Is Melboune City/Victory already greater than any AFL Rivarly?

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The_Reaper said:
Fremantle are easily our biggest rivals with Essendon a long way behind but still clear second
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Having never been to Perth, this is what it looks like to me. I think if Fremantle gain more success, then the rivalry would be more intense. A shame that they didn't meet in this year's final series.
 
I still don't really get Melbourne City and why they exist. Weren't they just created to give the new stadium more games?

I find old soccer people hate Victory more because of the whole A League thing. If South Melb were to be admitted to the A League, I reckon them and Victory would have a huge rivalry pretty quickly.
 

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LOL
 
Bunk Moreland said:
I find old soccer people hate Victory more because of the whole A League thing. If South Melb were to be admitted to the A League, I reckon them and Victory would have a huge rivalry pretty quickly.
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Bloody Victorians. Now you not only want us to move back to Melbourne but you also want us to change codes as well. I don't think Buddy would like being a soccer player :p
 
Ladder position helps.

I admittedly only take a passing interest in the AL, but I'm fairly sure this is the first season that City/Heart have really been any good. Certainly the first season they look a genuine title contender. Victory have long been a "big" club and now have to take the noisy neighbour more seriously in terms of title aspirations. So as of right now, the derby is naturally looking its most passionate.

When teams fall away, particularly if one team remains up while the other remains down, the rivalry tends to quieten down along with it. Look no further than Collingwood-Carlton at present. A League fans will know better but the Melbourne-Adelaide rivalry seems to have gone stale in comparison to a few years back when both teams were on top of the pile. Sometimes this can have lasting effect. West Coast-Sydney from recent times or most famously Melbourne-Collingwood.

Whilst I don't doubt the passion of the fans or the regional origins, there is a slightly manufactured feel to some of the A League rivalries, akin to the "Q Clash" or "Battle of the Bridge". It would be inaccurate to say they are purely organic rivalries in the same vein as say Geelong-Hawthorn. Cross town rivals have been planted in the league largely for the purpose of being a cross town rival.

I guess this all depends on how you define a "great" rivalry?. Passion, size, origin and, arguably, standing the test of time, would be four factors to consider. Victory-City certainly passes the first, arguably the second, but has question marks over the other two.

Will Carlton-Collingwood return to being a behemoth of Australian sporting rivalries if Carlton eventually get their act together? You'd be a brave man to bet against it.
 
It
Marley10 said:
I.think it is a valid question to be honest. Rivalries in the a-league are marketed much better than the rivalries in AFL nowadays. The Melbourne and Sydney derby is always a sellout regardless of ladder position. It becomes the hot ticket in town and a must watch game, not just for the people in their respective cities, but other states as well.

The AFL rivalries however become irrelevant once at least one team hits the bottom.

City and Victory can be the bottom 2 teams and people will still watch/attend the game, regardless of what state they live in. For instance, I might not be in Sydney, but I still enjoy the Sydney derby even though WSW were bad last year.

Compare that to the AFL. Who cares about the Collingwood-Carlton rivalry? Would you change your schedule just to watch that game?
Why are the Western derby/Showdown hardly ever on prime time television? Who really cares outside of their respective states when they are on the bottom? Even the Hawthorn-Geelong rivalry is becoming irrelevant now.

About 10 or so years ago, rivalries were marketed much better. Games like Essendon vs Carlton were hyped regardless of ladder position. People complained, that's been changed. Now, no one gives a crap about rivalries. They care more about the quality of games they are watching, which is valid, but kills the rivalry aspect that the a-league have used to their advantage.

That is one of the effects of equalisation
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rated 76000 to say people all over Aust are watching is a massive overstatement
 
Bunk Moreland said:
I see it as now probably the biggest single rivalry.

Don't get the same feeling with he Perth one, not sure why.
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The parochialism in the derby has died off a little lately. The hyperbole has settle down as well in the media, probably because Freo are winning more games and playing more finals.
 
Marley10 said:
City and Victory can be the bottom 2 teams and people will still watch/attend the game, regardless of what state they live in. For instance, I might not be in Sydney, but I still enjoy the Sydney derby even though WSW were bad last year.

Compare that to the AFL. Who cares about the Collingwood-Carlton rivalry? Would you change your schedule just to watch that game?
Why are the Western derby/Showdown hardly ever on prime time television? Who really cares outside of their respective states when they are on the bottom? Even the Hawthorn-Geelong rivalry is becoming irrelevant now.
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I don't know anyone who's ever watched an A-League Melbourne derby match, let alone changed their schedule to watch it. I think you're just extrapolating your tastes out onto others.

Seems a strange argument to downplay the comparative relevance of the showdown/derby due to tv scheduling when the A-League doesn't garner enough interest for the commercial FTA channels to even want to buy the rights.
 
Optimistic said:
How can West Coast/Fremantle be a rivalry when half the time they're cheering each other on?
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I don't know where the idea that this is common has come from - Freagles are universally despised by both Freo and eagles supporters.

I was barracking hard for Hawthorn in the gf - and I would barrack for ISIS over Hawthorn.
 
Bunk Moreland said:
I still don't really get Melbourne City and why they exist. Weren't they just created to give the new stadium more games?

I find old soccer people hate Victory more because of the whole A League thing. If South Melb were to be admitted to the A League, I reckon them and Victory would have a huge rivalry pretty quickly.
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Admitting South Melbourne would be a fantastic way of uniting "old soccer" and "new football".

Even if they're not South Melbourne supporters, the bitters might like that the A-League is acknowledging the NSL and jump aboard a team.
 
Yeah don't know if you can say its bigger but it is definitely fresh and exciting. Many of the Victorian AFL rivalries are horribly stale.

Also think there is something about a fullish AAMI park, everyone is so close to the action.

The big footy rivalries in Melbourne have lost abit since ground rationalisation too, IMO.
 

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Wouldn't have thought there is any real rivalries anymore apart from port v crows and eagles v freo.
 
Hawkers said:
DependentRepulsiveCricket.gif
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Oh man, I can't stop laughing at that one. Reminds me of that old clip of the kid going nuts after his Mum cancelled his WoW account.

 
kickazz said:
Yeah don't know if you can say its bigger but it is definitely fresh and exciting. Many of the Victorian AFL rivalries are horribly stale.

Also think there is something about a fullish AAMI park, everyone is so close to the action.

The big footy rivalries in Melbourne have lost abit since ground rationalisation too, IMO.
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Biggest problem is it's been a lifetime since any of Ess/Coll/Carl/Rich have been winning flags at the same time.

If you had two of them playing finals against each other regularly like Geel/Haw, it'd be pretty big again.
 
The OP has a valid point, these two sides do genuinely dislike each other.
It was a highly entertaining game last night and for a crowd of 23k it was very loud and had a great atmosphere.
 
I was thinking about rivalries the other day. There aren't really any proper rivalries in the AFL. i'm mean back when rivalries where intense teams still represented their suburb and the players never saw opposing players often outside of gameday, unlike now where now the team carries the name of where they represent, but it really isn't that connected, and players meet each other throughout the industry. The only reason a rivalry gets mentioned is because the fans keep it going and then the media to appeal to fans pumps it up, but there really isn't another team that hates another team or will perform irrationally against another side. anyways that's my two cents on that. I'm not sure wether the melbourne A League in general have a better rivalry then an AFL one because i can't compare the two competitions as i haven't seen A League
 
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