Western Bulldogs and their partnership with Ballarat a success

[maddog37]

I was led to believe numbers were limited and we had to register for the event at the goods shed tonight

 

[Pugz89]

I was led to believe numbers were limited and we had to register for the event at the goods shed tonight

Wasn't it a member-only event as well?

 

[maddog37]

Wasn't it a member-only event as well?

Thought so.

 

[Roogal]

'Productive talks' underway to keep Ballarat a Bulldogs city beyond 2024​

By Melanie Whelan (Ballarat Courier)
February 21 2024 - 5:34pm

Western Bulldogs head coach Luke Beveridge says his list is shaping up well and he can hardly wait to show this in round two action at Mars Stadium. Inset, six-year-old Zach Wilson tests his skills ahead of an Auskick Super Clinic at City Oval on February 21, 2024. Pictures by Lachlan Bence

WESTERN Bulldogs chief executive Ameet Bains says the club has an "unflinching intention" to be in Ballarat beyond 2024.
The Bulldogs are in the final year of a contract extension with City of Ballarat and the Victorian Government to claim Ballarat as 'Dogs' territory, including hosting duties for at least two AFL games on Mars Stadium each season. Mr Bains said "productive discussions" to stay in town had already begun and he expected to locked these down more formally in coming weeks.
He said this does not change, given the cancellation of the 2026 Commonwealth Games for regional Victoria.

Ballarat's Mars Stadium had been pegged to house the Games' athletics program. This was to bring an extra 5000 seats to Mars Stadium - a promise expected to still stand, despite deadlines being less clear. Mr Bains said the Bulldogs' had long-term commitment to playing in Ballarat and, while disappointing for the city to not host the Games, said this should make for less disruptions to AFL plans.

The 2024 season marks the Bulldogs' ninth year of staking their claim in Ballarat and eighth season playing for premiership points on Mars. At the same time, Mr Bains has long maintained the partnership was far greater than an adopted kennel to use a couple of times a year during the AFL premiership season.

The Bulldogs have a suit of community development programs, from children's literacy, youth and Indigenous leadership to holistic well-being and business networking events. "We have an unflinching intention to be in Ballarat and we want it to feel genuine," Mr Bains said.

Western Bulldogs chief executive Ameet Bains says the club has an 'unflinching intention' to be in Ballarat. Picture by Lachlan Bence

The Bulldogs are based in Ballarat for a two-day AFL Community Camp. Players arrived after a training session at their Whitten Oval base in Footscray. While the club will not host a training session or intra-club hit-out in town, players will be kept busy with school and community visits. This included a hospital visit on Wednesday, while Indigenous stars Jamarra Ugle-Hagan and Arthur Jones spent a low-key afternoon hanging out with St Patrick's College's Indigenous students.

More than 260 children took part in an AFL Auskick super clinic at City Oval on Wednesday afternoon. "It looks tremendous," Mr Bains said. "Obviously being a country boy myself [from Bendigo] I know young kids live for their heroes to come to town and the opportunity to interact with players."

Western Bulldogs will officially launch their 2024 AFL season at Whitten Oval on Friday, February 23. This will include the Bulldogs' first inter-club hit-out for the summer against Hawthorn. The Bulldogs will open their season against Melbourne at the MCG on March 17. They will land on Mars a week later, March 24, to host Gold Coast Suns.

The 'Dogs are also set to return later this year to Mars for a final round clash against Greater Western Sydney in August.

 

[Roogal]

Western Bulldogs visit has young 'tales' wagging for exclusive event​

By Melanie Whelan (Ballarat Courier)
Updated February 22 2024 - 5:36pm

Napoleons grade two pupil Summer outmarks Western Bulldog Laitham Vandermeer

23

Laitham Vandermeer

Age

25

Ht

182cm

Wt

78kg

Pos.

D/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

10.1

3star

K

6.5

3star

HB

3.6

3star

M

2.8

3star

T

2.8

4star

MG

226.3

3star

D

10.1

3star

K

6.5

3star

HB

3.6

2star

M

2.8

3star

T

2.8

4star

MG

226.3

3star

D

10.8

3star

K

7.0

3star

HB

3.8

3star

M

3.4

4star

T

2.6

4star

MG

242.2

4star

at her school on Thursday, February 22. Picture by Lachlan Bence

WESTERN Bulldogs star Adam Treloar

1

Adam Treloar

Age

31

Ht

185cm

Wt

84kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

28.2

5star

K

12.9

5star

HB

15.3

5star

M

3.6

4star

T

4.9

5star

CL

4.6

5star

D

30.3

5star

K

16.3

5star

HB

14.0

5star

M

2.0

2star

T

3.3

4star

CL

5.8

5star

D

18.0

5star

K

11.2

4star

HB

6.8

5star

M

4.2

4star

T

2.6

4star

CL

1.6

4star

enjoys a good book and says it is an important skill to share a good tale with others.
Treloar was one of five Bulldogs taking centre stage for the annual Bulldogs Read launch, which boasts a record nine schools and 161 pupils set to share book reviews. There was plenty of footy talk and Taylor Swift chat - children were quick to note Treloar and teammate Jason Johannisen

39

Jason Johannisen

Age

31

Ht

181cm

Wt

82kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

20.2

5star

K

12.9

5star

HB

7.3

5star

M

4.3

4star

T

2.0

4star

MG

418.9

5star

D

16.3

4star

K

10.0

4star

HB

6.3

4star

M

4.3

4star

T

1.9

3star

MG

283.1

4star

D

15.6

4star

K

9.2

4star

HB

6.4

4star

M

2.6

3star

T

1.6

4star

were sporting Swift-trend friendship bracelets.

For the child who wanted to check if they were a Weetbix Kid - Johannisen prefers coffee in the morning and Treloar is all about Fruit Loops. But the program launch was primarily about getting participants excited to read. Turns out, Treloar is a lectiophile, too.

Sebastopol grade five Brock has a chat with Bulldogs' star Adam Treloar

1

Adam Treloar

Age

31

Ht

185cm

Wt

84kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

28.2

5star

K

12.9

5star

HB

15.3

5star

M

3.6

4star

T

4.9

5star

CL

4.6

5star

D

30.3

5star

K

16.3

5star

HB

14.0

5star

M

2.0

2star

T

3.3

4star

CL

5.8

5star

D

18.0

5star

K

11.2

4star

HB

6.8

5star

M

4.2

4star

T

2.6

4star

CL

1.6

4star

, who says it is great to chat more individually with young fans. Picture by Melanie Whelan

"I just think being able to come out here and speak to kids is great," Treloar said. "A lot of the time when an individual comes and talks it's to a big group. It's nice to speak more one-on-one. "In my experience at school, I liked reading and socialising about books. Personally, I think it's really important."

This is Treloar's second season in the Bulldogs Read program. Johannisen is a new recruit to the program in which players will share video calls with participants to talk about what they are reading.

Bulldogs Read is exclusive to Ballarat.

Sebastopol primary's grade 5/6 class literacy levels improved in 2023, the school's first year in the program, from only one-quarter of the class reading and writing at level or above to only two children working below level by the year's end. When The Courier visited the class, most pupils had been surprised that footballers read books.

Western Bulldogs footballers Kristie-Lee Weston-Turner, Rylie Wilcox, Heidi Woodley and Jason Johannisen

39

Jason Johannisen

Age

31

Ht

181cm

Wt

82kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

20.2

5star

K

12.9

5star

HB

7.3

5star

M

4.3

4star

T

2.0

4star

MG

418.9

5star

D

16.3

4star

K

10.0

4star

HB

6.3

4star

M

4.3

4star

T

1.9

3star

MG

283.1

4star

D

15.6

4star

K

9.2

4star

HB

6.4

4star

M

2.6

3star

T

1.6

4star

talk books with more than 150 pupils on February 22, 2024. Picture by Lachlan Bence

Sebastopol Primary School principal Michelle Wilson said seeing role models up close and reading books was so important for children and she was proud Sebastopol was back in the program for a second year. "This is great promotion for sustained reading, without judgement," Ms Wilson said. "This promotes picking up a book and relaxing a bit - a book can take you to another world."

Western Bulldogs AFL players Kristie-Lee Weston-Tuner, Rylie Wilcox and Heidi Woodley meet St Alipius readers Goldie, Summer and Norah at the Bulldogs Read launch on February 22, 2024. Picture by Melanie Whelan

Western Bulldogs' AFLW recruit Kristie-Lee Weston-Turner has plenty of reading ahead of her while juggling year 12 with her football. "My school is really flexible...I'm blessed. The club is aware of my school work and my school is aware of football so in the pre-season I am where I need to be," Weston-Turner said.

"It's great meeting all the kids here and they're so excited. "I do have a lot of reading when I'm at school and it's hard to find time to read for fun but I enjoyed reading growing up." Weston-Turner was joined by AFLW teammates Rylie Wilcox and Heidi Woodley for the launch.

Bulldogs Read launch was part of a two-day AFL Community Camp in Ballarat. This featured a bumper program of school visits on Thursday, February 22.

 

[geoffjennings79]

I attended the Q&A on Wed night with Bains, Beveridge and Bont. It was a q&a in the sense that the presenter asked curated questions that were a mandatory requirement to register.
Mine wasn't one of them, suspect because it was too specific to game plan.
Look they all spoke well, Bevo seems back in his 2016 Groove, Bont is possibly the most impressive public speaker we've ever had as a player.
Ultimately though, a lot of it was just what people want to hear.
Exceptions were Bont referring to how he manages pre-game "arousal" - I know what he was trying to say, but he said the word arousal about half a dozen times, which I thought was funny. He certainly seemed to enjoy using the word a lot!
Also a question to Bevo regarding which opponent will be the biggest challenge this year - he gave a long-winded answer that was basically "Brisbane", which then extended into a long tangent about working with Fagan at Hawthorn, why Fagan is such a great bloke, blah, blah, blah. I had to check at that stage I was still in Ballarat and hadn't been transported to a Brions preseason launch!

Anyway, sorry for the delay in mentioning this, had a few things on, especially late yesterday with debris from nearby fires falling at home, so footy wasn't high on my agenda the past 12-15 hours.

 

[Doggiesfan14]

I attended the Q&A on Wed night with Bains, Beveridge and Bont. It was a q&a in the sense that the presenter asked curated questions that were a mandatory requirement to register.
Mine wasn't one of them, suspect because it was too specific to game plan.
Look they all spoke well, Bevo seems back in his 2016 Groove, Bont is possibly the most impressive public speaker we've ever had as a player.
Ultimately though, a lot of it was just what people want to hear.
Exceptions were Bont referring to how he manages pre-game "arousal" - I know what he was trying to say, but he said the word arousal about half a dozen times, which I thought was funny. He certainly seemed to enjoy using the word a lot!
Also a question to Bevo regarding which opponent will be the biggest challenge this year - he gave a long-winded answer that was basically "Brisbane", which then extended into a long tangent about working with Fagan at Hawthorn, why Fagan is such a great bloke, blah, blah, blah. I had to check at that stage I was still in Ballarat and hadn't been transported to a Brions preseason launch!

Anyway, sorry for the delay in mentioning this, had a few things on, especially late yesterday with debris from nearby fires falling at home, so footy wasn't high on my agenda the past 12-15 hours.

Thought Bevo telling a long story about a raunchy encounter he experienced in the sauna when he was 8 years old was a little odd..

 

[geoffjennings79]

Thought Bevo telling a long story about a raunchy encounter he experienced in the sauna when he was 8 years old was a little odd..

Oh yeah, I forgot that one! He's also obviously bitter about giving up his cassette collection!

 

[Roogal]

Thought Bevo telling a long story about a raunchy encounter he experienced in the sauna when he was 8 years old was a little odd..

Well it obviously made an impression ... At least he didn't admit to liking gladiator movies

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

Western Bulldogs visit has young 'tales' wagging for exclusive event​

By Melanie Whelan (Ballarat Courier)
Updated February 22 2024 - 5:36pm

Napoleons grade two pupil Summer outmarks Western Bulldog Laitham Vandermeer at her school on Thursday, February 22. Picture by Lachlan Bence

WESTERN Bulldogs star Adam Treloar enjoys a good book and says it is an important skill to share a good tale with others.
Treloar was one of five Bulldogs taking centre stage for the annual Bulldogs Read launch, which boasts a record nine schools and 161 pupils set to share book reviews. There was plenty of footy talk and Taylor Swift chat - children were quick to note Treloar and teammate Jason Johannisen were sporting Swift-trend friendship bracelets.

For the child who wanted to check if they were a Weetbix Kid - Johannisen prefers coffee in the morning and Treloar is all about Fruit Loops. But the program launch was primarily about getting participants excited to read. Turns out, Treloar is a lectiophile, too.

Sebastopol grade five Brock has a chat with Bulldogs' star Adam Treloar, who says it is great to chat more individually with young fans. Picture by Melanie Whelan

"I just think being able to come out here and speak to kids is great," Treloar said. "A lot of the time when an individual comes and talks it's to a big group. It's nice to speak more one-on-one. "In my experience at school, I liked reading and socialising about books. Personally, I think it's really important."

This is Treloar's second season in the Bulldogs Read program. Johannisen is a new recruit to the program in which players will share video calls with participants to talk about what they are reading.

Bulldogs Read is exclusive to Ballarat.

Sebastopol primary's grade 5/6 class literacy levels improved in 2023, the school's first year in the program, from only one-quarter of the class reading and writing at level or above to only two children working below level by the year's end. When The Courier visited the class, most pupils had been surprised that footballers read books.

Western Bulldogs footballers Kristie-Lee Weston-Turner, Rylie Wilcox, Heidi Woodley and Jason Johannisen talk books with more than 150 pupils on February 22, 2024. Picture by Lachlan Bence

Sebastopol Primary School principal Michelle Wilson said seeing role models up close and reading books was so important for children and she was proud Sebastopol was back in the program for a second year. "This is great promotion for sustained reading, without judgement," Ms Wilson said. "This promotes picking up a book and relaxing a bit - a book can take you to another world."

Western Bulldogs AFL players Kristie-Lee Weston-Tuner, Rylie Wilcox and Heidi Woodley meet St Alipius readers Goldie, Summer and Norah at the Bulldogs Read launch on February 22, 2024. Picture by Melanie Whelan

Western Bulldogs' AFLW recruit Kristie-Lee Weston-Turner has plenty of reading ahead of her while juggling year 12 with her football. "My school is really flexible...I'm blessed. The club is aware of my school work and my school is aware of football so in the pre-season I am where I need to be," Weston-Turner said.

"It's great meeting all the kids here and they're so excited. "I do have a lot of reading when I'm at school and it's hard to find time to read for fun but I enjoyed reading growing up." Weston-Turner was joined by AFLW teammates Rylie Wilcox and Heidi Woodley for the launch.

Bulldogs Read launch was part of a two-day AFL Community Camp in Ballarat. This featured a bumper program of school visits on Thursday, February 22.

Did they hand out free copies of the Bont’s books?

 

[Roogal]

Mars Stadium plans to be revealed by Easter

Well that's according to the Ballarat Courier website this morning.

DETAILS for upgrades to the city's biggest outdoor stadium are set to emerge by Easter in a pivot from a cancelled Commonwealth Games fall-out. The Victorian Government has put out an advanced tender notice seeking expressions of interest from contractors keen to work in the Eureka Stadium precinct. This includes a promised extra 5000 permanent seats to the stadium, commonly known as Mars Stadium, bringing seated capacity to 10,000 fans.

Time will reveal all.

 

[geoffjennings79]

Easter eh?

Maybe incoming sponsorship from a slowly diminishing English comedy troupe, new stadium to be referred to as Mars Brian Cohen Monty Python Stadium. And restyled as a Roman Colosseum?

 

[lachy]

I know there are a few who disagree with me, maybe more than a few, but I know we do make some coin from this venture but really should we be looking at extending it.

Next week is our first home game, and the reality is 80 to 90% of our membership, let alone supporters, would not be able to go if they wanted too due to capacity. Most of that cohort do not want to go anyway.

Do we need the money from these games? Is it enough to devalue the home membership package for over 50,000 members when at best we get 9 home games?

Have we explored the option of playing home games against say Essendon and Collingwood at the G? You know where finals are played and we rarely get games there. The 9 other games can be at Marvel. Or worst case 11 home games at Marvel.

We seem to be trying to attract at best a couple of thousand new fans whilst offering nothing back to those who are current fans.

I have been to games at Ballarat. A small % of our supporters do enjoy it.

I will not be there next week. I will be watching it Melbourne with members who would be at the game if it was in Melbourne and have talked to many members and supporters who are not happy and will not be attending.

When do we want to become a middle tier club, with 60,000 members and an average of at least 35,000 maybe more at home games?

I understood why we had this agreement but there is no justification for it to continue as there is no evidence other than what was once financial that any goals have been achieved. Hopefully with the State government now watching their pennies there will be no extension to the current agreement



On SM-S926B using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[CarnTheScray]

Why would we hold home games at the MCG… Too far way. Travel is expensive, would be outnumbered by teams that actually play at the MCG and therefore have plenty of supporters in AFL and MCC reserve and live closer to the stadium. Its location is not fit for a western suburbs supporter base to attend for home games.

 

[lachy]

Why would we hold home games at the MCG… Too far way. Travel is expensive, would be outnumbered by teams that actually play at the MCG and therefore have plenty of supporters in AFL and MCC reserve and live closer to the stadium. Its location is not fit for a western suburbs supporter base to attend for home games.

So playing more games at the ground where finals are played and we get to see less than interstate teams is a bad idea as it is too far away??? Less than 5km's from our home ground and 20 minutes from our base. Yet Ballarat is appropriate?

Also if we are the higher placed team it is our home ground in finals

We are outnumbered at Docklands against the bigger clubs often.

That is a different view

On SM-S926B using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[CarnTheScray]

So playing more games at the ground where finals are played and we get to see less than interstate teams is a bad idea as it is too far away??? Less than 5km's from our home ground and 20 minutes from our base. Yet Ballarat is appropriate?

Also if we are the higher placed team it is out home ground in finals

We are outnumbered at Docklands against the biggers clubs often.

That is a different view

On SM-S926B using BigFooty.com mobile app

We are already having trouble winning games, how is the location of VIC finals (which we aren’t currently making or even being competitive in) the main concern?

Willing to bet a lot of supporters that complain about the Ballarat games would not even attend those same match ups at Marvel, considering that it is fact that the teams we play in Ballarat are matchups that would rank as our lowest attended matches, usually around 20,000. Not sure “80-90%” of our supporters are missing out if they’re not attending these games in Melbourne anyway.

Sick to death of people complaining about playing 2 games in Ballarat. One of the best decisions the club has made. Means we do not have to play in Cairns, or Darwin, or Tasmania, or ******* Shanghai.

 

[Foxman98]

We are already having trouble winning games, how is the location of VIC finals (which we aren’t currently making or even being competitive in) the main concern?

Willing to bet a lot of supporters that complain about the Ballarat games would not even attend those same match ups at Marvel, considering that it is fact that the teams we play in Ballarat are matchups that would rank as our lowest attended matches, usually around 20,000. Not sure “80-90%” of our supporters are missing out if they’re not attending these games in Melbourne anyway.

Sick to death of people complaining about playing 2 games in Ballarat. One of the best decisions the club has made. Means we do not have to play in Cairns, or Darwin, or Tasmania, or ******* Shanghai.

We played in Darwin and Tasmania last year with the 2 Ballarat games

 

[TiAn_]

We played in Darwin and Tasmania last year with the 2 Ballarat games

You can’t control where your away games are.

 

[CarnTheScray]

We played in Darwin and Tasmania last year with the 2 Ballarat games

Obviously we are talking about home games.

 

[threenewpadlocks]

We are already having trouble winning games, how is the location of VIC finals (which we aren’t currently making or even being competitive in) the main concern?

Willing to bet a lot of supporters that complain about the Ballarat games would not even attend those same match ups at Marvel, considering that it is fact that the teams we play in Ballarat are matchups that would rank as our lowest attended matches, usually around 20,000. Not sure “80-90%” of our supporters are missing out if they’re not attending these games in Melbourne anyway.

Sick to death of people complaining about playing 2 games in Ballarat. One of the best decisions the club has made. Means we do not have to play in Cairns, or Darwin, or Tasmania, or ******* Shanghai.

Yep this is the key point people make about ground access or whatever.

Our three Docklands crowds vs. Gold Coast - 21,373 in 2011, Gold Coast's 2nd ever game, first in Melbourne, some novelty value, Dogs still considered a chance to win the flag.

22,499 in 2019

Covid-impacted slightly 18,920 in 2021.

Vs. GWS: 18,301 2022, 30,672 2017 (first home game after the Prelim), 16,395 2015 (the Minson suspension game), 14,725 2014 (the infamous game).

Vs. Port Adelaide? 23,110 2023, 20,590 2015, 16,036, 2012.

We also had three sub-20k crowds - including one sub-15 - in four Docklands games vs. Fremantle from 2011-2015.

Obviously our crowds have increased after winning a flag and generally being a winning team and we should expect to see 20+k crowds consistently against any opponent right now, but that isn't always true if we're a bad team (as shown above), so we can't assume a post-premiership, finals making team glow, and accept that the Ballarat deal also exists in place for the Docklands crowds we should expect if we were a bad team that wasn't making finals over a stretch of time, like North are right now.

Even ignoring the Ballarat redevelopment that will see the capacity increase, it's not as if masses of fewer people are going to the Ballarat games - in many cases, for equivalent matchups as a bad team, literally only a few thousand fewer.

And what makes it even more significant is that these very fans not turning out for the games are the very fans that necessitate the need to sell home games to Ballarat. It has been stated ad naseum here that our financial situation inevitably means we can't afford to host two low-drawing games at Docklands simply because the stadium rent is too high if you don't get at least a 20-25kish crowd in. Well, if those people had shown up to a random 16k crowd in 2012 or 2013 against Fremantle or Port Adelaide, and turned it into a 20k crowd, then, all these years later, we would have more likely to strategically accepted 11 home games at Docklands. But we didn't. Because those members and fans didn't show up. So stop complaining.

 

[BallaratBulldog]

West Coast round 3 will be an interesting crowd. Possible to be worse than the 23,000 last year.

People need to show up. Less talk more action.

 

[huddo#9]

There is nothing positive about the first home game being at Ballarat, then the following home game over the Easter weekend. The sooner the club scraps the Ballarat disaster the better it will be for the members.

 

[lachy]

We are already having trouble winning games, how is the location of VIC finals (which we aren’t currently making or even being competitive in) the main concern?

Willing to bet a lot of supporters that complain about the Ballarat games would not even attend those same match ups at Marvel, considering that it is fact that the teams we play in Ballarat are matchups that would rank as our lowest attended matches, usually around 20,000. Not sure “80-90%” of our supporters are missing out if they’re not attending these games in Melbourne anyway.

Sick to death of people complaining about playing 2 games in Ballarat. One of the best decisions the club has made. Means we do not have to play in Cairns, or Darwin, or Tasmania, or ******* Shanghai.

We played those interstate games as we do in Ballarat for the money. Nothing more nothing less so to say playing in Ballarat means we don't have to play home games in Cairns or Darwin may have been valid 5 plus years ago, but now it is total rubbish, an absolute false equivalency, we are financially strong.

Short term thinking worrying about our start this year and playing games at the G. Cost us big time in 2015 where Adelaide had actually played more games at the G than us. If we want to stop being a small club who has to continually compromise we need to act like a medium sized club and make it worth while or as many of our supporters to attend.

Or we can continue to behave like the club of 10 years ago and drift back to mediocracy.

There are a Significant number of areas the club needs to work out what it what it wants to be, this is merely one of them and really this is not only about on the playing field this is off it to.

 

[lachy]

And what makes it even more significant is that these very fans not turning out for the games are the very fans that necessitate the need to sell home games to Ballarat. It has been stated ad naseum here that our financial situation inevitably means we can't afford to host two low-drawing games at Docklands simply because the stadium rent is too high if you don't get at least a 20-25kish crowd in. Well, if those people had shown up to a random 16k crowd in 2012 or 2013 against Fremantle or Port Adelaide, and turned it into a 20k crowd, then, all these years later, we would have more likely to strategically accepted 11 home games at Docklands. But we didn't. Because those members and fans didn't show up. So stop complaining.

Have you noticed what our balance sheet looks like now.

Also the arrangements at Docklands have changed significantly since the time periods mentioned.

These arguments were once relevant, they are no longer, so yes I will complain when the facts presented are so far out of date

 

[threenewpadlocks]

We played those interstate games as we do in Ballarat for the money. Nothing more nothing less so to say playing in Ballarat means we don't have to play home games in Cairns or Darwin may have been valid 5 plus years ago, but now it is total rubbish, an absolute false equivalency, we are financially strong.

I would argue that our financial results over the last few years has left us 'financially strong' but in any case the argument can be made that we only remain so because of the consistent selling of home games over several years. We would cease to be financially strong if we had to write a cheque of several hundreds of thousands of dollars for ground operations costs every time a crowd of only 19,000 rock up to a Docklands (or MCG) game, as opposed to flipping that and profiting hundreds of thousands of dollars for playing in Ballarat.

Short term thinking worrying about our start this year and playing games at the G.

I actually do beileve we do have a preference to play home games at the G. We played 9 home games there from 2003-2009. Inevitably, an AFL desire to change contracts with the stadiums, maximise revenue for the league, enforce their fixturing etc. meant that the AFL put a stop to it. Keep in mind that we were competing with complaints about Carlton and Essendon home games at Docklands selling out when they would play another Melbourne game. We get screwed by the AFL for being a 'small club', nothing new. This further means that we have to sell home games.