Expansion Canberra

[Canberra Pear]

Yes this.

Trying to grow the game in 2 regions instead of just concentrating on WS was a misstep in my opinion. As well as it is going.

I agree long-term. Canberra has been sort of a lifeboat for GWS, and showing they're capable of floating on their own will be good for their WS base. And a strong GWS is Canberra's best shot for their own team, too. I'd personally like to see ANZ take a game during the Easter Show against a big Vic side.

But in the short-term, it looks like GWS looks keen to stay. It could be a good transition plan if GWS drops to two games, and we get two Vic teams in to play "home" games, too. But I'd like GWS to remain the "away" team for those Vic games. Canberra has gone back and forth between "home" teams, but after a decade with GWS, there's actual loyalty behind the Giants support now. Canberrans like AFL, but they want a team to barrack for, not just "yay AFL".

 

[Johnny Bananas]

I like your thinking. I'd like to see Hawthorn and the 'Roos play home games against the Giants here (like teams did in Cairns against the Gold Coast) on top of the three GWS home games. That way we'd get five GWS games and we'd be getting close to a home team. Maybe St Kilda too as they seemed keen to jump on the Tassie bandwagon.

A lot of the image perception with GWS is their part-time status, but if we could get six "home" games in Canberra, they'd only be two short of the Brumbies.

And you're not concerned that this would lock Canberrans into supporting GWS, hurting their prospects of having their own team as the AFL would think they're already a captive market?

 

[Canberra Pear]

And you're not concerned that this would lock Canberrans into supporting GWS, hurting their prospects of having their own team as the AFL would think they're already a captive market?

A little bit. It's a bit of a catch 22, showing that we could support more of a full-time team by simultaneously already showing we're a captive market.

I'm not too concerned about Canberra fans not being able to switch to a new team. I would say the Giants are still a second team for the majority of Canberra AFL fans. I've been a member since 2016, even bussed to Sydney for two finals, but the moment they play Port, they're dead to me. GWS being a relatively new entity was easy for Canberrans to jump on, there's no baggage that would come with a Victorian team (for instance, I would find it very hard to barrack for Hawthorn if they played home games here).

I'd say our biggest hurdle is GWS' perceived reliance on Canberra. They don't want to destabilise the Giants. So we need to walk the fine line between moving more Giants games to Sydney, and not losing our AFL presence in Canberra.

I'm not opposed to having Saints, Hawthorn and GWS all playing two home games each (as Walshawk mentioned) , it'd just be a bit of a logistical effort to coordinate support. They might have to work with the AFL to come up with AFL Canberra memberships to get into all the games.

 

[Johnny Bananas]

A little bit. It's a bit of a catch 22, showing that we could support more of a full-time team by simultaneously already showing we're a captive market.

The only way is through rotating a few teams during the season as you mentioned, and I'm concerned that buying GWS away games isn't truly going to do that. Even if GWS get to the stage where they're able to sell out the Showground every week, I'm not sure they'd want to abandon Canberra given the money they can make out of memberships there, and I'm not sure the AFL would want to make them do so.

 

[Canberra Pear]

The only way is through rotating a few teams during the season as you mentioned, and I'm concerned that buying GWS away games isn't truly going to do that. Even if GWS get to the stage where they're able to sell out the Showground every week, I'm not sure they'd want to abandon Canberra given the money they can make out of memberships there, and I'm not sure the AFL would want to make them do so.

That’s a good point. I’d wanted a unified support a single adopted team, but it probably isn’t beneficial in the long run to get our own team. We run the risk of being similar to Tasmania and just being used as a cash cow.

Our benefit over Tasmania is I believe we’re less lucrative. I think the Hawks are getting $1m per game, compared to $400k for GWS. The Hawks are getting $4m a year, and the Giants $2.3m, but half of GWS’ payments are earmarked for player development in the Canberra region.