The AFL wants 22 teams. Name your next four.

Kramer1

Brownlow Medallist
Oct 8, 2007
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Just to be clear, does anyone with Tasmania on their list realise just how bad games are there?

Theyre shocking spectacles. AFL doesnt want to go there on a permanent basis or the ratings take a big hit.

I would think the 2 games they get per year at the moment is plenty of exposure.

Hawthorn Carlton this year was one if the best games I have seen live in a while...great atmosphere pre, during and post game.
 
Sep 24, 2006
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No one from NSW would consider Canberra as part of this state or vice versa.
And plenty outside of NSW see Canberra as embedded deep within NSW - hell, even GWS include Canberra in their zone, and NSW/ACT always field a combined team in the NAB National championships, so there was no confusion at all in Kappas post - only your ridiculous ultra nick-picking again.

Looking at long term possibilities, besides Canberra and a third Sydney club, Newcastle/Maitland has a large growing population and a very rapidly growing grassroots Australian Football presence - The Black Diamond League - albeit off a previously low base. This burgeoning area has already produced 2 AFL players in Paul Hunter and star Isaac Heeney.

Another possibility could be the very strong Australian Football twin cities of Albury/Wodonga, playing out of Lavington Oval and also drawing support from surrounding cities such a small Wagga, Narrandera, Griffith, Shepparton, Wangaratta and Echuca etc. The local Oven & Murray League is the richest and generally the strongest regional league in Australia and often attracts a GF crowd of 15,000+ (I've attended a few in the past at Lavington Oval). A heap of AFL players have also come from this region.
 
Mar 17, 2009
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And plenty outside of NSW see Canberra as embedded deep within NSW - hell, even GWS include Canberra in their zone, and NSW/ACT always field a combined team in the NAB National championships, so there was no confusion at all in Kappas post - only your ridiculous ultra nick-picking again.

Looking at long term possibilities, besides Canberra and a third Sydney club, Newcastle/Maitland has a large growing population and a very rapidly growing grassroots Australian Football presence - The Black Diamond League - albeit off a previously low base. This burgeoning area has already produced 2 AFL players in Paul Hunter and star Isaac Heeney.

Another possibility could be the very strong Australian Football twin cities of Albury/Wodonga, playing out of Lavington Oval and also drawing support from surrounding cities such a small Wagga, Narrandera, Griffith, Shepparton, Wangaratta and Echuca etc. The local Oven & Murray League is the richest and generally the strongest regional league in Australia and often attracts a GF crowd of 15,000+ (I've attended a few in the past at Lavington Oval). A heap of AFL players have also come from this region.

Before Stuff like Albury/Wodonga or Newcastle surely a 4th WA & 3rd SA would be much more viable in such strong AF areas.
 

Pippen94

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Jun 12, 2019
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No one from NSW would consider Canberra as part of this state or visa versa.
And plenty outside of NSW see Canberra as embedded deep within NSW - hell, even GWS include Canberra in their zone, and NSW/ACT always field a combined team in the NAB National championships, so there was no confusion at all in Kappas post - only your ridiculous ultra nick-picking again.

Looking at long term possibilities, besides Canberra and a third Sydney club, Newcastle/Maitland has a large growing population and a very rapidly growing grassroots Australian Football presence - The Black Diamond League - albeit off a previously low base. This burgeoning area has already produced 2 AFL players in Paul Hunter and star Isaac Heeney.

Another possibility could be the very strong Australian Football twin cities of Albury/Wodonga, playing out of Lavington Oval and also drawing support from surrounding cities such a small Wagga, Narrandera, Griffith, Shepparton, Wangaratta and Echuca etc. The local Oven & Murray League is the richest and generally the strongest regional league in Australia and often attracts a GF crowd of 15,000+ (I've attended a few in the past at Lavington Oval). A heap of AFL players have also come from this region.
Re: Canberra - Good to see so little understanding of places you want to plant team.
Also, if Riverina gets teams where will gws players come from?
 
Sep 24, 2006
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Re: Canberra - Good to see so little understanding of places you want to plant team.
Also, if Riverina gets teams where will gws players come from?
First - I once lived in Albury and have been to Canberra numerous times.
Second - There's now 62 listed NSW players under SOO rules, almost enough for 2 teams. At present growth rates, there will be enough for 3 teams in the foreseeable future.
Third - I never said I "want to plant teams" or advocated as such for any of these locations. I was merely musing about some possible long term locations in line with the general theme of the thread.
 

Pippen94

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Jun 12, 2019
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First - I once lived in Albury and have been to Canberra numerous times.
Second - There's now 62 listed NSW players under SOO rules, almost enough for 2 teams. At present growth rates, there will be enough for 3 teams in the foreseeable future.
Third - I never said I "want to plant teams" or advocated as such for any of these locations. I was merely musing about some possible long term locations in line with the general theme of the thread.
Vast majority of NSW players from Riverina.
 
Sep 24, 2006
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Hardly a vast majority. Here's the breakdown -

Sydney - 14
Newcastle/Central Coast - 3
Canberra - 5
At or near Albury - 10
At or near Wagga - 7
Rest of Riverina - 13
Far West - 5
The rest - 5
The rest includes the 2 Hawks from Temora plus 1 rep each from the South Coast, Wollongong and Northern NSW.
 

Established1870

Norm Smith Medallist
Jun 28, 2016
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Other Teams
Baghdad Bombers
Tasmania
Canberra
Wollongong
Newcastle
NT (maybe)
FNQ (maybe)
NZ (dream world)

The main problem with expansion is potential viewers and potential participation rates. With how much the AFL prop up certain clubs, finances are irrelevant. I also don't see WA3/SA3 ever being even remotely feasible. Both would take massive population growth and demand for even more footy so they are out of the question. Tasmania is a no brainer when it comes to next cab off the rank and I think when GWS are fully entrenched in Western Sydney, the AFL should look at Canberra as #20.

My two areas of interest after that are the areas south and north of Sydney. Newcastle and the southern areas like Wollongong are really intriguing for me in terms of being able to potentially have AFL sides in 20-30 years. NSW is the one state outside Victoria with the potential to have more than 2 teams in the AFL and putting them outside Sydney would give GWS and Sydney room to breathe and not cannibalize their supporter bases whilst also consolidating our code. Would also put us at 22 teams which is the perfect number for our league unless we get 100 million people by 2100 or something.

FNQ and NT would be really into the future and NZ is just a pipe dream at this stage.
 

AFL Canada

Draftee
Jun 3, 2018
14
22
AFL Club
Essendon
Tasmania (7 games in Hobart, 4 in Launceston)

Canberra (9 games in Canberra, 1 in Wagga, 1 in Albury)

NZ (9 games in Auckland, 1 in Wellington, 1 in Christchurch)

Vancouver (the only city in the world to record a crowd over 30,000, yet still to have a team. Plus timezone works well with Australian mornings. Adds another timeslot)
 

NoobPie

Cancelled
Sep 21, 2016
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This is the one place overseas I can see a team working in, within the next 25 years.

Would need a massive leap in transport technology.....more likely start developing a small pro competition in North America (though the stadia is always the challenge )

Auckland is the only plausible spot for an AFL team outside of Australia
 

Johnny Bananas

Premiership Player Hater
Sep 10, 2010
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Next door
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Would need a massive leap in transport technology.....more likely start developing a small pro competition in North America (though the stadia is always the challenge )
No it won't. Midweek flights and a few days to adjust to jetlag would make it work. If rugby union can have teams in Japan, Australia, South Africa and Argentina, all within the same club competition, a team in Vancouver would also be possible.
 
Mar 24, 2012
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Hawthorn
I have been promoting the 22-team idea for some years now.

Why ??

21-rounds means it is a completely even draw.
Major growth into new regions.
Total dominance of the footy landscape over the rugby codes.
True national competition.
11-games per week


Great point re an even draw.

It boggles my mind how fixture-ery the AFL is.

Both NFL and EPL (two competitions the AFL would or should admire) have fair and equitable draws. Why are we left with this clearly unfair draw? I know it’s cool the Hawks play the Cats x2 per season for the $$$ but it’s a competition first and the quality of footy and added quantity of 22 teams will bring in enough revenue.

21 games per season with 22 weeks (Keep the current bye set up).

Playing each team once with alternating home and away fixtures each season is the ideal way to run the comp.
 

NoobPie

Cancelled
Sep 21, 2016
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No it won't. Midweek flights and a few days to adjust to jetlag would make it work. If rugby union can have teams in Japan, Australia, South Africa and Argentina, all within the same club competition, a team in Vancouver would also be possible.

You can't really compare the super rugby to the AFL though

Super Rugby is on life support
 
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