne one.

One example although probably not a good one:

Look at Waverley park, it was tossed aside so a newer..better.. cleaner.. ground could be used. So there went a sacred historic AFL footy ground and along came this great, fantastic blah blah one that im still not a fan of.

Couldn't the AFL put money into both which would make both the rich corporates and the grass roots supporters happy? I know its a totally different issue and im still bitter about what the AFL did to the Waverley.. but well, i can see the link between the two issues.

Although if your a local of the other side of Melbourne, you probably dont agree with my example.

Simply, if the AFL and Government can throw money at Carlton (paying for the stand) and the Dogs.. why not North?

The Saints have been battlers for much of their existence, but can still maintain a strong supporter core, as evidenced by its membership soaring over 34,000 on the merest hint of success.

The Kangaroos had a great record during the nineties, but despite being a dual premier during this time failed to wow with its membership contingent.

The Kangaroos have always maintained lean support and while they remain in Melbourne always will.

Your right they have always had a good supporter base (so does Souths in RL but that didn't save them from going down initially) But you only have to go to a saints game to see the amount of kids (and it seems girls of all ages love the Saints for some reason, pretty boy players might be one :lol: ) that follow them.

Its a new generation of Saints supporters being born out of playing good and also the clubs hard work that they have done behind the scenes in creating a good 'product' that people want to be a part of.

North just need someone to grab hold of them, give them heaps of money and try to change the image of a team that goes un-noticed and that no one supports to a team people can get excited about and want to go and watch them play and want to invest in them.


*Sorry in advance who actually read this whole post/rant.

 

[stevo]

Just outta interest Twizzle where abouts in Darwin did you live and how long ago? I was up there till 92 then moved out to Jabiru till 96

 

[Glenn]

Cam, would personaly love Waverly/VFL/AFL park to still be used, but you have to move with the times.
As I see it the game has moved from it suburban roots to something much bigger with the success it has had.
You can be nostalgic about things, but ultimately it is the $$$$ that drives the success(or not) of professional sporting organisations these days. It is less about sport more about business

 

[CyberKev]

You can be nostalgic about things, but ultimately it is the $$$$ that drives the success(or not) of professional sporting organisations these days. It is less about sport more about business

Indeed, Glenn.

I think we've moved past the point of getting value from railing wistfully against the dying of the light.

If you can accept the overt corporate nature of modern AFL then you are at least ideally positioned to best work it to your own interests.

For the Kangaroos, this means moving out of a cluttered location that they'll always struggle in, to form a revised one city entity (ala Geelong) on the Gold Coast.

If Hawthorn wasn't consistently returning 30k+ membership totals and locked into its new Waverley arrangement, I wouldn't have minded seeing the club move to the Coast. I actually think the odds are in favour of a side doing well there over the long haul.

 

[Twizzle]

Just outta interest Twizzle where abouts in Darwin did you live and how long ago? I was up there till 92 then moved out to Jabiru till 96

I lived in Jingili in a caravan, as did most back then, where the new Marara Ground is atm

I played footy (RL) for Nightcliff and it was thier undeveloped footy ground, with old damaged houses on it from Cyclone Tracy.

Its now a world class cricket ground where the Aussies play in Winter.

I was there about a year after Tracy so it would have been about mid 70s