Essendon NAB cup fixture change

[carnthedons07premiers]

The kangas due to their decision not to go to the gold coast will not be having their community camp on the gold coast and will not be playing the lions at Carrara. Instead the roos are likely to be playing the dogs at darwin meaning we will be playing the lions at carrara. This match will be on FTA.

 

[Jörmungand]

Fantastic, even if it is only a NAB Cup match. I thought that this was going to be the second year in a row that the Bombers weren't going to play up here.

 

[Philzsay]

I suppose its a win for the Gold Coast/Brisbane Bombers fans, but at the same time our Bomber supporters in Darwin won't be happy campers...

 

[ant555]

It is a win for me as i will be holidaying on the Sunshine Coast at that time. Couple of hours down the freeway and i will be able to go and see it

 

[Fraz]

It's up on the official site now:

Essendon return to Queensland
http://www.essendonfc.com.au/news/news.asp?nid=5512
Wednesday, 12 December 2007

Essendon Football Club will head to Queensland for the first time since early 2006 after the AFL today announced changes to its NAB pre-season fixture and community camp schedule.

Essendon will now conduct its community camp on the Gold Coast and in northern NSW between February 4 and 7. The camp was originally scheduled to be held in Bairnsdale.

Essendon’s round one NAB Cup match against the Western Bulldogs in Darwin has also been changed. The Bombers will now play Brisbane at Carrara on Saturday, February 16th.

The last time Essendon played in Brisbane was Round 2 of the 2006 season when it suffered an 18-point loss to the Lions at the Gabba.

“When the fixture came out we spoke to the AFL about the idea of doing a mid-season camp on the Gold Coast in 2008,” Essendon managing director Peter Jackson said.

“With fixturing the way it has been in recent seasons we have not been in Queensland for two years and we weren’t scheduled to play there in 2008 either. We wanted to explore ways of addressing that situation.

“When the AFL came to us with this idea we saw it as a good opportunity for us to engage with our supporters in Queensland and our affiliate club the Redland Bombers.

“We will be looking for opportunities during the upcoming season to get some of our players down to Bairnsdale and engage with supporters in that area. We spent some time in Gippsland last season as part of our community programs and we will look for another opportunity next season.”

In announcing the changes, AFL Chief Broadcasting and Commercial Officer Gillon McLachlan said it was to enable the AFL to include a greater number of AFL teams in its matches on the Gold Coast during the 2008 season.

"This change enables the AFL to expose another team with a significant supporter base and appeal in Essendon to the rapidly growing regions in northern NSW and southern Queensland through the Gold Coast area," McLachlan said.

"The Community Camp, which is run by our Game Development department, will provide the perfect promotional lead-in for the match in the week leading up to the start of the NAB Cup, and the match itself should be of great interest with Essendon to meet the Brisbane Lions," he said.

 

[Barnsey3150]

Me and some friends booked a trip to Darwin especially for the footy.
So that kinda screws me up :|

 

[dapto]

It is a win for me as i will be holidaying on the Sunshine Coast at that time. Couple of hours down the freeway and i will be able to go and see it

You gotta love this, where the upside of a holiday is being able to work a bit too.

 

[bomberstomake8]

It is a win for me as i will be holidaying on the Sunshine Coast at that time. Couple of hours down the freeway and i will be able to go and see it

yeh ill be with my gf in noosa at that time.. how far is noosa from carrara? anyone know

 

[CoZi36]

yeh ill be with my gf in noosa at that time.. how far is noosa from carrara? anyone know

Noosa is approximately a 2 hour drive north of Brisbane. Carrara is around an hour drive from Brisbane, so it would be a three and a bit hours drive from Noosa to Carrara. If you require any information regarding Carrara or transport just leave your questions here and I'll answer them. I've gone to the majority of games at Carrara since it's reinstatement in 2005.

 

[Doug Tassell]

Fantastic news i'm only fifteen minutes from the crap hole Cararra, i'll be there.

 

[bomberstomake8]

Noosa is approximately a 2 hour drive north of Brisbane. Carrara is around an hour drive from Brisbane, so it would be a three and a bit hours drive from Noosa to Carrara. If you require any information regarding Carrara or transport just leave your questions here and I'll answer them. I've gone to the majority of games at Carrara since it's reinstatement in 2005.

thanks heaps man, yeh how would i go about getting public transport tothere.. is there a bus that will take me directly to carrara? or will it be like bus then train then bus or something...

i might have to rent a car for a day

 

[Darwin-Bomber]

I am absolutely livid about this. I have been counting down the days since the announcement was made the dons were coming up here. You would think the AFL would want to keep their already dedicated fans happy? Alot of people are not going to like this.

 

[The_Young_Gun]

What bullsh1t, that just means that the AFL was expecting that the kanga's would move to Goldcoast and would plan their pre season match there, instead the kanga's choose to stay and for some reason the kanga's have to play else where than the goldcoast.

I just feel really bad for our Northern Territory fans because we only go and play up there once or twice a year and now their gonna miss out on that experiance.

 

[Sebastian Balboa]

Darwin sooks. Your team was there in February.

 

[The_Young_Gun]

Darwin sooks. Your team was there in February.

So what, you get to see the footy around 15 times a year at the venue or whenever you want, and all games on TV.

They get to see it once live at TIO oval, and maby a couple times on TV with a delay. The indigionous people and all people of the Northern territory community deserve more than one game or two at most for the year, some people cant even afford a TV, let alone a Ticket to the venue.

 

[The_Young_Gun]

Your telling me that Indigionous people don't deserve at least a couple of lousy AFL footy matches up at Tio oval, which footy is the only thing to them that is civilised in a way that all races can enjoy one game together.

 

[Sebastian Balboa]

Your telling me that Indigionous people don't deserve at least a couple of lousy AFL footy matches up at Tio oval, which footy is the only thing to them that is civilised in a way that all races can enjoy one game together.

Your putting words in my mouth. Where, and even why, would I say such a thing?

 

[The_Young_Gun]

Your putting words in my mouth. Where, and even why, would I say such a thing?

Sorry mate but they deleted half my post and you only got half of it.

--------------------------------------------

And yes you did say it, you said all northern Territorians are ("such and such") and that they can have a cry.

That includes Indigionous people doesn't it, they're people as well you know, and deserve the same that we city slickers get, which includes a couple of lousy AFL matches up there at Tio Oval, don't you think they deserve that at least?

 

[Jörmungand]

thanks heaps man, yeh how would i go about getting public transport tothere.. is there a bus that will take me directly to carrara? or will it be like bus then train then bus or something...

i might have to rent a car for a day

You'd probably be looking at two trains and a bus. One train down to Brisbane, a train from Brisbane down to the Gold Coast and then a bus to Carrara. The trains up and down the coast aren't too bad, it probably wouldn't take much longer than driving.

 

[RednBlack]

Fantastic, even if it is only a NAB Cup match. I thought that this was going to be the second year in a row that the Bombers weren't going to play up here.

Yes this is great news for us Brisbane supporters. Sorry to all you Darwinites though....

 

[RednBlack]

Is it possible that this is a sign that Sheedy's influence is starting to dwindle? After all Sheeds was a major driving force behind playing games in Darwin.... just a thought.

 

[B-Bomber]

Not necessarily -- Sheeds is pro-anything that will further the game of AFL and at the moment, Gold Coast is where it's at. He has weighed in recently to say he would like to coach a Gold Coast team.

 

[RednBlack]

Not necessarily -- Sheeds is pro-anything that will further the game of AFL and at the moment, Gold Coast is where it's at. He has weighed in recently to say he would like to coach a Gold Coast team.

true.

 

[Charliebrow 16]

To be honest i would rather watch the Dons play at Darwin.
Gold Coasters will get their 3 or 4 matches a year seeing the Roos and Brisbane etc.
Where as Darwin get a game seeing the Roos and Dogs? huh some treat that is! the majority of Football fans in Darwin support Essendon and we pass up on that so we can play on the Gold Coast?
I really don't think it's good enough in my opinion.

Sorry for bringing up an old topic but seeing as i havn't been on bigfooty for ages, this sparked my interest.

 

[Amazing Bombers]

To be honest i would rather watch the Dons play at Darwin.
Gold Coasters will get their 3 or 4 matches a year seeing the Roos and Brisbane etc.
Where as Darwin get a game seeing the Roos and Dogs? huh some treat that is! the majority of Football fans in Darwin support Essendon and we pass up on that so we can play on the Gold Coast?
I really don't think it's good enough in my opinion.

Sorry for bringing up an old topic but seeing as i havn't been on bigfooty for ages, this sparked my interest.

Me too. I was looking forward to that match.