Roast St Kilda in no mans land

[The Dougster]

I still much prefer the name Footscray Bulldogs than Western Bulldogs, but I suppose I got to move with the times.

I refer to them as Footscray. 40+ year old doggies supporters love it.

 

[Liam Boy]

The only Maltese player I know of offhand is Tristan Xerri

38

Tristan Xerri

Age

25

Ht

201cm

Wt

99kg

Pos.

Ruck

Career

Season

Last 5

D

5.5

1star

K

3.0

1star

HB

2.5

2star

CL

1.0

3star

HO

2.5

5star

D

5.5

1star

K

3.0

1star

HB

2.5

2star

CL

1.0

3star

HO

2.5

5star

D

5.5

2star

K

3.0

1star

HB

2.5

3star

CL

1.0

3star

HO

2.5

5star

. And he barracked for North. So, one point for us?

 

[t_94]

As strange as it sounds, I'm not writing Lyon off.

I think what were seeing is simply the result of St Kilda foolishly attempting to rebuild during the compromises Draft years. Then on top of that, having some terrible luck and some poor decisions after that with their drafting.

Clark and Billings are no good. McCartin and Coffield we will never know. You could probably even argue that inuries killed Billings' career too.

They've ever recovered from that. I heard Gary Lyon say that they have 14 players from other clubs in their team. And this tells the story of how badly broken they are in terms of their list.

They have brought in 14 players, and none of them are really much good. Yet, they've all been walk up starts in their team.

Think about that...you bring in a guy because he's better than another spud who's already on your list. He's not that good and no one else wanted him - but he's an improvement on the guy you have. Then do this 14 times!!! And when you do that 14 times, your list still isn't any good!!

Their midfield is deplorable. It has been for a decade almost.

Lyon doesn't trust the midfield not to be smashed. And you can't blame him.

I think if St Kilda played to outscore their opponent each week, they'd realistically be winless.

Beat your fake team despite all the handouts the afl have given it.

 

[Tasmanian saint]

But they never used Riewoldt as bash and crash forward?

They utilised his ability and talent, and let the Hamill's and Koschitze's of the world get busted up each week instead.

Did you actually watch Riewoldt play was consistently year after year in the top few players in the comp for contested marks as well as covering huge amounts of ground im surprised his career lasted as long as it did considering how much he got bashed around!

 

[PerthBoy86]

Beat your fake team despite all the handouts the afl have given it.

Highlight of your 2024 to be sure.

 

[Mat Mann]

Perhaps Matt Allison who's been rotting away at Sandy until his inevitable delisting could get a run.

Doubt it though.

rotting would imply he is actually doing something useful, he's not, the extension was the crazy aspect

 

[Freomaniac]

Is this from that Roy Morgan poll that routinely reports Sydney has a billion supporters?

Yes they do. lol

 

[Dazb86]

A few years before Tuohy was even at Carlton tbh.

It's nice to hear that your experience is different to mine though. I'm not in Footscray very often but I'm always struck by how much red, white and blue I see around the streets, in the shop fronts etc. when I'm there. It's got a bit of a parochial vibe (in a good way) so good to hear that some of the locals are getting round it.

The whole inner west area seems to be filled with a lot of Bulldogs murals. Sticks out in your mind as you're driving around.

 

[DQ 4EVER]

The only Maltese player I know of offhand is Tristan Xerri

38

Tristan Xerri

Age

25

Ht

201cm

Wt

99kg

Pos.

Ruck

Career

Season

Last 5

D

5.5

1star

K

3.0

1star

HB

2.5

2star

CL

1.0

3star

HO

2.5

5star

D

5.5

1star

K

3.0

1star

HB

2.5

2star

CL

1.0

3star

HO

2.5

5star

D

5.5

2star

K

3.0

1star

HB

2.5

3star

CL

1.0

3star

HO

2.5

5star

. And he barracked for North. So, one point for us?

The Maltese people I know love that their current AFL player is a ruckman, as the ones I know are not tall.
Essendon has a large Ukrainian following.
Lots of Ukies, myself included (pre-Freo) supported Carlton because of Jesaulenko
Also, lots of Vietnamese people follow the "eastern " Bulldogs. (South Freo are the western Bulldogs)



On SM-G960F using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Dazb86]

Small clubs never grow. Big clubs stay big.

For the life of me, I don't know why people think that relocating to some random suburb somewhere will suddenly grow their supporter base?


How many people do you know that have ever changed teams (aside from me)? Very, very few.

How many kids DON'T barrack for their mum or dad's team? Very few.

So where are all these 100s of 1000s of supporters supposed to come from? Immigrants?

How many immigrants will financially support an AFL team? Very few.

And even if a small club does magically discover 50000 new members under a rock somewhere - they're still not going to grow as fast as the big clubs that get primetime games every week.

I don't think relocating to another suburb would work at all unless they were going to play games there.

There's only 2 stadiums in Melbourne we play at and they are both in the city so the local team factor isn't really a thing anymore.

Teams have got to start thinking outside the box to garner more support. Contacting a local mosque or buddhist temple and having an event would probably attract more new fans than running a vic kick program at a school one day a year.

 

[beside the seaside]

You are 100% about a review and that the fish rots from the head.

The problem is, this is not a recent phenomenon, this has been going on for decades and failing a miracle, there is no end in sight.

The onfield & coaching is an issue, the recruiting is lacklustre as is the player development. Behind the scenes, the Saints only recently got rid of Lethlean (what a terrible appointment that was) yet there is no-one putting their hand up to be the benign dictator and kick heads. There is no leadership and Í can't think of there ever being a really robust one who has got results.

This is the cultural issue that cannot be changed immediately, its ingrained an destined to be in the Saints DNA forever.

There is only one real solution left for them but they will never take it.

What a load of tripe. Do you actually believe the crap you post?

 

[JayJ20]

Demographics of Melbourne - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Considering this map, I thought it would be fun to correlate/estimate the top 3 clubs for each nationality (by ancestry) in Melbourne. Of course there may be other factors involved, so it might be a bit off, but I'm interested to see how this lines up with anecdotal observations etc. Like, of course amongst all of these groups there's a great diversity in who they support, but considering the largest they probably support.

Anglo-Celtic Australian: of course the majority of fans of any club, I would guess the clubs with the LOWEST percentage of non-Anglo supporters would be:

St. Kilda, Melbourne, Richmond/Hawthorn. The bayside suburbs are pretty 'Anglo' comparatively speaking. Like the bay, the inner southeast, Melbourne's 'heartland', is quite well-off with a lot of older supporters. The eastern suburbs do have a lot of Asians, but many are recent arrivals who aren't as into football.

Italians: Concentrated mostly North of the Yarra, it's quite clear Carlton, Essendon, and to a lesser extent Collingwood are associated with Italian Australians, with many great players of Italian-descent having played for all 3, the first 2 in particular. Carlton of course being known as 'Little Italy.'

Greeks: Greeks have a greater presence in parts in the southeast, unlike Italians, but are still mostly found in the northern suburbs, including the northeast. I would guess Carlton/Collingwood then maybe Richmond? Like Italians there were once quite a few in Footscray/Yarraville but not as much nowadays.

Jewish: Not one nationality of course, but I remember an article saying Jewish Australians had a long associated with Carlton, as Carlton originally had quite a few Jewish migrants. Nowadays I think St. Kilda would be the largest as the largest community is around St. Kilda/Caulfield area, then Melbourne and maybe Carlton.

Chinese: Chinese Australians are scattered throughout the metro area, but are especially found in the eastern/southeastern suburbs, from about Hawthorn to Ringwood, Doncaster down to Glen Waverley. Most are recent immigrants, and even many born here aren't that into AFL (not to say many aren't too). I would guess Hawthorn would be first, with their VFL side based in Box Hill too, and Richmond would be no 2, not sure about the third.

Indian: Now our largest migrant group I believe, they're also widely dispersed, but especially in the North, West and far Southeast. I have no idea, but for some reason I think Essendon is well-supported. Bulldogs probably a lot of potential to grow in the West.

Vietnamese: Mostly in the western suburbs with a smaller enclave in the southeast around Springvale area, almost every Vietnamese Australian I've personally met has gone for the Bulldogs, but that's also because they were from the West. But definitely Bulldogs and then I'm not sure.

Maltese: Mostly in the Northwest, so I'd guess Essendon, then the Bulldogs, maybe Carlton and Collingwood.

Other Europeans: Probably a fair mix, I imagine Essendon, Carlton, St. Kilda, Collingwood all well supported.

Turkish: I think Broadmeadows is mostly Essendon/Carlton traditionally, as is most of the northern suburbs.

Lebanese: Similar to Turkish

Filipino: Bulldogs

Malaysian/Singaporean/Indonesian: Probably similar to Chinese

Ethiopian/Sudanese/Somali: Mostly in the West, and I've seen a few wearing Bulldogs gear. North Melbourne would probably have some support, as quite a few live in the Flemington/North Melbourne area. Majak Daw playing for North probably attracted a few South Sudanese supporters.

New Zealand: For those who are open to Aussie rules...probably no real discernable pattern. Same with the UK born.

Pacific Islanders: same as above, but i think most live in the west

Add any others if you feel like it.

Mostly accurate. I'll speak about the communities I have experience with.

Turkish - Very heavily Collingwood from my experience, but Essendon and Carlton are well represented.
Lebanese - Probably more evenly spread between Essendon, Carlton and Collingwood

Ethiopian and Somalis - Essendon easily the biggest, Collingwood next. North and Carlton very well represented too, but Essendon, Collingwood and North the biggest. Essendon like Arsenal are a very African team.

Sudanese - I would say Bulldogs, North and Essendon.

 

[CarnTheScray]

Well, I'm Vietnamese & a passionate Hawks supporter.

I grew up in West Footscray (use to walk to Western Oval), back in the 80s. Chris the King was my primary school, in Braybrook, and Simon Madden was the PE teacher. Whole school barracked for Essendon (streamers, decorations and all) in the Grand Finals against the Hawks. Me and my brother, new to the sport, went against the grain and cheered for the Hawks.

The rest is history. Now living in Essendon (how ironic). A passionate Hawks supporter and member. PS: Bulldogs are my second team.

I have respect for you not caving and choosing Essendon! So many Footscray supporters that jumped to Essendon around that time, an unforgivable act nowadays.

 

[kickazz]

Traditionally, and I'm talking pre ww2:

Suburbs with lots of pubs = Catholic (Collingwood, Richmond, North Melbourne)
More boring suburbs = Protestant (Essendon, Footscray, Carlton)

 

[LordLucifer]

What a load of tripe. Do you actually believe the crap you post?

Ha ha ha ............

Part of the problem at the Saints is a reasonable proportion of their supporters are now conditioned to accept mediocrity because they know no different.

Thanks for confirming that view and enjoy your head in the sand.

 

[t_94]

Highlight of your 2024 to be sure.

Another fake team supporter chirping up.

 

[beside the seaside]

Ha ha ha ............

Part of the problem at the Saints is a reasonable proportion of their supporters are now conditioned to accept mediocrity because they know no different.

Thanks for confirming that view and enjoy your head in the sand.

Yeah mate, more stuff you've made up. You haven't got a clue about our club or supporters but sure, carry on with your drivel.

 

[PerthBoy86]

Another fake team supporter chirping up.

I'll take our 4 fake cups...and our fake 37 year history over 130 or whatever years of misery.

 

[phantom13]

I'll take our 4 fake cups...and our fake 37 year history over 130 or whatever years of misery.

150 mate, we had a special logo for it last year.

 

[LordLucifer]

Yeah mate, more stuff you've made up. You haven't got a clue about our club or supporters but sure, carry on with your drivel.

No clue ??

I know you have had no success to speak of, been a perennial welfare state & are the laughing stock of the league.

 

[Walshawk]

Nah, Saints are bigger than Dogs or Roos when firing. The Dogs are the smallest Vic club. Give North a flag and nine years as a contender and they would have bigger crowds and more members than the Dogs.

 

[doppleganger]

Hawthorn grew signficantly in the outer eastern suburbs in the 90s when they made a real point of embracing Waverley, whereas every other club (incl co-tenant St Kilda) didn’t want a bar of the place.

If you play on their doorstep and embrace it then people go. And the kids start to support them. It takes a generation for them to grow up.

Kick it off with a couple of games, set some reasonable KPIs and give it a shot. It’s worth trying compared to being just another CBD club playing in front of small Docklands crowds.

Hawks and Saints are interesting comparisons.

Prior to mid 60s both were battlers.

60s and early 70s both found some form

Hawks the went from strenght to strenght, pushing into the peninsula and outer sth eastern suburbs.

Saints continued to struggle.

 

[Plugger35]

No clue ??

I know you have had no success to speak of, been a perennial welfare state & are the laughing stock of the league.

Carlton have been a bigger laughing stock than us so far this century when you weren't allowed to rort the salary cap anymore.

Congrats on finally getting your act together for the first time since the 1999 GF, you might even get to lose another GF this year.

 

[Lavender Bushranger]

Hawks and Saints are interesting comparisons.

Prior to mid 60s both were battlers.

60s and early 70s both found some form

Hawks the went from strenght to strenght, pushing into the peninsula and outer sth eastern suburbs.

Saints continued to struggle.

Weren't Hawthorn going to merge?

 

[Plugger35]

We are a sleeping giant, watch out when we wake up.