Peter V'landys - New NRL/ARLC Chairman

[t-ba]

The Swans are big in the Eastern Suburbs, it’s not just areas where teams were cut/merged.

That's Roosters/Souths Territory.

Now I wonder if any people who saw their team get booted out might have been disaffected.

Jokes aside I am honestly shocked at the growth of Swans support since moving back to the North Shore after 15 years. Shit's pretty nuts. You could always see a bit of Swans gear in the Eastern Suburbs (I went to school over there) but like when I left it was Waratahs stuff over the Bridge. How times change.

 

[Wb1234]

The Swans are big in the Eastern Suburbs, it’s not just areas where teams were cut/merged.

No they did gain a lot of fans when norths and south’s were kicked out and Balmain merged

it’s why gws is failing no Sydney clubs have been killled off to help them

 

[t-ba]

Like beyond the meme potential I don't reckon there's a place for the North Sydney Bears in the NRL anymore. There's a certain romanticism to it but I reckon it's not a good idea when there are other places that could do with a team.

What gets my goat is people engaging in constant revisionism about the initial wisdom of that decision (And that includes Norths' decision to abandon the North Shore) and the impact it has had on the sporting landscape on the city, in particular one of the wealthiest parts of the country.

 

[ayatollah_murdoch]

The swans are also big in inner west and the hills. That would be Tigers, Dogs and Parramatta territory.

 

[reanimate]

That's Roosters/Souths Territory.

Now I wonder if any people who saw their team get booted out might have been disaffected.

Roosters were never booted, yet the Swans have grown massively right under their noses.

Jokes aside I am honestly shocked at the growth of Swans support since moving back to the North Shore after 15 years. Shit's pretty nuts. You could always see a bit of Swans gear in the Eastern Suburbs (I went to school over there) but like when I left it was Waratahs stuff over the Bridge. How times change.

A lot of it has come at the expense of Union. The people who wouldn’t be caught dead wearing anything to do with RL have jumped ship to AFL now that Union is fading into irrelevance.

 

[MugaB]

Same as the phins using Suncorp it it what it is

Nope thats like manly using homebush... get the geography right bro.. tehe

 

[t-ba]

Roosters were never booted, yet the Swans have grown massively right under their noses.

The Roosters were never the big cheese in the district. They're very very lucky Politis took an interest in them. Historically they've been the little brother and perennial victim of Souths since at least WWII.

A lot of it has come at the expense of Union. The people who wouldn’t be caught dead wearing anything to do with RL have jumped ship to AFL now that Union is fading into irrelevance.

More than a few Bears fans as well. It's pretty f**king trippy seeing Swans hats at a Bears game.

Like, I am shocked by the Swans gear around where I live. I guess I didn't see much because I moved back and then spent two years locked inside, but it's pretty crazy. Not even remotely the same density of Swans shit in say Randwick than Crows Nest.

 

[BunniesMan]

I still cannot believe V'landys actually said helping out Foxtel stay afloat was a priority for him.

One of two possibilities: either he actually believed that or he was making it up to try to justify how cheap the deal looks in hindsight.

I don't know which is worse. If he truly believes it is the job of the NRL Chairman to give a mates rates deal to another company at the expense of the game, he should not be in the job. On the other hand, if he didn't mean it and if he was just trying to save face (in a very stupid way) he should feel humiliated about how he was played by News ltd. If he believed they were on death's door and their collapse would reduce revenue for the game, how stupid must he feel seeing the money they gave to the AFL. But it should have been obvious at the time, of course Foxtel was never in any real danger of dying.

Whichever possibility it is, he has failed to the scale of hundreds of millions of dollars.

 

[t-ba]

Oh god @BunniesMan liked my post.

Time to re-evaluate my life choices and opinions.

 

[Iamback]

Linky

idc what idiots say vlandys is the best leader rugby league has ever had

not the best in the nrl, the best since gillitnan

he’s taking our sport to a new level under his leadership

every club should thank him because most of them are run like chook raffles but since their funding is so high it doesn’t matter

I will post at work tomorrow

Part 1 is just garbage, Part 2 has expansion finances etc.

 

[Iamback]

Like beyond the meme potential I don't reckon there's a place for the North Sydney Bears in the NRL anymore. There's a certain romanticism to it but I reckon it's not a good idea when there are other places that could do with a team.

What gets my goat is people engaging in constant revisionism about the initial wisdom of that decision (And that includes Norths' decision to abandon the North Shore) and the impact it has had on the sporting landscape on the city, in particular one of the wealthiest parts of the country.

I think the Bears in Sydney is gone, Bears somewhere else with a link to North Sydney makes sense

 

[Wb1234]

I will post at work tomorrow

Part 1 is just garbage, Part 2 has expansion finances etc.

Perth bears would be the favourites ?

 

[Wb1234]

I think the Bears in Sydney is gone, Bears somewhere else with a link to North Sydney makes sense

Foundation club

their latent fan base is in hibernation

not that they should but a north Sydney bears team would get similar crowds today than manly get

but Sydney doesn’t need more teams so Perth bears is the best way forward for them

but it will certainly help rugby league in the north shore

all the experts said south’s had no future in the nrl

this will be a smaller version of that

plus the bears did the right thing moving to Gosford and then got shafted

 

[t-ba]

I think the Bears in Sydney is gone, Bears somewhere else with a link to North Sydney makes sense

The management of the Bears will drive for a permanent return and I reckon that's probably V'landys' ultimate goal in pairing them up with another region. He's basically colluding with the Bears to Trojan Horse Norths proper back into the comp at some point in the future.

 

[Colk]

It's not the only reason, and I don't see anyone claiming that it is the only reason here, but like it is glaringly obvious that the Swans are the biggest were traditional clubs with strong local identities have either been axed or merged that this is obviously a rather big factor, or the biggest coincidence in Australian sports.

Look at the Swans attendances and take note of when they are winning and when they are losing.

AFL Tables - Sydney - Crowds

Sydney Swans - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Take note of the increase in 1986 and 1987 when they were bought by Edelsten and went well - no Sydney league team died in those years. You will see a heavy retraction from the late 1980’s and early 1990’s because according to this Wikipedia article (I know Wikipedia they were cannon fodder). You will then see an increase in 1996-1997 when they went well again. Also note that at the exact time that Sydney league teams were dying (post 1997) their crowds went down and not up which again doesn’t seem to fit the narrative. Their crowds have since that time flactuated from 20,000 to 30,00 depending on their performances.

Regarding where the Swans fans are based that would have more to do with how the two games are marketed. Fumbleball seemingly seen at least in Sydney as more of an upper class game, whereas League is seen as more of a middle class game, therefore their support would be strongest in more gentrified areas and why in turn that game has struggled so badly in the more middle class and multicultural western areas of the city.

In fact I would probably suggest if anything that the Swans are more likely to have had a negative effect on Union then on League

 

[t-ba]

Eh the Shire is pretty well-to-do and it's not exactly stronghold's of Swanness. Same with the Northern Beaches, fairly well supported but not an overwhelming presence.

Can't say I'm buying this argument when there's a pretty clear correlation between areas that have seen turbulence with their teams (excluding the Eastern Suburbs) and strong Swans support.

 

[reanimate]

The Roosters were never the big cheese in the district. They're very very lucky Politis took an interest in them. Historically they've been the little brother and perennial victim of Souths since at least WWII.

They’ve been present the whole time though. The Swans haven’t just grown in areas where teams were cut/merged, one of their biggest bases in Sydney is in the heart of Roosters’ territory. They’ve grown massively in the Eastern Suburbs right under the noses of one of the city’s most successful teams.

More than a few Bears fans as well. It's pretty f**king trippy seeing Swans hats at a Bears game.

Like, I am shocked by the Swans gear around where I live. I guess I didn't see much because I moved back and then spent two years locked inside, but it's pretty crazy. Not even remotely the same density of Swans shit in say Randwick than Crows Nest.

It’s very comparable to the amount of Swans gear you’d see around Paddington, Woollahra, Double Bay etc.

 

[t-ba]

It’s very comparable to the amount of Swans gear you’d see around Paddington, Woollahra, Double Bay etc.

Paddington's a fair shout but Woollahra and Double Bay have never not been posh. I can see parallels between Paddington and Crowie in that they've gentrified in the last 30 years. Those other two suburbs have never not been fancy in my life.

 

[t-ba]

They’ve been present the whole time though. The Swans haven’t just grown in areas where teams were cut/merged, one of their biggest bases in Sydney is in the heart of Roosters’ territory. They’ve grown massively in the Eastern Suburbs right under the noses of one of the city’s most successful teams.

They always had support in the Eastern Suburbs. Like, when I was at school 20 (f**k) years ago in the Eastern Suburbs you saw swans gear. That's just something you did not see in the North Shore.

 

[Maximus]

I don’t come from Perth but in this hypothetical who is to suggest that I didn’t already follow those other sports at least casually? Who is to suggest that I simply wouldn’t just give up on sport altogether and do something else with my time - if I have already taken my time to view those sports and don’t like them, I am not suddenly going to change my mind just because my team was cut.

The Swans gained traction because they were and have been successful for a long time. The same reason why the Melbourne Storm have gained a niche following down there or why Lions have got a niche following in Brisbane. If any of these teams remained on the bottom of the ladder for a lot of their existence, say like the Titans, they wouldn’t have gained as much of a following.

Some people on here think everyone is like them and can only follow 1 sport. The swans could only have fans because those fans lost their teams and so had to go to another sport.

In the real world, a lot of people support the swans because they enjoy watching sport and it was the only AFL team for a long time