Analysis Cockburn vs Freo - Should we move back

tacopavlich

Premiership Player
Oct 19, 2010
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Obviously you can't name names on here....

Since Rosich has left, the board and senior management have been suggesting that the move was a mistake.

Players don't like Cockburn.
Staff don't like Cockburn.
Even BigFooty posters don't like Cockburn.

It's a nice facility (internally) but that's about it. Could have built the same thing in Freo.

I thought the whole point was we couldn't build the same thing in Freo.
 

Bring back Drum

Mundy4Hundy
Jul 8, 2019
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The initial thought was ground sizes & being able to adapt the oval space to any ground size in Australia for training purposes prior to travelling.
 
If the day comes when we can have an identical or better training facility in Fremantle while not impacting the clubs finances by doing so, then possibly. But until then Cockburn is by far the superior option
 
If the WAFC would consider selling FFC to someone and they had a spare $300,000,000 to renovate Fremantle Oval, as well as build whatever the Freo Council would require to grease the wheels in regards to public facilities around the complex then perhaps it could happen.

I think moving back to Freo would need to be coinciding with a third WA AFL team at the insistence of the AFL, along with Fremantle FC having made a lot of money (as in $100m in the bank) and the AFL says they will purchase the ARC center off FFC and put the new team in there.

FFC has to have great facilities to attract players.
 
Feb 18, 2014
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Not from an administrative and training point of view:

Hawthorn's facility is in Mulgrave
St Kilda's facility is in Seaford
Essendon's facility is in Tullamarine (admittedly close)
Collingwood's facility is in Melbourne
Melbourne trains in Richmond

I haven't done the research, but I can't imagine there's any correlation between those clubs moving away from their eponymic suburbs and their member engagement and on and off-field success. We should be based where we have access to the best possible facilities, and ARC is legitimately world class. As far as I'm concerned, it is far more of a selling point (particularly to interstaters) than an inadequate facility in our traditional heartland, and I'm sceptical that a facility in Freo itself could ever be more than that, save for the kind of capital injection that would make Tony Sage look like a pleb.

However, I recognise we're still the Fremantle Dockers (and may we forever remain so) and don't feel we've treated the place with sufficient respect in recent years. The club should do more to embrace Fremantle, whether it be playing some pre-season and/or low-crowd games at Freo Oval, more frequent local functions and events or even something like a Members' Lounge based there (I'll leave the moral discussion on pokies for elsewhere).

We will always be Fremantle, even when the boys are training 20 minutes down the road, but I hope it's something the board never loses sight of.
 
However, I recognise we're still the Fremantle Dockers (and may we forever remain so) and don't feel we've treated the place with sufficient respect in recent years. The club should do more to embrace Fremantle, whether it be playing some pre-season and/or low-crowd games at Freo Oval, more frequent local functions and events
yeah agree that we should do a bit more to continue to embrace Freo. Would prefer playing a pre season game there compared to playing them in South Geraldton Joondalup.
 
Nov 8, 2000
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Fremantle Oval's future should be as a small boutique ground hosting both Freo WAFL clubs and our women's team. But it needs a lot of work to get there, because at the moment it's a complete shithole.

I like the idea of a Fremantle football hall of fame being based there though. Maybe when we actually win a ******* trophy we can build it.

A team store in Freo city somewhere would be good too. The problem with that is that Freo city is a wasteland now so no-one goes there to shop. Be better off putting one at Garden City.
 

Square Peg

Cancelled
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Jul 20, 2014
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Should never have gone to that shithole Cockburn in the first place but now we are there it's done. We aint moving back.
 

Monument Hills

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Dec 12, 2017
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If the WAFC would consider selling FFC to someone and they had a spare $300,000,000 to renovate Fremantle Oval, as well as build whatever the Freo Council would require to grease the wheels in regards to public facilities around the complex then perhaps it could happen.

I think moving back to Freo would need to be coinciding with a third WA AFL team at the insistence of the AFL, along with Fremantle FC having made a lot of money (as in $100m in the bank) and the AFL says they will purchase the ARC center off FFC and put the new team in there.

FFC has to have great facilities to attract players.
Cockburn Flames?
 

wayToGo_

Brownlow Medallist
Oct 24, 2015
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I'm pretty sure if they built the wave park at Cockburn quite a few of the players would revolt if you then said we're moving back to Fremantle.

And we thought water slides helped retention. Brad Hill might ask for a trade back next year.
 

stax on the mull

Norm Smith Medallist
Dec 26, 2010
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There's room out in Cockburn to build a home ground and stadium for playing AFL in the next 30 years - maybe less if Australia/Perth gets to host some major international sporting event.
 

Sully90

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Dec 24, 2011
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Just for clarity's sake: I thought the issue was that Freo Council straight up wouldn't let us renovate any further. At the time we had the worst training base in the league (or second worst compared to the Lions) and we couldn't so much as upgrade a toilet block without cutting significant red tape and paying a mountain in fees due to "heritage listing".

In the end it sounds like the only point in staying at Fremantle is because we had the word "Fremantle" in our name.
 
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