Brisbane being strong is good for the AFL

[Always Ballin]

It's good for the league when the Brisbane Lions are strong. The frontier must be defended at all costs and protected from grassroots rugby insurgency. The zealots are always looking for ways to push the AFL's fortifications back; all the way to Victoria if they could. An empire is only as strong as its boundary. I don't know about you guys, but I love seeing the Brisbane Lions succeeding. They've had five years in a row of sustained high-level performance. Let's recap:

2019: Finishes 2nd on the ladder; out in straight sets
2020: Finishes 2nd on the ladder; loses a home prelim
2021: Finishes 4th on the ladder; out in straight sets
2022: Finishes 6th on the ladder; loses an away prelim
2023: Finishes 2nd on the ladder; to be determined...

I worried about Brisbane being a one-hit wonder after 2019 but they've clearly proven me wrong. Obviously, at this point, it's premiership or bust. Has been for several years now. They're good enough; they've been good enough for a while now. It's just a matter of putting it all together in the postseason - when it matters most.

Brisbane's great era included five high-level seasons (1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004). It has been wonderful to see a team that was down in the dumps for the better part of 15 years rise to contender status. And I think it's great for the game.

What do you think?

 

[_Mike_]

If you want a truly national competition then you need brand growth by having strong interstate clubs on and off the field

 

[Always Ballin]

If you want a truly national competition then you need brand growth by having strong interstate clubs on and off the field

I hit the like button because I agree with this post.

 

[BallaratBulldog]

All clubs being strong is good for the AFL

 

[Always Ballin]

All clubs being strong is good for the AFL

What do you mean by strong?

 

[kreuze_missile]

Brisbane have been a good home and away side for awhile now.

Seems to amount to nothing when it counts.

 

[bindi27]

Brisbane have been a good home and away side for awhile now.

Seems to amount to nothing when it counts.

Carlton on the other hand can’t even amount to being a good home and away side.

 

[M Malice]

Another Lions 3Peat would be even better for the AFL.

 

[rye]

always struck me as weird when gassing up clubs like essendon and carlton the media roll out the line of 'a strong (insert big 4 club here) is good for the competition'

when really i think the success of the northern clubs is much more important for the continued health and growth of the competition and the game more broadly

game hasnt seemed to suffer from 2 decades of mediocrity from essendon and carlton, but has certainly benefitted from a strong brisbane, sydney and gws team

 

[_Mike_]

I hit the like button because I agree with this post.

It’s common sense IMO. The game can’t grow in Vic alone

 

[Cringle]

Having natural cycles of teams going up and down the ladder is good for the competition.

Can’t have the same teams strong for long periods of time and others languishing on the bottom for a decade.

Happy for Essendon to continue their finals win drought though.

 

[Taper]

Should the AFL be concerned with both QLD clubs sitting in the bottom 10?

 

[Melvin]

Does the AFL benefit from any particular club being weak?

 

[Saab NLAW]

Agreed, the AFL should continue to try and manipulate wins for club like Brisbane and Sydney, which also proves that they are incapable on their own

 

[Taper]

Agreed, the AFL should continue to try and manipulate wins for club like Brisbane and Sydney, which also proves that they are incapable on their own

Imagine the NRL giving leg ups to the Storm under the guise of growing the game.

 

[Cdog71]

North will win a flag before Brisbane

 

[Dogflogger]

Does the AFL benefit from any particular club being weak?

If the weak club is in debt which it probably will be then the AFL can shoehorn them into any fixture spot, might be Tasmania or could be China. Seeing how hard it is for them to formulate a fixture each year i'm sure they'd prefer say St Kilda being weak to Collingwood.

 

[Elixuh]

Should the AFL be concerned with both QLD clubs sitting in the bottom 10?

Yes, I think so. This is why we need to keep academies. Having Brisbane in the 8 every year is good for the comp. Even if that means giving Brisbane COLA.

 

[Cmarsh]

To put it another way, Is there actually a club that when up and about is definitely not good for the comp?

 

[Rich01]

AFL needs clubs to be financially viable.
Gold Coast, Port Adelaide, GWS and Brisbane have received much more than the average in financial assistance from the league in recent years.

They believe success will give these clubs an injection in interest that will mean they won’t be as reliant on AFL funding. As we have found with the swans, it take decades to achieve this, and that’s with first class off field administrators.

The stronger clubs will be propping many of the above up for many years to come yet.

 

[Hoops]

To put it another way, Is there actually a club that when up and about is definitely not good for the comp?

Richmond

 

[Rich01]

Richmond

Definitely not good for certain Geelong supporters mental health.

 

[Taper]

Yes, I think so. This is why we need to keep academies. Having Brisbane in the 8 every year is good for the comp. Even if that means giving Brisbane COLA.

Sydney and GWS being in the top 8 is more important to the suits at AFL HQ.

To put it another way, Is there actually a club that when up and about is definitely not good for the comp?

WA and SA sides are at the bottom of the priority list at AFL HQ.
Whether they're good or bad doesn't make a huge difference to the bottom line, and the fans in those states being as fanatical as they are - are always going to turn up to games.

 

[Inspecta Gadget]

North will win a flag before Brisbane

North in its current iteration or wherever the AFL decide to move them to?

 

[Taper]

North in its current iteration or wherever the AFL decide to move them to?

AFL can't fold/merge/relocate North unless the North members vote in favour of it.