Ballarat - failure

[Square Peg]

So I reiterate, what the **** is the point?

The point, as I said above, is that as an election pledge the Victorian ALP entered into an agreement with the AFL to deliver Ballarat a league game per year, as a marginal seat boondoggle. The doggie boondoggle, if you will. It has nothing to do with anything besides Victorian state politics. Which is why two bloody Victorian teams should be playing there

 

[Freshwater]

T

Correct. It was helped that we had an alignment with North Ballarat in the VFL that was very successful and very respectful to North Ballarat's history.NM had a great model going forward for the region, unfortunately we were also involved with Hobart at the time.

The AFL realised the model was sound and the Bulldogs were struggling after selling games to Sydney, Canberra, Cairns, Darwin and not being able to establish a foothold in any of their secondary markets, so they parachuted the Bulldogs into Ballarat.

Unfortunately for Ballarat, this meant an end to the North's VFL allignment any community involvement by a genuinely interested AFL club. North Ballarat's VFL team then floundered and eventually died, leaving Ballarat without AFL and VFL involvement in the city.

The Bulldogs 2016 season was a ripper for them but they crapped in Ballarat's face after the Grand Final. Total disrespect, probably due to the fact that as club they were unaccustomed to success and got ahead off themselves. Results since that game suggest so.

So now, you've got an allignment that has started off on the wrong foot and they have to win back the trust of the city somehow. Making tickets affordable would have been a logical way but they went the greedy option first up. It's going to take a lot of hard work to re-engage Ballarat and make it work. Do they patience? Not sure if you go by their previous efforts in secondary markets.

This is about footy in Ballarat, not your obvious hatred for the Bulldogs. Easy to refute any of you digs at the Bulldogs . I too know many people in Ballarat as my wife was from there. I know families whose kids now support the Bulldogs whose parents don’t. The Bulldogs even have a full time ambassador working up here. Many school visits from players. If you look at a map, Ballarat is acutely WEST of Melbourne, not North. The Bulldogs have pushed and pushed the political world to get things rolling with the stadium. Sure they have made many mistakes too, especially with club members, but to say North would have done it better is just wrong. It’s also about the Ballarat people just going, just to give it some momentum. Take you blinkers off mate.

 

[SpiderBurton22]

T

This is about footy in Ballarat, not your obvious hatred for the Bulldogs. Easy to refute any of you digs at the Bulldogs . I too know many people in Ballarat as my wife was from there. I know families whose kids now support the Bulldogs whose parents don’t. The Bulldogs even have a full time ambassador working up here. Many school visits from players. If you look at a map, Ballarat is acutely WEST of Melbourne, not North. The Bulldogs have pushed and pushed the political world to get things rolling with the stadium. Sure they have made many mistakes too, especially with club members, but to say North would have done it better is just wrong. It’s also about the Ballarat people just going, just to give it some momentum. Take you blinkers off mate.

Ha. I have no hatred for the Bulldogs, just stating previous history as reason why the people of Ballarat are disengaged with AFL footy.

If anything leaving Ballarat has been the best thing for North as it was the pre cursor for us getting our own stand alone VFL team and to focus our energies into making Hobart such a successful secondary market, both on and off the field that it is today.

You can't refute the history of North's previous good work and close relationships NM built with North Ballarat and the city of Ballarat and then the void that followed as they became detached from it all as they watched their VFL team wither and die and then be totally disrepected by a club that was supposed to be in partnership with. I mean how hard was it for the club to take its players 1 hours on a bus to share the glory and make Ballarat feel part of that.

 

[Freshwater]

Ha. I have no hatred for the Bulldogs, just stating previous history as reason why the people of Ballarat are disengaged with AFL footy.

If anything leaving Ballarat has been the best thing for North as it was the pre cursor for us getting our own stand alone VFL team and to focus our energies into making Hobart such a successful secondary market, both on and off the field that it is today.

You can't refute the history of North's previous good work and close relationships NM built with North Ballarat and the city of Ballarat and then the void that followed as they became detached from it all as they watched their VFL team wither and die and then be totally disrepected by a club that was supposed to be in partnership with. I mean how hard was it for the club to take its players 1 hours on a bus to share the glory and make Ballarat feel part of that.

You are just making stuff up now. We never disrespected Ballarat, we hadn’t even started playing up there when we won the flag. The boys were absolutely cooked after an enormous month of footy, and had umpteen million requests from people here there and everywhere one or two days after a flag. Give us all a break on that one.
North had half a partnership going at Nth Ballarat! Never had any interest or intentions of playing games there. We have made that commitment and have already played 3 premiership games there, one as the reining premier. Brett Goodes works there full-time for us! You are just taking pot shots from a view of disappointment it’s not North doing it. You are doing it in Hobart, good luck, we could all just take out shots at that if we liked.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

You are just making stuff up now. We never disrespected Ballarat, we hadn’t even started playing up there when we won the flag. The boys were absolutely cooked after an enormous month of footy, and had umpteen million requests from people here there and everywhere one or two days after a flag. Give us all a break on that one.
North had half a partnership going at Nth Ballarat! Never had any interest or intentions of playing games there. We have made that commitment and have already played 3 premiership games there, one as the reining premier. Brett Goodes works there full-time for us! You are just taking pot shots from a view of disappointment it’s not North doing it. You are doing it in Hobart, good luck, we could all just take out shots at that if we liked.

They were absolutely cooked alright, don’t think it was from the footy though!

 

[SpiderBurton22]

You are just making stuff up now. We never disrespected Ballarat, we hadn’t even started playing up there when we won the flag. The boys were absolutely cooked after an enormous month of footy, and had umpteen million requests from people here there and everywhere one or two days after a flag. Give us all a break on that one.
North had half a partnership going at Nth Ballarat! Never had any interest or intentions of playing games there. We have made that commitment and have already played 3 premiership games there, one as the reining premier. Brett Goodes works there full-time for us! You are just taking pot shots from a view of disappointment it’s not North doing it. You are doing it in Hobart, good luck, we could all just take out shots at that if we liked.

Yeah, nah. You're rewriting history there son to suit your narrative. Do yourself a favour and come back when you're better informed about North's previous relationship with Ballarat. I'm not doing it for you.

You can't deny it, North got the ball rolling on Ballarat and the the AFL parachuted in there because you were a basketcase at the time.

 

[Firestarter]

Yeah, nah. You're rewriting history there son to suit your narrative. Do yourself a favour and come back when you're better informed about North's previous relationship with Ballarat. I'm not doing it for you.

You can't deny it, North got the ball rolling on Ballarat and the the AFL parachuted in there because you were a basketcase at the time.

And went ahead and murdered their football environment via neglect.

Like an ignored pet you got for Christmas.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Yeah, nah. You're rewriting history there son to suit your narrative. Do yourself a favour and come back when you're better informed about North's previous relationship with Ballarat. I'm not doing it for you.

You can't deny it, North got the ball rolling on Ballarat and the the AFL parachuted in there because you were a basketcase at the time.

If North were so committed why did they swap it for Hobart?

 

[SpiderBurton22]

If North were so committed why did they swap it for Hobart?

James Brayshaw's incompetence.

We had a commitment from Labour for $50 mill to redevelop the ground up to AFL standard but they didn't get up. He should have sought bi partisan support for the funding. We were still committed to Ballarat but Hobart was paying the bills. The AFL liked what they saw from our Ballarat model and put the Bulldogs in there to try and exploit but it seems they haven't got got community involvement aspect right.

Edit. Stuff you Bunk, you made me give that ignorant Dogs supporter a history lesson. There's much more he can learn though if he could be bothered.

 

[go you pups]

Have never felt so cold and uncomfortable at the footy, not surprised at the temperature given at the start.

Yet I was in Ballarat the previous Saturday also and it was a sunny much milder day. No luck there.

Schedule a 3.20 game there on a Sunday, kiss a decent crowd goodbye.

Many bulldog fans also missed the footy special 6.15 VLine back home. Game finished at 5.55 and given it is a decent couple of miles by bus back to the station, also not surprised.

Between VLine and the AFL......is it so hard to organise..........really?

Horrendous by VLine that

Should've been close to 7pm

I went last year and we walked back to the station as the bus queues were long, took us about half hour

 

[Bunk Moreland]

James Brayshaw's incompetence.

We had a commitment from Labour for $50 mill to redevelop the ground up to AFL standard but they didn't get up. He should have sought bi partisan support for the funding. We were still committed to Ballarat but Hobart was paying the bills. The AFL liked what they saw from our Ballarat model and put the Bulldogs in there to try and exploit but it seems they haven't got got community involvement aspect right.

Edit. Stuff you Bunk, you made me give that ignorant Dogs supporter a history lesson. There's much more he can learn though if he could be bothered.

It seems North spread themselves a bit thin chasing both Ballarat and Hobart. We can blame the AFL for shoehorning the Dogs into Ballarat, but North also being in Tassie must have had an impact.

 

[bungareepremiers06]

It seems North spread themselves a bit thin chasing both Ballarat and Hobart. We can blame the AFL for shoehorning the Dogs into Ballarat, but North also being in Tassie must have had an impact.

From memory the Roos preferred Ballarat over Tassie but had no guarantees it would ever get up (the pre-election promise with Labor obv fell through when the lost the election) and so hedged their bets with Tassie. AFL saw the opportunity to funnel the Dogs in there and did so. Dogs already had a VFL team at the time and didnt need an alignment, which effectively cut the Roosters off at the knees and they became the victim of it all.

 

[Freshwater]

Read into history what you want. I’m not getting on Bigfooty having a go at what your team is doing/done, I’m not a troll on here, just defending my mob having a go at something different in this state. It’s been a rocky start but only those with no vision would be criticising us at the moment.

 

[Rusty Brookes]

Mars stadium is in the arse end of town with no decent public transport options. Wendouree station would be about a half hour walk from the ground.

There's the number one problem for mine. If you are a Melbourne-based supporter (or anywhere else for that matter), you're forced to drive to the ground and forced to drive back in the cold and dark.

Why didn't they schedule the game earlier and organise decent public transport? Isn't the ground right next to the trainline? Could they schedule some sprinter trains from Spencer Street to drop people right off at the ground?

I think they've got to do something because the crowds have been terrible. I actually like the idea of the odd game being played in the country but if the AFL are going to do it they have to support it properly rather than the half arsed approach they've taken so far.

 

[Dogs till i die]

because the Dogs are the club with the relationship with Ballarat.

real question is why wasn't this scheduled between Dogs & Saints, or North or Carlton or Essendon (though we wouldn't turn up).

Doubt you would turn up particularly if you chose to fly like you did Wangaratta. Would have been an interesting flight given Sunday's weather.

 

[Silent Alarm]

You are just making stuff up now. We never disrespected Ballarat, we hadn’t even started playing up there when we won the flag. The boys were absolutely cooked after an enormous month of footy, and had umpteen million requests from people here there and everywhere one or two days after a flag. Give us all a break on that one.
North had half a partnership going at Nth Ballarat! Never had any interest or intentions of playing games there. We have made that commitment and have already played 3 premiership games there, one as the reining premier. Brett Goodes works there full-time for us! You are just taking pot shots from a view of disappointment it’s not North doing it. You are doing it in Hobart, good luck, we could all just take out shots at that if we liked.

Cooked after a month of footy? Cooked these days refers to severe drug use. So cooked... yes.

 

[Silent Alarm]

As dumb is it was, ultimately is two shitty games that would be completely pointless and uninteresting in Melbourne anyway. It's not a huge risk. What kind of loser attends every single home game anyway?

 

[deltablues]

Have never felt so cold and uncomfortable at the footy, not surprised at the temperature given at the start.

Yet I was in Ballarat the previous Saturday also and it was a sunny much milder day. No luck there.

Schedule a 3.20 game there on a Sunday, kiss a decent crowd goodbye.

Many bulldog fans also missed the footy special 6.15 VLine back home. Game finished at 5.55 and given it is a decent couple of miles by bus back to the station, also not surprised.

Between VLine and the AFL......is it so hard to organise..........really?

Heh. I guess you never attended a game at Green Bay...

 

[Sentinel]

What kind of loser attends every single home game anyway?

I know right, unless you want to run the risk of getting called a loser by someone with 21,000 football forum posts to their name.

 

[Silent Alarm]

I know right, unless you want to run the risk of getting called a loser by someone with 21,000 football forum posts to their name.

Great and fair call but most of mine are recounting drinking stories so...

 

[Silent Alarm]

Heh. I guess you never attended a game at Green Bay...

Er why would he have? That's an NFL team...

 

[Bulldog1954]

There's the number one problem for mine. If you are a Melbourne-based supporter (or anywhere else for that matter), you're forced to drive to the ground and forced to drive back in the cold and dark.

Why didn't they schedule the game earlier and organise decent public transport? Isn't the ground right next to the trainline? Could they schedule some sprinter trains from Spencer Street to drop people right off at the ground?

I think they've got to do something because the crowds have been terrible. I actually like the idea of the odd game being played in the country but if the AFL are going to do it they have to support it properly rather than the half arsed approach they've taken so far.

I've been to all the Ballarat games from Melbourne via public transport and it's very, very easy. Free, regular shuttle buses run from Ballarat station to the ground.

 

[Bojangles17]

I’m sceptical this is going to work , 11k tells me there is plenty of work to do , heck I’ve seen bigger crowds at JLT games in Wangaratta or Morwell . Knowing Ballarat folk I’m reliably told Saturday will never work as local sport is prioritised so not sure what the excuse was for Sunday’s poor turnout other than ordinary weather. 15-20k crowd should be the aim which requires a 50% increase from last week, bit of work to do

 

[Mat Mann]

just another thread potting the small clubs, its so predictable

small clubs rely on big clubs to prop them up - small club sells home game to somewhere to increase revenue - small club potted for selling games
small club has no supporters - small clubs tries to go outside of Melb to garner new supporters - small club potted for playing games outside of Melb
small club cant get attendances, plays interstate clubs ( the worst attendances for small clubs) at sold home games to improve revenue - interstate clubs sook why do we have to play Ballarat/Tasmania/Cairns/NT.

Not only do small clubs have to rely on handouts, we have to sell homes games, get absolutely murdered by deals like the Docklands, suffer s**t draws, receive sfa TV coverage, watch our best players/staff go elsewhere and you think playing an away game at an away venue is somehow an inconvenience. Meanwhile GC are made to play a home game in China vs a team that profits from it, fair dinkim.

After 2? years all seem to want to shut down a venture that if given the 20 years Brisbane/Sydney/ have had, kids might actually grow up supporting the AFL team there.

there are more people outside of Melbourne in Victoria then there are in WA, but for some reason the small Melbourne clubs aren't allowed to access those people.

Ballarat could easily work, just needs time and commitment from both the AFL and the Dogs.

 

[bungareepremiers06]

I’m sceptical this is going to work , 11k tells me there is plenty of work to do , heck I’ve seen bigger crowds at JLT games in Wangaratta or Morwell . Knowing Ballarat folk I’m reliably told Saturday will never work as local sport is prioritised so not sure what the excuse was for Sunday’s poor turnout other than ordinary weather. 15-20k crowd should be the aim which requires a 50% increase from last week, bit of work to do

Capacity is 11k fwiw.