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Expansion Canberra

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In his history of Canberra footy, he completely missed its most glorious moment - when the ACT (captain coached by Canberra native Cowboy Neale and also having another Canberra product, Alex Jesaulenko amongst others), defeated the Big V! -
 

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That's not you Canberra Pear is it? 😅. It was a decent video but his choice at the end didn't make sense, I would have liked to have seen him go into the demographics of Canberra and why it would work.

Haha, not me, but I like his deal, until the last part.

I get his point. If a relocation was on the table and the NT was viable, for a 20-team comp, Canberra would make more sense for the relocation.

But I don't think either relocation or the NT's viability are realistic, so it's a bit of a moot point.
 
Haha, not me, but I like his deal, until the last part.

I get his point. If a relocation was on the table and the NT was viable, for a 20-team comp, Canberra would make more sense for the relocation.

But I don't think either relocation or the NT's viability are realistic, so it's a bit of a moot point.

North is the obvious one, then you could effectively add a new Perth team and be set for the next 30 years with 20 teams.

I like that proposal because it reduces the amount of Victorian teams, strengthens both north and Canberra and allows extra content in Perth which will have 4.8 million people by 2050 I read.

It won't happen but I think that would be ideal. I would like to see Canberra with its own team too though.
 
Out of curiousity, is there a reason why the existing rectangular stadium couldn't be used ?

My understanding was the rectangular stadium was converted for rectangular sports which has essentially had the impact of putting the brakes on AFL growth in CBR for some time when converted. Apologies if incorrect - was doing some light reading when reading about the Barassi line.
Its just old and tired, and very odd with the way bits of the oval became seats for the rectangle.
There has been a big argument over renovate, or relocate to Civic. I think there are far more important things to do with limited space in Civic than a stadium, but understand why the push for a move. Bruce isn't exactly accessible from the south, nor have anything much around it in terms of food or bars.
 
Its just old and tired, and very odd with the way bits of the oval became seats for the rectangle.
There has been a big argument over renovate, or relocate to Civic. I think there are far more important things to do with limited space in Civic than a stadium, but understand why the push for a move. Bruce isn't exactly accessible from the south, nor have anything much around it in terms of food or bars.

Thanks for clarifying, much appreciated. 👍
 
North is the obvious one, then you could effectively add a new Perth team and be set for the next 30 years with 20 teams.

I like that proposal because it reduces the amount of Victorian teams, strengthens both north and Canberra and allows extra content in Perth which will have 4.8 million people by 2050 I read.

It won't happen but I think that would be ideal. I would like to see Canberra with its own team too though.
Yep, Canberra Kangaroos and Perth Sharks would be really cool. Canberra getting its own side would also be really cool.

Just as long as Canberra doesn't have to wait 30+ years to get a full time team.
 
North is the obvious one, then you could effectively add a new Perth team and be set for the next 30 years with 20 teams.

I like that proposal because it reduces the amount of Victorian teams, strengthens both north and Canberra and allows extra content in Perth which will have 4.8 million people by 2050 I read.

It won't happen but I think that would be ideal. I would like to see Canberra with its own team too though.

If a relocation were to happen, then Canberra would probably make the most sense. As nice as a fresh team would be, I'd get behind a relocation.

But I don't see a relocation happening any time soon. We've been chasing potential relocations for forty years. I think Team 20 is our best chance we've had in a while (and last we'll have for a while longer).
 
To boost their credentials for being AFL Team 20, and show their demand for attending AFL games, the ACT approach a Victorian Team (likely Hawthorn or Kangaroos when their deals with Tasmania ends), to get three more games at Manuka Oval in addition to GWS.

Somewhere hosting 6 AFL games would be a lot more attractive than somewhere only hosting 3 games.

The extra games could make it more viable to upgrade Manuka Oval as a business as usual approach ahead of any bids to be team 20.
 
To boost their credentials for being AFL Team 20, and show their demand for attending AFL games, the ACT approach a Victorian Team (likely Hawthorn or Kangaroos when their deals with Tasmania ends), to get three more games at Manuka Oval in addition to GWS.

Somewhere hosting 6 AFL games would be a lot more attractive than somewhere only hosting 3 games.

The extra games could make it more viable to upgrade Manuka Oval as a business as usual approach ahead of any bids to be team 20.

I reckon by the time the North and Hawthorn deals end, Team 20 will already be locked in.

But it'd be a great way to whet the appetite and build a regular attendance culture before going to 11 games a year with a new team.
 
I believe it's already been mentioned, but a Canberra club playing 9 home games a year in the capital then 1 each in both Albury and Wagga makes a lot of sense.

The AFL already owns that Riverina area (blow the Barassi line), but it would really ram the point home.

The NSW/ACT development squad used to be called the Rams as well, while we're discussing mascots. (Not sure if it still exists with the Giants and Swans academies owning the entire state).
 

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To boost their credentials for being AFL Team 20, and show their demand for attending AFL games, the ACT approach a Victorian Team (likely Hawthorn or Kangaroos when their deals with Tasmania ends), to get three more games at Manuka Oval in addition to GWS.

Somewhere hosting 6 AFL games would be a lot more attractive than somewhere only hosting 3 games.

The extra games could make it more viable to upgrade Manuka Oval as a business as usual approach ahead of any bids to be team 20.
It'd get the AFL to sit up and take notice if they aren't already. 8 games a year in Tassie helped the cause, I'm sure 6 in Canberra would.

Hawks I think are gonna take their games to Cairns, so it'd have to be the Roos.

I'd like to see it be North, if not for the amusement of them being talked about yet again as a relocation club.
 
I believe it's already been mentioned, but a Canberra club playing 9 home games a year in the capital then 1 each in both Albury and Wagga makes a lot of sense.

The AFL already owns that Riverina area (blow the Barassi line), but it would really ram the point home.

Exactly. The Raiders have started playing an annual game in Wagga, but the area is a bit neglected by the AFL at the pro level.

It's in Giants territory currently, but they've just got too much area to cover.

The NSW/ACT development squad used to be called the Rams as well, while we're discussing mascots. (Not sure if it still exists with the Giants and Swans academies owning the entire state).

I'm personally not a fan of the Rams name mostly because it wouldn't line up well with the women's team.

I think it'd be okay if it was a legacy name, like the Roosters in the SANFL, but starting from scratch with the intention of entering a women's team, you might as well make it gender neutral.
 
Remember though the RAMS name is very clever as it is an acronym for representing the RIVERINA, ACT, MURRAY, SOUTHERN NSW, which you'd hope any Canberra team would cover all those areas too.

It's definitely a clever acronym (although I think the S was originally Sydney, but it still works well for SNSW).

I think it would've been a great if it'd been entered before the AFLW was in play.

But I think calling a club that now would make the AFLW team seem like an afterthough.
 
It's definitely a clever acronym (although I think the S was originally Sydney, but it still works well for SNSW).

I think it would've been a great if it'd been entered before the AFLW was in play.

But I think calling a club that now would make the AFLW team seem like an afterthough.
Yeah, forget who it was, but someone said the Canberra Ewes just doesn't sound right for the women's team.

Maybe if you called them the Canberra Truebluewes.

Your favourite, griffins, technically works, and the eagle element to it would suit the presumably blue, gold, and white colours, and could even spark some new rivalry with West Coast (though maybe Canberra should have a lighter blue?).

And owls work, too.

I would like to see a non-bird mascot though but I'm not sure there's too many that work well with Canberra.

Maybe the Kings, use the East Perth colours and even the theme song, just different lyrics.
 
Yeah, forget who it was, but someone said the Canberra Ewes just doesn't sound right for the women's team.

Maybe if you called them the Canberra Truebluewes.

Your favourite, griffins, technically works, and the eagle element to it would suit the presumably blue, gold, and white colours, and could even spark some new rivalry with West Coast (though maybe Canberra should have a lighter blue?).

And owls work, too.

I would like to see a non-bird mascot though but I'm not sure there's too many that work well with Canberra.

Maybe the Kings, use the East Perth colours and even the theme song, just different lyrics.

Yeah, I know there's too many birds, but at least it's quite a unique bird compared to the ones used in the AFL. Same as the Kookaburras.

My third favourite is actually the Canberra Bunyips. Very Australian, very unique, and it has a few Canberra connections.
 

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Yeah, I know there's too many birds, but at least it's quite a unique bird compared to the ones used in the AFL. Same as the Kookaburras.

My third favourite is actually the Canberra Bunyips. Very Australian, very unique, and it has a few Canberra connections.
Yeah that would be unique.

Cockatoos rolls off the tongue while we're on birds, Galahs doesn't but the pink, grey, and white colour scheme would be unique for the club, though you could still call them the cockatoos.
 
I like that proposal because it reduces the amount of Victorian teams, strengthens both north and Canberra and allows extra content in Perth which will have 4.8 million people by 2050 I read.
Where did you read this? The WA government predicts 3.5 million.
 
North is the obvious one, then you could effectively add a new Perth team and be set for the next 30 years with 20 teams.

I like that proposal because it reduces the amount of Victorian teams, strengthens both north and Canberra and allows extra content in Perth which will have 4.8 million people by 2050 I read.

It won't happen but I think that would be ideal. I would like to see Canberra with its own team too though.
Just revisiting this, that would set the comp up nicely, but as you said, it wouldn't happen.

Going beyond that, to the 2050s, a 2nd team in Brisbane or a Sunshine Coast team or 3rd Sydney probably would be too risky. NZ would be too but it'd be by that stage by far the largest population base without a team that might just work for a team. So them as 21 and SA3 as 22 would probably be the next cabs off the rank.

And then for the final two (if you capped it to 24), get a couple teams in Darwin and Cairns going.

That way, you've got 3rd teams in WA and SA, and teams in the new markets of TAS, ACT, NT, and NZ. NQ if you go by previous secondary market games seems to be of interest to the AFL, too, and is the next cab off the rank in terms of geography that's pretty far away from the rest of the country and not represented.

Alternatively, somehow northern Australia gets the business case up and going and has a good pitch to counter travel and identity issues.

So you could do ACT (20), NA (21), WA3 (22), NZ (23), SA3 (24) --could swap NA and NZ.

But if the AFL is super keen on Northern Australia then they might get in as 20 (even though they shouldn't). That would leave ACT 21/WA3 22 (but do this earlier than 2050), NZ and SA3 as 23 and 24.

Funny thing is, much like ACT, I feel if WA3 doesn't get up in 20, they won't ever get a third team because the AFL will likely have its sights firmly set on the east coast/NZ.

I wouldn't be surprised if ACT gets up as team 20 (hopefully), and then they do another Suns/Giants combo with 3rd teams each in NSW and QLD. For teams 23 and 24 they might look at NT and NZ.

Who knows. AFL might say get ****ed to any expansion ideas outside of NSW and QLD unless outsiders bid for it and make a compelling case like Tassie did. Which is why I think if there's teams 21 and 22, the AFL will go to NSW and QLD because they will want to, not because anyone was begging them.
 
behind a paywall but speculation that there will be no Canberra teams selected in the second tier national soccer competition that is expected to now commence in 2025. The teams are expected to be announced on November 20. Canberra and Auckland were also announced as Aleague expansion teams, but the deadline for this has also been delayed.

 
behind a paywall but speculation that there will be no Canberra teams selected in the second tier national soccer competition that is expected to now commence in 2025. The teams are expected to be announced on November 20. Canberra and Auckland were also announced as Aleague expansion teams, but the deadline for this has also been delayed.


I know soccer folks are excited for the NSD, but I'm not sure it'd rate much of a mention if Canberra got one (in terms of how it'd affect an AFL team).

An NSD side will only cost ~1/30th that of an AFL team to run. Probably similar to our baseball or ice hockey team. Wouldn't be much competition for corporate sponsors.
 

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Expansion Canberra

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