This. Two mediocre teams fumbling and bumbling their way around the park for 100 minutes is no way to sell the game to a new audience.
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Can AFL make a footprint in NZ?
- Thread starter Rich
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Riccardo11
Cancelled
The one New Zealand team in the League competition came in in the early 1990s, when the competition was called the ARL.
Perhaps you are confusing League with Union, which has 15 teams, 5 each from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa? That body is run equally by all three countries.
Riccardo11
Cancelled
We played reigning premier Sydney in last years game, and it was a great contest.
It's our idea so of course we get to play the games there, and Brisbane were most likley selected because the crowd if played at Etihad would have been miniscule, so the impact on our bottom line is lower.
It is an experiment at this point, a pure curiosity, and the Kiwis haven't exactly seen hundreds of live games in their own backyard, so they wouldn't notice if the game isn't quite Grand Final quality. The AFL is hardly going to play blockbusters over there at this stage, are they?
Give them some credit, mate.
With Union... No.... I would never confuse League with Gods game.
Finally actually Googled this. The Auckland Warriors side started in the ARL for 2 years only. They then went over to Super League before coming back after the ARL was disbanded and replaced with the NRL. It really is a story that deserves its own movie
- Banned
- #56
If you are going to undertake something do it right. It's pointlesss otherwise.
New Zealanders now get quite a good AFL TV feed I understand.
It's all about promotion and you have to give the target audience more respect.
The balance is that the AFL didn't know that these two teams would be in the position that there are and at least it was a close game.
MightyHawks
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Selecting Brisbane and Sydney is no surprise - they are cities that people have heard of.
Wouldn't be shocked if Melbourne & Adelaide end up playing St Kilda there either
It's definitely worth the AFL dipping a toe in the water in New Zealand. It's close enough that a team could function in the AFL one day (Australasian FL)
Like when Sydney & Brisbane were formed there is an expat community that can provide a base of support while growing the game
I'm amazed how quickly people are to knock the concept - I think it's more likely than not there'll be a NZ team in the AFL by 2030
Wouldn't be shocked if Melbourne & Adelaide end up playing St Kilda there either
It's definitely worth the AFL dipping a toe in the water in New Zealand. It's close enough that a team could function in the AFL one day (Australasian FL)
Like when Sydney & Brisbane were formed there is an expat community that can provide a base of support while growing the game
I'm amazed how quickly people are to knock the concept - I think it's more likely than not there'll be a NZ team in the AFL by 2030
TVNZ have announced they are covering 8 of the 9 finals live and 2016-18 they will show 3 live and 2 either live or delayed in addition to the one match that Sky Sports broadcast every week. Link. Good to have more footy on FTA in NZ again, not quite as good as Sommet but much better than the one game a week situation this year.
This is welcome news for the game over there.
AFL boss Gillon Mclachlan recently in his Canberra Press Club speech made a point about NZ development. He said that the AFL will refocus on the Auckland area when the new TV deal commences in 2017. Apparently there is supposed to be a new cricket ground/stadium mooted for Auckland in the future and he indicated that the AFL would like to be associated with that.
He also mentioned that the Saints will continue in Wellington with their efforts there.
Found this article about the new Auckland Cricket Ground.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/cricket/7108417/Auckland-stadium-jigsaw-puzzle-taking-shape
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This stuff posted on the AFLNZ website.
The North Harbour Stadium in Auckland which appears to be rectangular???? was opened in 1997 and will have Aussie Rules matches played on it from next month through to next April. This kind of move needs semi serious funding to get on to the actual ground and is definitely a boost for the sport- Better than playing in parks etc.
Going by the illustration it appears they are going to squeeze an Aussie Rules type oval in.
http://aflnz.co.nz/blog/2015/09/11/north-harbour-stadium-to-host-afl/
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More details on the new 2016 NZ AFL Premiership Comp at the North Harbour Stadium
Will be a 4 team set up
Three teams revealed so far -Northern Suns -Southern Saints - Western Crows
90 player Draft will fill teams
The momentum continues over there.
Apparently the main Stadium only has Rugby Codes and Soccer Football played on it.
Cricket and Aussie Rules play on the adjacent Cricket Oval with presumably access to the facilities at the main ground.
http://aflnz.co.nz/blog/2015/09/16/new-afl-competition-to-hit-new-zealand/
LukeParkerno1
Post-Human
You realise the population is only 4 million right? So a 1/4 of the country are kids running around playing rugby
You been to NZ? Not out of the question. Lets say there is a 50/50 split between male and female of 2 million. It is well within that for a million to play rugby in some form. Even womens rugby is quite big over there.
NZ should be forgotten about, as it is any sport behind rugby and for that matter netball is relatively unknown. AFL won't work over there, period.
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Sports participation rates are nowhere near as high a proportion of total population as you think, even for back home.
NZ actual figures for sports participation; soccer 167,000 & rugby at 109,000. So those AFL figures aren't terrible in comparison
http://www.sportnz.org.nz/assets/Up...eation-in-the-lives-of-New-Zealand-Adults.pdf
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- #65
No more Saints in Wellington. Council have pulled support.
The fourth team for the upcoming NZ AFL comp has been revealed --Central Giants
Players for the 9 Round comp will be drawn from Auckland- Wellington - Canterbury - Dunedin
A share system will operate to reduce travel for the players from the south.
With the news above about the Saints perhaps Auckland would be a better bet for a AFL club to set up eventually.
With nearly a month gone since the original announcement AFLNZ has progressed to the National Draft stage for their new National Comp.
Readers will note various categories in the draft. Just to clarify Cat 1 is the Auckland Senior Comp with the other Cats spread around to the other Senior comps and further down to the AFLNZ Academys etc.
Members of the Senior AFLNZ Hawks team will feature prominently in this Draft and it has been reported that several NZ players in Australia will return to compete.
The advent of the also new Youths comps for Boys and Girls AFLNZ is trying to set up the game there to go to a more solid base. Will these moves answer the thread title possibly not yet but it brings the answer a bit closer.
http://aflnz.co.nz/blog/2015/10/16/afl-new-zealand-national-draft-explained-part-2/
The AFL St Kilda Saints footy club are not finished with NZ yet it seems. It appears that they may have approached the Authorities in Christchurch to test the waters for interest in games in that city.
This venue has been speculated as a possible set up.
http://hagleyoval.co.nz/
We will pose a question - What happens to the NZ Cricket Grounds in the winter. Do they sit idle.
AFLNZ has gained access to the North Harbour Venue Cricket Ground for April next year for their National League. Could this be the start eventually of proper winter footy over there.
Here is link to a Saints article discussing their future in NZ. They have not mentioned Christchurch but are obviously looking around.
http://www.saints.com.au/news/2015-09-16/st-kilda-explores-new-nz-opportunities
- Feb 1, 2010
- 39,092
- 19,781
- AFL Club
- Carlton
- Other Teams
- Tottenham Hotspur, Brentford FC
If Auckland had a suitable ground to play on it'd be the logical choice. Gets played in a fair few schools and decent local comp & junior comp too
Yeah that is where they will end up probably and is where the AFL is going to put more funds in.
Only if Rugby and Rugby League were outlawed and punishable by death ...
Christchurch is cricket only, winter it is for public access
Eden Park is rugby
Basin Reserve is cricket only
The Cake tin is rugby
Seddon Park is cricket only
Napier is rugby IIRC
Very few of these grounds are suitable for Australian Rules due to their size and/or configurations.
stewie griffen
Make me an Admin!
I forget, wasn't there a stadium being built in Auckland somewhere?
Basin's cricket only but dimensions are ok, altho i guess with the Welly council pulling support thats a no.
Basin's cricket only but dimensions are ok, altho i guess with the Welly council pulling support thats a no.
Not yet. They have Eden Park and Mt Smart at the moment, but Kingsland residents around Eden Park fighting hard to prevent further expansion. I don't know where any proposed new stadium would be located though.
