Backburner...I've never lived in Victoria, and membership wasn't anywhere near as big a focus as it is today, so I never thought about it at the time, but on the day I knew my team was saved after the 1996 merger vote, I signed up and did so for the next decade knowing how important my team in footy was to me. The Hawks membership went from about 12000 to 27000 in a summer. So as far as putting my club on a backburner goes, I've never done it - I instead went into battle for them. This is what you and you're team are up against, dude. I admire your chest beating (I don't mean that patronisingly, I'm deadly serious!) because if we see a whole lotta that at any GWS game, then the team has the legitimacy I'm saying Tassie would walk in with and which I'm not convinced either GWS or GC has...it's up to you guys to prove you belong and convince the rest of us by your actions! As for WS's talent base, the simple fact is you lot play rugby league and the AFL is viewed with hostility. NSW metro is still a poor producer of AFL draftees despite being the biggest state, plenty of AFL development and the longest team presence of any non-Vic city...I live here in Qld, it's better than NSW in those areas, but it's still piss poor by comparison with Tas, SA, Vic and WA...the AFL is a blip and a fad when you line it up against the southern states and throw in the NRL...even the Reds bump footy off the back page and news reports without any problem, so I'm sure the Tahs aren't any different. I'm not basing any assumption of GWS on a single year (the only thing I've said about that timespan is how I admire the way they've gone about it this year, actually), but over three decades of watching this sport as intently as any footy-mad Tasmanian would (which is A LOT!) and having seen every development of the growth of the national league in that time, there's nothing that convinces me of the worth of these expansion franchises (that's not meant to be a negative term either, despite my Macca's comment!) other than paying for everyone else via tv rights... if the AFL came clean one day and admitted that that was the primary reason, I'd give a bronx cheer and a "no kidding"...and still accept it because there's nothing wrong with that...
Vote for who ever you like as long as it's justified.
I am in favour of the Euthanasia. They usually grow up to be really really smart adults
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And do you know why AFL football is viewed with such hostility? Its because it is seen as 'The Victorian game', not as the Australian game. I've said it b4, the actions of the AFL show it to be a child of the VFL. The fact that SA & WA are major natural footy states doesnt make any difference. The fact that Tassie is cut off from having an AFL club just shows the Vic centric nature of the beast.
Ever while the AFL keep hanging on to so many suburban VFL teams who really dont offer much to a so called national competition then the negativity in the north of the country will persist. The media will continue to use that againt the AFL.
Certainly the GWS is an offspring of the AFL , but at least it was born in Sydney & not a transplanted VFL team. It has some bona fides (street cred if you like) in Western Sydney.
I think that gives it the right to be cut some slack & given ago & time to develop its own club culture. Its a war up their, make no mistake. GWS is the front line.
But still I say, Give us a team Vlad, you bastard. Its killing us
What do you mean corrected? That's been my point the whole time! If you can't class that as unfortunate from the Tasmanian point of view, if you can't understand that, then you don't understand why people watch this game in the first place...the stupid icons of supposed frustration you put at the beginning of every post really should be directed at you, bud...comprehension is not your strong point...you also need to bone up on your footy history...Ohh for the love of.....
Ok, no one has said AFL will take over the NRL as the leading comp in Sydney. But we, both the Swans and Giants can end up carving out our own niche in the city.
And to correct you on one point, they have gone the way of financial strategy and growth compared to 150 years of tradition or whatever it is. I dont class it as unfortunate.
The AFL community won't be happy unless GWS continues to be a lynchpin of tv income, or something else that justifies the enormous expense going into their establishment. Not saying they won't, just saying they'll find it very very difficult...and if teams like North and Melbourne are continually under fire for recording the odd million dollar deficit while still getting bigger crowds and membership, then GWS will need that self sufficiency reasonably quickly...will we see drastic measures on the scale of the Swans $1 buyback in the 90's, will we see an end to the Lions constant money worries which were prevalent even when they won three in a row...?
You're kidding me...you seriously think that the Swans and the Bears, who have been in their present form and club structure, ignoring the merger, since the early 90's, are waiting until 2030 to "ripen"...? 2030 is 18 years away...the AFL wants the other two newbies ready to win a flag in five and are prepared to pay for the first ten...another 8 and you've got plenty of time to squeeze in an Edelsten or Pelerman type type fiasco to send this grand plan back to square one...and what the hell is a "vested interest"...? You almost sounded rational until you added that last sentence...coming from a supporter of the most corporately driven team in the AFL...and right now, the team that used to be the threepeat Lions are struggling with crowds after averaging 35000 when they were winners, and can't pay the bills yet again...a win's a win, and right now in Brisbane the Lions are losers...
It just sounds so...right...
I'm talking about real sports...
But with 62% (roughly) of the country, how could it be considered national?
