Would you jump ship?

[PurpleReign]

I followed the Weags when they started. After spending Sunday evenings in my youth watching the Winners with Victorian teams slugging it out on muddy fields in front of big crowds with grand stands draped in what I presume was toilet paper, it was such an amazing experience to go and see those colourful characters in real life. But the moment it was announced that Freo were going to get a team I immediately jumped ship.
I want to support a team that I can identify with. What I’ve always liked about Freo, and never liked about the Weags, is that I can point to a map to identify the place Freo represent with the tip of a compass and not a wave of a hand. When you stand on Market St or swim at South Beach or drink a beer at the Newport you can say, this is what my football team represents.
I assume that if a third team was introduced, some current Freo supporters would do as I did and change to a team that better represents where they live and who they are as a person. Not me, of course.

 

[Docker82]

Wonder if a third WA team would get Dockers level concessions and picks or GWS level concessions and picks.

Honestly they'd be way too good if they got GWS level concessions.

Could you imagine those concessions combined with WA's local talent and some go home factor for the Out of Contract players.

Realistically it'll be somewhere in between. Some good picks but the advantages of being from WA vs NSW would mean the concessions wouldn't need to be as big as a non-traditional (NSW) or low population state (Tasmania)

 

[Docker82]

I was born in 1994 and never had the option to support anyone else. I have lived within 15 minutes from Freo my entire life.

Realistically they're not ever created a team closer to where I'm from than Freo. Even then I wouldn't switch.

 

[Righteo]

Let's create a third team in a market that has no demand for one so that it can cannibalise existing supporters and end up on welfare street while pulling crowds of 11,000 every second week. The AFL aren't THAT stupid, surely?

 

[vidwhal]

Without even reading your post, the answer is HELL *IN NO!!

As painful as it is, I'm here forever.

 

[Wilksyy]

No but if a third team came to WA it would be the death knell for both Eagles and Dockers. Eagles will never win a flag again and Dockers won’t ever win a flag. Hopefully, SA gets a team or even better one of the VIC club folds.

 

[kingswood71]

Big fat no from me.
Love them or hate them, still my side and I will have purple running thru my veins until the day I die....Hopefully get to see a premiership before that happens

 

[royale with cheese]

What made you pick freo in 2001 lol

He lost a bet

 

[Docker82]

Let's create a third team in a market that has no demand for one so that it can cannibalise existing supporters and end up on welfare street while pulling crowds of 11,000 every second week. The AFL aren't THAT stupid, surely?

Didn't stop the AFL with GWS...

Honestly I think your underselling how many fans would show up. 11,000 would actually be pretty good compared to recent expansion teams. Wouldn't be surprised if Tasmania only gets slightly better than that each week either tbh.

Wouldn’t be surprised if I’d end up attending some of their games tbh - I genuinely enjoy going to games and not giving a **** who wins. I care too much about Freo and hate West Coast too much for that to be a reality in Perth. I don’t know if I would have any feelings towards the new team especially just after they came in.

WA3 might be the easiest team to set up if the AFL just wants to set up a team to make it 20. Just need to build a new training base and the infrastructure is there. Whether people would jump ship from West Coast (mainly them as it’s in the north of Perth) is really the one and only issue the AFL would give a **** about.

Canberra is the only market without its own team that makes any sense. I can't see the AFL bringing in a team there until GWS' deal expires in 2030-something. WA has the highest population per team of the traditional football states.

It wouldn’t work in South Australia as there’s all the same potential issues as here only with less population. It might work in Victoria but only because most home games would be half full of ‘travelling’ fans of other Victorian clubs.

19 teams not only means a bye for at least one team a week. It means slightly less than the nine games we have a week now (multiple teams will need a bye some weeks unless they shorten the season. They'll want 10 games for an increased media deal ASAP

 

[Silversurfer]

Too much pain to give up now...end of story.

 

[Bastyy]

In a different conundrum than most given my home state is now getting a team in Tassie but I A. Don't like my state that much to jump ship and B. Have been invested for Freo far too long to move on. A premiership elsewhere wouldn't be as sweet

 

[freo_leo29]

No but if a third team came to WA it would be the death knell for both Eagles and Dockers. Eagles will never win a flag again and Dockers won’t ever win a flag. Hopefully, SA gets a team or even better one of the VIC club folds.

Really? We don't usually lose talent to each other so that's not a problem


This board is constantly mad about us bringing players home too and it hasn't got us a premiership yet


Don't think it would have too much of an effect on us tbh, maybe a couple less players coming home but that hasn't worked for us anyway

 

[FreoRicci]

Yep the Jackson trade is what really broke me. We fremantle'd the s**t out of that trade. Paid massive overs and got little in return. Stereo-typical Freo trade that one. It's like giving away our brand new Landcriuser and dependable Hilux for a busted old combi. Sure the combi is fun and romantic, but the roof leaks and you can't get above 80km/hr on the freeway. For some reason people still think you can do an around Australia trip in it.

Mate. Get some hardness.
Became a member in 2001. Worst initiation possible for any fan.
Backed it up by trading pick 1.

 

[Achin joints]

I could imagine disengaging from AFL especially if it it keeps getting tinkered with but swapping teams ,no chance.

 

[Docker82]

Really? We don't usually lose talent to each other so that's not a problem


This board is constantly mad about us bringing players home too and it hasn't got us a premiership yet


Don't think it would have too much of an effect on us tbh, maybe a couple less players coming home but that hasn't worked for us anyway

The local talent concessions would likely have a medium term impact on both clubs imo.

If we were competing for a flag then I’d expect it to have little impact. Maybe it’d have more impact if we were starting a rebuild at the time. It’s 4-5 years into the future minimum we’re talking for this team to come in - our list could be anywhere by then tbh.

 

[freo_leo29]

The local talent concessions would likely have a medium term impact on both clubs imo.

If we were competing for a flag then I’d expect it to have little impact. Maybe it’d have more impact if we were starting a rebuild at the time. It’s 4-5 years into the future minimum we’re talking for this team to come in - our list could be anywhere by then tbh.

Okay yeah the concessions would have an impact but I don't expect them to retain them long term like gc have, it'll be a 2 year window for a Perth side

 

[Madas]

If we somehow turned into a ruthless flog team with arrogant players and supporters, where our players are treated like gods by the local media and swan around thinking they own the joint , then yeh ……… catch ya later Jack .

But I’m not sure where I would go and don’t think that’s happening for some time to come .

If the new WA team was to somehow be located in Albany and there was some local connection, and they didn’t act like Flog Coast , then absolutely I would go watch and support them .

Truth be told , I want to support the Eagles as I am a born and bred West Oz and proud of our footy heritage.
But they have become insufferable so they can go and get stuffed

 

[Deathly]

I could imagine disengaging from AFL especially if it it keeps getting tinkered with but swapping teams ,no chance.

I'm the same.

If they introduce a 3rd team here and give them all this start-up bullshit I'll just stop caring about the sport. 20 team competition is a ******* joke also.

 

[kuhni]

The only thing more depressing than our performance is this board. We haven't been THAT bad.
Regardless, half the reason we support freo is because we love a good underdog story.

Imagine the fans of sports where there are no equalisation measures such as the draft e.g. EPL and your team is and always will be crap.

 

[mightymouse75]

Never swap teams.
I've defended these purple *ers for too long.
I do admit I'm losing interest.
Not as invested as I once was and haven't been for several years.
I was gaining interest last year as I was bored recovering from a motorcycle accident and not able to do a lot of the things I enjoy.
Thankfully my fitness has come back and I can find other things to do again.
Last year was pretty good.
It's no wonder we are all upset now.

 

[rubydoomsday]

no.

but i'm a Freo kid who's lived in Melbourne for 19 years so I've always kind of had to have a '2nd team' (Doggies).

i literally grew up in east freo and south freo, first games i ever went to were Bulldogs (S Freo) games, went to both SFSHS and John Curtin SHS.

i'm Freo til I die, no matter how s**t or great they ever are.

 

[freo1]

Mate. Get some hardness.
Became a member in 200. Worst imitation possible for any fan.
Backed it up by trading pick 1.

Haha, at least you joined at the very bottom! only way was up from there.

I was a foundation member (Club Doc, back then). There was a few years of hope before 1997. All we had to do was beat last placed Melbourne in round 22 to make our first finals series. We Fremantle'd it hard and lost by 40 points! Had to wait until 2003 to make the finals for the first time.

It's been a rollercoaster ride ever since!

 

[freo1]

The only thing more depressing than our performance is this board. We haven't been THAT bad.
Regardless, half the reason we support freo is because we love a good underdog story.

Imagine the fans of sports where there are no equalisation measures such as the draft e.g. EPL and your team is and always will be crap.

What actually makes us so bad is we sit in that middle area - teasing supporters with potential but never delivering. Paul Hasleby said it well the other day, it's like we're in constant rebuild, we're knocking down walls to renovate before finishing the house. We trade out important list experience (like last year, Lobb, Logue, Tucker, Acres - basically all around or over 100 games experience) and bring in mostly rookies or blokes with less than 50 games.

Since we've been in the comp, most clubs have had a lick of the ice-cream except
Carlton won in our first year, ad not much since but at least have a cabinet full to cry into
St Kilda havent won a flag but at least have 1 in the cupboard and made 2 (3) grandies
GWS havent won a flag but have made a GF in half the time it took us
Gold Coast havent done anything but no one cares about them anyway

Everyone else has at least had a victory since we've been in the comp. We teas our supporters with hope, we're great car salesman

 

[Sweetback]

No, but I don’t live my life vicariously through the football team I support. They break my heart all the time but in the end it is a bunch of dudes playing a game and a bunch of other people trying to help them do it. I could walk away from following footy altogether though.

 

[MadMundy]

If Swan Districts hypothetically joined I would be heavily tempted purely because my family were heavy Swans fans since they first moved here in the 60s, massive loyalty to the Black Ducks with us, still think I'd stick with our boys.