Expansion Canberra

[Colonial]

So they won't want too live in that boring as fu** place Canberra will they.

First time they are out of contract they're gone.

Play football in Melbourne or Canberra?

Real hard choice.

Canberra every day.

 

[Bostonian]

Canberra every day.

Young players don't want to live in a place where a Karen thinks it's better.

 

[Colonial]

Young players don't want to live in a place where a Karen thinks it's better.

A Karen eh?

You would know how?

Are you for Tassie?

 

[Bostonian]

A Karen eh?

You would know how?

Are you for Tassie?

I've been to Canberra.

Hobart shits on it.

 

[Colonial]

I've been to Canberra.

Hobart shits on it.

Been to both as well and no.

Not bagging Hobart either just that it isn’t so much better than Canberra.

 

[Bostonian]

Been to both as well and no.

Not bagging Hobart either just that it isn’t so much better than Canberra.

Well I know plenty of people who have gone to Hobart for a weekend/trip away.

Don't know a single person who has gone away for the same thing to Canberra.

 

[nick1408]

Well I know plenty of people who have gone to Hobart for a weekend/trip away.

Don't know a single person who has gone away for the same thing to Canberra.

Anecdotal evidence isn't real proof though. I know plenty of people who go to Canberra for a holiday but less so for Hobart (although as much as I like Canberra I prefer Hobart). As you alluded to before, GCS had trouble keeping players and that is a fantastic place. I think it ultimately comes down to how the club life is over how entertaining the town is that houses the club.

 

[Canberra Pear]

So they won't want too live in that boring as fu** place Canberra will they.

First time they are out of contract they're gone.

Play football in Melbourne or Canberra?

Real hard choice.

Also anecdotal, but I've known a lot of people as grads here (about mid 20s), and they've love Canberra. Mostly from Adelaide and Perth. I've also known one from Melbourne that hated it and travelled back every weekend. Canberra is one of those cities that is good, great food, great nature, close to Sydney, really casual and easy to get around, but if you go into it with a bad mentality, you're probably never going to like it.

 

[CURVE]

Canberra is full of public servant w***ers.

Not the kind of population to provide a football club with a lot of supporters.

Melbourne is full of Public Service w***ers as well. More than Canberra.

 

[Johnny Bananas]

So they won't want too live in that boring as fu** place Canberra will they.

First time they are out of contract they're gone.

Play football in Melbourne or Canberra?

Real hard choice.

Plenty of people hate Melbourne. You're just trolling at this point.

 

[Bostonian]

Melbourne is full of Public Service w***ers as well. More than Canberra.

And yet a lower % of the whole population.

 

[CURVE]

And what % of them will end up staying in Canberra for the rest of their lives?

I've had 3 family members who've worked as PS workers in Canberra, none have chosen to live there permanently.

Don't see the potential in a big membership base there.

Canberra is expected to grow from around 430,000 this year to 600,000 by the end of the decade. People are moving here in large numbers because the job market is strong, the education system is better than most and it's a great place to live. Now would be a good time to start up an AFL club in Canberra because unlike Tasmania the room for growth is high.

 

[CURVE]

And yet a lower % of the whole population.

Not by as much as you think.

 

[Bostonian]

Plenty of people hate Melbourne. You're just trolling at this point.

And plenty of footballers leave Melbourne to back to their home city to play football.

It's not hard to see Canberra would have massive retention issues.

So no point even wasting all that time and money setting up an AFL club there.

 

[CURVE]

Well I know plenty of people who have gone to Hobart for a weekend/trip away.

Don't know a single person who has gone away for the same thing to Canberra.

Your elocution confirms that.

 

[Bostonian]

Canberra is expected to grow from around 430,000 this year to 600,000 by the end of the decade. People are moving here in large numbers because the job market is strong, the education system is better than most and it's a great place to live. Now would be a good time to start up an AFL club in Canberra because unlike Tasmania the room for growth is high.

They are going there for work.

Just because they go there for work doesn't have any relevance to interest in football.

 

[Bostonian]

You're elocution confirms that.

"You're"

hahaha shit that's funny.

 

[CURVE]

They are going there for work.

Just because they go there for work doesn't have any relevance to interest in football.

True, not everyone will have an interest in football, but not everyone who moves to Melbourne is interested in football either, but with a growing market there is always opportunities to grow your supporter base.

And it's not only Canberra that is growing, nearby towns such as Queanbeyan, Braidwood, Bungendore, Gugong, Yass, Goulburn (to name a few) are also growing. According to the ABS, by the time we reach zero emissions there will be close to a million people living with an hour of Canberra. Amazing growth possibilities that Tasmania can not match.

 

[Rob]

You're not comparing like for like though. The highest NRL average crowd is ~29k. The highest AFL average is double that. Sydney averages more than every NRL crowd. The Lions average 5000 less than the Broncos. The Suns average 170 less than the Titans.

The point is that the Raiders (in a really good year) can only get 15k - generally they only get 9-12k a game most other years. A Canberra AFL team would need to draw signficantly more than that to be viable. They'd have to be looking at 20k+. Are they capable of that? Maybe, but you can't assume that an AFL team will draw better crowds just because they're in the AFL.

 

[Canberra Pear]

Pretty obvious that Canberra should come after Tasmania but I thought the AFL wanted a third NSW team more than anything else? If they added one in Newcastle then I would probably support them

We're pretty much NSW. Interestingly, the Canberra Raiders played most of their first decade from NSW (in Queanbeyan, about 15 mins away).

I don't think Newcastle would be ready for a team yet, but I agree there should be more focus there. GWS will have a few spare games once they retreat from Canberra, they should play one or two in Newcastle.

 

[Canberra Pear]

The point is that the Raiders (in a really good year) can only get 15k - generally they only get 9-12k a game most other years. A Canberra AFL team would need to draw signficantly more than that to be viable. They'd have to be looking at 20k+. Are they capable of that? Maybe, but you can't assume that an AFL team will draw better crowds just because they're in the AFL.

Personally, I think we could pull bigger crowds than the Raiders. We get similar crowds without the media attention a full-time team gets. But hard to say until the time actually comes.

What are your crowd expectations for a Tassie team? Do you expect they'll be pulling those crowd numbers, too? Because crowd numbers between Canberra and Tassie have been pretty similar.

 

[Bjo187]

Having a team in canberra expands the game into southern nsw, it's effectively another nsw team and as i stated previously should be called canberra riverina or canberra southern nsw.

 

[Canberra Pear]

Having a team in canberra expands the game into southern nsw, it's effectively another nsw team and as i stated previously should be called canberra riverina or canberra southern nsw.

Agreed. I like just "Canberra" in the name or else it becomes a mouthful, but a game in each in Wagga and Albury would help expand the territory. Maybe a preseason match on the South Coast if there's ever an appropriate venue.

I think it would be similar to the Brumbies territory. Maybe a bit smaller given the NSW part has to be split up between two teams.

 

[Colonial]

Well I know plenty of people who have gone to Hobart for a weekend/trip away.

Don't know a single person who has gone away for the same thing to Canberra.

For a weekend with the fam? Yep multiple times.

 

[Walshawk]

And what % of them will end up staying in Canberra for the rest of their lives?

I've had 3 family members who've worked as PS workers in Canberra, none have chosen to live there permanently.

Don't see the potential in a big membership base there.

If people are moving from Canberra back to Northern states and take their interest in AFL with them, fantastic.