You'd have to think Canberra.
If the question is which team will have more on field success then I'd go the other way and say NT.
20th AFL Team
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If the question is which team will have more on field success then I'd go the other way and say NT.
19 teams makes a bye every week. Each team will have to have 2 byes a season to keep the number of games each has level. Someone will get a bye in round 1 or 2 which simply slows their start to the season & does not help with fatigue management. Someone will get a bye on the last game of the season too, if they play finals they will have a 2 week break if week keep a bye as now (that will probably go I suspect). None of this is fatal, but its not good for the teams involved.
Team 20 in 28 too. Either WA3 or Canberra.
Of course there is the option of mergers to keep at 18 teams. (Freemantle Eagles or Essendon Blues?)
Off-field, I'd agree. Four times the population of Darwin, more money, it seems like Canberra should easily win that one.
On-field, Canberra is next to a huge footy factory. 39 AFL players from Canberra and SNSW.
Can't find a current list, but the NT always seems to have fewer than 20. That'd get a boost with a team (as would Canberra's), but I'd say a Canberra team should still have greater depth with local talent.
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Bjo187
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But what's the incentive for half the teams to play their home games at gws's home ground? Other than 4 points down the drain because they'll more likely lose a game they would have won if it were at home.
Are you stuck on the hoary old (VFL) version of a home game OR is travel the issue?
RedV3x
It's about time some mods started being fair
I said it way earlier that..
the AFL should have entered a Tasmanian AFLW to whet the appetite, sow the seed. set the atmosphere, dig the foundations so to speak.
100% with the much lower cost of the AFLW to run it should be used for expansion
& then draw conclusions ....
It’s about slowly building the club up. Getting people to engage with the brand
Using the side door over a gala opening.
I understand where you are coming from
But there is a symbiosis between mens and women’s footy at the grass roots level now.
If a Tassie team came into the AFLW a few years back the funding that would have gone to those clubs would have reinvigorated footy in Tasmania and would have benefited boys and girls
RedV3x
It's about time some mods started being fair
Yes, it would've lifted football generally and brought focus into AFL and stadiums earlier.
Apples and Oranges .... Brand of NT ironically would be a much easier sell. Obviously the financial structure and fixturing would have to be unique compared to most other AFL clubs.... Canberra is already identified by an NRL club and a 3rd of an AFL club. The Canberra/SCG option for GWS is appealing to me. Many younger Canberra residents finally gravitate to Sydney......Maybe Homebush should just be a training venue.... Olympic Park in Sydney has a few characteristics of the old VFL Park.....
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Bjo187
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Who is this old campaigner? The article is blocked anyhow, but calling it madness, is madness.
MelbourneGWS
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When AFL gave Tasmania the 19th team, they said the game was finally national! Hello - what about NT and ACT?
Totally agree.
I don't get this obsession with 20; why does it have to stop at 20?
ACT and NT should be part of the equation of expansion, covering all states/territories.
2nd Brisbane or NQ as well. 2 teams each in Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, and Sydney sounds good, but a NQ team also sounds good because of the future potential of Cairns/Mackay/covers major geo area.
Or bugger it, 2nd Brisbane, NQ, and 3rd Perth.
Or Northern Crocs (if done right, 14-15 games a year up north, some sold home games from Vic clubs), 3rd Perth, 3rd Adelaide, 2nd Brisbane, Canberra.
24 endgame.
MelbourneGWS
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I get it that the AFL needs to expand slowly and prudently, and that after Team 20 in the 2030s, it will take longer for the next stage of expansion.
In an ideal world, you would have fewer Victorian teams and more teams in other states, including in a couple of places you mentioned. However, I think no Victorian clubs will merge or relocate - the best you can hope for is that they sell games to regional secondary markets to increase the exposure and markets.
Bjo187
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"Looking at regional growth, all states and territories are expected to experience growth in their populations. The ACT is expected to have the highest population growth rate, with an anticipated increase of 18 per cent from 467,000 in 2022 to 550,000 in 2033."
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Fewer Vic Clubs
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MelbourneGWS
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Eddie’s trying to be helpful to NT in his own clumsy way! 
www.abc.net.au
AFL personality Eddie McGuire criticised for 'potshot' comment about Northern Territory social woes
The high-profile Melbourne commentator is invited to travel to the NT before making future comments about its social problems.
www.abc.net.au
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Twenty is plenty
Thanks for that. Convenient that the measurement comes out the year GWS is no longer contracted to Canberra.
Throw in the NSW suburbs and we've definitely got a big enough base to support a team.
Also worth noting that the ACT has been the only jurisdiction undercounted by estimates before the past two censuses, so wouldn't surprise me if it grows even quicker.
