North melbourne 'lose' Ballarat zone

[aCunningPlan]

"A ground should only be built if Ballarat gets its own team"

The definition of putting the cart before the horse right here. If Ballarat is ever to get its own team or (more likely) a Victorian AFL club is going to relocate its base there, they would need prove like Tasmania has, that they could sustainably host AFL games.

Unfortunately for this to happen, a stadium fit for AFL games is required and money must be spent.

That's the point, Ballarat doesn't need its own team with Melbourne down the road. Perth have massive waiting lists, Adelaide Oval is bursting at the seams, and Tasmania is an AFL mad state that has been calling for a team for years. They need teams, not Ballarat. North wanted to use us so once they eventually have to move they go an hour down the road and minimise the impact. We don't need a team. And just as an aside North fans here are few an far between, the biggest group of fans in Ballarat are Geelong, Carlton, Essendon and St Kilda in that order.

 

[Engimal]

Why are North so precious about being partially relocated to Tasmania?
Hawthorn have done well out of it recently.
Play 6/7 home games in Hobart, get a home ground advantage and then get the money from Govt. & AFL.

Check the history books, champ. We nearly lost our club in a similar situation to what you're proposing.

 

[Handsome.B.Wonderful]

That's the point, Ballarat doesn't need its own team with Melbourne down the road. Perth have massive waiting lists, Adelaide Oval is bursting at the seams, and Tasmania is an AFL mad state that has been calling for a team for years. They need teams, not Ballarat. North wanted to use us so once they eventually have to move they go an hour down the road and minimise the impact. We don't need a team. And just as an aside North fans here are few an far between, the biggest group of fans in Ballarat are Geelong, Carlton, Essendon and St Kilda in that order.

Ok, I get it. The small Melbourne clubs are unsustainable.

What the competition really needs is more unsustainable expansion clubs that drain out more than the Dogs, Saints, Dees and North combined.

So instead of relocating those small Melbourne clubs to regional bases near their traditional homes where they can retain the current supporter base we'll relocate them interstate and in doing so we'll ostracise at least 70% of those supporters away from the game ....straight to the A League or Melbourne Storm most likely. The NRL will jump straight on it, all of a sudden a second Melbourne team is formed.

So not only does this put stress on the remaining 5-6 Victorian clubs to keep supporting the game (which is hard when you're playing 11+ games interstate a year) it also severely dilutes Victoria's status as a football state when rugby league and soccer clubs start thriving with 50-60k memberships.

Congratulations, we're back with the pack.

 

[aCunningPlan]

Ok, I get it. The small Melbourne clubs are unsustainable.

What the competition really needs is more unsustainable expansion clubs that drain out more than the Dogs, Saints, Dees and North combined.

So instead of relocating those small Melbourne clubs to regional bases near their traditional homes where they can retain the current supporter base we'll relocate them interstate and in doing so we'll ostracise at least 70% of those supporters away from the game ....straight to the A League or Melbourne Storm most likely. The NRL will jump straight on it, all of a sudden a second Melbourne team is formed.

So not only does this put stress on the remaining 5-6 Victorian clubs to keep supporting the game (which is hard when you're playing 11+ games interstate a year) it also severely dilutes Victoria's status as a football state when rugby league and soccer clubs start thriving with 50-60k memberships.

Congratulations, we're back with the pack.

Oh why didn't you say so! Melbourne City, champions of Asia here we come!!!

 

[telsor]

Please tell me what great negotiating value Ballarat was to the North Melbourne football club?

If you have just joined us, the AFL has tipped us out of the joint and the club is not happy. Whether you think we achieved anything or not is as irrelevant as you are, the only reason Ballarat is even on the table as a future AFL venue and potential home base for a club is because of what we started there.

There was nothing in the pipeline and no other club was interested before we walked in to the place 6 years ago.

There is still nothing in the pipeline.
An election promise for a small part of the funding, the rest of which will never be found.

 

[aCunningPlan]

There is still nothing in the pipeline.
An election promise for a small part of the funding, the rest of which will never be found.

Unless Ripon, Wendouree, and Buninyong all remain marginal...it's the only reason Kardinia Park keeps getting upgrades.

 

[Pykie]

Life isn't just about membership figures. The Bulldogs place a lot of emphasis on community programs.

As for the second part of your post - funding is an election promise of the Victorian Labor Party. Perhaps ask them?

The dogs are all about the community programs!

Two major figures in the fight against the Western Bulldogs controversial Edgewater Complex have accused AFL clubs of targeting lower socio-economic areas in Melbourne’s west for revenue via gaming machines.

Victorian Greens MP Colleen Hartland and Monash Professor Dr. Charles Livingstone both accused larger Victorian clubs of having a deliberate pokies strategy in the western suburbs of Melbourne...............................

The $25 million dollar project has had numerous setbacks since its 2007 announcement.

The original proposal included 65 poker machines, a function room and four-star hotel and was unanimously rejected by the council in May 2008, after more than 300 objections from local residents and relevant parties.

The Maribyrnong City Council knocked back the proposal citing breaches of local planning guidelines, would damage local property value and exacerbate problem gambling.

The community club!

 

[Tas]

Are you aware of how much hard work the Hawks did in Tassie before North got in for a free lunch?

What did you guys do in Hobart?

 

[100action]

The dogs are all about the community programs!




The community club!

Every single development gets objections. Small single residential dwelling developements probably average 10 objections.

Objections mean very little. In your world, nothing over three storeys or over 1000 Sqm in floor area will ever get built.

The mcg and etihad combined with extensions and what not over the years have probably accumulated 1000s of objections. Don't ever play football there again.

 

[telsor]

Unless Ripon, Wendouree, and Buninyong all remain marginal...it's the only reason Kardinia Park keeps getting upgrades.

Meh...Promise 25 out of 80 million when you know nobody is going to pony up the rest for a white elephant and score a few votes for nothing.

 

[Tas]

In reality, long-term it is probably better for the Dogs to work the NW corridor from Werribee to Ballarat which we have been doing the last 5 odd years, especially if they get to play some games out there if the stadium is fixed up.

However, it was a region the AFL had approved for us to develop with community programs and a large number of kids from that region get involved with our Huddle program. It seems a lack of professionalism from the AFL's part to take that region away without any consultation with our club or to get involved in back door deals with other clubs and the community.

I know they want to entice us to make a bigger commitment to Tasmania and by hook or crook they want to achieve their agenda. It is just not appropriate that the AFL Commission conduct themselves in this less than professional manner.

 

[Augustine]

I had a realisation last night. The current situation is in fact perfect. Tasmania for a number of reason will almost certainly never have its own club, the biggest reasons being population and of course the North South divide. North plays a few at Hobart and Hawks a few in Launceston. North Tasmanians get AFL football, south Tasmanians get AFL football. Hawks get money, North gets money. Clubs retain identity and continue to grow in Melbourne. Why change a situation where everyone wins?

 

[Bomberboyokay]

North are just too late to the party every time. Apart from Friday night games, have they ever been innovative?

Oh they weren't being innovative. They moved to the MCG and discovered Richmond and Melbourne were already there.

 

[MaddAdam]

North didn't do anything of value here.

We bashed you in the finals, that was good wasn't it Keithy?

 

[Pykie]

Every single development gets objections. Small single residential dwelling developements probably average 10 objections.

Objections mean very little. In your world, nothing over three storeys or over 1000 Sqm in floor area will ever get built.

The mcg and etihad combined with extensions and what not over the years have probably accumulated 1000s of objections. Don't ever play football there again.

haha, no they don't.

300 objections is a huge amount for a $25m build.

Please don't even debate this with me.

 

[The_Flying_Egg]

Heaven forfend you'd ever come up with an original idea or do any hard work or anything.

Such a nothing club.

I remember when North developed Arden Street to play their stand alone VFL team there

 

[The_Flying_Egg]

You're rebuilding, but don't have a draft pick until the second round

We do however have Boyd, Bontompelli, MaCrae, Libba, Dalhaus and Stringer ... there are worse ways to rebuild ...

 

[Ned_Flanders]

Wouldn't worry about it...

The AFL have made it be known they'll be punting us out of Tasmania so North will have the whole island to draw support from soon enough

Yep, sending us down there to play them is a big sign of that IMO. My understanding was we were banned from playing you guys down there after our one and only game, so it's an interesting change.

 

[MaddAdam]

The dogs are all about the community programs!




The community club!

Come to the club! Buy a membership! Have a flutter on our pokies! Keep fluttering on our pokies! Kill yourself from shame in our carpark having squandered every last cent to the point where you can't buy groceries for the kids dinner!

 

[MaddAdam]

Yep, sending us down there to play them is a big sign of that IMO. My understanding was we were banned from playing you guys down there after our one and only game, so it's an interesting change.

The reason we are playing you down there is that now the arena has been upgraded it makes sense to play some bigger clubs.

FFS, we'll make more off a packed house of 20,000 grand down there against you than we would if we had a home game at Etihad against you on a Sunday and your fans were sooking becase you'd had a bad start to the year.

 

[MaddAdam]

I remember when North developed Arden Street to play their stand alone VFL team there

We re-developed Ardern Street years ago and having a stand alone VFL team was never part of the plan.

When your stand alone team delivers the seniors a flag, get back to me.

 

[MaddAdam]

Pretty simple really. Too many Melbourne based teams.

I don't want clubs to fold, I'd be devastated if it were mine, probably there ought to be a dedicated vic west Country team. While there has been a long term effort to change branding away from localities eg from Collingwood to The Pies (etc) it doesn't really wash and a Melbourne team can not represent Ballarat - or Tasmania.

So on that, Melbourne was probably the best team to euthanase for the sake of all struggling vic teams (on membership, finances, lack of success, controversy etc), but the AFL were too gutless and the opportunity is gone.

Tasmania doesn't need a relocated team,It is an insult. They need their own team.

There's these blokes who won a few flags in recent years right ...

 

[Ned_Flanders]

The reason we are playing you down there is that now the arena has been upgraded it makes sense to play some bigger clubs.

FFS, we'll make more off a packed house of 20,000 grand down there against you than we would if we had a home game at Etihad against you on a Sunday and your fans were sooking becase you'd had a bad start to the year.

yet we were banned from playing at Launie which didnt have the capacity issues?

 

[ManOfClay]

Come to the club! Buy a membership! Have a flutter on our pokies! Keep fluttering on our pokies! Kill yourself from shame in our carpark having squandered every last cent to the point where you can't buy groceries for the kids dinner!

Pretty insensitive rhetoric best suited for your meltdown thread on the north board

 

[Handsome.B.Wonderful]

We re-developed Ardern Street years ago and having a stand alone VFL team was never part of the plan.

When your stand alone team delivers the seniors a flag, get back to me.

The Western Bulldogs: Where more members turn up to see the seconds win a flag than to see the seniors beat Collingwood.