20th AFL Team

[Canberra Pear]

3 team? Works pretty well in Vic with more clubs. Time helps rivalry grows and events help.

You can’t really compare a third WA team to 120-year-old rivalries borne out of a state league.

And the Victorian teams that came in latest still haven’t added to the rivalries the same as earlier teams. North’s biggest rival barely sees them as a rival, and the Bulldogs’ biggest rival is in Sydney.

West Coast had a nine-season head start and they’re double the size of Freo. Freo will have a ~35-year head start on WA3.

 

[Canberra Pear]

Personally I'd take that zone from gws and replace it with the n.t zone. Gold coast won't need it as they have plenty of talent coming through their gc academy in the next few years anyway and gws need to tap into the indigenous community better, as Blacktown has the highest population of indigenous people in Australia.

I actually love this idea.

One of the issues of the Riverina is that parts of it are actually closer to Melbourne than Sydney, but the difference doesn't really matter when you're coming from thousands of kilometres away.

By the early 2030s, Gold Coast should be producing even more of its own talent and hopefully Western Sydney will be having a few more, too.

Good idea.

 

[The_Wookie]

Ditts' Explosive Mail: Is Adelaide Getting A 3rd AFL Team?

Chris Dittmar has heard from two different sources in the last week that a SANFL club is putting a bid together to get into the AFL.

articles.listnr.com

 

[Bjo187]

Ditts' Explosive Mail: Is Adelaide Getting A 3rd AFL Team?

Chris Dittmar has heard from two different sources in the last week that a SANFL club is putting a bid together to get into the AFL.

articles.listnr.com

I'd prefer it to be a wafl team such as West Perth to be honest.

 

[MelbourneGWS]

Ditts' Explosive Mail: Is Adelaide Getting A 3rd AFL Team?

Chris Dittmar has heard from two different sources in the last week that a SANFL club is putting a bid together to get into the AFL.

articles.listnr.com

If you are looking to place team 20 in an AFL state, surely WA3 is a far better proposition than SA3? WA has a bigger population, economy and will continue to have a bigger population and economy than SA on the short, medium and foreseeable long term.

 

[Gigantor]

If you're talking about a team capable of paying for itself from day one, in a huge footy market where demand currently exceeds supply, also a growing city - then a 3rd Perth team ticks all the boxes and absolutely nothing else would come close to matching it on all metrics.

 

[The_Wookie]

If you are looking to place team 20 in an AFL state, surely WA3 is a far better proposition than SA3? WA has a bigger population, economy and will continue to have a bigger population and economy than SA on the short, medium and foreseeable long term.

Id agree, but the sticking point is the WAFC control of the two existing licenses. The SANFL have no control over the teams here.

 

[kalex6251]

wasnt sanfl control of the SA clubs removed (watered down?) as part of negotiations for the adelaide oval redevelopment?

 

[Canberra Pear]

Looks like Norwood got emboldened after having their home ground as part of Gather Round.

 

[MelbourneGWS]

If you're talking about a team capable of paying for itself from day one, in a huge footy market where demand currently exceeds supply, also a growing city - then a 3rd Perth team ticks all the boxes and absolutely nothing else would come close to matching it on all metrics.
I agree that WA3 is the best candidate if you are going to choose team 20 from a state that already

I agree with all of the above. Today’s News Limited article expands more on Norwood’s bid.

Interestingly it also states “The Northern Territory or Canberra as new markets, or a third team in either footy-mad Perth or Adelaide, would be the most logical candidates to host the 20th club”

https://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/adelaide-club-putting-together-a-bid-to-be-20th-afl-team/news-story/b76ce967802c8c2d59cd4608e1c53aa2

 

[Canberra Pear]

I agree with all of the above. Today’s News Limited article expands more on Norwood’s bid.

Interestingly it also states “The Northern Territory or Canberra as new markets, or a third team in either footy-mad Perth or Adelaide, would be the most logical candidates to host the 20th club”

https://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/adelaide-club-putting-together-a-bid-to-be-20th-afl-team/news-story/b76ce967802c8c2d59cd4608e1c53aa2

I think that's the most recognition Canberra has had in a while. Good to see us included in the conversation!

 

[MelbourneGWS]

I think that the choice of Team 20 depends on the AFL Commission’s decision on whether they go with a new market or add an additional team to an AFL heartland.

if the decision is to go with a new market, then Canberra wins as we are better in almost all metrics than the other contenders (Darwin/ North Australia etc).

If the decision is to go with an established AFL heartland, then I think WA3 is the best option over SA3.

 

[Gigantor]

I think that the choice of Team 20 depends on the AFL Commission’s decision on whether they go with a new market or add an additional team to an AFL heartland.

if the decision is to go with a new market, then Canberra wins as we are better in almost all metrics than the other contenders (Darwin/ North Australia etc).

If the decision is to go with an established AFL heartland, then I think WA3 is the best option over SA3.

If the decision is to not go with the low hanging fruit (3rd team in WA), then Canberra does look like an obvious choice, especially when you consider the projected population growth over the next couple of decades.
ON the flip side, it would put a big dampener on overall support for GWS.

 

[Coolangatta]

Team 19 - Tas

Team 20 - Northern Sydney

The population of Tasmania is a little questionable as to whether they could ensure an AFL team is economically viable. Canberra is likewise, but has existing rugby union and league teams to compete with for corporate dollars and government funding.

I know everyone says that north Sydney is Swans base of support, but technically their playing and training facilities are south of the harbour, and being ‘south Sydney’ means they keep more games at the SCG which I will cover later.

Northern Sydney play at the SCG along with the Swan’s, taking advantage of the central well maintained stadium. But have training grounds north of the harbour (perhaps North Sydney Oval).

But Northern Sydney only play 7 games at the SCG. Instead taking 2 games to Central Coast and 2 games to Newcastle. These will be the equivalent of what Canberra is to GWS.

Meanwhile, Sydney Swans take 2 of their 11 home games down to Wollongong, keeping 9 games at the SCG. Again, similar to Canberra and GWS.

And then give Swans members access to the away derbies to GWS and Northern Sydney so they still get access to 11 games in Sydney.

This increases the SCG number of AFL games to 16. Whilst getting AFL games into Canberra, Newcastle, Central Coast and Wollongong.

NSW has over 8m people. A third of Australia’s population. Home to Australia’s largest businesses. It’s not some regional town with 100,000 residents which happens to be the next on the list for biggest town without an AFL team. NSW is where we ‘grow the game’. It’s why GWS was created, and why Sydney 3 will be a thing.

Good idea, and adding to that, the Swans would play an "away" game against Northern Sydney at the SCG so they'd get 10 games a year there. I would say with co-locations you probably need a minimum of 9 home games in your main zone so you don't end up with a GWS-Canberra scenario where there's a bit of a disconnect with the local hub.

I'd probably go 1 game each in Newy and CC instead then. All that said, I think it's only a good idea for a potential 21st or 22nd team (or even 23rd or 24th). I can't see the AFL adding a third Sydney team until both currently existing Sydney sides are strong and stable and I don't see the Giants growing that fast in the next decade. Even if they do, it'd just mean they don't need Canberra anymore.

You could pull something like your idea for a second Brisbane side, playing a game each at the Sunshine Coast and Cairns, but you wouldn't do that for decades to come.

Just feel like the ACT and maybe the NT in the distant future should have their own teams outright because I see them as separate entities from the states (I know people will argue ACT counts as sort of a NSW enclave but that's dismissive of the fact that the ACT was created to represent the nation, not just NSW). Therefore, it doesn't really "belong" to anybody.

I cannot say the same of any other growing market, other than the NT, and possibly NQ but they are technically a part of QLD, at least for now.

 

[Thailander]

Norwood in the AFL? Ya joking. Bring on the Southern Panthers

 

[jwint43]

Only upside of a WA3 is that it means more games at Optus and Eagles/Dockers will have to travel fewer times each season but other than that it would be a huge failure, there's just no market for a third team here.

The only way would be to build a boutique stadium in Joondalup and have the 3rd team be based out of there with a true northern identity. Pipe dream of course, but that's how I would do it

 

[catters05]

The only way would be to build a boutique stadium in Joondalup and have the 3rd team be based out of there with a true northern identity. Pipe dream of course, but that's how I would do it

IMO won‘t happen, not when they got that new Optus Stadium. If WA3 is going to happen, I think the AFL will want to avoid boutique stadium costs and have the three teams playing out of Optus.

 

[catters05]

If the decision is to not go with the low hanging fruit (3rd team in WA), then Canberra does look like an obvious choice, especially when you consider the projected population growth over the next couple of decades.
ON the flip side, it would put a big dampener on overall support for GWS.

Giants will have to work harder to win those West Sydney kids over.

 

[catters05]

Exactly. The South Queensland Crushers had 50k for their first derby.

I'm sure the Dolphins will do better than the Crushers, but people should pump the brakes before holding them up as a shining example of expansion.

Good setup though, boutique stadium at home for the smaller games, then about an hour to Suncorp for the big derby’s.

WA3 could do this with Joondalup, but I just cannot see the AFL doing it.

 

[Bjo187]

Interesting my mate in my office grew up in Canberra and played for the RAMS back in the day. He told me something interesting, he reckons if Canberra comes in it must include SNSW/Riverina, but he also made the point that it's what the RAMS stands for (Riverina, ACT, Murray and Sydney).

This makes the name even more appealing. He also said just call them the RAMS, don't call them Canberra, then everybody in the whole of SNSW would see them as their own team too.

 

[BigChippa52]

thats greats works for canberra and outer regions its a great idea

 

[kranger]

IMO won‘t happen, not when they got that new Optus Stadium. If WA3 is going to happen, I think the AFL will want to avoid boutique stadium costs and have the three teams playing out of Optus.

Exactly. If there is a WA3 team, play them at Optus. Close level 5. That reduces capacity to 37,000 whilst keeping all the corporate facilities.

It doesn’t make Optus feel like an away ground for home derbies against Freo and WCE or finals.

No new funding is needed to build a boutique stadium. Instead it can be spent on giving them a training ground at Joondalup or Bassendean, which also upgrades the relevant WAFL ground.

 

[Coolangatta]

Exactly. If there is a WA3 team, play them at Optus. Close level 5. That reduces capacity to 37,000 whilst keeping all the corporate facilities.

It doesn’t make Optus feel like an away ground for home derbies against Freo and WCE or finals.

No new funding is needed to build a boutique stadium. Instead it can be spent on giving them a training ground at Joondalup or Bassendean, which also upgrades the relevant WAFL ground.

Yes. Perth Sharks playing at Optus if WA3 is team 20. We need a Sharks mascot in the league. They’ll gain a good following after about twenty years of being in the league.

I’d still prefer that Canberra is the 20th team, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re seen as a necessary second market for GWS. I don’t agree with that argument but that’s the way I think they see it, for now.

 

[Coolangatta]

Interesting my mate in my office grew up in Canberra and played for the RAMS back in the day. He told me something interesting, he reckons if Canberra comes in it must include SNSW/Riverina, but he also made the point that it's what the RAMS stands for (Riverina, ACT, Murray and Sydney).

This makes the name even more appealing. He also said just call them the RAMS, don't call them Canberra, then everybody in the whole of SNSW would see them as their own team too.

No thanks, don’t want a GWS 2.0 that doesn’t have a solid identity. A Canberra team should be called Canberra and a Western Sydney team should be called Western Sydney etc.

 

[Thailander]

We don’t need WA3. We need Tassie and either Canberra or NT.

I know this won’t happen but personally I could see Hawthorn becoming the 2nd Tassie team after the Devils. It would make for a good derby. They could change their name to Launceston Hawks or Northern Hawks.

Then you have at least 2 teams in every state, which is perfect.

To fill the 20th team, it can either be Canberra (popular choice) or we could dare to incorporate New Zealand.

As much as I love the idea of a NT team, I believe the Vic clubs already represent areas in the territory to a certain degree.

The big Vic clubs like Tigers, Pies, Blues and what not have a national appeal imo. Even the Kangaroos have supporters all over the nation, which makes sense as they’re basically Australia’s team.

It’s normal to see non-Vic people support one of their state clubs or a Vic club. (Personally I would find it peculiar if a local South Aussie with no connection to Perth supported West Coast, but wouldn’t bat an eye if they supported Carlton or Tigs like me)

So with those options, the need for a third team in either of the states seems a bit redundant.

I understand the state pride argument for sure, but the AFL is a club v club competition, at least I see it like that.