Munga lets lay out a little history. Seriously if you want to talk about blinkers, read the whole post, otherwise you’ll never understand one side of the discussion.
The AFL and VFL has never been a fair or equitable competition. There were always strong vfl clubs with strong financial backing that dominated the weaker, poorer teams.
The AFL was established to ensure the survival of the VFL teams. It was never about developing a national competition.
Even then, some VFL teams died. Talk to a lot of old Fitzroy or South Melbourne members, the current Lions and Swans aren’t their teams, because they’re not in Melbourne anymore.
There’s very few aspects of the AFL that are fair and equitable, especially to fans of the northern clubs.
Our players don’t have the same third party opportunities that exist in Victoria. There are no cushy media jobs up here for current or retired players.
I grew up in Brisbane in the 80’s and early 90’s as a kid and teenager.
AFL was a minor sport played by southern NTTAWWTters (excuse my language please).
Rugby league was the dominant football code, with Rugby union played in the private schools. Soccer was the third football code, mainly played by wogs (again, excuse my language). This was QLD in the 80’s.
GAYFL was largely played by kids from expat Victorian and South Australian families, and that’s still largely true today.
Today, AFL is growing, but it’s still viewed as an interloper football code by the majority, and that is how it’s still portrayed in the media up here.
You have to understand that Fairfax media own the Brisbane Broncos, the largest Rugby League team up here, and the media can be heavily biased against AFL still.
So can QLD politicians when it suits them. Defending QLD sports against Victorian invaders.
There’s very little to be gained for politicians up here to spruik AFL or be seen to be supporting funding for AFL, because the opposition will jump on and claim they’re sending money south to Victoria, at the expense of working class rugby league clubs.
There’s no NAB League up here, funded by the AFL. So no elite junior pathways exist. Kids come up playing through QAFL, QFA div 1 and QFA div 2, etc, clubs.
The QAFL is on par with your strong Melbourne amateur leagues. These aren’t development teams. It’s the strongest competition up here, and they’re playing to win a championship, so only the best kids play as U18’s. Much like the SANFL or WAFL.
I would love for the AFL to fund a NAB League like competition up here. But they won’t.
Since the arrival of Gold Coast Suns, they have done a lot of work in growing the junior game in their zones. They have developed strong State and Private school competitions.
Brisbane Lions considerably less so, unfortunately.
It was only two years ago, that AFL was introduced to private schools in Brisbane. And it’s still the third rated football code at them, with Union and soccer being much more popular and funded.
There’s no full or partial scholarships to private schools for talented AFL kids up here. Only for Rugby Union and international sports such as basketball, cricket, athletics and swimming.
You need to understand, AFL is part of the fabric of Victorian society. There are so many advantages throughout Victorian society that you don’t even think of, that exist for the AFL at so many levels, that just don’t exist up here.
There’s little, local sponsorship dollars as the Northern clubs don’t get the media exposure or national free to air coverage.
As I mentioned before, there’s no third party type deals available, as they go to Rugby League and Union players and clubs.
There’s precious few post footy career jobs for the boys type deals. We don’t have sponsors or rich supporters providing post footy careers.
Nor are there many footy jobs up here for ex players. There’s no VFL type money. There’s no NAB League jobs up here. There’s almost no footy industry type jobs.
Luke Hodge is the first big name player to stay after retiring, and I’m waiting to see if his career opportunities survive post covid.
The AFL and VFL has never been a fair or equitable competition. There were always strong vfl clubs with strong financial backing that dominated the weaker, poorer teams.
The AFL was established to ensure the survival of the VFL teams. It was never about developing a national competition.
Even then, some VFL teams died. Talk to a lot of old Fitzroy or South Melbourne members, the current Lions and Swans aren’t their teams, because they’re not in Melbourne anymore.
There’s very few aspects of the AFL that are fair and equitable, especially to fans of the northern clubs.
Our players don’t have the same third party opportunities that exist in Victoria. There are no cushy media jobs up here for current or retired players.
I grew up in Brisbane in the 80’s and early 90’s as a kid and teenager.
AFL was a minor sport played by southern NTTAWWTters (excuse my language please).
Rugby league was the dominant football code, with Rugby union played in the private schools. Soccer was the third football code, mainly played by wogs (again, excuse my language). This was QLD in the 80’s.
GAYFL was largely played by kids from expat Victorian and South Australian families, and that’s still largely true today.
Today, AFL is growing, but it’s still viewed as an interloper football code by the majority, and that is how it’s still portrayed in the media up here.
You have to understand that Fairfax media own the Brisbane Broncos, the largest Rugby League team up here, and the media can be heavily biased against AFL still.
So can QLD politicians when it suits them. Defending QLD sports against Victorian invaders.
There’s very little to be gained for politicians up here to spruik AFL or be seen to be supporting funding for AFL, because the opposition will jump on and claim they’re sending money south to Victoria, at the expense of working class rugby league clubs.
There’s no NAB League up here, funded by the AFL. So no elite junior pathways exist. Kids come up playing through QAFL, QFA div 1 and QFA div 2, etc, clubs.
The QAFL is on par with your strong Melbourne amateur leagues. These aren’t development teams. It’s the strongest competition up here, and they’re playing to win a championship, so only the best kids play as U18’s. Much like the SANFL or WAFL.
I would love for the AFL to fund a NAB League like competition up here. But they won’t.
Since the arrival of Gold Coast Suns, they have done a lot of work in growing the junior game in their zones. They have developed strong State and Private school competitions.
Brisbane Lions considerably less so, unfortunately.
It was only two years ago, that AFL was introduced to private schools in Brisbane. And it’s still the third rated football code at them, with Union and soccer being much more popular and funded.
There’s no full or partial scholarships to private schools for talented AFL kids up here. Only for Rugby Union and international sports such as basketball, cricket, athletics and swimming.
You need to understand, AFL is part of the fabric of Victorian society. There are so many advantages throughout Victorian society that you don’t even think of, that exist for the AFL at so many levels, that just don’t exist up here.
There’s little, local sponsorship dollars as the Northern clubs don’t get the media exposure or national free to air coverage.
As I mentioned before, there’s no third party type deals available, as they go to Rugby League and Union players and clubs.
There’s precious few post footy career jobs for the boys type deals. We don’t have sponsors or rich supporters providing post footy careers.
Nor are there many footy jobs up here for ex players. There’s no VFL type money. There’s no NAB League jobs up here. There’s almost no footy industry type jobs.
Luke Hodge is the first big name player to stay after retiring, and I’m waiting to see if his career opportunities survive post covid.
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