Sydney's misconception about Victorians

[GhostofJimJess]

Having grown up in Melbourne and then recently moved to Sydney, there's an element of Sydney-based AFL coverage that irritates me.

From today's Daily Telegraph:

"St. Kilda will never have as many fans cheering for them as they do tonight against the Swans at the MCG.

That's not because fans in Melbourne have embraced the Saints at the expense of their own favourite clubs. It's just that the Saints are all that they have left this season.

And forget the impact of the Ashes. The injury to the Melbourne sporting psyche to see that flag flying from Sydney's Harbour Bridge would be enough to induce suicidal tendencies".

What complete bollocks!

This is a recurring theme in the way Sydney media promote their AFL coverage. It's all about sticking it up the Victorians, and about how much the Melbourne sporting public hate to see the Swans do well.

It's a joke.

What they don't understand is that in Melbourne, the Swans don't provoke the same sort of ill-feeling as the SA or WA sides, and, bottom line, Victorian supporters hate each other far more than they hate the Swans. If Collingwood or Essendon played Sydney in a GF, most Victorians would be barracking for the Swans.

There's no great AFL rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne, despite the media's insistence that some bitter schism exists.

In reality, the Swans are regarded with a kind of benevolent disinterest. I reckon most Victorians are happy to see the Swans do well because it means AFL is colonising the non-AFL states, while there also remains a lingering support for the old South Melbourne who the Swans now represent.

Also, the Swans have been at the business end of finals for 3 years now. Most Victorians would prefer to see the premiership won by a team that has built a decent side over a few years than seeing an upstart side pinch a flag on their first legitimate September foray.

The media in Sydney is fixated on this idea that the Swans' success is a massive affront to Melburnians, but a Swans flag wouldn't upset Melburnians anywhere near as much as the Sydney media like to pretend.

Great post. My thoughts exactly.

 

[nicky]

Bollocks.

Have you spent much time in Melbourne?

In the early 90s there was some pretty intense dislike of the interstate sides. In the early stages of the national competition a lot of Victorians resented the success of WC and the Crows.

The Swans have never inspired that kind of dislike.

i've spent more time in melbourne than you have

when discussing football you generally discuss your own team which invites criticism b/c people love bagging other teams.


i hear more negativity thrown around about the swans than any other club but that's b/c i love talking about the swans so i invite a lot of negative feedback about them.... do ya know what i mean...

WC haven't really inspired much dislike either, maybe in Gunnars world but not in the real one.

 

[Gunnar Longshanks]

You dont understand because you stated that Sydney try to insulate itself.......... when in fact they just dont care.

They're wilfully indifferent. Not caring about the rest of the country is part of their identity. They're desperate to be different.

 

[Gunnar Longshanks]

Mate I am not the one who starts threads b/c sydney people couldnt give a rats arse about AFL. The poster who started this thread is an ex melbourne person. What does this say to you?

The starting point of this thread has nothing to do with the fact that Sydney people don't follow AFL.

It's focused on the way Sydney media try desperately to stoke a non-existent rivalry.

In AFL terms, which is the specific area we're discussing, Melbourne people don't have any strong feelings at all towards the Swans.

In a more general way, Victorians might dislike Sydney-siders, but that's a different discussion.

In AFL terms, Sydney's success doesn't upset Melburnians nearly as much as Sydney-siders might pretend.

 

[MarkT]

gee, they left the contrived result a bit late last week.

They don't rig games just the competitive landscape.

 

[Gunnar Longshanks]

Here is a thread discussing the broader tensions between Melbourne and Sydney:

http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?p=3893548#post3893548

 

[the lion king]

I grew up in Melbourne and Victorians have a pretty distinct dislike for both SA clubs and the Eagles.

Does that mean you were furious when Port beat us last season?

 

[Kate]

It's the same in the Herald and on the Channel 10 promos.

Are you telling me that the Herald has better AFL coverage? They only cover the Swans and that's limited to a weekly article on token sh*t like how big and Bad Barry Hall is, how committed Goodes is to aboriginal issues, how peculiar Keneally is as an Irishman or how O'Keefe is a beautiful man but also a talented footballer.

Token sh*t.

I just highlighted that Telegraph article because I read it this morning.

Channel 10 is always spruiking about how the Swans are "beating Melbourne at its own game"

That article is by no means an isolated example.

You are right about Channel 10. Every time they have an ad for the Swans, the do a 10 second count down of Davis' winning goal last week... I have to run out of the room!

 

[Hoops]

I love how Sydney types always come into this Melbourne V Sydney Rivallry with "Sydney people don't give a sh1t" why post it if it means that little to you.
I hear more Sydney people claim they don't care than waht Melbourne people appear to care. Why is that?
It sound s vere hypocritcal when you have Sydney newspapers tring to sell papers with that very theme

 

[Blue Boyz]

Maybe I'm a little werid or normal depending on your angle, but as a 48 year and a near 40 year supporter of Carlton I honestly don't give a toss if an interstate team wins the flag. If they are good enough, good luck to them I say.

I reserve my real hatred for Collingwood, Essendon, Hawthorn and St. Kilda and will barrack for any interstate team against them.

The real nightmare for me and all other Carlton supporters is when they play each other in a GF like in 1990 when Coll. played Ess. Man what a lose, lose GF that was!!! All non Coll.-Ess fans I'm sure wanted the game to be called off and no flag awarded that year.

As for the Swans, many footy fans have a soft spot for them as they were the bastard child of the old South Melb. who were for many people their 2nd team and I'm hoping like hell they can win tonight and next week.

So for me, it's go the Bloods!!!!

 

[nicky]

Maybe I'm a little werid or normal depending on your angle, but as a 48 year and a near 40 year supporter of Carlton I honestly don't give a toss if an interstate team wins the flag. If they are good enough, good luck to them I say.

I reserve my real hatred for Collingwood, Essendon, Hawthorn and St. Kilda and will barrack for any interstate team against them.

The real nightmare for me and all other Carlton supporters is when they play each other in a GF like in 1990 when Coll. played Ess. Man what a lose, lose GF that was!!! All non Coll.-Ess fans I'm sure wanted the game to be called off and no flag awarded that year.

As for the Swans, many footy fans have a soft spot for them as they were the bastard child of the old South Melb. who were for many people their 2nd team and I'm hoping like hell they can win tonight and next week.

So for me, it's go the Bloods!!!!

I love you

GO BLOODS!!!!!!

 

[crackers57]

I love you

GO BLOODS!!!!!!

Man if that's all it takes........GO BLOODS!!

 

[nicky]

Man if that's all it takes........GO BLOODS!!

it was his speech as well

 

[crackers57]

it was his speech as well

AHEM!! Four score and seven years ago...............

 

[Copernicus]

This Sydney vs Melbourne thing seems to be a recurring theme. Can we all grow up now? This bloody intercity rivalry is so silly. They're both great cities, with different characteristics that make them so. Now, let's move on.

In agreement with the original post, anyway. Stupid article.

 

[Gunnar Longshanks]

Does that mean you were furious when Port beat us last season?

As a WC supporter, and as someone who wasn't born in Melbourne, I don't share their dislike for SA clubs.

But I reckon a lot of Victorians would have preferred to see Brisbane win their 4th flag than to see Port win their first.

 

[nicky]

As a WC supporter, and as someone who wasn't born in Melbourne, I don't share their dislike for SA clubs.

But I reckon a lot of Victorians would have preferred to see Brisbane win their 4th flag than to see Port win their first.

see again, you've got it all wrong

collingwood supporters wanted port to win so the lions wouldn't match their record of 4 flags in a row

everyone else wanted the lions to win so they would....
not to mention the melbourne based lion supporters...

i was born and bred in melbourne and there are other clubs i dislike more than the SA ones...

 

[Gunnar Longshanks]

I reserve my real hatred for Collingwood, Essendon, Hawthorn and St. Kilda and will barrack for any interstate team against them.

Exactly. The Sydney media, and to an extent the Sydney public, don't understand this.

They think that when the Swans come to Melbourne, the whole state unites against them because Melbourne is so desperate to see the Swans fail.

What they don't understand is that if Sydney played Collingwood or Essendon in the GF, most Victorians would be barracking for the Swans.

 

[Gunnar Longshanks]

see again, you've got it all wrong

collingwood supporters wanted port to win so the lions wouldn't match their record of 4 flags in a row

everyone else wanted the lions to win so they would....
not to mention the melbourne based lion supporters...

i was born and bred in melbourne and there are other clubs i dislike more than the SA ones...

I didn't say all Victorians were barracking for Brisbane. Nor am I saying that all Victorians hate SA clubs more than any other.

I said most Victorians were barracking for the Lions, and you've said that all Victorians apart from Collingwood supporters were barracking for the Lions. How does this post refute anything I've said?

I'm just saying that generally, Victorians dislike other local sides and the WA and SA clubs much more than they dislike the Swans.

What are you saying?

 

[nicky]

I didn't say all Victorians were barracking for Port. Nor am I saying that all Victorians hate SA clubs more than any other.

I said most Victorians were barracking for the Lions, and you've said that all Victorians apart from Collingwood supporters were barracking for the Lions. How does this post refute anything I've said?

I'm just saying that generally, Victorians dislike other local sides and the WA and SA clubs much more than they dislike the Swans.

What are you saying?

i'm saying victorians generally dislike local clubs more than ALL interstated clubs b/c there's greater history b/tw them...

 

[Gunnar Longshanks]

i'm saying victorians generally dislike local clubs more than ALL interstated clubs b/c there's greater history b/tw them...

That's exactly what I said in my initial post.

Stop pretending to disagree with me.

 

[nicky]

That's exactly what I said in my initial post.

Stop pretending to disagree with me.

somewhere in this exact thread you said there is a great rivalry with WA clubs... as if you guys have inspired hatred amongst melbournians...

 

[Sid]

You are quoting the Daily Telegraph. The is little to no coverage of the Swans at all in that paper during the year. It is read more by die-hard league fans than Swans supporters, so its not fair to tar the entire Sydney media by whats written in that paper when (or if) we happen to make the finals. I would hasten to add that if we lost tonight, there'll be only one small article on the result.

I know but its the official afl newspaper. haha

 

[Gunnar Longshanks]

i'm saying victorians generally dislike local clubs more than ALL interstated clubs b/c there's greater history b/tw them...

I don't think that's always true. I bet most Collingwood supporters dislike Brisbane, Port, WC and Adelaide more than they dislike the Bulldogs.

But generally, I agree with you. That's the gist of my initial post in this thread discussing why Victorians don't dislike the Swans as much as the Sydney media pretend.

The Sydney media insist that Victorians unite against an interstate threat, which is such not the case.

Stop pretending to disagree with me.

 

[Sid]

Having grown up in Melbourne and then recently moved to Sydney, there's an element of Sydney-based AFL coverage that irritates me.

From today's Daily Telegraph:

"St. Kilda will never have as many fans cheering for them as they do tonight against the Swans at the MCG.

That's not because fans in Melbourne have embraced the Saints at the expense of their own favourite clubs. It's just that the Saints are all that they have left this season.

And forget the impact of the Ashes. The injury to the Melbourne sporting psyche to see that flag flying from Sydney's Harbour Bridge would be enough to induce suicidal tendencies".

What complete bollocks!

This is a recurring theme in the way Sydney media promote their AFL coverage. It's all about sticking it up the Victorians, and about how much the Melbourne sporting public hate to see the Swans do well.

It's a joke.

What they don't understand is that in Melbourne, the Swans don't provoke the same sort of ill-feeling as the SA or WA sides, and, bottom line, Victorian supporters hate each other far more than they hate the Swans. If Collingwood or Essendon played Sydney in a GF, most Victorians would be barracking for the Swans.

There's no great AFL rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne, despite the media's insistence that some bitter schism exists.

In reality, the Swans are regarded with a kind of benevolent disinterest. I reckon most Victorians are happy to see the Swans do well because it means AFL is colonising the non-AFL states, while there also remains a lingering support for the old South Melbourne who the Swans now represent.

Also, the Swans have been at the business end of finals for 3 years now. Most Victorians would prefer to see the premiership won by a team that has built a decent side over a few years than seeing an upstart side pinch a flag on their first legitimate September foray.

The media in Sydney is fixated on this idea that the Swans' success is a massive affront to Melburnians, but a Swans flag wouldn't upset Melburnians anywhere near as much as the Sydney media like to pretend.

Still bitter?