15.4%: Why North should receive expansion-style concessions

[kozi]

If we made 2 clubs from North, Melbourne, Bulldogs and St Kilda the comp would be stronger.

And one club from Carlton and Essendon

 

[go_the_dockers]

And one club from Carlton and Essendon

Why would you ruin the fun of those clubs struggling.

 

[Shane Heard]

Essendon only won 1 flag during WW2.

Yeah but none of our captains porked thier vice captain’s missus for a year.

 

[Shane Heard]

Why would you ruin the fun of those clubs struggling.

That’s a valid point.

 

[Moonatic77]

Good point. North Melbournes rebuild has been interesting. They got some good kids but it has been flawed

that's being kind

 

[Ocha905]

Surprised just how little coverage North's ineptness has got, even despite being a small club. This is unprecedented in the modern era and could well have killed off a generation of supporters. You can't be enthusiastic about a sport knowing nearly every week, year on year you've got no hope of winning.

That said I don't think there should be any assistance packages at all. It was our club's doing. There has been priority picks and assistance packages though and we've been helped the least despite being the worst team during the period where priority picks have been available. Logue and Tucker does not equal Riewoldt, Judd, Rowell etc.

Agree that the most obvious solution is having a pure, uncompromised draft. No Father son's, NGA selections, compensation picks. Worst picks first. Having 7 of the top 18 picks being unavailable to 17 teams is farcical.

 

[LordLucifer]

If we made 2 clubs from North, Melbourne, Bulldogs and St Kilda the comp would be stronger.

Relocate two of them.

Canberra Kangaroos

Sunshine Coast Saints

 

[go_the_dockers]

Relocate two of them.

Canberra Kangaroos

Sunshine Coast Saints

At least if you merge them, you create two very strong clubs. I don't think moving them out of Victoria works. It didn't work for Fitzroy.

I would let them keep what ever players they wanted from both of the two clubs lists, providing they stay under the salary cap. In theory, it should create two very strong clubs for the next 5-8 years.

 

[iameviljez]

You immediately lose credibility when you include compensation picks as hand outs.

I'm sorry, but the compo pick system IS designed to give bottom clubs out-of-proportion prices for established players.

 

[iameviljez]

If we made 2 clubs from North, Melbourne, Bulldogs and St Kilda the comp would be stronger.

Yes, it would, but that is not the be all and end all.

 

[LordLucifer]

At least if you merge them, you create two very strong clubs. I don't think moving them out of Victoria works. It didn't work for Fitzroy.

I would let them keep what ever players they wanted from both of the two clubs lists, providing they stay under the salary cap. In theory, it should create two very strong clubs for the next 5-8 years.

"in theory"

Everyone says that but thus far, these clubs have been perenially struggling for most of their existence.

Move them interstate, give them some draft concessions as inducements to build an even stronger & more competitive list each plus add in a large marketing component to promote the new entities so they can build a decent sized local membership to underpin their operations.

If they continue to fail after that, then it will be due to their poor management decisions (yet again) and they can then be wound up permanently.

 

[Makeshift Park]

If we made 2 clubs from North, Melbourne, Bulldogs and St Kilda the comp would be stronger.

There'd be at least 70 hours of less AFL gametime content to advertise around every year. That means less TV and radio broadcast royalties going into club coffers and development programs, even big clubs.

 

[Andyy]

I agree with your assessments and data. Not to mention the financial maintenance.

Just merge them into 1 team (Saints and North) and move them to Tas to be team #17.Beau

Sorted.

 

[Roylion]

At least if you merge them, you create two very strong clubs.

Who's going to merge them? It's just not going to happen.

I don't think moving them out of Victoria works. It didn't work for Fitzroy.

That's because it didn't happen. No Melbourne based club will ever agree to relocate outside of Victoria.

 

[LeBronco]

No Melbourne based club will ever agree to relocate outside of Victoria.

South Melbourne say hello.

 

[AstonSouffle]

There'd be at least 70 hours of less AFL gametime content to advertise around every year. That means less TV and radio broadcast royalties going into club coffers and development programs, even big clubs.

But it would also mean 1 quality game instead of two tyre-kicker games when a team in each game gets punched through the floor.

 

[Makeshift Park]

But it would also mean 1 quality game instead of two tyre-kicker games when a team in each game gets punched through the floor.

Why not just have an 8 team comp then? The quality of games would be higher still.
But also, as West coast and Essendon show, year after year, being a big club has no bearing on whether you’re worth watching.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

The relocation / merger / relegation stuff is just horseshit. It's not going to happen and pointless even talking about it. It's the stuff of fantasists.

 

[AstonSouffle]

Why not just have an 8 team comp then? The quality of games would be higher still.
But also, as West coast and Essendon show, year after year, being a big club has no bearing on whether you’re worth watching.

Tbh probably?

If the 'AFL' was fair dinkum about actually being a national game they wouldn't have so many Vic clubs, there'd be more WA and SA clubs as well. But in fairness it seems Ross Oakley was actually trying to do that, so maybe I'm being too harsh.

But my issue with North is that they are so bad, that why do they get the right to be an AFL club over the various clubs in country? (Victoria included in this btw).

The measuring stick for a clubs success should be how good is their attendance when they play an interstate club (that shows the true genuine support, not inflated by the away opposition fans).

 

[Makeshift Park]

The measuring stick for a clubs success should be how good is their attendance when they play an interstate club (that shows the true genuine support, not inflated by the away opposition fans).

The gameday attendance for matches involving either of our two teams in states like NSW and South Australia is basically identical in recent years.

 

[Roylion]

South Melbourne say hello.

I'm well aware of South Melbourne. The relocation was a highly contentious move that led to the fracturing of the club's playing list and support base. The then VFL had to take control of the Sydney Swans in 1988. The Swans were nearly axed in 1992, which included a proposed merger with the Brisbane Bears. If not for president Peter Weinert’s intervention in persuading the AFL for one last shot at survival, there would now be no club at all.

Any club relocating outside Victoria would need to be propped up by the AFL for some years and would also risk fracturing the club's existing support base as happened to South Melbourne. The club's Victorian supporter base could look forward to 4-5 games per season in Victoria. If North rejected the AFL's Gold Coast offer in 2008, I can't see any other club taking up a relocation proposal by the AFL.

There's no appetite by the AFL to reduce the number of clubs and no appetite for mergers or relocations by the smaller Melbourne clubs.

 

[ItsAllAboutMe]

The biggest issue for North (and the AFL) is that no one cares.. North have been irrelevant since Wayne Carey left and besides a few thousand die hards the rest of the comp isnt at all worried about them.. The only reason its an issue is because with West Coast also being uncompetitive it has made the fixture a mess with so many lopsided games. Its catchment of supporter groups are transient residents with no alignment to the city, and no other growth areas to try and pull new supporters. Its fortunate that the club have a few cheerleaders in the media with Brayshaw, Damian Barrett & David King otherwise they would never be spoken about.

In a game with too many teams in the one city, and a weakening talent pool if you were to look at it objectively it makes little sense to keep bankrolling Norths existence.

 

[Toump Ass]

The measuring stick for a clubs success should be how good is their attendance

Yeah nah I think premierships are a better measure of success thanks.

 

[ItsAllAboutMe]

I agree with your assessments and data. Not to mention the financial maintenance.

Just merge them into 1 team (Saints and North) and move them to Tas to be team #17.Beau

Sorted.

The Saints at least have a sustainable and growing catchment of supporters they should be tapping into, they basically have from Brighton to Frankston and the entire Bayside and South East.. They should be a powerhouse, but their lack of premiership success has hurt them.

 

[Toump Ass]

In a game with too many teams in the one city, and a weakening talent pool if you were to look at it objectively it makes little sense to keep bankrolling Norths existence.

The talent pool wouldn't be an issue if the AFL had a mechanism to spread it equally, like say an actual uncompromised draft.