Expansion 3rd Western Australian club

[RedV3x]

To redvx3's point, the Joondalup ground has a train line running near by, I'm sure they'd just put in another station stop there. There is also room to redevelop.

The original plan was for a train station but the government reneged.
Though W.A. is a football mad state, it's not a view shared by government.

West Perth could just become their reserves side, similar to peel for Freo. West Perth would welcome money being poured into their facility and surrounds I'm sure.

You don't know West Perth members. West Perth members rejected good money for simply renaming their club Joondalup.
West Perth would never commit to being anyone's reserve side.
The three Southern sides are committed to Fremantle.
The three Northern sides are committed to West Coast.
That leaves three clubs EAST.of Perth.
Even a South West club has more potential than a single arrogant WAFL club.

 

[RedV3x]

I agree, North are simply coming here to get money. Smart idea by them also. They already have a very solid following in WA. They won't grow it but it's not about that.

If we look at the history of N.M. and their "moves" then N.M. (in no particular order) have been associated with Sydney, the G.C. Canberra and Tasmania. Have I missed any ?
From the very start, in each case, they have said that they weren't going to move. Not very smart but kudos very ethical.
Nothing suggests a.t.m. that this isn't just another extension of the money grab.

 

[greatwhiteshark]

If we look at the history of N.M. and their "moves" then N.M. (in no particular order) have been associated with Sydney, the G.C. Canberra and Tasmania. Have I missed any ?
From the very start, in each case, they have said that they weren't going to move. Not very smart but kudos very ethical.
Nothing suggests a.t.m. that this isn't just another extension of the money grab.

It’s all it is. They are looking replace the money they will not be getting from Tassie going forward. Nothing more, nothing less. It’s a great result for both WA clubs

 

[Coolangatta]

- Addressing all the points above, if North played 4 games in w.a that might be ok, but I don't think the w.a public will adopt them as a w.a team, so it won't build their supporter base much. Unless maybe they did play games outta the regional south west there, they could build a base there coz it's 2 hours outside of Perth.

- If north relocated to become w.a 3, they would be building off a small/but big base for an interstate side of 6k members, better than starting from scratch, but would the w.a public always associate them as a Victorian team? Also they lack a point of difference in they are another blue/purple team in the same state.

- To redvx3's point, the Joondalup ground has a train line running near by, I'm sure they'd just put in another station stop there. There is also room to redevelop. West Perth could just become their reserves side, similar to peel for Freo. West Perth would welcome money being poured into their facility and surrounds I'm sure.

- The ultimate solution to all this is though, North relocate permanently to Canberra and become the Canberra kangaroos. It's close enough to drive for Victorian fans if they really wanna attend, it's a market that needs a team, the Canberra government will transfer the gws dollars plus more to North ($7.5 mill annually going by the giants rate), they'd have a new home ground at an upgraded Manuka, they'd get academy access to the whole of the ACT and riverina and they'd go from being a small club with no growth opportunities, to a medium size club in a growing city with arguably the strongest academy area in the country. They could do the 1 or 2 games at marvel annually to keep the Victorian fans happy, in addition to Vic away games, so still about 7 Victorian games. They need to follow the successful template of the swans and lions, but a relocation to a place that's the closest option in Australia is more appealing than the previous gold coast and tassie suggestions (and before anybody says, yes I know north played in Canberra 20 years ago, but the place was much smaller back then and they were never a permanent Canberra team, so the locals had no reason to invest in them).

Then... you bring in w.a 3 as a fresh Western Australian franchise.

My dream scenario:

GWS become Western Sydney Giants
Suns merge with Southport, become Gold Coast Sharks
North move to ACT, become Canberra Kangaroos
WA3 team 20 called North Perth Miners

Top End Round when 20 teams: 3 games in Darwin, 3 Cairns, 2 Townsville, 1 each Mackay and Alice Springs.

Hawks play 2 games in Newcastle hosting Swans and Giants
Saints play 2 games in Auckland
Dees host 2 Riverina games, one against the Giants in Wagga Wagga, one against Canberraroos in Albury.

Keep comp to 20 teams until at least 2050. After that, consider another round of expansion depending on how things are going in the northern markets and NZ.

 

[Bjo187]

My dream scenario:

GWS become Western Sydney Giants
Suns merge with Southport, become Gold Coast Sharks
North move to ACT, become Canberra Kangaroos
WA3 team 20 called North Perth Miners

Top End Round when 20 teams: 3 games in Darwin, 3 Cairns, 2 Townsville, 1 each Mackay and Alice Springs.

Hawks play 2 games in Newcastle hosting Swans and Giants
Saints play 2 games in Auckland
Dees host 2 Riverina games, one against the Giants in Wagga Wagga, one against Canberraroos in Albury.

Keep comp to 20 teams until at least 2050. After that, consider another round of expansion depending on how things are going in the northern markets and NZ.

I particularly like all the above suggestions regarding the teams. Western Sydney gives the giants more recognisable profile, the sharks is a stronger logo and they inherit all their massive financial assets, North to Canberra would be great for the club and the game and the third Perth team, if they were called the miners or the diggers or whatever, the black and gold of the new orleans saints would he a good colour template.

On the extra round that needs to be added, I think that could be called 'travel round' and you have all the clubs travel to places that don't usually get football. Newcastle, cairns, McKay, Darwin, central coast, sunshine coast, Wollongong, Albury, Broome maybe, a whole lot of options.

I agree that with the above proposal, they're set for at least 20 years.

 

[Coolangatta]

I particularly like all the above suggestions regarding the teams. Western Sydney gives the giants more recognisable profile, the sharks is a stronger logo and they inherit all their massive financial assets, North to Canberra would be great for the club and the game and the third Perth team, if they were called the miners or the diggers or whatever, the black and gold of the new orleans saints would he a good colour template.

On the extra round that needs to be added, I think that could be called 'travel round' and you have all the clubs travel to places that don't usually get football. Newcastle, cairns, McKay, Darwin, central coast, sunshine coast, Wollongong, Albury, Broome maybe, a whole lot of options.

I agree that with the above proposal, they're set for at least 20 years.

Yeah North Perth Miners in black and gold would be sweet, the name works as a nice nod to the FIFO workers who go up north as well.

Travel round is not a bad idea either, especially in the event that the Hawks and Dees might want to play all their home games in Melbourne eventually.

I could see the Dogs sticking with Ballarat long term and the Saints were keen on Auckland until the ground never took off. Think they’d be interested in picking it up again if it was ever put back on the table.

Of all the most enticing secondary markets after Canberra, they’d have to be Newcastle and Auckland I’d think because of their size.

 

[RedV3x]

My dream scenario:

GWS become Western Sydney Giants
Suns merge with Southport, become Gold Coast Sharks
North move to ACT, become Canberra Kangaroos
WA3 team 20 called North Perth Miners

What happened to Tasmania ?

 

[Coolangatta]

What happened to Tasmania ?

The stadium falls apart and the team gets canned.

Nah. Team 19.

And since none of the Vic clubs are going anywhere, Canberra Owls/Griffins sounds like a pretty good choice for team 20.

Could still have GWS rebrand as Western Sydney Giants and Suns merge with Southport and become the Sharks.

The only thing that'd be unresolved here is no 3rd WA but maybe they should just have Gather Round in WA instead of SA.

 

[kranger]

South Western Times

The City of Bunbury and South West Football League say they remain supportive of a South West-based side being introduced into the AFL in the wake of the league officially confirming North Melbourne...

www.facebook.com

 

[Johnny Bananas]

South Western Times

The City of Bunbury and South West Football League say they remain supportive of a South West-based side being introduced into the AFL in the wake of the league officially confirming North Melbourne...

www.facebook.com

View attachment 2166355

Still only 75 000 people in Bunbury, though there's 170 000 across the South West. I think they're still several years away from being able to sustain a full-time team.

 

[Bjo187]

Still only 75 000 people in Bunbury, though there's 170 000 across the South West. I think they're still several years away from being able to sustain a full-time team.

I thought I read the other day the sw was gonna be up around 450k by 2050, dunno where I read that though.

 

[Canberra Pear]

I thought I read the other day the sw was gonna be up around 450k by 2050, dunno where I read that though.

This website says 300k by 2050. Which would a stretch for hosting a team.

 

[Garwood18]

This website says 300k by 2050. Which would a stretch for hosting a team.

Population mightn't be as big as other cities. But we have really passionate football fans starving to see big games. Our population of genuine footy fans who will turn up each week to a new AFL team is way higher than a non-footy town like Darwin or anywhere in FNQ.

I'm a big supporter of getting a team down here. (I'm a Bunbury boy)

 

[Bjo187]

This website says 300k by 2050. Which would a stretch for hosting a team.

Yeah they'd have to extend that into grabbing fans out of Perth too. Like the cats fanbase.

 

[Coolangatta]

Yeah they'd have to extend that into grabbing fans out of Perth too. Like the cats fanbase.

Yeah they’d have to play 3 home games at Optus the same way the Cats play 3 at the G.

2 of those Optus games would be against the Dockers and Eagles.

South West Sharks as team 21/22 if the Suns don’t change their brand name.

 

[Canberra Pear]

Population mightn't be as big as other cities. But we have really passionate football fans starving to see big games. Our population of genuine footy fans who will turn up each week to a new AFL team is way higher than a non-footy town like Darwin or anywhere in FNQ.

I also think Darwin and FNQ are too small for teams.

People were worried Tasmania was too small. And the Southwest has significantly fewer people than Tasmania. Even fewer than Hobart.

I'm not opposed to the Southwest having a team one day, but I think there are other options ahead of it.

Yeah they'd have to extend that into grabbing fans out of Perth too. Like the cats fanbase.

The issue I see with that is you'd assume they'd have to chip into southern Perth, which (I believe) is more Freo territory.

 

[jatz14]

I also think Darwin and FNQ are too small for teams.

People were worried Tasmania was too small. And the Southwest has significantly fewer people than Tasmania. Even fewer than Hobart.

I'm not opposed to the Southwest having a team one day, but I think there are other options ahead of it.



The issue I see with that is you'd assume they'd have to chip into southern Perth, which (I believe) is more Freo territory.

The advantage a South West team has is those home games against Freo and WC. Guaranteed 2 big home games a year.

That and, a population used to going to footy games.

I think the average attendance per head of population would be higher in the South West than a lot of the other places mentioned.

That said, it will be too small for a while though. Maybe look at it at 250 000.

On SM-A346E using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Coolangatta]

The advantage a South West team has is those home games against Freo and WC. Guaranteed 2 big home games a year.

That and, a population used to going to footy games.

I think the average attendance per head of population would be higher in the South West than a lot of the other places mentioned.

That said, it will be too small for a while though. Maybe look at it at 250 000.

On SM-A346E using BigFooty.com mobile app

A 2nd Brisbane team and 3rd WA team seem like pretty good options for teams 21-22 imo.

Sadly I can’t see Darwin and Cairns ever getting teams. They’re not just too small but it’s only going to get hotter and more humid in the future, unless we have some unforeseeable weather control tech to make them more habitable places to live.

 

[RedV3x]

Population mightn't be as big as other cities. But we have really passionate football fans starving to see big games. Our population of genuine footy fans who will turn up each week to a new AFL team is way higher than a non-footy town like Darwin or anywhere in FNQ.

I'm a big supporter of getting a team down here. (I'm a Bunbury boy)

Yes, population isn't everything. Geelong has shown that.
Bunbury is twice the distance from the capital as Geelong and not on a suburban train line
but that does make the population very passionate and wanting of an AFL team.
Is that enough ?
The developments with N.M. games are very encouraging.
Why would you play at Bunbury over Perth stadiam otherwise ?

 

[RedV3x]

Southwest has significantly fewer people than Tasmania. Even fewer than Hobart.

Depends on your analysis.
As of 2023, the estimated population of the South West region of Western Australia is 374,388,
So the catchment area might extend from Harvey, Geographe Bay, Margaret River, Bridgetown to Collie.

The issue I see with that is you'd assume they'd have to chip into southern Perth, which (I believe) is more Freo territory.

South of the river, especially along the coast is technically Freomantle territory but I wouldn;t expect Fremantle to lose any members what-so-ever. though a S.W. sharks could attract some new fans from Perth.

 

[Johnny Bananas]

The issue I see with that is you'd assume they'd have to chip into southern Perth, which (I believe) is more Freo territory.

This is a good point. And the only way to avoid it would be for the team to be based in northern Perth, playing 7-9 home games at Optus Stadium and 2-4 in Bunbury.

 

[Coolangatta]

This is a good point. And the only way to avoid it would be for the team to be based in northern Perth, playing 7-9 home games at Optus Stadium and 2-4 in Bunbury.

Yeah the reverse of what I said might be the way to do it. Don't call them north or south, just Perth Miners, play 6 home games at Optus (2 away at Optus v Eagles and Dockers so 8 Optus games in total), 2 at Arena Joondalup and 3 games in Bunbury.