ACT Labor. Don't think federal will have much impact on it.
Canberra Times article here. Highlights below.
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ACT Labor. Don't think federal will have much impact on it.
Canberra Times article here. Highlights below.
Back to the potential AFL team, I wonder if the Riverina could somehow be included in the team name. "Canberra & Riverina (insert team nickname)" or "Canberra-Riverina (insert team nickname)".
Would recognise that the nearby Riverina is a fairly well established AFL area that has produced champions of the game like Bunton, Carey, Crawford and the Danihers.
Might encourage Riverina residents to take up the team as their own and travel for home games.
There is a few examples in the NRL that recognise combined areas of sides like St George-Illawarra Dragons, Cronulla-Sutherland Shaks and Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles.
Is 8-9 games in Canberra going to be enough, though? Doesn’t make much sense to call them Canberra-Riverina and not play any Riverina home games. I’m not sure they’d get behind it, I don’t see any real connection between the two other than proximity.
Well I wasn't suggesting playing home games in the Riverina, but if you did I suggest one per year in Wagga would be sufficient. The connection is more a recognition of the strong AFL history of the area.
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Do you have a source for the Brumbies crowd? Can't find it anywhere.
I'm personally not a fan of making the identity too convoluted. It's like when people have previously suggested calling the the Giants GWS-Canberra. I think it gets messy when you try to please everyone.
I am a fan of engaging the Riverina, but I don't think it should be a core focus. One preseason match, one AFLW match, and maybe a sprinkling of VFL matches, all in Wagga, would be my preference.
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1. It was on Canberra Times when I did a Google search for the Brumbies audience last night. It was in the headline search results as below as I don’t subscribe to Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
https://www.canberratimes.com.au
Hurricanes stun Brumbies as ACT's top two ambitions dealt major blow
15 hours ago — ... Brumbies in front of 8118 fans on Saturday night. The visitors enjoyed 60 per cent of possession and
2. Also, whilst a secondary source there is a reply in the Canberra Regional media site which also mentions the 8,118 crowd
The Raiders and the Brumbies join forces at GIO and put GWS to the test at Manuka | Region Canberra
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, during and after the Super League war, the Brumbies were the talk of…
region.com.au
1. It was on Canberra Times when I did a Google search for the Brumbies audience last night. It was in the headline search results as below as I don’t subscribe to Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
https://www.canberratimes.com.au
Hurricanes stun Brumbies as ACT's top two ambitions dealt major blow
15 hours ago — ... Brumbies in front of 8118 fans on Saturday night. The visitors enjoyed 60 per cent of possession and
2. Also, whilst a secondary source there is a reply in the Canberra Regional media site which also mentions the 8,118 crowd
The Raiders and the Brumbies join forces at GIO and put GWS to the test at Manuka | Region Canberra
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, during and after the Super League war, the Brumbies were the talk of…
Cheers
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Canberra Raiders drew 15,686 to their ANZAC weekend match today - and that too after their “two for one deal” with the Brumbies last night.
leagueunlimited.com
Raiders overturn 18-point HT deficit to blow Dolphins away » League Unlimited
leagueunlimited.com
Further to this, I think there are some important differences between Tasmania and Canberra's situations.
- The AFL didn't want to expand to 19 teams. Tasmania forced their hand. The AFL wants a 20th team, so rightly or wrongly, there will be fewer hurdles for them.
- Tasmania isn't a growth market. Both in terms of population, or growing the sport. Canberra represents growth in both respects.
- Demographically, Canberra's a lot stronger. Similar population, but all in the one metro. Plus a sizeable population in the surrounds.
- And the locations of the stadiums. Bellerive is a suburban ground. Even upgraded, it wouldn't have been fit for a full-time team. Manuka is not up-to-scratch yet, but it's probably the best location you'll get for an oval stadium in Canberra. It's inner; amongst pubs, hotels and restaurants; and will eventually be in the vicinity of the light rail.
threenewpadlocks
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I appreciate your promotion but wouldn't another key difference be that most Tasmanian loving sports fans are rusted on Aussie Rules supporters but there is a significant portion of Canberra's population that are Rugby and League supporters and would never be converted?
If the whole city of Canberra were Aussie Rules fans (which you left out) it would have already had a team.
Yup - and how many of those rusted on Tasmanian AFL fans already have a team? If a team somehow rocked up in Maryborough (yeah I know, our Bendigo FL side isn't even viable let alone an AFL side, but just work with me here) there's not a chance I would ditch the Hawks for them.
That was pretty much my second point.
A Canberra team equals more growth than a Tasmania team. Because the number of AFL fans isn't really going to increase with a Tasmanian team; it's pretty close to maxed out.
Is it really that impressive?
Super Rugby is such a mess that a game of handball at the local primary school could draw a bigger audience.
That's an excellent idea if you want the club to fail...
That two for one deal would have had a negligible impact on the Raiders crowd.Canberra Raiders drew 15,686 to their ANZAC weekend match today - and that too after their “two for one deal” with the Brumbies last night.
Raiders overturn 18-point HT deficit to blow Dolphins away » League Unlimited
It was a pretty desperate attempt to promote the Brumbies, and frankly it hasn't worked very well.
Phillip Oval would be an even better location if the site can fit a 25k+ stadium. I wouldn't rule out Barr building it if the AFL made it a requirement either.
You're right though, Manuka is a good location. Way better than Bruce for example.
Eastlake made the move from the NEAFL to VFL (as Canberra Demons), but costs are prohibitive for non-AFL clubs outside Victoria unless you have pokies revenue the size of Southport's. Even regional Victorian teams couldn't stay afloat after being abandoned by their alignments.
As for the Sydney league, traditionally it was no stronger than the ACT league; not sure it would serve any purpose for a team to join there.
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And brand name should be short and sharp. Clear and simple.
- Canberra and the Riverina have little to nothing in common with each other.
- Nobody in the Riverina wants to support a Canberra team or vice versa.
- Linking the two muddies the branding, and would be tokenistic at best.
Anybody with an interest in AFL in the Riverina already have teams and are unlikely to give them up for a Canberra side. There isn't really the money in the Riverina to partner with an AFL side in a similar way to how the ACT or Tasmanian governments have partnered with AFL sides, and I can't see the NSW Government spending big on AFL games in Wagga, Griffith, etc either.
I randomly found this regional tourism site run by the ACT government that gives a really good map of the regions around the ACT that are in Canberra's sphere of influence, if you will - https://www.canberraregion.com.au/
If the AFL were going to force a Canberra side to officially link with regions of NSW to get a team, then those regions, the Southern Tablelands, Snowy Mountains, and the Southern half of the South Coast, would be more natural fits than the Riverina. It'd still be a mistake to make them a big part of the club and it's identity though.
Yeah I was big on the Canberra riverina title but the comments on here persuaded me over time. The one thing you're leaving out though is that the riverina will be part of Canberra's academy zone, so riverina locals will gain a natural attachment to the Canberra team that way.
I actually think Canberra snsw might work, it's less overpowering on the Canberra title and it captures a bigger area (considering Albury isn't actually in the riverina and that's the one place I'd like to capture). Then you're also taking in all those towns in your map, in addition to the riverina. Dunno if Wollongong is also considered snsw, but geographically this Canberra side should be aiming to have a catchment area of potential fans down to Albury, out to wagga and up to Wollongong.
I actually think Canberra snsw might work, it's less overpowering on the Canberra title and it captures a bigger area (considering Albury isn't actually in the riverina and that's the one place I'd like to capture). Then you're also taking in all those towns in your map, in addition to the riverina. Dunno if Wollongong is also considered snsw, but geographically this Canberra side should be aiming to have a catchment area of potential fans down to Albury, out to wagga and up to Wollongong.
The area in yellow is a map of the Brumbies catchment (academy zone). I'd be surprised if more than a few percent of the Brumbies fanbase lives outside the boarders of the ACT, and trying to engage with that broader catchment instead of focusing on Canberra is one of the major reasons why the Brumbies are struggling so much today.
Rugby League doesn't do juniors catchments in the same way. There are no maps with hard boarders outside of Sydney, any club can scout any region and work with local clubs freely. But similar would be true of the Raiders support outside of the Capital Region. I'd be willing to bet that there is a higher percentage of Raiders fans in Queensland than there is in the majority of NSW outside of the Tablelands and the Brindies.
Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with running academies throughout Southern NSW, but those academies wouldn't necessarily lead to the Canberra side building a significant fanbase in Southern NSW anytime in the foreseeable future.
Calling the team Canberra/ACT-SNSW and trying to represent that large an area is an even worse idea. That's the definition of trying to be everything to everyone, and would have predictable results. Trying to juggle the needs of all those diverse interest groups would be an impossible task which would lead to resentment, and that's before dealing with the fact that most the people outside Canberra in those regions have very negative opinions of Canberra and the ACT in general.
Albury is even further away and has even less in common with the ACT than the Riverina does, and like the Riverina Albury doesn't have the money to form a partnership in the style of the ACT's partnership with GWS.
Wollongong, the rest of the Illawarra, and the northern half of the South Coast is an interesting case. Other than Canberra, the Illawarra is the only place south of Sydney large enough that might be able to support some sort of second home arrangement with an AFL club.
Here's the thing though, they're not particularly famous for their support of Aussie Rules, and they've effectively had their own team in RL for as long as anybody can remember (St George, then the Steelers, then St George-Illawarra). There's no oval stadium there either, so that would have to be built before you could do anything.
Linking them with Canberra would probably just muddy things like GWS linking with Canberra muddied things for them in Western Sydney. The Gong would probably be more inclined to support a Sydney side anyway, but GWS isn't a natural fit either, and the Swans don't need it.
If you were going to do it, then a better way to go about it might be to get one of the smaller Melbourne sides to link with the Illawarra/Albury/Riverina, and get them to sell their home games against Canberra and/or GWS to them.
That way you get your games in SNSW without taking relatively precious home games away from Canberra or GWS, the Melbourne side is making a tidy profit selling two of their lowest drawing home games, the people of SNSW will feel they are getting a better deal, and the tourism dollars are still good because it's a good daytrip for Canberra and Western Sydney based fans. It would make more sense to do it that way to me at least.
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Seems last night’s crowd for the Matilda’s friendly at GIO was the highest ever attended female sporting event in Canberra.
He must have liked what he saw as the crowd of 25,125 set a new record for the most watched women’s sporting event in the ACT
He must have liked what he saw as the crowd of 25,125 set a new record for the most watched women’s sporting event in the ACT
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This is a poor mentality to have. It's been noted that a large part of the Swans' success in attracting crowds has come by converting rugby union fans.