Yeah, the NT and NQ will never share a team, either they’ll get their own or none at all.
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20th AFL Team
- Thread starter lionshine
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This reddit post asked the question about Team 20 the other day:
It seems reddit thinks similarly to bigfooty. NT was not a popular option. From what I read, Canberra was the most common answer, but there were a few calls for WA3.
It seems reddit thinks similarly to bigfooty. NT was not a popular option. From what I read, Canberra was the most common answer, but there were a few calls for WA3.
Reddit footy fans seem a bit more switched on. Canberra is starting to get spoken about more by the public, just need the media to have a lightbulb moment.
neogh
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- Apr 17, 2015
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Wasnt that more of a post about expansion rather than solely about Team 20.
Reddit unlike here isn't straightforward due to its sarcastic nature.
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Yeah, looks like it was about what the max number of teams could or should be given the projected population growth and how much of that new immigrant population you can capture.
Many say 20 should be the max but that would mean ACT, NT or both would miss out on ever having teams.
And that would suck, although I could understand NT never getting one because of the climate.
But I’m not sure the AFL needs a max number. The questions surrounding expansion should be whether it’s good for the growth of the game and whether there’s enough population and interest to support the new teams and talent pool for the designated number of teams that exist.
I doubt the AFL can keep adding new teams every 15 or so years but that doesn’t mean expansion will stop, just slow.
I read all the posts, it was about expansion and who the possible teams were in order of preference.
With the greatest of respect you need some lessons on Karma........
I'm just being realistic.
At the end of the day, the AFL is a business.
If the NT could sustain a team, I'd love to see it. I'm sure most would. It would be an amazing thing to see.
But what price are we willing to pay for a good news story? Because that needs to be at least an extra $15m every year in perpetuity. The NT will need 60% more distribution than the Suns get without any chance of standing on their own.
Well, at it's base level, it means the more you put into something, the more you get out of it. By helping to create a success of something the more you are part of that success . How it really looks in practical terms is not possible to predict.... nobody can really predict the future.
The best example I can think of in footy is the MCG/AFL collaboration. For years there was a divide....VFL was the poor cousin...the MCC Members cashed in and contributed little to the VFL who staged the games. Of course the VFL built Waverley and this gave the clubs bargaining power. Ultimately thru much negotiation both parties created a win /win. The AFL relinquished the idea of being independent of the MCC and the MCC gave the AFL some equity in the staging of matches at the ground. Both organizations ride on each others success.
As much as I can say re the NT. The AFL has the profile and power to shine a light on the NT . The NT has the profile nationally and internationally as the core of the Australian Outback and as the most disenfranchised community in Australia. The AFL rides on the back of promoting indigenous issues....I think it can and should aim to do much more on a practical level by making the NT truly part of the AFL.
I recognize that it is a radical idea and there are obvious challenges and that you need other Corporates and Government on board to be key contributors and that it would probably take many of years....but technology and travel provides a massive opportunity to connect the AFL and NT. I applaud the Dreamtime at the G and other initiatives by the AFL but to me the if AFL is genuine in helping deal with indigenous issues it needs to not only talk the talk but to walk the walk and have an AFL club in the NT. It would be one of the most amazing success stories in sport if there was a win/win for NT and the AFL in this way.
I hate it as well…
It’s very irritating when the media screams “They are in the eight!!!!!!”
When there are four teams below them with one game placed and all can overtake them the week after….
Some soccer leagues are a nightmare on this…..
Sorry dude, I just can't see it. It's going to cost an insane amount of money - which has an opportunity cost as that money is currently spent within the game elsewhere - for some blue sky aspirational dream about keeping indigenous kids in school or something like that.
It's not like Darwin needs the money, there's a shitload of it floating around up there.
I honestly don't think the AFL expected Tasmania to accept the terms and conditions required to get the 19th licence. It's been such a slog for the apple isle to get a team, can you imagine how much harder it'd be for the NT? Why would the AFL lax their conditions of entry? Like Canberra Pear said, they are running a business. The AFL isn't a charity case.
The AFL is not really just a business. Certainly it would have to be a totally different way of structuring a club. Let's get Tassie off the ground first and take it from there.
Following up on the reddit discussion, the same poster flooded city subreddits asking if they'd support the 20th team in their area.
They asked Canberra, Newcastle, Illawarra, NZ, the NT, Perth and Adelaide. Canberra had, by far, the most engagement, with 152 comments. For comparison, the conversation about WA3 had 14 comments.
Support in r/canberra was better than I'd expected. From what I could count, at least half said they'd support Canberra getting a team and there were a few people who were already ready to to buy memberships.
Commentary in r/perth was much lower, so a smaller sample size (but also shows the topic doesn't evoke as much passion). The general vibe was supportive of a third team, but none said they'd be likely to swap over to a new team.
This kind of lines up with what I've already been saying. Yes, Perth has plenty of AFL fans, but they're pretty happy with the status quo. They're happy for another team, but didn't seem too bothered either way. In comparison, Canberran AFL fans are itching for more footy.
They asked Canberra, Newcastle, Illawarra, NZ, the NT, Perth and Adelaide. Canberra had, by far, the most engagement, with 152 comments. For comparison, the conversation about WA3 had 14 comments.
Support in r/canberra was better than I'd expected. From what I could count, at least half said they'd support Canberra getting a team and there were a few people who were already ready to to buy memberships.
Commentary in r/perth was much lower, so a smaller sample size (but also shows the topic doesn't evoke as much passion). The general vibe was supportive of a third team, but none said they'd be likely to swap over to a new team.
This kind of lines up with what I've already been saying. Yes, Perth has plenty of AFL fans, but they're pretty happy with the status quo. They're happy for another team, but didn't seem too bothered either way. In comparison, Canberran AFL fans are itching for more footy.
"Just" is the important word here. It's not just a business. But it's a business nonetheless.
The AFL does good things. They already do a lot for the NT.
But losing that much money every year affects their ability to do business. And that subsequently affects their ability to do good in other areas.
An interesting read, nowhere appears massively popular, but you're right, Canberra seems the most popular of the options. New Zealand seems like a pipe dream, someone said the game has literally zero presence there, I find that weird, surely it's an easy sell to get games on tv over there, the afl should sell it for free to a network there if anything.
The Canberra post did attract a few scared leagiues that will be sleeping with the light on tonight worried about the possibility
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I think that thread shows Canberra's not the "rugby town" people seem to think it is (especially when you compare it to the Newcastle thread).
OP was absolutely convinced Canberra didn't have AFL support and he got roasted for it (and then had to edit his comment).
I did enjoy that. I probably engaged a bit too much. I think 80% of negative comments were from one leaguie who turned it into a pissing contest about international popularity.
Tandy
Brownlow Medallist
Hawks supporters will like that..
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The lack of confidence that our board has in our ability to play our home game at home is disappointing to say the least.
Tandy
Brownlow Medallist
Agree. Launceston was always about money first and foremost. Which leads to more income from outer state members. So now they want to keep as many members from Tas (for the money) and try and add annual income from Cairns. All the while fleecing Melbourne based supporters by paying full memberships for less games... Hands in too many pies. I think they should just play in Melbourne as much as they can and give their fans a few more games. They may even gain more Vic based members because of it
It's not about losing money. It's about creating opportunities and building on them. I'm not against Canberra , I just think the Giants concept ultimately can work for both Canberra and Western Sydney.....Big Clubs have supporters everywhere,,, eg Geelong, Collingwood, Essendon.....even 2 of those de-identified with their original home grounds many years ago....and the Cats can fill the G easily...and in fact gain huge benefit from a hand full of "home" games at the G....and they ramp up their own membership because they play a number of away games at the G....because many of their supporters live well away from Geelong.
Even the current plan for Tassie involves 2 separate home venues. You could easily say that at least 3 clubs which have won multiple premierships over the last 20 years have 2 well defined separate geographical supporter bases. Big Clubs transcend their "boundaries". Who knows one day the Giants may be playing 6 matches Canberra, 6 matches Sydney. I just think NT involvement gives a massive extra dimension to the AFL and the game if it can be made to work, apart from the potential benefit to those NT communities irrespective of Indigenous or Non Indigenous. Everything is simply a process ....things are always changing....even when you wish they wouldn't....
But it is. Just because you say it's not important doesn't make it so.
If that's the case, then Canberra also makes way more sense. A team representing 1.1m people in southern NSW in a contested area on the Barassi Line. It would represent a great opportunity to shore up support in that region.
It would also create an opportunity to play three more games in huge 5m-person metropolis of Sydney. Or take some games to the nearly 1m-person Hunter/Central Coast.
NSW/ACT has a combined population 35 times that of the NT. That's where the opportunities are.
Once again, I'm not against the NT if it could be pulled off. I just don't think it could be.
Especially considering Team 20 would likely come in the next decade and it just isn't ready at this stage.
As the main base of operations, Darwin needs a massive population boom. Even if optimistic projections of 180k by 2032 come true, it's still a tiny base for an AFL team.
You're right. Things are always changing. But things can't change that quickly.