Expansion Sydney and SE Queensland Residents - Would you jump ship?

[Sydneyfan]

I was wondering with the introduction of the West Sydney and Gold Coast sides into the competition, whether any Sydney or SE Queensland residents would jump ship from the AFL team they support onto the new entities in their region?

Even if you continue to support your AFL side, would you feel an affinity with the new club in your neighbourhood, or instantly loathe them (like the situation for most in Adelaide with Crows - Power fans & in Perth with Eagles - Dockers fans)?

I'd enjoy the new competition in town and the new rivalry it should generate. (By that stage, I'm hoping I'll be back in Sydney). Though, I don't think I'd hate the West Sydney side at least initially unless they go out of their way to antagonise the Swans and create a rivalry. At this point in time, if the Swans were to miss the finals and the West Sydney side made the Grand Final, I'd definitely go for the West Sydney side over its opponent.

I think it will good for both Sydney & SE Queensland, and will also make the Swans & Lions work harder on and off the field to ensure that they keep competitive and their support level in town. Anyway you look at it, it is a win-win situation for AFL fans in Sydney & SE Queensland, live footy every week!

How do you guys feel about the new side in your neighbourhood?

 

[Doctor Jolly]

I think initially most swan/lion supporters would wish them well, but after their first flag or some other obnoxious thing, I think you'd find the rivalry would get quite intense as the years progress.

 

[Father Jack]

Considering I'd be watching the GC team every second weekend and would hold a membership, I reckon there'd be a soft spot there for them. Unless they were playing the Eagles, then the usual hate and loathing for an opposition team would apply.

 

[Sebastian Balboa]

It'd be pretty hard to jump ship.

But as the rl Gold Coasters have shown with the Titans, it is possible to simply forget years and years of emotional investment and financial support for their original N(SW)RL team once something new and shiny comes along.

Maybe footy fans have a more stronger identity, affinity with their clubs.

 

[greenhat]

Or maybe the NRL has local players (no draft) and actual home grounds so having some local pride and supporting your local team still means something to rugby league fans.

 

[Sydneyfan]

Or maybe the NRL has local players (no draft) and actual home grounds so having some local pride and supporting your local team still means something to rugby league fans.

Growing up in Sydney and spending time in Melbourne. I think the average AFL fan is much more loyal and passionate than the average Rugby League fan. The crowd figures alone support this. There's plenty of NRL fans in Sydney but less than 10% make it to the grounds week in, week out. I know friends who would passively support a Rugby League side then jump ship once a 'cooler' team was around or jumped ship, often permanently, to Rugby Union, soccer or AFL. I'm not ashamed to admit Rugby League lost me for good once Norths entered the Northern Eagles merger, with the inevitable dying off of Norths and re-emergence of Manly.

I think it's somewhat different in western and southwestern Sydney where NRL fans tend to be more loyal & passionate. But, where I grew in northern Sydney, Rugby League fans were as fickle as pie, I was about the most passionate out of my friends and I only went to Bears matches five times a year tops. People even thought I was a fanatic! You'd be hard pressed to find any Rugby League supporters on the North Shire these days.

Sydney sports fans are on average and more fickle than Melbourne sports fans. There's definitely exceptions however and western Sydney NRL fans are more loyal than other parts of Sydney. But, I still think the average AFL supporter is more passionate and loyal than the average Rugby League supporter.

 

[RUNVS]

Growing up in Sydney and spending time in Melbourne. I think the average AFL fan is much more loyal and passionate than the average Rugby League fan. The crowd figures alone support this. There's plenty of NRL fans in Sydney but less than 10% make it to the grounds week in, week out. I know friends who would passively support a Rugby League side then jump ship once a 'cooler' team was around or jumped ship, often permanently, to Rugby Union, soccer or AFL. I'm not ashamed to admit Rugby League lost me for good once Norths entered the Northern Eagles merger, with the inevitable dying off of Norths and re-emergence of Manly.

I think it's somewhat different in western and southwestern Sydney where NRL fans tend to be more loyal & passionate. But, where I grew in northern Sydney, Rugby League fans were as fickle as pie, I was about the most passionate out of my friends and I only went to Bears matches five times a year tops. People even thought I was a fanatic! You'd be hard pressed to find any Rugby League supporters on the North Shire these days.

Sydney sports fans are on average and more fickle than Melbourne sports fans. There's definitely exceptions however and western Sydney NRL fans are more loyal than other parts of Sydney. But, I still think the average AFL supporter is more passionate and loyal than the average Rugby League supporter.

I know what you mean. The high school i went too in year 7 everyone was a Parramatta Eels supporter but afew years later when the Eels werent doing aswell everyone jumped off the bandwaggon and onto another Rugby League team which was playing better at the time.

 

[greenhat]

Yea, a pair of Sydney AFL fans and their friends are a great sample to measure loyalty to rugby league teams.

I wasn't talking about passion anyway.
What I said was RL fans are more likely to follow their local team, which I put down to the NRL being a much more local area based competition.
NRL teams exist as almost the top flight of their local area's rugby league competitions. They play out of genuine home grounds that are actually in their area and rarely shared. If you grow up in a team's area theres a reasonable chance you are actually going to know someone who has played for your local NRL team.


I am a Canberran now living in St Kilda and I can tell you I see far more collingwood even west coast guernseys than St Kilda ones. (and far more Irish rugby union jerseys than anything else - bloody backpackers) In a Syney equivalent area like Manly or Cronulla you tend to see much more of the local NRL teams jerseys than anything else.

 

[nescri]

Get used to their selective hearing greenhat.

 

[Sebastian Balboa]

I know what you mean. The high school i went too in year 7 everyone was a Parramatta Eels supporter but afew years later when the Eels werent doing aswell everyone jumped off the bandwaggon and onto another Rugby League team which was playing better at the time.

It's true. This chick I work with, when I got started there, she was a Bulldogs fan, then a Penrith fan, then a Broncos fan now a Storm fan. Only now am I beginning to realise this corelates to those teams premierships

When I was young, all our family barracked for West Perth. When I was 10, I thought, "Nuh, I can think for myself. I'm gonna barrack for .......... Claremont!" One year later, they won the flag and I was criticised by them all for changing teams. It instilled in me a sense of lifelong loyalty to one's club.

 

[Sydneyfan]

Yea, a pair of Sydney AFL fans and their friends are a great sample to measure loyalty to rugby league teams.

I wasn't talking about passion anyway.
What I said was RL fans are more likely to follow their local team, which I put down to the NRL being a much more local area based competition.
NRL teams exist as almost the top flight of their local area's rugby league competitions. They play out of genuine home grounds that are actually in their area and rarely shared. If you grow up in a team's area theres a reasonable chance you are actually going to know someone who has played for your local NRL team.


I am a Canberran now living in St Kilda and I can tell you I see far more collingwood even west coast guernseys than St Kilda ones. (and far more Irish rugby union jerseys than anything else - bloody backpackers) In a Syney equivalent area like Manly or Cronulla you tend to see much more of the local NRL teams jerseys than anything else.

I've spent 25 years in Sydney. I was predominately a League fan until I was 18. I grew up 10 kms from my nearest club, Norths, knew of people who played in junior sides for the Bears. But, can tell you from my personal experience that Bears fans in my area were a distinct minority even amongst League fans, only 15% to 20% of my friends supported the Bears (most liked the Sea Eagles, Eels, Bulldogs, Tigers and Dragons at that time). Mind you I grew up in the 80s and early 90s when League was still the number 1 code in those parts.

So, maybe the situation was different in Canberra - which has always been a one Rugby League team town for the Raiders, or indeed in western Sydney, or even Manly or Cronulla (both of which areas are known Sydney-wide for their parochialism and not indicative of most parts of Sydney). But, in north Sydney at least it wasn't the case in the 80s and 90s and sure as heck ain't now. Sorry to disappoint you.

 

[Ant_]

No will stay a Bulldogs supporter, might go watch a couple of games here that's about it.

 

[roger explosion]

I won't jump ship, but I'll probably feel slightly affectionate towards them and go to all games because I miss footy. May even buy a membership. A relocated team will decrease the odds of this though.

 

[genghiskhan]

In Sydney, we don't have a genuine Sydney Sydney team so it wouldn't really be a case of jumping ship, but more of a case of just getting a team for the first time.

 

[Alberton_Magpie]

In Sydney, we don't have a genuine Sydney Sydney team so it wouldn't really be a case of jumping ship, but more of a case of just getting a team for the first time.

Its kind of like the argument I made a couple of years back- Its like having an adpoted child and then years later you finally have your own child...who are you going to love more?

 

[greenhat]

Obviously North Sydney is a special case, and its the part of Sydney I have almost no experience with so won't argue what it was like when the Bears were still there.
But even the fact that is has turned against Rugby League now seems like a good example of what I was saying about the local pride/team connection. An area lost its local team and became so disillusioned and angry it abandoned the whole sport in droves.

I only picked Cronulla and Manly as examples because I was trying to pick places that were similar to St Kilda, in that they are coastal areas that are known for being a little bit different to the rest of the city.
I think I could have picked any Sydney team as an example, really. (except obviously the Roosters) My experience of Sydney has always been that you can tell where you are by the jerseys people wear.
That is definitely not what I see in Melbourne.


Out of interest, if the Bears are reinstated in the NRL, would you get back on board?

 

[Sydneyfan]

The Bears play in the NRL Premier League, the second-tier comp., and are a feeder club for Souths. I passively follow the interest of the Bears in the Premier League and was hoping for them to win last year's Grand Final, which they lost. When I went home last summer, I bought a Norths retro jersey and will buy stuff from their Leagues club from time to time, to show my support. At the moment, I have a passive interest in Souths, due to the Norths connection, and a passive interest in St. George-Illawarra because I lived in Wollongong for a while.

If Norths were to re-enter the league. I really think they should be the Central Coast representative of the NRL. I would support them again and try to get to a few games if I could. Though, these days I'm much more passionate about AFL than NRL and I'd be supporting the club not so much as the League, if that makes any sense. But, I would support them though I'd be more passionate about the Swans and AFL.

 

[greenhat]

The Bears (on the central coast) bid apparently wasn't far behind the Gold Coast Titans when the NRL chose the 16th team, so their bid was obviously pretty impressive. Now that the Mariners are collecting more and more support for soccer on the central coast, you'd think the NRL might (hopefully) be forced to act sometime soon.

The NRL says they want a Sydney team to relocate to Gosford, rather than bring the bears back. It seems to me though, that if they bring back the Bears they will not only have the team the people of the Central Coast actually want, they'll also go a long way to winning back northern Sydney and all the old Bears fans such as yourself.

Would I be right in assuming you wouldn't have much interest in a relocated team that went to Gosford? Lets say for example's sake, the Sharks?

 

[RUNVS]

Why are Rugby League fans talking about expansion to the Central Coast and Gosford as we are on a AFL forum and the AFL has apsolutely no interest in expanding into those 2 area's.

 

[genghiskhan]

Why are Rugby League fans talking about expansion to the Central Coast and Gosford as we are on a AFL forum and the AFL has apsolutely no interest in expanding into those 2 area's.

Every strategic move by a competitor is worthy of attention. It seems there are quite a lot of posters here with an interest in AFL and the NRL, myself included so I enjoyed reading those posts about Norths. Even if I didn't like the NRL, I'd still pay attention because it would affect the AFL in some way or another. This is one of the reasons I pay an interest to A-league expansion. I've never watched an A-league game, but I am interested in how its going and what their plans are.

 

[Sebastian Balboa]

Why are Rugby League fans talking about expansion to the Central Coast and Gosford as we are on a AFL forum and the AFL has apsolutely no interest in expanding into those 2 area's.

They're here in droves out of:
(a) Online loneliness (obviously not enough of 'em exist) and,
(b) What I dub Code Insecurity, otherwise described as "attempting to put a spin on damning evidence that correctly suggest rl is struggling in all key measures vs. football".

 

[Sydneyfan]

The Bears (on the central coast) bid apparently wasn't far behind the Gold Coast Titans when the NRL chose the 16th team, so their bid was obviously pretty impressive. Now that the Mariners are collecting more and more support for soccer on the central coast, you'd think the NRL might (hopefully) be forced to act sometime soon.

The NRL says they want a Sydney team to relocate to Gosford, rather than bring the bears back. It seems to me though, that if they bring back the Bears they will not only have the team the people of the Central Coast actually want, they'll also go a long way to winning back northern Sydney and all the old Bears fans such as yourself.

Would I be right in assuming you wouldn't have much interest in a relocated team that went to Gosford? Lets say for example's sake, the Sharks?

Yeah, I'd only really be interested in League - on the Central Coast or elsewhere - if Norths were resurrected in some way or form. I mildly follow the fortunes of League but could barely name more than 10 League players these days off the top of my head.

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

I think the original question is flawed in a sense. Especially in Sydney. Take-up of Australian Football has, generally, been lower in the west. The Swans don't seem to have much following in the west. A West Sydney team isn't about poaching Swan supporters, its about giving the 2 million people in the west of the city another; more accessible; option at AFL level. And about having two clubs doing the legwork in junior clinics, school visits, etc, in our largest city - and most difficult to travel around. If the Swans focus on their patch, they can do higher intensity work in that are and it might benefit them rather than spreading resources too thin as the sole marketer of the game in town.


Oh, and as for Canberra, I see as many NRL Bulldogs jumpers as Raiders ones. Raiders jumpers are very rare other than on match day, and even then they aren't out in force. There's probably more Brumbies gear around, but they've been less embarrassing over the last few years so I guess that might explain that. The very occasional Collingwood jumper is about the only other thing seen.

 

[theworldgame008]

I was wondering with the introduction of the West Sydney and Gold Coast sides into the competition, whether any Sydney or SE Queensland residents would jump ship from the AFL team they support onto the new entities in their region?

Simple answer, we here in SE QLD support any team other than the locally based team, because quite simply we disapprove of a Victorian team being relocated to our city and then rebranded to supposidly represent us.

 

[littleduck]

Simple answer, we here in SE QLD support any team other than the locally based team, because quite simply we disapprove of a Victorian team being relocated to our city and then rebranded to supposidly represent us.

Bollocks. The Lions are embraced as our team representing QLD in the AFL competition. At the first mention of Fitzroy you'll get a blank stare because people (rightly or wrongly) do not have any affiliation or need to identify with that heritage, particularly when the club is based here, trains here, and represents us when travelling 'away' to Melbourne.