GWS are going to win the premiership

[Bokonon]

Its like me saying how could you go for a club that's been fully manufactured by the AFL?

I'll give you ground on the wasn't around thing. You should have posted you thoughts on our supporters in you're sanctuary though. I do get your pain and wish you well this weekend despite our disagreement.

 

[Fyfetheknife]

2016 Week 1 finals crowds

WA - 42k cap 44k
SA - 49k cap 53k
SYD - 60k cap 80k

How about you abstain from posting nonsense.

 

[PP34]

Love the tears from people who think the AFL is still the VFL. Especially from supporters of clubs who couldn't win premierships even without the Giants or Suns in the league (such as Richmond, who have been a perennial failure for 30 years now despire having all the advantages of being a Big 4 club). The Giants have won ONE final and people are already claiming them as a dynasty. Now, the Giants may well win some flags in the coming years... and then the competition will eventually even out, they'll return to the pack and be just another AFL club.

The Giants win yesterday was great to see. A bunch of young kids winning their first ever final in front of 60k people in a non-AFL state. An important win too in the overall scheme of growing the game of Australian Rules football. How many young kids in the crowd yesterday who were maybe attending their first ever AFL match will now get behind the Gaints and support them for the next 50+ years of their life? The Sydney media were all over the game too, which is rare. Great promotion for the AFL.

I'm sure none of you are complaining when you poach the young GWS talent that the AFL "handed" them.

Yeah, how dare we oppose what is essentially the AFL rigging the competition for the foreseeable future.

Will be great in 20 years time when nobody gives a shit about them.

 

[SgtSchulz]

The chance they have taken with every start up clubs concessions (except freo)

Pretty sure we had sfa concessions.

 

[grouse mate]

Prelim final crowds? I assume not many Swans supporters will be turning up to that game

ok, I'll post those figures when the game happens, hang tight for 2 weeks ok?

 

[Colonial]

Yeah, how dare we oppose what is essentially the AFL rigging the competition for the foreseeable future.

Will be great in 20 years time when nobody gives a shit about them.

So have you be complaining since 87?

 

[PP34]

So have you be complaining since 87?

I wasn't even born then so totally irrelevant.

 

[Demonic Ascent]

ok, I'll post those figures when the game happens, hang tight for 2 weeks ok?

Don't have to, GWS vs Dogs/Hawks will be capped at 24k

 

[Colonial]

I wasn't even born then so totally irrelevant.

Oh. So you have never seen a competition that wasnt rigged according to you...

 

[Demonic Ascent]

How do you think you got the money for developing your academy zone? The academy rules for GWS/Sydney/GC/Brisbane are different than those for the Victorian clubs too or you just ignorant of that. And since when has the Riverina zone been ignored and why should GWS have that?

Not to mention the fact the AFL wanted to control development yet when they stuffed it up they used it as an excuse to hand zones back to the expansion clubs.

 

[Demonic Ascent]

Sydney is a bigger market, and a significantly less tapped market than Melbourne, deal with it.
Sydney loves winners, always has.

Uh-huh. So what happens when the team/s see a downturn in on-field performance?

 

[PP34]

Oh. So you have never seen a competition that wasnt rigged according to you...

Where did I say that?

Precious and paranoid you are.

 

[Bokonon]

Uh-huh. So what happens when the team/s see a downturn in on-field performance?

We're building a destination club. It's a long way in the future.

 

[Determinant]

Uh-huh. So what happens when the team/s see a downturn in on-field performance?

No-one turns up
Swans SCG crowds in the late 80s early 90s were around 10k, we attended all the saints game played there in that period and mostly outnumbered the swans fans.
One of the biggest priorities for the giants is to ensure they build a strong membership base fast and hold onto them, no doubt why the club is as open and accessible as it is.

 

[Colonial]

Where did I say that?

Precious and paranoid you are.

Ummm

I wasn't even born then so totally irrelevant.

So your original statement of

Yeah, how dare we oppose what is essentially the AFL rigging the competition for the foreseeable future.

Will be great in 20 years time when nobody gives a shit about them.

Means that all the years of expansion clubs and concessions have been rigged.

If you werent alive at the beginning then that means you havent seen a non rigged comp according to you.

This is fairly standard stuff you really should remember what you wrote.

And just like the youth today you go the personal attack. How sad.

 

[Jobe Watson]

GWS had more concessions than GC including the mini draft concessions and greater access to 17yo's. They also have the Riverina a footy rich area as part of their Academy, something the Suns do not. On top of that, the Suns have been decimated with injuries to their starting midfield. If Ablett, Swallow, O'Meara and Prestia had been averaging 20 games a season they would probably be in a similar position to GWS and would likely be playing this weekend.

Yes, GWS got the mini-draft picks, but Gold Coast took more advantage of that than GWS did. They got Jack Martin and O'Meara out of it, while 2/4 top-end draft selections GWS picked up with the resulting draft picks traded to them are no longer at the club (O'Rourke and Plowman). But unlike Gold Coast, GWS didn't get many decent senior players in; Ward was all they could get in the initial year and he was hardly an established name, and Davis and Scully were young and unproven. And yes, GWS also have a great academy zone... but GC are going to get a top-5 rated player (Bowes) and a top-10 rated talent (Scheer) this year through their academy, so they aren't doing too bad either.

Also, injuries are apart of good football management. That the Giants haven't suffered that many injuries to their star players this season is further testament to how professionally run they are (and yes, they're probably also a bit lucky, but that isn't the AFL's fault).

They have done all they can to ensure "success" not just "competitiveness". If they need to cement their support in a tough market by winning a or multiple premierships then how sustainable are they? How will they go if they have an initial period of success and then a decade of poor performances like the Lions? Hell we don't even know how sustainable the Swans will be if they see a massive downturn in form considering they've been in finals/contending for premierships for 20 years now. 5 years of no finals/poor form will see them drop off dramatically.

I'm not against the expansion and want the clubs to do well - but I want it to be done on an equal footing, winning when you have an entrenched competitive advantage over your competition is hollow. I also have legitimate concerns about the sustainability of the northern clubs (Swans less so than the other 3) and how much money the AFL will blow over decades trying to prop them up. And yes, my concerns re: sustainability also extend to my own club and several others in the Vic market. However I know that those clubs at least have a core supporter base they can rely on of 20-50k and a larger base of a couple of hundred thousand of casual supporters. Once the wins dry up for some of the expansion teams I think they'll be in strife and it is difficult to see them weathering a downturn in success the likes of which other clubs have had over recent seasons/decades (Melbourne, Richmond, Carlton, Port [even Hawks, Dogs and Saints earlier this century] as examples).

GWS aren't very sustainable at the moment, everyone knows this. The AFL have taken one of the biggest risks in its history by introducing a club into NRL heartland. That's why it's important to make them competitive early. Sydney sports fans are fair-weather at the best of times, and to get the early adopter fans GWS need to at least be a competitive team. That Final win on the weekend could be a massive boost for the club; 60k turned up to watch it (a decent bit of them GWS supporters) and beating your cross-town rival in a game like that is great promotion for the club. Of course the expansion clubs don't have a core supporter base yet, they've been around less than a decade. That's what they're currently trying to build with all their community work. It's a 20+ year plan and it can't be judged after just 5 years. GWS and GC might well fail, but we won't know that for another 15 years at least.

Besides, premiership teams all throughout history are littered with "unfair" advantages. GWS haven't even won a flag yet and people are already complaining.

 

[Rotayjay]

2016 Week 1 finals crowds

WA - 42k
SA - 49k
SYD - 60k

How about you abstain from posting nonsense.

At least two thirds of those 60,000 people were Swans supporters mate.

 

[PP34]

So the AFL acted with financial imperatives in mind. And that is cause for complaint?

This post sums up everything wrong with the modern AFL.

Everything is about the dollar. Seriously who cares about money?

It pisses me off so much how money dominated the game has become. These days it's all about a squeaky clean league, letting the media have a huge say in everything and the loyal fans of many years have been left behind in pursuit of the dollar.

Footy never used to be money, money, money.

 

[Colonial]

At least two thirds of those 60,000 people were Swans supporters mate.

Which leaves 20k for a new club supposedly no one cares about.

Great start to our glorious futue.

 

[Colonial]

This post sums up everything wrong with the modern AFL.

Everything is about the dollar. Seriously who cares about money?

It pisses me off so much how money dominated the game has become. These days it's all about a squeaky clean league, letting the media have a huge say in everything and the loyal fans of many years have been left behind in pursuit of the dollar.

Footy never used to be money, money, money.

Its the excuse that keeps the gf in melbourne.
Rather bias for a national comp.

 

[PP34]

Ummm

So your original statement of

Means that all the years of expansion clubs and concessions have been rigged.

If you werent alive at the beginning then that means you havent seen a non rigged comp according to you.

This is fairly standard stuff you really should remember what you wrote.

And just like the youth today you go the personal attack. How sad.

The AFL's GWS is far different to anything they ever pursued before.

Dont even understand the bizarre youth comment.

 

[JackFlash]

Learn to use the enter key bro.
I'm guessing you are 40+ and new to computers?

Above average with computers. I can't help it if your attention span doesn't allow you to absorb the content. I can read and write French and German, i 'll have a crack at that next time. Bis zum nächsten Mal

 

[Colonial]

The AFL's GWS is far different to anything they ever pursued before.

Dont even understand the bizarre youth comment.

Im sure the same thing was said with wc entering in the comp.

Im sure you wouldnt.

 

[grouse mate]

At least two thirds of those 60,000 people were Swans supporters mate.

But how can 60,000 people get to an area where nobody gives a shit about AFL to watch an AFL match?

 

[PP34]

Its the excuse that keeps the gf in melbourne.
Rather bias for a national comp.

Where's this other 100k stadium in Australia then that is designed for AFL, has all the modern facilities of the MCG and is in a location where significant interest is going to be attracted, regardless of the teams involved?

Melbourne also happens to have a wide variety of supporters and is easily the most footy mad state. Should they host it in Sydney instead and have a whole bunch of non-footy supporting w***ers rock up?