Western Sydney's AFL vow

[Fire]

Western Sydney's AFL vow: 'This is a 25-year generational investment'

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/sport/afl/western-sydneys-afl-vow-this-is-a-25year-generational-investment-20091021-h73q.html

''We recognise and respect the challenge we've got ahead of us. This is a 25-year generational investment. We don't expect overnight people are going to flock to the new team. It will take time,'' Holmes said yesterday as the Team Greater Western Sydney club announced former Manly chief executive Grant Mayer would take a key administration role with the new franchise.

''I think we're dealing with a community that has a great love for rugby league, and what we sometimes hope is people will follow rugby league and follow AFL. If they are a Parramatta supporter they might follow this club as their AFL club. It may mean they might come less regularly to AFL but they still follow the local club.''



I think this is a fantastic attitude for the club to take. The AFL has been trumpeting a lot about how much money it has to invest in the area, and I used to think that they were acting in an ameteur fashion. I thought this would only serve to put League followers off, as malicious intentions will make the already hostile demographic even moreso.

However, now I see that they were making these comments in order to convey this message to the poeple of WS: Have no fear, we aren't going to cut and run.

In fact, the AFL has taken a very softly softly approach to the whole thing. Those within the NRL have been talking about rallying the troops for war, and their media has been quick to heed the call. But those within the AFL came are focusing directly on their own product: they aren't getting sucked in. They are only talking about themselves and their sport.

And this is genious.

Pretty much everyone who follows WS will have an interest in League. Nothing will be gained from a war of words.

 

[desie]

Western Sydney's AFL vow: 'This is a 25-year generational investment'

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/sport/afl/western-sydneys-afl-vow-this-is-a-25year-generational-investment-20091021-h73q.html

''We recognise and respect the challenge we've got ahead of us. This is a 25-year generational investment. We don't expect overnight people are going to flock to the new team. It will take time,'' Holmes said yesterday as the Team Greater Western Sydney club announced former Manly chief executive Grant Mayer would take a key administration role with the new franchise.

''I think we're dealing with a community that has a great love for rugby league, and what we sometimes hope is people will follow rugby league and follow AFL. If they are a Parramatta supporter they might follow this club as their AFL club. It may mean they might come less regularly to AFL but they still follow the local club.''



I think this is a fantastic attitude for the club to take. The AFL has been trumpeting a lot about how much money it has to invest in the area, and I used to think that they were acting in an ameteur fashion. I thought this would only serve to put League followers off, as malicious intentions will make the already hostile demographic even moreso.

However, now I see that they were making these comments in order to convey this message to the poeple of WS: Have no fear, we aren't going to cut and run.

In fact, the AFL has taken a very softly softly approach to the whole thing. Those within the NRL have been talking about rallying the troops for war, and their media has been quick to heed the call. But those within the AFL came are focusing directly on their own product: they aren't getting sucked in. They are only talking about themselves and their sport.

And this is genious.

Pretty much everyone who follows WS will have an interest in League. Nothing will be gained from a war of words.

It's the only attitude they can take really.

Hopefully over time it will just make the paranoid hacks at the Terrorgraph look exactly that.

They'll be plenty of times in the first ten years that this club is laughed at and ridiculed but who cares, it's the right thing to do.

 

[pinion]

Western Sydney's AFL vow: 'This is a 25-year generational investment'

''I think we're dealing with a community that has a great love for rugby league, and what we sometimes hope is people will follow rugby league and follow AFL. If they are a Parramatta supporter they might follow this club as their AFL club. It may mean they might come less regularly to AFL but they still follow the local club.''

it's pretty much the same attitude the melbourne storm have always taken. 'come and see us when your team plays interstate.' its success here has been limited, however.

the challenge i guess is that rugby league doesn't have the same cluture of actually going and watching a game as AFL does in the southern states.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Australian_football_code_crowds

according to this the highest average crowd for an NRL team in sydney is under 17,000. that's 10,000 below even what north melbourne get. it gets even worse for teams like parramatta (13,500) and penrith (11,000) which are supposedly in the heartland of the new team.

agree though that they have to build it from the ground up. i'm sure it starts with a generation of auskickers (which is the envy of every sporting code in australia) and will take the 25 years they're suggesting, but to get sydney-siders to show up rather than just taking a passing interest will be a massive challenge. it makes you realise how well the swans have done