Oppo Camp Non-Lions Discussion 2025

[braddsey]

I have been against a Tasmania team from the beginning for a number of reasons.
I was actually surprised the Clubs were in favor of it going ahead.
Maybe the AFL guaranteed the clubs would be no worse off if the voted yes.

Hopefully the news is the Stadium funding is cancelled by the Tasmania Government.
They can't realistically justify the cost to their budget to start with.
Both parties promised a lot of spending before the election but no indication on how to pay for it.

Should the AFL decide to go ahead without a new stadium that would also be a mistake in my opinion.
Also 18 AFL teams is 2 to many in my opinion
If the AFL want to expand at least keep it to 18 teams.

The AFL is about market saturation. You don’t achieve saturation by reducing clubs. Less clubs = less games = less revenue. The time of relocating/merging/ending clubs ended in 1996.

 

[p4p1]

I don't mind more clubs. People might talk about there not being enough talent but I disagree. The golden old days they are talking about had 12 VFL teams, 8 WAFL teams, 10 SANFL, 7 TFL teams + VFA and the NT. All those leagues had elite talent through the years and yes, in the 70s and 80s especially, the VFL was able to recruit elite talent from other states with $$$ but the standards of all those comps were fairly good compared to each other.

ETA: but also the AFL don't care about the fans so much, more about how many games they can get on TV every week.

 

[M Malice]

Had to laugh at this one.

Sneak peek at the Bombers 2026 team photo.

 

[BuntonRules]

They should just relocate a team to Tassie. Way too many teams in Melbourne as it is.

Our family is all ex Fitzroy and Bears supporters and all embraced the merger and whilst I can only speak for our family, yes it was sad losing our original clubs; the outcome I think far outweighs what may have been; therefore if it was good enough for us losing our two clubs and South fans having its club relocated, it should have been good enough for others for the greater good of the game and having a truly elite league which the AFL is not and could have been achieved by reducing, not increasing the amount of clubs.

Long have I pondered whether North were better served by insisting on staying in Melbourne, forever irrelevant and dependent on handouts - when you look at what Fitzroy and Souths have grown into.

Always thought Saints were a natural fit for Tasmania.

Too much water has gone under the bridge for any of this to become reality, but.

 

[M Malice]

Fox footy have reported that Charlie Curnow

35

Charlie Curnow

Age

29

Ht

194cm

Wt

94kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

13.3

3star

K

9.7

4star

HB

3.6

3star

M

5.3

5star

T

2.2

4star

G

1.3

5star

No current season stats available

D

10.8

3star

K

6.4

3star

HB

4.4

4star

M

3.2

4star

T

1.6

4star

G

0.8

4star

's preferred destination is Geelong.

I don't expect any outrage re the Cats continually getting quality players in... unlike the faux horror at the Lions doing it.

 

[Elixuh]

Fox footy have reported that Charlie Curnow's preferred destination is Geelong.

I don't expect any outrage re the Cats continually getting quality players in... unlike the faux horror at the Lions doing it.

Of course it is

 

[braddsey]

Long have I pondered whether North were better served by insisting on staying in Melbourne, forever irrelevant and dependent on handouts - when you look at what Fitzroy and Souths have grown into.

Always thought Saints were a natural fit for Tasmania.

Too much water has gone under the bridge for any of this to become reality, but.

Brisbane were dependent on AFL handouts for many years in the period between the 3-peat era and Fagan era (and possibly for long before... I have no recollection). Good management and a healthy reliance on gambling income has finally erased our debt last year. Sustained success through good off-field management has brought us back in from being irrelevant. It is only last year that our membership numbers surpassed that of North-Melbourne.
We struck gold and got it right... but if Fages had come in and was the wrong coach, we could still be stuck in the irrelevance cycle.

North got stuck in the middle of the ladder for a long stretch, but really only moved towards true "irrelevance" through very poor list management decisions in 2016 not to resign a number of veterans and have struggled since. If they could get it right and have a good period of sustained success (and sort out their off-field management), in current times there they can become relevant and successful again. This can be applied to any of the smaller Melbourne based clubs.

 

[Sproj]

Fox footy have reported that Charlie Curnow's preferred destination is Geelong.

I don't expect any outrage re the Cats continually getting quality players in... unlike the faux horror at the Lions doing it.

Nah it will all be about 'mazing club, what cultcha, greatest coach in the business and so on.

 

[Bucking Beads]

I'd love to know what Geelong are trading to get Curnow. It's going to take more than a few late first rounders.

 

[M Malice]

I'd love to know what Geelong are trading to get Curnow. It's going to take more than a few late first rounders.

A Cotton On franchise for Vossy, Crippa and Rob Priestley.

 

[Leuy LongerCombo]

What is Geelongs current position with the required rolling first round selections ?

2021 Traded Jezza Cameron
2022 Jhye Clarke
2023 Connor O’Sullivan
2024 Traded Bailey Smith

3

Bailey Smith

Age

25

Ht

185cm

Wt

86kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

18.3

5star

K

8.5

3star

HB

9.8

5star

M

2.3

2star

T

3.8

5star

CL

2.7

4star

D

19.8

5star

K

9.6

4star

HB

10.2

5star

M

1.8

2star

T

3.2

4star

CL

3.2

4star

D

14.8

4star

K

7.6

3star

HB

7.2

5star

M

2.0

3star

T

3.4

5star

CL

1.6

4star

That would mean they’d only have access to trade their current 2025 first round pick ?

With two likely 1st round compensation picks, a few academy and father sons including the Carlton Father Son.
They’re not going to get much value by the looks of that.

 

[Viceregal]

Well obviously they all want to play with Bailey Smith

3

Bailey Smith

Age

25

Ht

185cm

Wt

86kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

18.3

5star

K

8.5

3star

HB

9.8

5star

M

2.3

2star

T

3.8

5star

CL

2.7

4star

D

19.8

5star

K

9.6

4star

HB

10.2

5star

M

1.8

2star

T

3.2

4star

CL

3.2

4star

D

14.8

4star

K

7.6

3star

HB

7.2

5star

M

2.0

3star

T

3.4

5star

CL

1.6

4star

... that's why so many players were clamouring to join the Dogs earlier!

 

[braddsey]

Fair enough I guess.

I don't really see how it makes much of a difference. Players who are signing for money can already command bigger contracts at lower ranked clubs, because the lower ranked clubs aren't paying 100% TPP.
Players looking for success will sign for less money to go to top clubs regardless.

...though it would be an interesting twist if Zach Merrett was an FA, who wants to move for success, to a club with a playing list of 35 so he can get a bigger slice of the pie!

 

[Sanchez365]

Our family is all ex Fitzroy and Bears supporters and all embraced the merger and whilst I can only speak for our family, yes it was sad losing our original clubs; the outcome I think far outweighs what may have been; therefore if it was good enough for us losing our two clubs and South fans having its club relocated, it should have been good enough for others for the greater good of the game and having a truly elite league which the AFL is not and could have been achieved by reducing, not increasing the amount of clubs.

The late 80s and early 90s was a pass the parcel of trying to shutdown clubs, Fitzroy was the one left holding the can. The reason it hasn't happened again is because shutting down or relocating teams results in losing fans. I love our merged identity, but if Fitzroy was somehow brought back into the league I would jump on board in an instant.

I think fundamentally I am saying the opposite of "it was good enough for us", so we will probably just have to agree to disagree.

 

[Jivlain]

While the current AFL admit is a joke, this deal was brokered by Gil. I firmly they didn't even want a team in Tasmania to begin with, so they set expectations that they knew wouldn't be met so the whole "can we have a team in Tasmania" crowd would finally quiet themselves.

In a lot of ways I think it's like Brexit: to pacify some annoying backbenchers Cameron offered a plainly silly referendum with no idea how they might go about implementing a yes vote, expecting that that would be enough to push people away from it. And then the madmen actually went and did it.

Need a snappy name for it though. Tentry?

Either way, it's on the clowns offering a silly option rather than just having some backbone, whether David Cameron or Gillon McLachlan.

 

[braddsey]

The late 80s and early 90s was a pass the parcel of trying to shutdown clubs, Fitzroy was the one left holding the can. The reason it hasn't happened again is because shutting down or relocating teams results in losing fans. I love our merged identity, but if Fitzroy was somehow brought back into the league I would jump on board in an instant.

I think fundamentally I am saying the opposite of "it was good enough for us", so we will probably just have to agree to disagree.

I’m 100% with you on this. We were all die-hard Fitzroy supporters (dad and 4 boys). I’m the only one who stuck with the Brisbane Lions. I wouldn’t wish what happened to Fitzroy to happen to anyone.

…but this is all territory that has been covered before so no need to rehash further on the eve of a prelim!

 

[Sanchez365]

I’m 100% with you on this. We were all die-hard Fitzroy supporters (dad and 4 boys). I’m the only one who stuck with the Brisbane Lions. I wouldn’t wish what happened to Fitzroy to happen to anyone.

…but this is all territory that has bern covered before so no need to rehash further on the eve of a prelim!

What has truly brought the merged identity together has been the continued destruction of Collingwood over 30 years. May our most sacred tradition continue this Saturday!

 

[BangyBangy]

Fox footy have reported that Charlie Curnow's preferred destination is Geelong.

I don't expect any outrage re the Cats continually getting quality players in... unlike the faux horror at the Lions doing it.

Really? I swear I heard on SEN today that he wanted out of Vic totally.

 

[braddsey]

Really? I swear I heard on SEN today that he wanted out of Vic totally.

I heard the same. Language may have changed based on likelihood of Geelong being able to get a deal done, and no desire to get to another Melbourne club.

 

[BangyBangy]

I heard the same. Language may have changed based on likelihood of Geelong being able to get a deal done, and no desire to get to another Melbourne club.

They're not exactly flush with high draft picks. I guess these things are rarely linear though, it'll be more like a Jackson Pollock painting with 9 clubs involved with picks & players across two drafts

 

[Tom14]

I don't mind more clubs. People might talk about there not being enough talent but I disagree. The golden old days they are talking about had 12 VFL teams, 8 WAFL teams, 10 SANFL, 7 TFL teams + VFA and the NT. All those leagues had elite talent through the years and yes, in the 70s and 80s especially, the VFL was able to recruit elite talent from other states with $$$ but the standards of all those comps were fairly good compared to each other.

ETA: but also the AFL don't care about the fans so much, more about how many games they can get on TV every week.

Distribution of talent between teams a far bigger issue than the amount of talent.

Look at our starting 22 when everyone is fit - about 20 of those players are likely playing in every other team.

 

[martinson]

With De Koning pocketing 1.7/year and superstars like Petracca , Curnow and Merrett , all conceivably the best players at their respective clubs trying to wriggle out of contracts and find new homes you'd have to think something very significant is happening in terms of list management ,player payments ,the validity/value of contracts and player movements.

We've never seen the likes of this before

 

[Elixuh]

Distribution of talent between teams a far bigger issue than the amount of talent.

Look at our starting 22 when everyone is fit - about 20 of those players are likely playing in every other team.

It’s the free market at work Tom. Are you a communist?

It is a bit chicken and egg though. Yes the talent isn’t distributed but is that a reflection of a lack of talent in the context of a league where things like geography, success etc matter…as well as other influences around list management autonomy.

I think talent is also under develop or coached poorly depending on the team. A player who is a spud for one side has been shown to be more than serviceable in another side.

 

[Tom14]

It’s the free market at work Tom. Are you a communist?

It is a bit chicken and egg though. Yes the talent isn’t distributed but is that a reflection of a lack of talent in the context of a league where things like geography, success etc matter…as well as other influences around list management autonomy.

I think talent is also under develop or coached poorly depending on the team. A player who is a spud for one side has been shown to be more than serviceable in another side.

I have no complaints about how talent is currently distributed, long may our rorts continue. Just don't buy the argument that there 'isn't enough talent.'

 

[Elixuh]

I have no complaints about how talent is currently distributed, long may our rorts continue. Just don't buy the argument that there 'isn't enough talent.'

Billy Frampton is about to play in a prelim, I beg to differ.