Expansion ? Should AFL fixture matches into Sunshine Coast and Newcastle...

Matchu

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Who plays there?
Would have thought this one was pretty obvious. Newcastle falls under the Swans academy zone, hence the reason they were given academy access to Hunter region local Issac Heeney. The Sunshine Coast falls under the Lions academy zone, hence the reason they were given academy access to Sunny Coast local Eric Hipwood. Both the Swans and Lions have very talented local players that can help promote the game if the AFL ever chooses to schedule H&A fixtures in those cities.

The Swans used to regularly play preseason games at the Newcastle Sports Ground about 10 years ago so it's not like they've never explored that option before. The Lions often play preseason games at Burpengary, which is a halfway junction point between Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast so they've arguably already attempted to tap into that market as well. So these markets aren't as foreign to AFL action as some may think.

North Melbourne.

Edit: Oops, already been mentioned.
North can focus on snatching the Launceston contract from Hawthorn instead.
 

dzussy

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Cant even get decent crowds or interest to Suns or Giants games.
Then why venture into bumf#k? Waste of time. The AFL waste enough money as it is.
Play Just Lame Training games at these places and thats it.
 

Isaac Cumming No 1

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Cant even get decent crowds or interest to Suns or Giants games.
Then why venture into bumf#k? Waste of time. The AFL waste enough money as it is.
Play Just Lame Training games at these places and thats it.
The Black Diamond League in Newcastle long before fiity was played in WA. You seem comfortable in your ignorance though, so I'll leve you to it.
 

Silent Alarm

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I always found it strange that the AFL was really intent on certain little pockets and completely forgetful of others.

I mean, I get the catchment of western Sydney and always having a game in Sydney. But what about Newcastle? Or even Wollongong, where the only winter competitor is a merged entity in which the local half is mostly ignored. Then there’s Cairns or Townsville.

All those areas are still rugby heartland and big cities. Gold Coast is barely a better option. Just because it’s the second town in Queensland, doesn’t mean it’s the default go-to. The population is transient, the people there aren’t really sports oriented, and it’s already close to Brisbane.

Newcastle, Wollongong, Cairns would be more interesting and probably more affable clubs. They could struggle to regain talent but hey, the Gold Coast was seen as this exciting place for young blokes to live and look at it now.


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app
 

Silent Alarm

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The Black Diamond League in Newcastle long before fiity was played in WA. You seem comfortable in your ignorance though, so I'll leve you to it.
And? Rugby was the popular sport in WA until footy made its way over. We don’t care about rugby though and Newcastle doesn’t care about footy. What’s the difference? History is full of false starts.
 

Isaac Cumming No 1

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And? Rugby was the popular sport in WA until footy made its way over. We don’t care about rugby though and Newcastle doesn’t care about footy. What’s the difference? History is full of false starts.
It isn't a false start if the comp still exists though.
 

Silent Alarm

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It isn't a false start if the comp still exists though.
You're wrong though.

The Diamond Cup was the name of the premiership trophy you won in the Newcastle Australian Football League.

In 1990 or something, that competition merged with another. That's called The Diamond Football League.

So the initial competition doesn't actually exist. Even one of the oldest clubs has been half-overtaken by the Sydney Swans.

Anyway, your argument is insane anyway. You inferred NSW was more entitled to footy than WA, because a league started there first. The fact is, NSW isn't a footy state. It is in some parts, but don't act like it is in Sydney. It definitely isn't in Newcastle. There's only been one single AFL draftee from the Newcastle region. WA started later but it's no doubt the biggest sport there. You're just doing that classic, stupid bigfooty argument where you nitpick tiny little semantics to undermine a simple, decent argument.
 

Isaac Cumming No 1

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You're wrong though.

The Diamond Cup was the name of the premiership trophy you won in the Newcastle Australian Football League.

In 1990 or something, that competition merged with another. That's called The Diamond Football League.

So the initial competition doesn't actually exist. Even one of the oldest clubs has been half-overtaken by the Sydney Swans.

Anyway, your argument is insane anyway. You inferred NSW was more entitled to footy than WA, because a league started there first. The fact is, NSW isn't a footy state. It is in some parts, but don't act like it is in Sydney. It definitely isn't in Newcastle. There's only been one single AFL draftee from the Newcastle region. WA started later but it's no doubt the biggest sport there. You're just doing that classic, stupid bigfooty argument where you nitpick tiny little semantics to undermine a simple, decent argument.
The history is much deeper than that, Wikipedia is not always your freind, and I inferred nothing of the sort.

I was simply pointing out the ignorance of the poster I was referring to.
 

Silent Alarm

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The history is much deeper than that, Wikipedia is not always your freind, and I inferred nothing of the sort.

I was simply pointing out the ignorance of the poster I was referring to.
Yeah so what, Newcastle had a very early footy comp. So did Wellington, New Zealand. Interesting quirks, great pub trivia. But that's all. They had almost no reaction to the greater development of the game and almost no influence on the nearby VFL.
 

Isaac Cumming No 1

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Yeah so what, Newcastle had a very early footy comp. So did Wellington, New Zealand. Interesting quirks, great pub trivia. But that's all. They had almost no reaction to the greater development of the game and almost no influence on the nearby VFL.
Actually Newcastle and Broken Hill were represented at the first national conference, to discuss the future of the game. So not that either.

It is a pathway to AFL today. Daniel Lloyd was rookied by us after kicking 9 goals in a final for Killarney Vale in the black diamond league. He made it the senior list this year and is currently in our best 22.

When he debuted in 2017 there was chant from a couple if aisles full of mostly his fellow players at Spotless of "lloooyddee" that seemed to last the entire game. I dont know how they kept it up.

This is just an example of one local story to show how much you can miss from the other side of the country. It's much more complicated than "no-one cares about footy in NSW.
 

Silent Alarm

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Actually Newcastle and Broken Hill were represented at the first national conference, to discuss the future of the game. So not that either.

It is a pathway to AFL today. Daniel Lloyd was rookied by us after kicking 9 goals in a final for Killarney Vale in the black diamond league. He made it the senior list this year and is currently in our best 22.

When he debuted in 2017 there was chant from a couple if aisles full of mostly his fellow players at Spotless of "lloooyddee" that seemed to last the entire game. I dont know how they kept it up.

This is just an example of one local story to show how much you can miss from the other side of the country. It's much more complicated than "no-one cares about footy in NSW.
Literally every competition in Australia is a pathway to the AFL. It's the great thing about the infrastructure and system we have in place here. Who gives a s**t if one bloke from Newcastle is in the 22 for GWS? I haven't heard of him. And his mates went down for the game, got on the grog, and kept yelling his name? Maybe if Spotless wasn't so empty, you'd hear the same every single week at Etihad, Adelaide Oval, or Optus.

NSW is a footy state. Mostly south of Canberra and Wagga. Some *in champions've come out of there. Wayne Carey, the Danihers, James Hird, Paul Kelly. But don't act like Newcastle is anything more than 'ah wow, really?' trivia.
 

Isaac Cumming No 1

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Literally every competition in Australia is a pathway to the AFL. It's the great thing about the infrastructure and system we have in place here. Who gives a s**t if one bloke from Newcastle is in the 22 for GWS? I haven't heard of him. And his mates went down for the game, got on the grog, and kept yelling his name? Maybe if Spotless wasn't so empty, you'd hear the same every single week at Etihad, Adelaide Oval, or Optus.

NSW is a footy state. Mostly south of Canberra and Wagga. Some ****in champions've come out of there. Wayne Carey, the Danihers, James Hird, Paul Kelly. But don't act like Newcastle is anything more than 'ah wow, really?' trivia.
Again you're monumentally missing the point. This began with me responding to an ignorant poster claiming no-one cares in NSW. Think about that.
 

Silent Alarm

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Where and why would you play a game on the Sunshine Coast?
You're an Eagles fan. You and me both know.

The AFL basically moans and groans and then the state government spends billions of tax payers money on a brand new, great arena.

Then the AFL says how good it is, doesn't really tell the TV or anything how they didn't pay a cent or to thank the tax payer, and then pockets the gate receipts and good vibes a new ground gives.

See, to a lesser extent: Hobart development, SCG redevelopment, Spotless, Metricon.
 
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You're an Eagles fan. You and me both know.

The AFL basically moans and groans and then the state government spends billions of tax payers money on a brand new, great arena.

Then the AFL says how good it is, doesn't really tell the TV or anything how they didn't pay a cent or to thank the tax payer, and then pockets the gate receipts and good vibes a new ground gives.

See, to a lesser extent: Hobart development, SCG redevelopment, Spotless, Metricon.
Sunshine Coast isn’t the most accessible place without a vehicle though I can sort of see the appeal of Newcastle. I live in Sydney though and there’s not much chance I’d do the trip to Newcastle to watch a game in all honesty. Wouldn’t want to drag my family there nor actually stay the night.
 

Silent Alarm

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Sunshine Coast isn’t the most accessible place without a vehicle though I can sort of see the appeal of Newcastle. I live in Sydney though and there’s not much chance I’d do the trip to Newcastle to watch a game in all honesty. Wouldn’t want to drag my family there nor actually stay the night.
You've completely missed my point, why even quote me? I was talking about the AFL getting whatever stadiums they want without giving a cent, not accessibility.
 

Hornet1

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I’m currently living in Newcastle and a JLT game would be great. There isn’t an oval that could host an AFL game without some form of upgrade but Newcastle Jets and Cardiff Hawks would probably be the most likely.

All the rage about why would you bother is a little bit silly, I’m finding the AFL is kicking huge goals in this region with a strong junior programs/participation rates and the league has improved in standard.

Rugby has lost a lot of ground to soccer and AFL due in part to its poor leadership at the top level, will we ever be the dominant sport here? Probably not. We are most certainly not an afterthought anymore though.
 

Isaac Cumming No 1

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I’m currently living in Newcastle and a JLT game would be great. There isn’t an oval that could host an AFL game without some form of upgrade but Newcastle Jets and Cardiff Hawks would probably be the most likely.

All the rage about why would you bother is a little bit silly, I’m finding the AFL is kicking huge goals in this region with a strong junior programs/participation rates and the league has improved in standard.

Rugby has lost a lot of ground to soccer and AFL due in part to its poor leadership at the top level, will we ever be the dominant sport here? Probably not. We are most certainly not an afterthought anymore though.
I wouldn't get too hung up on grounds. We played AFLW ar Drummoyne oval last year and will again this year. We also played the Swans in an unofficial pre-game match at Petersham.

AFL was played at Balkarat which need new goal pists etc to meet standards.

The bars not that high. Any first grade cricket ground would probably do, barring access to make sure people pay for JLT might be the biggest problem.
 
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This is the second thread on this topic by the OP but nowhere is there a reason why. I'm not sure about the Sunshine Coast but I'm pretty sure the Liins would see it as their's.

Newcastle actually has an interesting history with the local black diamond league very old. Arguably second to Melbourne as the oldest comp, challenged by Wellington. It's very much the Swans zone though.

It's one thing to take random clubs to greenfields like the NT, and provide a spectacle. It's nonsense in areas covered by a clubs zone though. If games are to be held in these places they need to include the local team.
Swans game there makes sense. Maybe against Gold Coast so people meet half way. Go to Yamba on the way and catch a f**ken trout. Mate
 
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