Would original expansion clubs have greater support if they named themselves after a state/area?

[BallaratBulldog]

Not like for like at all but it is debatable the impact change to Western Bulldogs (and knocking back West Melbourne as a name) from Footscray compared to if they stayed put.

 

[Johnny Bananas]

Secondly, the WA Football Commission thought it was adding a team to the VFL until a genuinely national competition came along.

Good grief, were they really that naive? The only way to generate a truly national competition would have been to stay well away from the VFL. The SANFL recognised this and did the right thing, but they were never going to be able to make it happen by themselves, they needed WA to stand with them.

The idea of a truly national league was doomed the minute the Eagles entered the VFL. Port Adelaide were smart enough to recognise that and fight for their long-term relevance, then the SANFL hijacked their bid and the rest is history.

I think the Showgrounds weren't the worst idea to start with, but their medium term plans should really be to build a stadium at Old Kings Oval behind CommBank Stadium.

I've advocated this idea in the past too. But it should have happened at the beginning. It'll be hard to get a look in for government funding for Old Kings Oval now, given the NSW government already paid for two new NRL stadia and is beset by demands for more. They will also want to have events at Olympic Park to justify their investment in metro and light rail connections there.

The AFL really screwed the viability of both their expansion teams by putting them in bad locations. Olympic Park was always going to be hard to get to compared to Parramatta and never had any atmosphere. Carrara is even harder to get to and is surrounded by bush. There's a reason both the Bears and the NRL ended up abandoning it, yet the AFL jumped on it with glee.