Expansion 3rd Western Australian club

Remove this Banner Ad

Nov 8, 2000
33,295
21,790
South of the river
AFL Club
Fremantle
Other Teams
Peel Thunder
Looking backwards you are correct, be it a suburb, a capital city, a State, looking forward from the mid 80s, West Coast Eagles, yes West Coast is geographical but a step away/forward .... GWS in the same vein ..... a step away from Adelaide Football Club, Fremantle Football Club.

Would a club based up Joondalup way be limited in its name, only if it wanted to limit its appeal, the Eagles name was all inclusive.

It worked because people didn't have a choice. If they were called Perth then they wouldn't have one less supporter than they do now.

But an identity is everything, and if it's not based on geography then how are you going to generate one quick? A new team wouldn't have the luxury of having decades to attract supporters, they need to get people in straight away.

Personally I think Joondalup is a terrible idea, but I reckon it'd have more chance of working than Perth Pirates.
 

Log in to remove this ad.

Aug 14, 2011
44,794
16,853
Trafalgar
AFL Club
West Coast
Other Teams
Mclaren Mercedes F1
It worked because people didn't have a choice. If they were called Perth then they wouldn't have one less supporter than they do now.

But an identity is everything, and if it's not based on geography then how are you going to generate one quick? A new team wouldn't have the luxury of having decades to attract supporters, they need to get people in straight away.

Personally I think Joondalup is a terrible idea, but I reckon it'd have more chance of working than Perth Pirates.

At least we agree on Perth Pirates. People forget the Eagles werent adopted overnight,
 
Aug 14, 2011
44,794
16,853
Trafalgar
AFL Club
West Coast
Other Teams
Mclaren Mercedes F1
Now that you mention it, my last post points to the need for equity & balance. The AFL simply came into being as a VFL life support system. All other state leagues were crushed. But Its still not enough for some.

It seems the non Victorian states are still squeezed until their pips squeak just to maintain the 'Home' advantage. Its really a national league in name only. If it were meant to be 'best v best' , then their wouldn't be 10 clubs close to Melbourne. Perhaps not 2 clubs in SE Qld. Certainly 3 clubs in Perth if it were a sensible 18 team comp. But its not.

The 2 clubs in a State is supposed to ensure a game in each State (capital) each week, as national in Australian Football League including Tasmania.
 
Mar 17, 2009
21,636
17,319
Hobart
AFL Club
Collingwood
The 2 clubs in a State is supposed to ensure a game in each State (capital) each week, as national in Australian Football League including Tasmania.

Yes but for the sake of the argument, that wouldn't be affected by 3 teams in Perth. Or less teams in Melbourne for that matter.

It would open up opportunities for more bums on more seats more often in Perth, which would be a good thing I would've though.

Also Brisbane/Goldcoast somewhat defeats that. ie not in same city. ;)

Just sayin.:)
 
Jan 26, 2006
40,446
31,699
Perth
AFL Club
West Coast
Other Teams
East Fremantle
Yes but for the sake of the argument, that wouldn't be affected by 3 teams in Perth. Or less teams in Melbourne for that matter.

It would open up opportunities for more bums on more seats more often in Perth, which would be a good thing I would've though.

Also Brisbane/Goldcoast somewhat defeats that. ie not in same city. ;)

Just sayin.:)

One could argue that the situation where WA kids grow up used to watching the eagles on TV is a net positive for the AFL.
TV pays more of the bills than ticket sales.

AFL only cares about more opportunities for bums on seats when it suits them. Perth 3 gains the AFL nothing but possibly avoiding a bye.

Main divide in Perth is NOR and SOR which Fremantle already provides.
 

caspian

Team Captain
Jan 6, 2019
416
673
AFL Club
West Coast
Terrible terrible terrible idea.

They would get very few new fans. Someone put in an earlier page "they would be much smaller than freo" which is exactly true. As far as I can tell there is little geographical, economic, sociological etc difference between freo and WCE fans as a whole anyway, all a 3rd team would do would be to water down the other two clubs' membership bases. There would be no neat way to differentiate WA3 from the other teams, no way to guarantee a supporter base, etc.

I guess they could also play at optus but still- why?

Bunbury (where I live) is footy mad but it's way too small to host an AFL team on its' own. So is everywhere else that is not Perth. WA is a one city state, really that simple. The demographics are fairly prohibitive as far as a third team would go.
 

coniglio_number1

Norm Smith Medallist
Sep 16, 2011
6,432
7,608
pannawonica
AFL Club
GWS
There’s no “new money” for the afl in WA. Everyone here that follows football is already either rusted on to west coast or Freo. Or they support eastern states teams which is a very small minority.

If the league wants “new money” then they need to look at tassie and NT as the primary new markets. ACT is possible but not necessary until either we (gws) move there permanently or another team is relocated there perhaps?
 
Mar 17, 2009
21,636
17,319
Hobart
AFL Club
Collingwood
There’s no “new money” for the afl in WA. Everyone here that follows football is already either rusted on to west coast or Freo. Or they support eastern states teams which is a very small minority.

If the league wants “new money” then they need to look at tassie and NT as the primary new markets. ACT is possible but not necessary until either we (gws) move there permanently or another team is relocated there perhaps?

New money? I'm thinking getting more people to games in Perth would generate more money but more importantly, get more kids to games. Just sticking to the status quo because it suits 2 clubs with a monopoly to charge above the average & make huge profits is surely not actually good for the growth or health of the game.

Perth 'sandstormers' & Tassie 'tourists' :)
 

HavUEvaSeenTheRain

Norm Smith Medallist
Apr 20, 2006
9,111
12,176
AFL Club
Carlton
Or you know have 19 teams and a bye
Exactly I don’t see why it’s such a big deal. We have them anyway. It’s not hard to organise the bottom sides from the season before to have them in the least desirable times to not affect potential finalists either, considering bottom sides already get the benefit of an easier draw it’s not really unfair.
 

(Log in to remove this ad.)

Our Game

Club Legend
Sep 30, 2014
2,881
1,705
Sandringham
AFL Club
Geelong
Very bad idea. Freo struggle to get more than 40,000 already at the new stadium and they have been in the AFL for 25 years so a new team from scratch would struggle even more!
 
Aug 14, 2011
44,794
16,853
Trafalgar
AFL Club
West Coast
Other Teams
Mclaren Mercedes F1
New money? I'm thinking getting more people to games in Perth would generate more money but more importantly, get more kids to games. Just sticking to the status quo because it suits 2 clubs with a monopoly to charge above the average & make huge profits is surely not actually good for the growth or health of the game.

Perth 'sandstormers' & Tassie 'tourists' :)

You ignore the $millions pumped into WA footy which ensures WA pumps far more players into the AFL player pool than it takes out, BUT the narrative used is certainly one common in certain quarters & I foe one are a little sceptical of the motive.
The WA market certainly has challenges, particularly for Eagles supporters but anyone wanting to take kids to a game can get into most Freo games ... I believe that in this era of Melbourne clubs selling home games out of the oversupplied Melbourne market to play a game/games in Perth but the AFL for whatever reason ...

A 3rd club will take a long time to reach financial viability, its no instant fix. Tassie is 1st cab off the rank.
 
Nov 10, 2013
23,829
37,134
The Valley near the Alley
AFL Club
Gold Coast
Other Teams
Hell no
I was an eagles member from 1988 when i was 13 to 2011 when i left to live on the gold coast. In 2001 i met my (now) ex wife and she could never come to a game with me. In 2007 i had my first kid and he could never came to a game with me.
There really is a whole generation or two who just cant see the footy live in perth unless they want to hand over minimum $50.
 
Aug 14, 2011
44,794
16,853
Trafalgar
AFL Club
West Coast
Other Teams
Mclaren Mercedes F1
I was an eagles member from 1988 when i was 13 to 2011 when i left to live on the gold coast. In 2001 i met my (now) ex wife and she could never come to a game with me. In 2007 i had my first kid and he could never came to a game with me.
There really is a whole generation or two who just cant see the footy live in perth unless they want to hand over minimum $50.

I'm Melbourne based these days so am intrigued by how the GA is working at Optus Stadium, how often its sold out - GA attendance #s 2018 would be recorded & should be accessible. I'd guess the numbers for GWS game will be on someones desk Monday.
 
Nov 8, 2000
33,295
21,790
South of the river
AFL Club
Fremantle
Other Teams
Peel Thunder
Very bad idea. Freo struggle to get more than 40,000 already at the new stadium and they have been in the AFL for 25 years so a new team from scratch would struggle even more!

There's only about 4 AFL clubs in the league that have 40k in core support. If that.

Not sure that should be the measuring stick here.
 
Aug 14, 2011
44,794
16,853
Trafalgar
AFL Club
West Coast
Other Teams
Mclaren Mercedes F1
There's only about 4 AFL clubs in the league that have 40k in core support. If that.

Not sure that should be the measuring stick here.

Spot on, so many Melbourne teams battle to get 30k to a clash with most non Vic clubs, think the Bulldogs transferring games to Ballarat. An inconvenient truth for some.
These clubs have been around for 100+ years .... :rolleyes:
 
Sep 24, 2006
3,987
3,404
Wimmera
AFL Club
Collingwood
Spot on, so many Melbourne teams battle to get 30k to a clash with most non Vic clubs, think the Bulldogs transferring games to Ballarat. An inconvenient truth for some.
These clubs have been around for 100+ years .... :rolleyes:
I don't disagree with the main point being made, but just to clarify, the Bulldog's Ballarat games only came about due to politicians bribing the locals in a marginal seat and making a financial offer to the Bulldogs (whose President is not coincidentally very thick with the Labour Party machine) too good to refuse.
 
Aug 14, 2011
44,794
16,853
Trafalgar
AFL Club
West Coast
Other Teams
Mclaren Mercedes F1
I don't disagree with the main point being made, but just to clarify, the Bulldog's Ballarat games only came about due to politicians bribing the locals in a marginal seat and making a financial offer to the Bulldogs (whose President is not coincidentally very thick with the Labour Party machine) too good to refuse.

I well understand the Bulldogs move, you are 100%.
 
Feb 11, 2011
15,095
15,119
pakenham
AFL Club
Fremantle
New money? I'm thinking getting more people to games in Perth would generate more money but more importantly, get more kids to games. Just sticking to the status quo because it suits 2 clubs with a monopoly to charge above the average & make huge profits is surely not actually good for the growth or health of the game.

Perth 'sandstormers' & Tassie 'tourists' :)
If you brought a new team into Melbourne would you get 11th of the supporters?



WA3 wouldn’t get a third of the supporters.

Fremantle would lucky to have 20%.
 

jatz14

Brownlow Medallist
Dec 13, 2011
11,370
16,078
WA
AFL Club
West Coast
Other Teams
Perth Glory W-League
I was an eagles member from 1988 when i was 13 to 2011 when i left to live on the gold coast. In 2001 i met my (now) ex wife and she could never come to a game with me. In 2007 i had my first kid and he could never came to a game with me.
There really is a whole generation or two who just cant see the footy live in perth unless they want to hand over minimum $50.
Thats generally not the case anymore. They keep more tickets for the public than were available at Subi, its easier for non members to get to a game than it was.
 

Remove this Banner Ad

Back