Does Geelong's 'lifestyle' factor give them an unfair advantage for free agency signings?

Remove this Banner Ad

P Money

Team Captain
Jul 21, 2022
341
852
AFL Club
Essendon
As a Melbournian we proudly declare that ours is the best city in Aus, particularly better than Sydney which really is the only other actual city (see what I did there?). Complaining that a rival football club has an unfair advantage because they represent a better place that's better to live in? Shame on you.
 

ThatsjustDappa

Premiership Player
Feb 19, 2011
3,649
4,937
AFL Club
Geelong
Geelong supporters were the ones who started this Geelong - Richmond dislike. I can even pin point when it happened. The 2017 qualifying final. We celebrated the win a little too hard, we finally beat your mob unfortunately and you all got your noses out of place over it and its been that way ever since.

Get your hand off it.
 

Log in to remove this ad.

Dogflogger

Senior List
Sep 25, 2018
174
228
AFL Club
St Kilda
their biggest advantage they have had was the holy grail of father sons they have gotten, and that's just random luck.
 
Don't forget the guaranteed to make a tidy profit property developments player get to sign up for. All above board of course, just wise investment advice - like yeah!

It's why players constantly go there for unders in official contract value, the real value is what happens outside of the cap and it's inVisyble to the AFL
Like the Crows players getting plots of West from cents on the dollar? Or New Port being a hot bed of Power players?
 
May 5, 2016
43,479
48,513
AFL Club
Geelong
Great rebuttal, tell me wise one when did this bickering begin then?

Actually no don't, this thread is about Geelong breathing in the country like air and living like hicks while loving life.

Carry on.

I wasn’t part of this forum before that season so I can’t speak for this one but others that I’d been on, it wasn’t so much bickering but there was a pretty strong and clear dislike because for the better part of 20 years it had been a free four points for us prior to that. Even the harry Taylor game where we kicked a heap of goals in the last quarter when Scott swung him forward, I remember the sentiment being along the lines of ‘Will we ever beat these c***s’
 

pixels

Senior List
Aug 20, 2011
218
680
Perth
AFL Club
West Coast
A bigger, colder, Bunbury with worse beaches.

In all seriousness: The place took a significant hit with the decline of cars and other industry. It’s got some rough neighbourhoods. But it’s always had some nice areas and 2 very fancy private schools that attract wealthy kids from all over the state. And government investment and Melbourne getting way too big and crowded has seen the region bounce back. The Geelong town centre isn’t making too many tourism must see lists but parts of the town and region are very nice.

The surf coast - whilst cold and awful weather wise for a lot of the time - has always been a draw card and Geelong is the gateway to that area and the Bellarine peninsula. Cafes, wineries, restaurants, beaches, national parks etc.

Most afl players settle down quickly and then are pretty happy to train, hit the surf, hit up a local cafe and go about their business fairly quietly. The Geelong region offers that.

A bigger buno? That's probably why I like the look of it haha
 

Noidnadroj

Norm Smith Medallist
Dec 8, 2020
5,791
19,531
AFL Club
Richmond
I call it the 'Moggs Creek' factor. Players love to move to Geelong to 'get away from it all.' The big smoke isn't for everyone, which is why Geelong exists. Does this give them an unfair advantage when signing free agencies? It seems like the team is a hotspot for mature players that want that Dangerfield lifestyle for their families.

I think this has definitely helped Geelong stay competitive for so long. They've been able to top up with high-quality, mature FAs on the regular.

It’s not an unfair advantage, it’s just an advantage. If a player wants to move to Melbourne they’ve got 9 clubs to choose from…. if they want to move to a surfing / lower key lifestyle in Victoria they’ve got one.

They got Danger in 2016 when he was the best player in the comp, but that is because his family was from Moggs Creek - pretty fortunate the only player from Moggs Creek was the competitions best player. But they got Cameron, who was one of the best players in the competition because he wanted a lifestyle with fishing etc…so that’s certainly just lucky he loved fishing and a Geelong style lifestyle so only had one club on his radar.

I’m not sure of the motivations of the rest of their mature age recruits they’ve secured as to whether Geelong was their preferred destination due to a different lifestyle to metro Melbourne ..??

The ‘lucky’ component is probably more that whilst they secure players who want the surf coast lifestyle, they don’t lose anyone for the same reason.


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com
 

Coach_Required

Norm Smith Medallist
Feb 19, 2008
9,694
28,215
Perth
AFL Club
Richmond
Other Teams
Liverpool & Boston Celtics
I wasn’t part of this forum before that season so I can’t speak for this one but others that I’d been on, it wasn’t so much bickering but there was a pretty strong and clear dislike because for the better part of 20 years it had been a free four points for us prior to that. Even the harry Taylor game where we kicked a heap of goals in the last quarter when Scott swung him forward, I remember the sentiment being along the lines of ‘Will we ever beat these c***s’
This I agree with, but kudos to you guys for being so good since breaking that premiership hoodoo all those years ago now.
 
May 5, 2016
43,479
48,513
AFL Club
Geelong
This I agree with, but kudos to you guys for being so good since breaking that premiership hoodoo all those years ago now.

And likewise. Anyone with a modicum of intelligence can see how the Tigers turned their culture around and built an edge to their game. It might come across as a backhanded compliment though I don’t intend it to be: I think there are sides, a handful, who had more to work with than Richmond that didn’t win any flags. You could even argue that aside from maybe Martin, there’s not a lot between say these recent Port teams and the recent Richmond sides as far as personnel go, but the discipline, the willingness to buy into the game plan, and the general toughness of the Tigers has yielded 3 flags while Port haven’t won any in that time. We are in a similar boat to port albeit I don’t think we’ve had as many players in their prime and maybe with a more attitude based approach we may have snared an extra flag.
 
Apr 17, 2006
27,237
16,555
???
AFL Club
Hawthorn
Other Teams
Miami Dolphins(NFL)
It's rough for the kids, and there's a big chance a lot of them request moves early on.
They do have a big attractiveness for older players who have outgrown the "superstar" lifestyle
 

(Log in to remove this ad.)

deck

Norm Smith Medallist
Aug 7, 2004
5,028
3,079
Melburn
AFL Club
Collingwood
Other Teams
Liverpool, SF 49ers, FSU
Which players have moved to Geelong to get away from it all?

A lot of the players they targeted were from that region and had family connects in the region. Others simply because they were chasing some success after playing in teams that had little and were seemingly going the other way or in no mans land.
 
I call it the 'Moggs Creek' factor. Players love to move to Geelong to 'get away from it all.' The big smoke isn't for everyone, which is why Geelong exists. Does this give them an unfair advantage when signing free agencies? It seems like the team is a hotspot for mature players that want that Dangerfield lifestyle for their families.

I think this has definitely helped Geelong stay competitive for so long. They've been able to top up with high-quality, mature FAs on the regular.

So players (and their wives) shouldnt be allowed to decide what lifestyle they want for their kids? Ok.

Just like in any other line of work people who want to live in regional victoria for their own lifestyle reasons or that of their kids should have every right to do so.
 
Which players have moved to Geelong to get away from it all?

A lot of the players they targeted were from that region and had family connects in the region. Others simply because they were chasing some success after playing in teams that had little and were seemingly going the other way or in no mans land.

Isaac smith admitted essentially it was non football lifestyle reasons (for their kids) that brought them down the highway.

Cameron was similar, he likes spending most of his time outside footy on a farm and it would have been very hard to do that-owning a farm in regional vic-if commuting every day to a melbourne club. Living in geelong allows him to be geographically closer to that lifestyle when hes not playing footy.

That said theres no doubt our on field success helps attract players too its not all lifestyle although for some players who love the country or those with kids its a drawcard.
 

deck

Norm Smith Medallist
Aug 7, 2004
5,028
3,079
Melburn
AFL Club
Collingwood
Other Teams
Liverpool, SF 49ers, FSU
Isaac smith admitted essentially it was non football lifestyle reasons (for their kids) that brought them down the highway.

Cameron was similar, he likes spending most of his time outside footy on a farm and it would have been very hard to do that-owning a farm in regional vic-if commuting every day to a melbourne club. Living in geelong allows him to be geographically closer to that lifestyle when hes not playing footy.

That said theres no doubt our on field success helps attract players too its not all lifestyle although for some players who love the country or those with kids its a drawcard.
Let's be honest neither of those 2 are playing for Geelong had Geelong finished outside the 8 in 2020 instead of runners up.

Last I heard Issac was living in newtown, hardly a lifestyle choice.
 

Herne Hill Hammer

Cancelled
10k Posts
Jun 22, 2008
24,580
21,272
AFL Club
Geelong
Geelong's record at KP is 106-14 over the last 15 years.

That includes 2-3 during covid without crowds.

So the true record is 104-11.

90% win rate.

If Geelong played all their home games at MCG or Marvel, how many games would they have won?
Geelong have the best win % of any team at Marvel and the 4th best historically at the MCG.

Geelong have been top 4 in 13 of those 15 seasons, there's your answer, they've just been better than the vast majority over that period.
 
Last edited:

Herne Hill Hammer

Cancelled
10k Posts
Jun 22, 2008
24,580
21,272
AFL Club
Geelong
A bigger, colder, Bunbury with worse beaches.

In all seriousness: The place took a significant hit with the decline of cars and other industry. It’s got some rough neighbourhoods. But it’s always had some nice areas and 2 very fancy private schools that attract wealthy kids from all over the state. And government investment and Melbourne getting way too big and crowded has seen the region bounce back. The Geelong town centre isn’t making too many tourism must see lists but parts of the town and region are very nice.

The surf coast - whilst cold and awful weather wise for a lot of the time - has always been a draw card and Geelong is the gateway to that area and the Bellarine peninsula. Cafes, wineries, restaurants, beaches, national parks etc.

Most afl players settle down quickly and then are pretty happy to train, hit the surf, hit up a local cafe and go about their business fairly quietly. The Geelong region offers that.

Was going to post almost exactly the same a bigger Bunbury.

Busselton actually reminds me of a smaller version of what Geelong was like in the 70s before all the suburban shopping centres started going up and sucking the life out of the CBD.

Down south does have better beaches but they also have people getting eaten by sharks.
 
Last edited:
Aug 13, 2006
14,778
13,879
Melbourne
AFL Club
Melbourne
That’s all pretty fair, it doesn’t offer the sort of media and post footy opportunities that come via that avenue that Melbourne does though and if you’re an ex footballer in Melbourne there’s really nothing at all to stop you getting some sort of role with one of the clubs there given how many there are
If the Cats drop away it would be interesting to see where their current and former players slot in to the media hierarchy. Certainly below the Pies and Tigers, and likely the Blues and Bombers when they're rolling. But Geelong have been so good for so long it's hard to know how they compare to say Hawthorn on equal footing ladder wise.

Not sure there's a divide between Melbourne based clubs and Geelong in terms of opportunities for former players, just a matter of whether they can commute or have to move back up. Plus the Cats guys will always have first crack at the Cotton On and K Rock's of the world.

The Geelong region makes a heap of sense for retired AFL players too. It's a nice place to raise a family if you've made a good chunk of money and want a nice lifestyle with a slightly slower pace than Melbourne. I'm thinking of someone like Brad Johnson. Would've made good money but not the crazy coin guys are on now and has a steady gig commentating games. Living on Geelong fits that nicely
 

PerthBoy86

Norm Smith Medallist
May 23, 2016
6,789
5,677
AFL Club
West Coast
Can you point out the neutral games in Melbourne that we get.
All of them. Crowd is fairly evenly split usually. Melbourne teams don't have any true home games against other Victorian clubs, whereas interstate teams are truly playing away in Melbourne, though there are quite a few Swans and Lions fans, Eagles to a lesser extent, but not comparable. Geelong gets the best of both worlds, though I concede they do sell some home games to play at the G, but that helps them overall.
 
May 5, 2016
43,479
48,513
AFL Club
Geelong
All of them. Crowd is fairly evenly split usually. Melbourne teams don't have any true home games against other Victorian clubs, whereas interstate teams are truly playing away in Melbourne, though there are quite a few Swans and Lions fans, Eagles to a lesser extent, but not comparable. Geelong gets the best of both worlds, though I concede they do sell some home games to play at the G, but that helps them overall.

Oh yes it’s usually incredibly evenly split when we play Richmond, Collingwood, Hawthorn at the MCG.

We sell exactly 0 games to the MCG. The afl forces us to play them there and we lose money by doing it. Not sure who sells anything to make a financial loss.
 

Remove this Banner Ad

Back