Canberra will fail

[CURVE]

I was at the North-St.Kilda game on Saturday, and while I thought North played well for about 5 minutes each quarter, I realised when the North Supporters lifted the banner that maybe they don't want the Canberra experiment to be successful, and maybe the club doesn't want that either.

If North want to be successful in Canberra or Sydney or Hobart or where ever, they have to GET RID OF THE REFERENCES TO MELBOURNE. The banner (on the side that I could see) said NORTH MELBOURNE A Great Team. While I agree with the sentiment, it will not win them fans in Canberra. You would think the Administration would have learnt from its mistakes with the Sydney experiment, but NO, they are as dumb as Collingwood sometimes and thats what erks me. Are the North Hierachy arrogant enough to think that New South Welshmen and Canberrans would support a team called Melbourne. Get real guys.

If the Canberra experiment is to be successful, all references to Melbourne should be removed. I not saying we should forget the history, but we should look to future. This is an oportunity to re-invent the football club and make it more attractive to general public. They are after all, the people we are trying to attract. We need them more than they need us, so we should be doing everything we can to satisfy them, not to alienate them.

A few minor things we may need to look at are:
Modernising the badge - We've had this badge since before I was supporting them, and it's the least modern looking of the 16. Time for a change.

Updating the victory song - this one will be tough. The changes that they've tried to make to this song are a bit laughable. Maybe John Farnham can write the lyrics for it.

Getting the players and coach to stop calling themselves North Melbourne. This one annoys the hell out of me. The Western Bulldogs coach and players can do it and they come from the western suburbs, so why can't we.


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Are We Not Men
We Are DEVO

 

[iron mike]

Devo,

I agree that more must be done by the club to win over the canberra public.

It is important for the players, who are the clubs closest link with the supporters, to SHOW the fans, thanks for coming, and you are part of the kangaroo family. we appreciate you coming to see us play.

Remember, we are not only competing against 15 other AFL clubs, but also a number of different sports. ie. NRL, Basketball, Soccer.

What I suggest,

1. after every game, win, lose or draw, the players do a lap of honour meeting the crowd, shaking hands and just showing the fans how much they appreciate them for coming to the game.

2. players can run around with showbags giving the young fans goodies. ie. handing out caps, little footies, or free tickets to the next game, etc. This will show our committment to winning over the Canberra youth. (the future)

In conclusion, it is NORTH that must be accepted by the canberra public, because WE knocked on their door, NOT the other way around.

 

[Darky]

Originally posted by iron mike:

2. players can run around with showbags giving the young fans goodies

What if Showbags24 can't get to every game?

 

[Daphne]

Originally posted by Darky:
What if Showbags24 can't get to every game?

Then maybe John Howard could fill in for him.

 

[The invisible mullet]

I think North are doing more than people think through coaching clinics etc - I think this is the best way to give something back to the Canberra public (and maybe they could do this during SoO week as well as the weeks that they are playing in Canberra. Nonetheless a lap of honour wouldn't be a bad idea.

One thing that gave me the s@$#s no end was that on the day of the match it wasn't a major sports story. Shame on you Canberra Times!

I wouldn't mind seeing Ainslie play the leadup games before the Roos matches (given their link with us now).

 

[CURVE]

All that is great, but it still won't feel like a team Canberran's can get behind if it still feels, looks and smells like a Melbourne Team.

We are snooty bunch of A***holes in Canberra, who like to feel apart of a team before we give our loyalty/support to them. How can Canberran's feel apart of team that calls itself MELBOURNE.

We Can't and we won't.

The ball is the Kangaroos court.

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Are We Not Men
We Are DEVO

 

[Rooboy 96]

Originally posted by DEVO:
All that is great, but it still won't feel like a team Canberran's can get behind if it still feels, looks and smells like a Melbourne Team.

so where does it stop DEVO??? our trading name is Kangaroos... but for historical reasons we will always be North Melbourne... our mascot is the Kangaroo... surely that is ok...

But wait our colour are blue and white... surely the colours of greece are not the go in Australia's Capital... so where do we stop and draw the line Devo??? where....

As far as I am concern enough of our history has been surrendered to please those outside of Victoria... and what should be remembered is that the Kangaroos are giving Canberra their only chance to get an AFL game in their backyard...

 

[Gonzo]

Was waiting for someone to jump on this!!

Rooboy surprised that it took you this long!!

Devo I'm afraid I tend to agree with Rooboy's line.

There is an opinion (rightly or wrongly) that the Kanga's are taking for granted it's Melbourne based supporters and concentrating on the interstate dollars.

Any additional move that looks like reinforcing this opinion may disenfranchise the majority of supporters (those based in Melbourne) who up until fairly recently have barracked for a team known only as North Melbourne!!!


My 2 cents

Cheers

Gonzo

[This message has been edited by Gonzo (edited 27 February 2001).]

 

[Daphne]

If you want to follow a football team in Canberra then jump on board. I am not sure that they will full accept us anyhow, the times I have been up there they seem to like the Swans. Unless Canberra can guarantee that they have 20,000 supporters for the Kangas then they just have to be part of the picture, not the whole picture. I think that you will find that the clubadopts the name Kangaroos, but the Cheer squad may not always use those words. And really isnt it to do with who is running around in the paddock, who gives a stuff what we are called as long as we win games. When it all boils down we can not do anymore than we are already doing to attract more members,if supporters dont want to join because of the name then tough.

 

[Aussie_Roo]

My personal opinion, is that the club have not done enough to drop the 'North Melbourne' name. The club needs to build its membership base - that's no secret, and the way we can expect to attract members in Canberra is simply to enforce the name 'Kangaroos' to its staff, players and more importantly - Melbourne based supporters.

If we are to survive in the jungle, we must be successful in Canberra. In a hypothetical situation, assuming we all follow rugby league, would you support the South Sydney Rabbitoes if they relocated to Melbourne or would you more likely follow the Rabbitoes.

If we all agree with Daphne's comments, who really cares what we are called as long as we are winning, what's the big deal then, why can't we drop the 'North Melbourne'.

 

[Carey_is_King]

Originally posted by Gonzo:
Was waiting for someone to jump on this!!

Rooboy surprised that it took you this long!!

Devo I'm afraid I tend to agree with Rooboy's line.

There is an opinion (rightly or wrongly) that the Kanga's are taking for granted it's Melbourne based supporters and concentrating on the interstate dollars.

Any additional move that looks like reinforcing this opinion may disenfranchise the majority of supporters (those based in Melbourne) who up until fairly recently have barracked for a team known only as North Melbourne!!!


My 2 cents

Cheers

Gonzo

[This message has been edited by Gonzo (edited 27 February 2001).]

I'll add another two cents worth and say I agree with you.



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Trample the Weak,
Hurdle the Dead.

 

[Daphne]

Originally posted by Aussie_Roo:
[B, would you support the South Sydney Rabbitoes if they relocated to Melbourne or would you more likely follow the Rabbitoes.
[/B]

If they relocated then that would probably be another story, but if I really enjoyed that code of football and I got to go to a few more games to see them play and I had a membership then I really wouldnt give a stuff what they were called. Anyone who knows my views, knows that I am all for what is best for the club, but just this once do the Melb members have to agree with everything that is offered up to us. It is like, well you haven't behaved yourselves Kanga supporters in Melb, so now we are going to punish you, we will take this away, and that away, and you can stay home more often, we are even thinking of taking your team away.

 

[Paulkanga2000]

Devo,

Your comments were talked about at the AGM tonight. there was talk about north Melbourne on the banner on saturday and the signing of the song and the referrrences to North melbourne instead of the kangaroos

Greg Miller also told us tha tthe players were given the NEW words to the new version of the song. Expect them to sing it after the victory agains tthe pies on saturday night at CS

Paul

 

[CURVE]

I never said we should give up our history just to please a couple of Canberra fans. All I'm saying is if we are to become a national club or to attract a national audience, then we have to remove Melbourne from the name as well as any other items (badges, songs etc) that people indentify with us.

As for our mascot being the Kangaroos, I'm happy for it to stay a Kangaroo. I don't were you got this idea from.


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Are We Not Men
We Are DEVO

 

[Nutcracker]

Why on earth don't the Roos COMMIT to a specific home base instead of trying to set up an unnatural, polygamous relationship with multiple supporter bases?

 

[Rooboy 96]

Originally posted by DEVO:
As for our mascot being the Kangaroos, I'm happy for it to stay a Kangaroo. I don't were you got this idea from.

What I was saying Devo is... where does it stop??? this year the name... next year Green and Gold... the year after???

BTW... I have no problem with you or all non-Victorians calling them the Kangaroos but please don't try to tell me that all of a sudden I can not call them North Melbourne...

 

[CURVE]

I call them North Melbourne (although not in any forums), and always will, BUT we are in deep s**t here and it's going to get worse if the administrators don't do something about it. They are trying to find support from outside Victoria and that seems like a very smart move, but they don't appear to be making an effort. They appear to trading on the name, which they assume is one of success. Sure we've had success over the last five, ten years or so, but we've spent 132 years as a small, struggling club, fighting for survival against the big successful clubs that surround us, Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. If we trade on our name we'll fail. Dismally. If North want to attract the National Audience, North have to make the sacrifices. If not, they may as well lay down and die.
Sydneysiders or Canberran's will not come to footy if North don't make the effort.


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Are We Not Men
We Are DEVO

 

[35eye]

Originally posted by DEVO:
The changes that they've tried to make to this song are a bit laughable. Maybe John Farnham can write the lyrics for it.

Getting John Farnsey to do a song would be laughable.
You'd be alienating all the fans who oppose sh!t music.

 

[Bloodstained Angel]

All you Roos fans better pay a bit more attention to DEVO - he is absolutely goddam dead right.

North cannot continue with the 'bob each way' strategy - its just not working.

You have to commit to what you want to do. Flying in and flying out of places like Canberra and Sydney is a disaster. What happens is that the Melbourne supporter base feels the club is deserting them, and the people in Sydney and Canberra can't exactly warm to a club that still calls itself North Melbourne and hops back on the plane down south as soon as they get outta the showers.

It completely alienates BOTH groups of supporters and you end with a situation that pleases nobody.

The Roos must take the hard decision - relocate or stay. 'Co-location' or whatever you want to call the fly in - fly out strategy will be a disaster for your club.

And nobody wants to see that happen right ?

 

[Malibu]

Spot on BS Angel.

I don't have any figures, but I'm curious as to how many members we 'did' lose when we decided to play home games in Sydney.

Yes, we've had the highest membership ever in 2000, but we lost Victorian based members at the same time.

Hopefully they'll re-think and join up again for our Beware Campaign to be a success.

 

[Darky]

Forgive me if I'm a bit ignorant of how some of the newer membership categories work but supposing the interstate campaign got us (hypothetically) 4000 new Aussie Roos members at $66 per head, it would equal $264,000 in membership income.
But what of some Melbourne-based members who become disenchanted and withdraw their $210 standard membership (with upgrade) packages. It would take only about 1250 members to withdraw this support, to completely wipe out the membership income made from the club's nation-wide venture.
If my thinking is correct (and it's probably not...), then that's nearly 3000 extra members, for no increase in membership income, and plenty of dollars lost in promoting the whole venture interstate.

Those figures on their own probably don't mean much, but I'm pushing this theory behind it, even if the numbers might be wrong : WHAT IF YOU NEED TO SIGN UP 3 OR 4 TIMES THE AMOUNT OF INTERSTATE MEMBERS TO COUNTER THE EFFECT OF LOSING VIC FANS WHO PAY MORE IN MEMBERSHIP DOLLARS PER HEAD?

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"Not by speech-making and the decisions of majorities will the questions of the day be settled... but by iron and blood" - Otto von Bismarck 1862

 

[Shinboners]

Personally, I reckon we should abandon Sydney all together. The Swans are entrenched their, and it seems that there is too much bad blood between us and them to make it work. The three main parties involved, North, the Swans, and the AFL, all had different agendas and were working in different directions.

While my heart says that the club is North Melbourne, my head says that we have to embrace the Kangaroos name. Devo and BSA are correct, no Canberra footy fan is going to take us to their heart if they feel that we're only there to take their money without making the commitment to their town. By calling ourselves the Kangaroos, but seeing the players sing our song using the North Melbourne name, well, people see through that. Now, I'm not advocating having all 11 of our home games in Canberra. But, if we could have 5 or 6 games (including a Kangaroos vs Sydney one to stoke up a Canberra vs Sydney rivalry) and market them as marquee events, then maybe we could make it work.

I disagree with Hmmmm's assessment in another thread that the Kangaroos will just be another sporting club fighting for attention in the city. From what I can gather, the consenses seems to be that Canberra is an Australian Rules city just begging for a team to take to their hearts. We just have to go about it in a smart way. But we also have to avoid falling into the trap that the Lions and Swans fell into, in that they really don't have enough Melbourne games to keep their fans satisfied.

I was born and bred in North Melbourne, and the name says everything to me about the club, its history, and its people. But if we are going to take the opportunity in Canberra, that is the one thing that we are going to have to sacrifice to make it work. If I felt that the other (Victorian) clubs and the AFL were acting in the best interests of all clubs AND each individual club, then I'd say stay at North and fight. But I do not trust the AFL, and I do not trust the other clubs (go and read Dyson Hore-Lacy's "Fitzroy" and you'll see similarities to what is happening now in the media with us and what happened to Fitzroy), so, while we can still control our own destiny, we should get ourselves set up before other people do it for us.

 

[Nutcracker]

Shinboners, I like the way you think. And the name Can'bra Roos has a certain ring to it, no?

 

[Pessimistic]

Perhaps having 'Melbourne' in your name is not so good after all. Like the Bulldogs dropped 'Footscray'

But I like to think that when tasmania based HAWTHORN supporters see their team playing in Tassie, they like the fact that it is the real thing, not a renamed entity.