AFL overtaking NRL in QLD

[Bjo187]

The only disadvantage to the lions might be even shitter media coverage in Brisbane.

 

[GC2015]

Yep, missed the honeymoon period of a new team by bringing in clubs that were completely uncompetitive. A lot of mistakes made, especially in non traditional footy markets.

Probably important to point out that this was an existing team based in rugby league heartland entering the AFL. The Dolphins entering the NRL was more akin to Port Adelaide entering the AFL than it was to Gold Coast or GWS entering the AFL. Port Adelaide had a far easier time recruiting established players like Gavin Wanganeen and an abundance of talented local juniors to put on their list like Warren Tredrea, Peter Burgoyne, Stewart Dew etc. GWS virtually had no options for high level Sydneysiders to recruit that weren't already with the Swans and Gold Coast had limited options like Nick Riewoldt and Kurt Tippett who they weren't able to convince to come home.

The Dolphins have an enormous junior base that will come to the fore and they were able to recruit some really solid established players like the Bromwich brothers, Hamiso, Kaufusi, Wallace etc. Now I know the Dolphins missed out on absolute elite talent like Kalyn Ponga and Cam Munster (as did the Giants with Buddy) but I also get the feeling they'll be better for it in the long run. Recruiting will become a lot easier in the future if they are a proven team that's competitive in the NRL and potentially also playing finals as opposed to their pitch to the likes of Ponga/Munster 12 months ago where all they could really promise was money.

Okay good point, forgot about the talent pool. Well, what can be done? You’d hope the AFL aren’t seriously thinking about another Brisbane team as team 20. Won’t take off like the rugby team seems to have.

Some argue that if the NRL puts a team in Perth that the AFL will try to one up them with a new Perth team. These code wars are stupid.

I think the best thing the AFL can do is to continue to properly resource the Lions and Suns. The Lions will never be number 1 in Brisbane in our lifetime as rugby league just has too strong of a hold in that city and the historic links run deep there but the Swans have shown you can still kick goals in your market even when you're a distant second (or third, fourth, fifth depending on who you ask). The Gold Coast on the other hand is genuinely up for grabs if either the Suns or Titans make it their own. It's far closer to a 50/50 on the Gold Coast than Brisbane where it's more like a 90/10 in rugby league's favour. So in my eyes the Lions should aspire to be like the Swans where they continue to be competitive and do good numbers on the important metrics while the Suns should be aiming to become the dominant sport on the Gold Coast. Two different goals but both require proper long term resourcing from the AFL.

Sorry but complete nonsense

The Dolphins are a new NRL franchise in a saturated NRL market. They are competing for interest overwhelmingly in that saturated market.

Maybe its the fact that the NRL doesn't have much of a recent history with expansion that it doesn't get how it works?

The Dolphins are a new franchise in a saturated market with limited enduring justification for many people to support them. There is almost certainly many times more volumes of pain ahead of them than growth vibes. There will far more into existining NRL interest than they will in to Brisbane Lions / AFL interest not matter how much some delude themselves

Saturated? Since when was one team a saturated market? The Dolphins can literally play their home games on the weeks that the Broncos are playing at home and you don't have any clashes. How on earth is that saturated?

So you're just assuming the Dolphins are going to struggle without any real evidence to back it up? And what if they make the finals in their first season? What will you say then?

The only disadvantage to the lions might be even shitter media coverage in Brisbane.

The flow on effect of this is massive. You cannot undersell how much a lack of coverage can hurt a sport. Look at soccer in this country as an example.

 

[The Educator]

Probably important to point out that this was an existing team based in rugby league heartland entering the AFL. The Dolphins entering the NRL was more akin to Port Adelaide entering the AFL than it was to Gold Coast or GWS entering the AFL. Port Adelaide had a far easier time recruiting established players like Gavin Wanganeen and an abundance of talented local juniors to put on their list like Warren Tredrea, Peter Burgoyne, Stewart Dew etc. GWS virtually had no options for high level Sydneysiders to recruit that weren't already with the Swans and Gold Coast had limited options like Nick Riewoldt and Kurt Tippett who they weren't able to convince to come home.

The Dolphins have an enormous junior base that will come to the fore and they were able to recruit some really solid established players like the Bromwich brothers, Hamiso, Kaufusi, Wallace etc. Now I know the Dolphins missed out on absolute elite talent like Kalyn Ponga and Cam Munster (as did the Giants with Buddy) but I also get the feeling they'll be better for it in the long run. Recruiting will become a lot easier in the future if they are a proven team that's competitive in the NRL and potentially also playing finals as opposed to their pitch to the likes of Ponga/Munster 12 months ago where all they could really promise was money.


I think the best thing the AFL can do is to continue to properly resource the Lions and Suns. The Lions will never be number 1 in Brisbane in our lifetime as rugby league just has too strong of a hold in that city and the historic links run deep there but the Swans have shown you can still kick goals in your market even when you're a distant second (or third, fourth, fifth depending on who you ask). The Gold Coast on the other hand is genuinely up for grabs if either the Suns or Titans make it their own. It's far closer to a 50/50 on the Gold Coast than Brisbane where it's more like a 90/10 in rugby league's favour. So in my eyes the Lions should aspire to be like the Swans where they continue to be competitive and do good numbers on the important metrics while the Suns should be aiming to become the dominant sport on the Gold Coast. Two different goals but both require proper long term resourcing from the AFL.


Saturated? Since when was one team a saturated market? The Dolphins can literally play their home games on the weeks that the Broncos are playing at home and you don't have any clashes. How on earth is that saturated?

So you're just assuming the Dolphins are going to struggle without any real evidence to back it up? And what if they make the finals in their first season? What will you say then?


The flow on effect of this is massive. You cannot undersell how much a lack of coverage can hurt a sport. Look at soccer in this country as an example.

1. The Dolphins aren't "more akin to Port Adelaide". This just shows breathtaking ignorance. Port Adelaide were a 127 year old football club when they entered the AFL, had a far greater share of their city's support than any other club in either code in the country, and entered just five years after the Crows who were literally created in reaction to Port trying to enter the AFL. Despite this Port had massive challenges in its first 15 years even though it won a flag 7 years in. The "Port Adelaide delusion" seems to have fooled many with this Dolphins franchise.

2. Of course the Dolphins aren't like GWS of the Suns. Rather than entering a non traditional market without a team, the Dolphins are entering a market very much with ateam.

3. Saturated in that the NRL has had a full and hyper focused involvement in Brisbane for 35 years. Perhaps not saturated for the few precious soles that already go to Broncos games but want to watch another NRL team the other week. Is that your actual point?

4. It doesn't matter if the Dolphins achieve instant on field success or they don't. They will struggle for a long period which will drain the energy of a game which has shown it has a far lower capacity than the AFL to endure that. If you really think that them making the finals in their first season will change that it just emphasises to me that your thinking on this is detached from reality.

5. "look at soccer". Come on man. If you want to look at soccer look at the Western Sydney Wanderers who won the Asian champions league 18 months into existence. And now? The AFL has seen off decades of the one paper town advantaging the franchise it owns. The Dolphins are irrelevant to the AFL

 

[Canberra Pear]

The NRL got the exact desired result today in the Dolphins' first ever match by beating the highly fancied Roosters in front of 32k people at Suncorp Stadium. There's another serious competitor in the Brisbane market now!

I wouldn't read too much into 32k for an opening game.

The Titans played their opening match at Lang Park and got 42k. They now average 15k on the Gold Coast.

GWS got 38k to their first home game (admittedly a derby, but it hasn't been close to being replicated).

I'm sure the Dolphins will do relatively well, but there's a large novelty factor early on. Everyone wants to say they were there for the first game.

 

[The_Wookie]

I wouldn't read too much into 32k for an opening game.

The Titans played their opening match at Lang Park and got 42k. They now average 15k on the Gold Coast.

GWS got 38k to their first home game (admittedly a derby, but it hasn't been close to being replicated).

I'm sure the Dolphins will do relatively well, but there's a large novelty factor early on. Everyone wants to say they were there for the first game.

well i mean they go back to playing at an 11k stadium next week

 

[Canberra Pear]

well i mean they go back to playing at an 11k stadium next week

Will definitely be hard to keep that average up then. But the headline will look good when they sell out!

 

[GC2015]

1. The Dolphins aren't "more akin to Port Adelaide". This just shows breathtaking ignorance. Port Adelaide were a 127 year old football club when they entered the AFL, had a far greater share of their city's support than any other club in either code in the country, and entered just five years after the Crows who were literally created in reaction to Port trying to enter the AFL. Despite this Port had massive challenges in its first 15 years even though it won a flag 7 years in. The "Port Adelaide delusion" seems to have fooled many with this Dolphins franchise.

2. Of course the Dolphins aren't like GWS of the Suns. Rather than entering a non traditional market without a team, the Dolphins are entering a market very much with ateam.

3. Saturated in that the NRL has had a full and hyper focused involvement in Brisbane for 35 years. Perhaps not saturated for the few precious soles that already go to Broncos games but want to watch another NRL team the other week. Is that your actual point?

4. It doesn't matter if the Dolphins achieve instant on field success or they don't. They will struggle for a long period which will drain the energy of a game which has shown it has a far lower capacity than the AFL to endure that. If you really think that them making the finals in their first season will change that it just emphasises to me that your thinking on this is detached from reality.

5. "look at soccer". Come on man. If you want to look at soccer look at the Western Sydney Wanderers who won the Asian champions league 18 months into existence. And now? The AFL has seen off decades of the one paper town advantaging the franchise it owns. The Dolphins are irrelevant to the AFL

1. More like Port Adelaide than Gold Coast or GWS. Existing club with existing culture entering the national competition after competing in the their state league for many decades. Both even rebranded to the Power and Dolphins instead of their previous names.

2. That's my point. Just like Port Adelaide were a team based in a traditional footy market up against an existing professional team in the Crows.

3. That's not the definition of saturated - supply (a market) beyond the point at which the demand for a product is satisfied. Was the demand for rugby league in Brisbane satisfied prior to this year? I would make a strong argument that the introduction of the Magic Round, a Brisbane hosted GF and constant State of Origin sell outs every year indicates the demand was not satisfied. Now we have a crowd of 32k to point to for more evidence.

4. I think you're underselling how much of a difference being very competitive from a club's beginning can make to the long term success of a club. West Coast is a fantastic example of this and you can definitely make an argument that West Coast is the most successful expansion in the land (certainly one of) and the Broncos are probably another great example of that.

5. If we polled 10,000 random people from all over Australia on who won the AFL Grand Final, NRL Grand Final and Asian Champions League final in 2014, which of those do you think would come back with the least amount of correct answers? I would suggest the Asian Champions League by a substantial margin.

Rugby league gets more coverage than Aussie rules in Brisbane - we can agree on that. Well, that coverage just doubled.

 

[Bjo187]

1. More like Port Adelaide than Gold Coast or GWS. Existing club with existing culture entering the national competition after competing in the their state league for many decades. Both even rebranded to the Power and Dolphins instead of their previous names.

2. That's my point. Just like Port Adelaide were a team based in a traditional footy market up against an existing professional team in the Crows.

3. That's not the definition of saturated - supply (a market) beyond the point at which the demand for a product is satisfied. Was the demand for rugby league in Brisbane satisfied prior to this year? I would make a strong argument that the introduction of the Magic Round, a Brisbane hosted GF and constant State of Origin sell outs every year indicates the demand was not satisfied. Now we have a crowd of 32k to point to for more evidence.

4. I think you're underselling how much of a difference being very competitive from a club's beginning can make to the long term success of a club. West Coast is a fantastic example of this and you can definitely make an argument that West Coast is the most successful expansion in the land (certainly one of) and the Broncos are probably another great example of that.

5. If we polled 10,000 random people from all over Australia on who won the AFL Grand Final, NRL Grand Final and Asian Champions League final in 2014, which of those do you think would come back with the least amount of correct answers? I would suggest the Asian Champions League by a substantial margin.

Rugby league gets more coverage than Aussie rules in Brisbane - we can agree on that. Well, that coverage just doubled.

According to some on here media coverage doesn't matter

 

[The Educator]

1. More like Port Adelaide than Gold Coast or GWS. Existing club with existing culture entering the national competition after competing in the their state league for many decades. Both even rebranded to the Power and Dolphins instead of their previous names.

2. That's my point. Just like Port Adelaide were a team based in a traditional footy market up against an existing professional team in the Crows.

3. That's not the definition of saturated - supply (a market) beyond the point at which the demand for a product is satisfied. Was the demand for rugby league in Brisbane satisfied prior to this year? I would make a strong argument that the introduction of the Magic Round, a Brisbane hosted GF and constant State of Origin sell outs every year indicates the demand was not satisfied. Now we have a crowd of 32k to point to for more evidence.

4. I think you're underselling how much of a difference being very competitive from a club's beginning can make to the long term success of a club. West Coast is a fantastic example of this and you can definitely make an argument that West Coast is the most successful expansion in the land (certainly one of) and the Broncos are probably another great example of that.

5. If we polled 10,000 random people from all over Australia on who won the AFL Grand Final, NRL Grand Final and Asian Champions League final in 2014, which of those do you think would come back with the least amount of correct answers? I would suggest the Asian Champions League by a substantial margin.

Rugby league gets more coverage than Aussie rules in Brisbane - we can agree on that. Well, that coverage just doubled.

The Broncos and the Eagles (and the Crows for that matter) filled vacuums when it comes to representation in the premier competition in the traditionally popular sport. The fact that they had early success was a very marginal factor.

Fremantle and Port Adelaide:
-both came in within 8 years of the first team (Dolphins are 35 years after the Broncos)
-had either a uniquely dominant history in the state league or clear geographic identity (Dolphins only have the superficial resemblance of either of these)
-had very significant lean off-field periods despite the above two points

Brisbane is saturated when it comes to NRL exposure. Adding a team is not going to double the amount of exposure - that's just ridiculous. The establishment of the Dolphins will sap the energy of the NRL. They are of marginal relevance to the AFL / Lions

 

[Holy Rioli]

... because there's another team in your market that's quite possibly more popular than yours? Do you not see why that could potentially be an issue for the Lions?

The Dolphins junior academy takes in the northern suburbs, Moreton Bay and Sunshine Coast areas (just like the Lions) and is absolutely massive in terms of total participants. I'm sure it's only going to grow now that they have access to NRL broadcasting/sponsorship/stadium revenues. What about the casual sports fan in Brisbane who is looking for something to do during the winter months but isn't particularly keen on the Broncos or the Broncos happen to be playing away that weekend? Well now they have the option to go to a Dolphins home game instead of the Lions. I can keep going but I think you get the point.

This is a cool story and all but rugby league participation is at an all time low and mostly dominated by kids from Polynesian families in SEQ. QLD cup attendance and participation is at an all time low as well.

Sure RL is extremely popular as a game day sport at NRL level and even from a television point of view, but more kids in SEQ play auskick and soccer by a fair distance now and over the next generation (20-30 years) that will transition into where the eyes and $$$ go at the professional level.

I'll go as far to say that in 50 years RL will be as popular now as what Rugby Union is which is a long way from it's hey day.

 

[The_Wookie]

According to some on here media coverage doesn't matter

No one said that. What they said is what you see and what is actually the case are not the same thing.

 

[Bjo187]

No one said that. What they said is what you see and what is actually the case are not the same thing.

Well i provided evidence that the biggest national news site in Australia with 134 million visits per month is NRL central. Minimum triple the amount of NRL on there to AFL. Last night i visited, it was 9 nrl articles on the main page to AFL 1 (understanding it was round1 for them, but it matters). I also provided evidence re. SEN Sydney having zero AFL content, i think it has more weight than just someones 'opinion'.

 

[The Educator]

Well i provided evidence that the biggest national news site in Australia with 134 million visits per month is NRL central. Minimum triple the amount of NRL on there to AFL. Last night i visited, it was 9 nrl articles on the main page to AFL 1 (understanding it was round1 for them, but it matters). I also provided evidence re. SEN Sydney having zero AFL content, i think it has more weight than just someones 'opinion'.

You didn't really prove anything though.

SEN sydney has a fraction of the audience of SEN Melbourne. Whatever relative "bias" probably reflects that.

You also seem to be the only AFL fan around here who thinks the AFL is getting shafted generally by the media. From what I have seen there is a much larger set of League fans who think the opposite.

Also, you seem to massively overplay the importance of having an extra article or two on outlets that clearly arent primarily sport focussed anyway (i.e. news.com.au)

 

[Bjo187]

You didn't really prove anything though.

Yes i did, I screen shotted proof on numerous occasions when a denier came in to disprove my theory making up rubbish. A leaguie none the less.

SEN sydney has a fraction of the audience of SEN Melbourne. Whatever relative "bias" probably reflects that.

Ok so sports specific followers don't matter? Because below you are saying the opposite, that they are all that matter. Also i provided evidence to this by linking the sen Sydney podcasts too, which go back months. I also provided evidence of the storm getting 3 interviews in one day on SEN Melbourne, compared to not one AFL interview since GF week last year for the AFL on SEN Sydney.

You also seem to be the only AFL fan around here who thinks the AFL is getting shafted generally by the media. From what I have seen there is a much larger set of League fans who think the opposite.

Rubbish, i have a mate lives in Sydney (AFL fan) and a mate lives on the gold coast (NRL fan) that both say the AFL gets very minimal exposure in the media up there. It's fine if the sport isn't popular, but relative to it's size and national reach, on national media sites anyway, the AFL should be getting more, not less, than the NRL get media coverage wise. I've been following for a year, not like the people trying to disprove my theory that look at it for a day and tell me i'm wrong, despite me still providing evidence right on cue.

Also, you seem to massively overplay the importance of having an extra article or two on outlets that clearly arent primarily sport focussed anyway (i.e. news.com.au)

Most people aren't rabbid sports fans, constantly having your product front and centre to the consumer is most important and it makes your product seem relevant and important in specific markets. The whole advertising industry exists off the back of people seeing your product regularly, so that when the time comes, they choose to consume your well known product over a less well known, less relevant one. I would say a site that gets 4.5 million national visits a day is pretty important, especially compared to sports sites that already have rusted on followers that get 100k visits per day.

 

[RedV3x]

You also seem to be the only AFL fan around here who thinks the AFL is getting shafted generally by the media.

No. Anybody living in Sydney would see the relative imbalance.
What it takes for the Swans or Giants to get media attention is totally out of balance
with the regular saturation media coverage of every NRL team.
And yes, I do know that it has improved ever-so-slightly.

Also, you seem to massively overplay the importance of having an extra article or two on outlets that clearly arent primarily sport focussed anyway (i.e. news.com.au)

Well all you have to do is look at the ABC.
Compare all the positive hype Rugby League with all the negative articles on AFL
Look at ABC television sports and look at the introduction - where is the Australian Football ?
You'd think the ABC would have a nice shot of some Impressive Australian sports stadium - no, just a shot of some dumb MRS seating.

Yes, there is a definite media bias against reporting Australian Football or reporting negative stories, nationally and in Sydney
but WTF, we live with it and the AFL does well in spite of it.

When the ABC stopped showing state league action in favour of national whimps - they lost the plot.

 

[The Educator]

No. Anybody living in Sydney would see the relative imbalance.
What it takes for the Swans or Giants to get media attention is totally out of balance
with the regular saturation media coverage of every NRL team.
And yes, I do know that it has improved ever-so-slightly.


Well all you have to do is look at the ABC.
Compare all the positive hype Rugby League with all the negative articles on AFL
Look at ABC television sports and look at the introduction - where is the Australian Football ?
You'd think the ABC would have a nice shot of some Impressive Australian sports stadium - no, just a shot of some dumb MRS seating.

Yes, there is a definite media bias against reporting Australian Football or reporting negative stories, nationally and in Sydney
but WTF, we live with it and the AFL does well in spite of it.

When the ABC stopped showing state league action in favour of national whimps - they lost the plot.

By "relative imbalance" I a referring to the treatment of the AFL north of the Barassi line versus league to the south of it. Obvioulsy the is persistent dominance of media coverage of the NRL in Sydney and Brisbane

I think you are jumping at shadows in terms of the ABC's relative coverage of Australian football and rugby league. There is certainly a cultural cringe element to the ABC's sports coverage but rugby league would certainly not be the beneficiary of that.

 

[RedV3x]

By "relative imbalance" I a referring to the treatment of the AFL north of the Barassi line versus league to the south of it. Obvioulsy the is persistent dominance of media coverage of the NRL in Sydney and Brisbane

i am referring to the same location. By relative imbalance i am referring to the relative imbalance in media attention across the media on a per team level, on a per league level and especially on a per attendance level. e.g. The total anonymity of large Swans games.

I think you are jumping at shadows in terms of the ABC's relative coverage.

No. It's plain to see the difference in all the positive stories for NRL and all negative stories for Australian Football.

 

[Cunnington Cartel]

i am referring to the same location. By relative imbalance i am referring to the relative imbalance in media attention across the media on a per team level, on a per league level and especially on a per attendance level. e.g. The total anonymity of large Swans games.



No. It's plain to see the difference in all the positive stories for NRL and all negative stories for Australian Football.

I’ve also noticed the ABC’s NRL bias. Agree with the positive-negative story trends that you referred to. They usually start the sports wrap with NRL stories as well, which doesn’t seem right when you compare the popularity of the two leagues. Typical of Sydney-based media.

 

[Bjo187]

The Australian taxpayer funded ABC, shitting on one of Australia's greatest inventions.

So we have the two biggest national media outlets, news corp and ABC promoting nrl more than afl despite it being a smaller/ imported sport? Who would have thought... it's what I've been saying all along.

 

[TWLS]

The Australian taxpayer funded ABC, shitting on one of Australia's greatest inventions.

So we have the two biggest national media outlets, news corp and ABC promoting nrl more than afl despite it being a smaller/ imported sport? Who would have thought... it's what I've been saying all along.

Well I had a conversation on the weekend with a Collingwood supporter originally from Melbourne but now residing on the Gold Coast for quite a few years.
We naturally discussed our game up there after he brought the topic up.
In his opinion where he lives he was quite optimistic about AFL growth in that area. He said lots of AFL activity around the place and its not hard to find someone to talk about the game. He got tickets for the Covid caused finals up there in Brissy and the Gabba was rocking to quote him.
The topic of the Suns never came up nor the NRL. He was naturally only really interested in the fortunes of the Magpies and he does visit Melb now and again.
I would say he would be a typical Melb guy with his family living up there but there is a hard to measure our game influence he brings with him.

 

[Bjo187]

Well I had a conversation on the weekend with a Collingwood supporter originally from Melbourne but now residing on the Gold Coast for quite a few years.
We naturally discussed our game up there after he brought the topic up.
In his opinion where he lives he was quite optimistic about AFL growth in that area. He said lots of AFL activity around the place and its not hard to find someone to talk about the game. He got tickets for the Covid caused finals up there in Brissy and the Gabba was rocking to quote him.
The topic of the Suns never came up nor the NRL. He was naturally only really interested in the fortunes of the Magpies and he does visit Melb now and again.
I would say he would be a typical Melb guy with his family living up there but there is a hard to measure our game influence he brings with him.

Yep agree with this, footy is getting more popular in QLD especially with young girls and at grassroots level. My friend up there works as a P.E teacher and says all the cool girls in school wanna play it. All the AFL needs now is some good media coverage to match the interest. It's something that seems to have gone backwards the more that the AFL has become of greater interest (ie. more of a threat to the nrl media establishment) in the northern states.

 

[GC2015]

Well I had a conversation on the weekend with a Collingwood supporter originally from Melbourne but now residing on the Gold Coast for quite a few years.
We naturally discussed our game up there after he brought the topic up.
In his opinion where he lives he was quite optimistic about AFL growth in that area. He said lots of AFL activity around the place and its not hard to find someone to talk about the game. He got tickets for the Covid caused finals up there in Brissy and the Gabba was rocking to quote him.
The topic of the Suns never came up nor the NRL. He was naturally only really interested in the fortunes of the Magpies and he does visit Melb now and again.
I would say he would be a typical Melb guy with his family living up there but there is a hard to measure our game influence he brings with him.

The Gold Coast is quite unique in this regard when compared to the rest of Queensland. The GC certainly has the greatest appetite for Aussie rules per capita when compared to other parts of QLD. You could potentially make an argument that Cairns and the Sunshine Coast are more like the Gold Coast than other parts of Queensland but you can forget about it when you go to just about any other part of the state. Even in Brisbane it would be fair to say that it is a long way behind rugby league and it's probably not a stretch to say cricket and rugby union are also more popular than Aussie rules in Brisbane.

Essentially I'm saying your average Gold Coaster isn't an accurate depiction of the growth of the game in the rest of Queensland. Brisbane is going to be a very hard nut to crack and I personally don't see it happening in my life time (especially now that the NRL are expanding further into the Brisbane market) but the Gold Coast is definitely ripe for the taking if the AFL takes it seriously.

 

[TWLS]

The Gold Coast is quite unique in this regard when compared to the rest of Queensland. The GC certainly has the greatest appetite for Aussie rules per capita when compared to other parts of QLD. You could potentially make an argument that Cairns and the Sunshine Coast are more like the Gold Coast than other parts of Queensland but you can forget about it when you go to just about any other part of the state. Even in Brisbane it would be fair to say that it is a long way behind rugby league and it's probably not a stretch to say cricket and rugby union are also more popular than Aussie rules in Brisbane.

Essentially I'm saying your average Gold Coaster isn't an accurate depiction of the growth of the game in the rest of Queensland. Brisbane is going to be a very hard nut to crack and I personally don't see it happening in my life time (especially now that the NRL are expanding further into the Brisbane market) but the Gold Coast is definitely ripe for the taking if the AFL takes it seriously.

Yes I would agree about the rest of QLD being NRL land with a few pockets of our game in the locations you mentioned. You are actually on the ground up there and will have a much better Idea.
The guy I spoke to was a builder and had built his own house and had a big boat in dry storage, but was mainly Collingwood focused footy wise.

 

[GC2015]

Yes I would agree about the rest of QLD being NRL land with a few pockets of our game in the locations you mentioned. You are actually on the ground up there and will have a much better Idea.
The guy I spoke to was a builder and had built his own house and had a big boat in dry storage, but was mainly Collingwood focused footy wise.

Plenty of Victorian ex pats living on the GC that will forever hold onto their previous affiliations down south. That's totally fine because the Suns are targeting the next generation of Gold Coasters who have parents that get them into footy at a young age. We're just now starting to see kids come through that have been Suns supporters their whole life.

 

[Billy ray]

They just need to adopt the Melbourne based ticketing/GA rollup and cheap seats model up here. Not the adelaide/perth model