troppo
Team Captain
Southport Sucks!Because only about 1% of their membership would have any interest in their football team. They’re also regarded with little fondness by the rest of the Gold Coast football fraternity.
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AFLW 2024 - Round 6 - Chat, game threads, injury lists, team lineups and more.
Southport Sucks!Because only about 1% of their membership would have any interest in their football team. They’re also regarded with little fondness by the rest of the Gold Coast football fraternity.
Hi Albi,
Sorry if I offended you. It wasn't my intention. I'm actually a Queenslander myself.
My thinking of showcasing block busters here are for a few reasons;
a) it's arrogant to think everyone in Queensland follow Queensland sides
b) it's broadening the market of a brand, no different to playing in Tasmania, China or New Zealand
c) it's not state of origin and the thinking that Queensland want a good Queensland team is narrow minded
d) I'd imagine that Queenslanders just want a good competitive sport (just my open minded thoughts)
a) it's arrogant to think everyone in Queensland follow Queensland sides)
b) it's broadening the market of a brand, no different to playing in Tasmania, China or New Zealand
c) it's not state of origin and the thinking that Queensland want a good Queensland team is narrow minded
d) I'd imagine that Queenslanders just want a good competitive sport (just my open minded thoughts)
Great article Paul,
Obviously a passionate supporter of AFL.
My thought on AFL in Qld.
Continuously schedule block buster games here.
ie. Bombers v pies, blues v pies, cats v Hawks etc etc
Don't rely on the marketing ability of the Lions or Suns.
Show case the best the AFL has on offer on a regular basis so Queenslanders can see what our great game truely is.
Just a thought
It is very clear that there are Qlders who do not follow the Qld sides. I have 2 in my own household, they jumped off the Lions because they are young/want to following winning teams (probably similar to yourself). Also anyone that regularly attends home games (like i do) at the Gabba, witness the away supporter numbers whenever the Vic teams are in town.
There are probably about 5k at the absolute most any game... so even if you had Pies vs Bombers Or Hawks vs Geelong (blockbusters as you call them) I guarantee you would not get close to the attendance figure for a game against the Lions by any of those teams.
But (and this is the crux of the whole argument) there are two AFL sides that already play in this state, they ARE the brand, them playing well is the only way to grow the sport long term in Qld.
Have a look at what games AFL send to Tas/China/NZ .. Suns/Lions/Saints/Roos. So even if your suggestion of Vic teams 'blockbusters' were played in Qld (never happen) it would provide little to no long term benefit to the game and clubs here... unless you seriously think AFL in China and NZ is about to boom just because of a few exhibition games.
Qld is very much a SOO state. In every code we watch. If you really believe that Qlders just want to watch quality sport, check out the TV ratings for AFL games not featuring Qld sides. Even check out the attendance figures for one day cricket held at the Gabba for matches not featuring Australia between top sides like India vs SAF or ENG or recent football games at Suncorp featuring quality team such as Japan or Korea.
My statement should probably be - The only thing (the overwhelming majority of) Qlders want is a winning successful QLD teams.
Luckily, now we at least have some high quality administrators, which as least something the AFL has helped facilitate. However, if we have another player exodus, then we are in trouble. I am really hoping that Lions pull ourselves out of this mess, but our viability as a competitive club is now resting on the next few years. Exciting but scary.
Another thought re fan attendance. I believe weather has an impact eg suns supports have great weather and choose between transport difficulties and watching uninspiring afl or easier transport (tram and car parks) and spend the time swimming/walking/running/playing on the beach/fishing/boating and following up with a beer at a surf club with a billion dollar view. They can record the game and if the match reports are favourable and watch it from the comfort of their favourite chair, drinking inexpensive (relatively)booze from their fridge.
It's the same in Brisbane - every weekend parks, playgrounds, sports ovals and walking paths as well as waterways are brimming with people actually doing stuff.
For the average sports watcher it needs to be an interesting game to get them to give up the alternatives and neither team have provided that in recent times.
Can you tell us how we can recruit better on field?Just to add to my above post, I think AFL statistically is pretty healthy in Qld.
Sure, the Lions and Suns aren't winning games but these are club issues and club issues alone.
Lions have over 24,000 members.
Suns have over 10,000 members.
Broncos amass over 34,000 but
Titans only around 8,000.
Then if you used the age old argument that AFL suffers in Qld due to NRL, well I think this is just an easy incorrect excuse.
If you flipped that around to Victoria, a dominated AFL state, well Melbourne Storm are breaking their own records and are Pushing 28,000 members this year and their home ground is 5 minutes from the MCG.
why?
Maybe because they recruit well, have great admin staff, great coaches and don't make up poor excuses of us V's them.
But then again these are just my thoughts and my research.
Maybe the Lions and Suns should recruit better across the board and on the field.
Membership numbers are not a good comparison for afl/nrl discussions.Afl have always had a membership based model to fund clubs.More members better financially.The Nrl have had a leagues club based model.Grow your leagues club for financial benefits for your team.An example of this is the Roosters their average crowd has been less than 10000 for years yet they are one of the most financially secure clubs because of their leagues club.Just to add to my above post, I think AFL statistically is pretty healthy in Qld.
Sure, the Lions and Suns aren't winning games but these are club issues and club issues alone.
Lions have over 24,000 members.
Suns have over 10,000 members.
Broncos amass over 34,000 but
Titans only around 8,000.
Then if you used the age old argument that AFL suffers in Qld due to NRL, well I think this is just an easy incorrect excuse.
If you flipped that around to Victoria, a dominated AFL state, well Melbourne Storm are breaking their own records and are Pushing 28,000 members this year and their home ground is 5 minutes from the MCG.
why?
Maybe because they recruit well, have great admin staff, great coaches and don't make up poor excuses of us V's them.
But then again these are just my thoughts and my research.
Maybe the Lions and Suns should recruit better across the board and on the field.
Well there may be clubs popping up everywhere, but there also “traditional” clubs in decline, Mayne Juniors and Sandgate being two examples off the top of my head. Competition with private schools who mandate that pupils play school sport on the weekend doesn’t help. My mates son played in an under 16 grand final last year and were in it up to their eyeballs at half time, then the kid who was bog at the time had to go and play in his school soccer final and they end up going down by 5 points.Tassie, i played in that irregular competition and i was fortunate enough to watch Michael Voss as a junior being a couple of years younger than him and playing at Morningside. I can assure you, actually i can guarantee you that there wasn't 3 better players in the universe than Michael Voss as an underage footballer. To this day, i doubt there has been a junior footballer dominate the game like Voss did. I can't remember the last time a midfielder kicked 14 goals in a Teal Cup equivalent game. The bloke was a genius.
Just on the state of AFL footy in QLD, the game is so healthy at a local level, there are more and more clubs popping up everywhere. The number of kids playing AFL in schools has increased 20 fold in my time. I am not willing to blame the AFL for anything. Our club woes are due to poor management and a lack of process in the selection of the senior coach. You make your own bed in this world.
Membership numbers are not a good comparison for afl/nrl discussions.Afl have always had a membership based model to fund clubs.More members better financially.The Nrl have had a leagues club based model.Grow your leagues club for financial benefits for your team.An example of this is the Roosters their average crowd has been less than 10000 for years yet they are one of the most financially secure clubs because of their leagues club.
Well there may be clubs popping up everywhere, but there also “traditional” clubs in decline, Mayne Juniors and Sandgate being two examples off the top of my head. Competition with private schools who mandate that pupils play school sport on the weekend doesn’t help. My mates son played in an under 16 grand final last year and were in it up to their eyeballs at half time, then the kid who was bog at the time had to go and play in his school soccer final and they end up going down by 5 points.
Excellent points you have made here. So sad to see these clubs not prospering. I know my son played under 11’s last year at Sandgate . I know this year half the team is gone including my son because private schools demand they play for their school. This is a major reason for afl not flourishing in Brisbane. Kids in the area love the game but just aren’t allowed to play it. There is no avenue for the juniors to progress through to the colts and senior levels which is why they are last in the qafl competition. If this was fixed Sandgate would be strongest club in Brisbane.Well there may be clubs popping up everywhere, but there also “traditional” clubs in decline, Mayne Juniors and Sandgate being two examples off the top of my head. Competition with private schools who mandate that pupils play school sport on the weekend doesn’t help. My mates son played in an under 16 grand final last year and were in it up to their eyeballs at half time, then the kid who was bog at the time had to go and play in his school soccer final and they end up going down by 5 points.