Western Sydney next

[stmookeyj]

If we even consider playing games in Western Sydney, then I'll never sign up as a member. It will be a disaster with no-one turning up playing on a venue that no-one cares about. To me even considering Sydney is the start of the sell-out of the club.

 

[hujsh]

If we even consider playing games in Western Sydney, then I'll never sign up as a member. It will be a disaster with no-one turning up playing on a venue that no-one cares about. To me even considering Sydney is the start of the sell-out of the club.

That is stupid. If you cared about the club you would become a member to stop it. Rolling over and dying is not what this club is about. I'm not very old but I know enough of our history to know that.

I only hope we can count on other members more than you

 

[kleptomjc]

Just wondering if anyone has a link to an article written on this? Reading this thread from top to bottom, some people are urging us get down to whitten oval right now or we will miss the boys catching the next flight to West Sydney, whilst others are saying that we aren't going to get there at all. I've scanned through a couple of sites, but have been unable fine any reporting on this at all.
I don't doubt that the afl may wish to relocate a team to west sydney, and that it may very well be us, however, surely the actual move is a) some time off and b) would be reported on, at least in some way.

I think, that at a time like this, it is very important to know exactly what we are dealing with. If we are talking about giving darwin and canberra the flick for two games in sydney, for more money, then surely that can't be a bad thing?

However, if it is four games, 2 and 2, or even worse, 4 in sydney, then this could be a bad omen.
Right now, all I have heard is what people on here are telling me they heard on SEN. Quite frankly, that isn't good enough for me. And why is it that every time a bulldogs fan comes on here saying what actually happened in an interview or what he has heard from someone inside the club, a north melbourne supporter comes in the next post with "It's confirmed, the dogs are playing four games in west syd next year"

Not that I don't and/or wouldn't want or accpet help from supporters who have been there, as we have once before, but I think we are hitting some panic buttons with no real proof about what the club is trying to do.

Bottom line is, two away games traded from canberra and darwin to sydney is fine. Anything else, and then the warning bells should really start ringing.

 

[hujsh]

To all you non western bulldogs members out their please sign up or help out in any way possible from now !

That's a good way to look at it. Sign up now. If you are the right age get a youth concession GA package. Awesome value!

 

[The Coon Dog]

If we even consider playing games in Western Sydney, then I'll never sign up as a member. It will be a disaster with no-one turning up playing on a venue that no-one cares about. To me even considering Sydney is the start of the sell-out of the club.

Haven't we been doing that for the past few years?

 

[blah..blah]

4 games in Syd is ok, provided we dont travel to every other stadium in Aust. If we can manage to have say 5 interstate games each yr including 4 in Sydney then that would be a fantatsic outcome. If it becomes a game of 4 in syd plus 1 in Bri plus 2 in WA plus 2 in SA plus etc they can go and get stuffed.

 

[boydsno1]

all seems odd. the dogs made a profit last season and are set to possibly make more and were saying that we hope to have no interstate home games. so for now a romour to be that we will play 4 games in west sydney seems odd and if that turned out to be the case then i think some shifty business will be happening and the afl could be licking there lips at a possible move for us.

regardsless in the next few weeks i will be signing up myself and gf even though she goes for essendon lol.

 

[bulldog]

4 games in Syd is ok, provided we dont travel to every other stadium in Aust. If we can manage to have say 5 interstate games each yr including 4 in Sydney then that would be a fantatsic outcome. If it becomes a game of 4 in syd plus 1 in Bri plus 2 in WA plus 2 in SA plus etc they can go and get stuffed.

Was just mulling this over myself whilst walking through the Yarraville festival. Just checked Hawks draw and they have four tassie home games plus four interstate away games. So that makes 8 games away from Melb for the hawks. If we play 2 or 4 in Sydney then I assume we get compensation away games here in Melbourne on our membership. I see that WCE made 6.5 million profit last year. Selling four games into Sydney may help us considerably in the short term future after the CBE is withdrawn.

 

[Z_K]

4 games in Syd is ok, provided we dont travel to every other stadium in Aust. If we can manage to have say 5 interstate games each yr including 4 in Sydney then that would be a fantatsic outcome. If it becomes a game of 4 in syd plus 1 in Bri plus 2 in WA plus 2 in SA plus etc they can go and get stuffed.

Take this post, change the club your talking about and you have our opinions from a few years ago.

The AFL want a club in Western Sydney. If you blokes play 4 games there are are not completely self-sufficient by the time the contract to play there is up ad the CBF is reviewed, they will hunt you down.

Seriously, if this is true, get rid of the board.

 

[mighty mick]

hi yes just another north supporter with a warning about this, i live in the west and would not like to see this team go.

we had jack collins ( 1954 premiership team), come to our suppoter groups one night and he told us that he doesnt like whats going on at the dogs, and sees hard times coming again new western oval redevelopment or not.

you cant always trust the board at your club and thank god for the turfing of norths old one.

but beware of smorgan

and as for the redevelopment it will be more of a community centre than anything footy. even vic uni will have classes in there.

jack collins was a passionate but unhappy bulldogs man when talking that night so beware.

north are only working there way out of the gc debacle so start the fight early.

and for any games moved that you want to be compensated for to get into away games in melbourne, well you have to buy those. the money made by selling dwindles away.

DONT BECOME THE NEXT GYPSY TEAM.

cheers mighty mick

 

[blah..blah]

they cant chuck the CBF until they have an even draw, or the supporters of the less fortunate ("insert power teams") teams will hunt down the AFL commision

 

[Gabbie]

Was just mulling this over myself whilst walking through the Yarraville festival. Just checked Hawks draw and they have four tassie home games plus four interstate away games. So that makes 8 games away from Melb for the hawks. If we play 2 or 4 in Sydney then I assume we get compensation away games here in Melbourne on our membership. I see that WCE made 6.5 million profit last year. Selling four games into Sydney may help us considerably in the short term future after the CBE is withdrawn.

How was the Yarraville festival? I used to live around the corner from Anderson street til 3 years ago. The Festival seemed to get bigger and bigger each year. One thing that used to pi$$ me off was a lot of political type stands and less of more good quality craft type stands.

Now back to the real world, in the words of an ex North player of the 30's who spoke at North's 125th Anniversary dinner way back "Don't trust the ba$stards - they will try to shaft you and get rid of you if they could, just fight back"

A couple of games interstate is ok-ish (good excuse for a weekend away) BUT, WTF, Western Sydney. Bit fishy if you ask me.

 

[hujsh]

hi yes just another north supporter with a warning about this, i live in the west and would not like to see this team go.

we had jack collins ( 1954 premiership team), come to our suppoter groups one night and he told us that he doesnt like whats going on at the dogs, and sees hard times coming again new western oval redevelopment or not.

you cant always trust the board at your club and thank god for the turfing of norths old one.

but beware of smorgan

and as for the redevelopment it will be more of a community centre than anything footy. even vic uni will have classes in there.

jack collins was a passionate but unhappy bulldogs man when talking that night so beware.

north are only working there way out of the gc debacle so start the fight early.

and for any games moved that you want to be compensated for to get into away games in melbourne, well you have to buy those. the money made by selling dwindles away.

DONT BECOME THE NEXT GYPSY TEAM.

cheers mighty mick

You do realize he is a Dogs supporter, not just a president. Are you saying he wants to shift us. That would destroy his entire reputation as someone who has helped save our club. And he would go from many peoples favourite president to the MOST HATED in our history.

 

[Kangalicious]

Hi guys just want to add my voice of support. Look, four games might be fine, if you're in control. Hawthorn has a good deal in Tassie simply because the deal is between them and the Tassie government, and the AFL and their greedy little fingers aren't anywhere near it. AFL have been pretty open about Western Sydney as a eventual destination for an AFL team. And before you believe anything they say, we started down the Gold Coast path believing that a full time team wasn't envisaged til 2015 - only to discover it was actually 2010.

They lie, they scheme, and they'd sell their grandmothers for a profit and the chance to put one over rugby league.

And, FWIW, if they are planning on moving you to Western Sydney count me in for the fight.

 

[trevagreene]

You do realize he is a Dogs supporter, not just a president. Are you saying he wants to shift us. That would destroy his entire reputation as someone who has helped save our club. And he would go from many peoples favourite president to the MOST HATED in our history.

....Yes, but many North supporters, some of them influential ones also supported relocation...eg. Dr. Allen Aylett, Kerry Good. And then you have the past players who also are North supporters shoving their faces in the media telling everyone that relocation is the best thing for the club. ( Sam Kekavich, David King ). Add to that, members of the board also supported relocation.

Dont mean a thing If they are supporters or not..

 

[hujsh]

....Yes, but many North supporters, some of them influential ones are also North supporters that supported relocation...eg. Dr. Allen Aylett, Kerry Good. And then you have the past players who also are North supporters shoving their faces in the media telling everyone that relocation is the best thing for the club. ( Sam Kekavich, David King ). Add to that, members of the board also supported relocation.

Dont mean a thing If they are supporters or not..

He just doesn't seem a guy to want to leave having read how he came to Western Oval to avoid being smashed by beer bottles or something.

 

[Dogs_r_barking]

I can understand North Melbourne members being upset on the threatened - supposed sell out of the club, and I do sympathise with your predicament. However, with the amount of on field succcess that you have enjoyed (in stark contrast to our own I might add), sadly I think it is only a matter of time before you will have to move. I think you are only stalling the inevitable. I think supporters of your club such as Aylett and King, only want the club to survive in some form and fear the total collapse of the club's identity into another form i.e. a new GC club.

If we were to swap onfield performances with our two clubs, I think that the Western Bulldogs/Footscray would be one of the most powerful clubs in the AFL and we would not be in your predicament. We struggle to get members, but we do have supporters - look at the numbers we pulled in for the 2006 final with Collingwood. These supporters are a bit jaded with supporting a club that has so far little on field success and are not signing up as members.

I know that you are fighting back this year, and memberships are up which is great, but what happens when the crisis is over and those memberships fall away again? (I might add that supporters of other clubs are buying NM memberships as well).

What our club needs more than anything is a premiership - and more onfield success - not pitchforks drawn at dawn at the board and AFL.

 

[hujsh]

I can understand North Melbourne members being upset on the threatened - supposed sell out of the club, and I do sympathise with your predicament. However, with the amount of on field succcess that you have enjoyed (in stark contrast to our own I might add), sadly I think it is only a matter of time before you will have to move. I think you are only stalling the inevitable. I think supporters of your club such as Aylett and King, only want the club to survive in some form and fear the total collapse of the club's identity into another form i.e. a new GC club.

If we were to swap onfield performances with our two clubs, I think that the Western Bulldogs/Footscray would be one of the most powerful clubs in the AFL and we would not be in your predicament. We struggle to get members, but we do have supporters - look at the numbers we pulled in for the 2006 final with Collingwood. These supporters are a bit jaded with supporting a club that has so far little on field success and are not signing up as members.

I know that you are fighting back this year, and memberships are up which is great, but what happens when the crisis is over and those memberships fall away again? (I might add that supporters of other clubs are buying NM memberships as well).

What our club needs more than anything is a premiership - and more onfield success - not pitchforks drawn at dawn at the board and AFL.

Good post Dogs_r_barking

 

[Z_K]

However, with the amount of on field succcess that you have enjoyed (in stark contrast to our own I might add), sadly I think it is only a matter of time before you will have to move. I think you are only stalling the inevitable[/QUOTE

Move where?

. I think supporters of your club such as Aylett and King, only want the club to survive in some form and fear the total collapse of the club's identity into another form i.e. a new GC club

.

Aylett couldn't fix the football club so he thought the only chance to survive was to cut and run. David King is just an ex-player with an opinion, one no more worthy than that of a fan.

If we were to swap onfield performances with our two clubs, I think that the Western Bulldogs/Footscray would be one of the most powerful clubs in the AFL and we would not be in your predicament. We struggle to get members, but we do have supporters - look at the numbers we pulled in for the 2006 final with Collingwood. These supporters are a bit jaded with supporting a club that has so far little on field success and are not signing up as members.

None of that matters, because generational support issues or only one flag doesn't change the fact that there is a difficulty in attracting the member numbers of the biggest clubs.

And what did we do after '96 and go into another flag year in '99 doing?Playing home games in Sydney. Disasterous decision. We were gypsy travellers trying to promote our "brand" into a non-footy market to placate the AFL and then losing the battle to keep the same brand viable in our heartland. Rubbish decision that we are still paying for.

See where I'm going here?

I know that you are fighting back this year, and memberships are up which is great, but what happens when the crisis is over and those memberships fall away again? (I might add that supporters of other clubs are buying NM memberships as well).

You might add? I'd rather take the info I could get from the football club, thanks all the same. If it was more than 300 I would be very, very surprised. We are at 20,1000 and almost 10,000 ahead of this time last year. Give us a break, for christs sake.

What our club needs more than anything is a premiership - and more onfield success - not pitchforks drawn at dawn at the board and AFL

If you choose to give up 4 home games to Western Sydney given what happened to my football club last year, your board should be removed for sheer stupidity. We did it, but were almost too late.

 

[muttley3028]

OK I think its time for everyone to calm down and take a step back the only person that has said anything about west Sydney is Eade who's job is to coach the team not negotiate where interstate home games should be held little loan where the club should call home. When a member of the board starts talking it up then go nuts have your torches and pitch folks ready.

We must remember it is that time of the year that the littlest story gets blown sky high because there is nothing else to report on once the footy start it will focus more on the action and less on the crap. We are all starved of footy atm and will jump on anything we can get.

The Afl's first priority atm is the Gold Coast. West Sydney though maybe on the radar IMO is a while off yet it would be highly unlikely of them to stop focusing on that than Sydney because it is a more viable market because there are allot more relocated Victorians on the GC than West Sydney which are not only more likely to turn up to the match but also sign up to the club that goes/established there.

On a final note bring on next Friday at least then we can talk about the footy instead of what could or could not happen. If you are that worried about it buy a membership that is the best way to secure the Dogs in Melbourne.

 

[hujsh]

You might add? I'd rather take the info I could get from the football club, thanks all the same. If it was more than 300 I would be very, very surprised. We are at 20,1000 and almost 10,000 ahead of this time last year. Give us a break, for christs sake.

My GOD! how the hell did you do that

There would be quite a few supporters from other clubs with memberships and a few who only are members to keep the club.

BUT... I'm sure that happened for us as well so that doesn't make you less likely than the Hawks, us and whoever else had to fight.

 

[Mr Reliable]

OK I think its time for everyone to calm down and take a step back the only person that has said anything about west Sydney is Eade who's job is to coach the team not negotiate where interstate home games should be held little loan where the club should call home. When a member of the board starts talking it up then go nuts have your torches and pitch folks ready.

We must remember it is that time of the year that the littlest story gets blown sky high because there is nothing else to report on once the footy start it will focus more on the action and less on the crap. We are all starved of footy atm and will jump on anything we can get.

The Afl's first priority atm is the Gold Coast. West Sydney though maybe on the radar IMO is a while off yet it would be highly unlikely of them to stop focusing on that than Sydney because it is a more viable market because there are allot more relocated Victorians on the GC than West Sydney which are not only more likely to turn up to the match but also sign up to the club that goes/established there.
On a final note bring on next Friday at least then we can talk about the footy instead of what could or could not happen. If you are that worried about it buy a membership that is the best way to secure the Dogs in Melbourne.

Despite all their numerous failings, the AFL can manage to do more than one thing at a time.

 

[muttley3028]

I understand that they can do more than one thing at once (But they probably shouldn't cause they are lucky to get one thing done right). My point I was trying to get across was that at this stage the GC is their main focus compared to West Sydney. I am by no means arguing that they want another team in NSW thats been well documented for years 2 team in NSW and 2 in Qld no surprise there at all.

I appreciate the concern from North supporters given the emotional ride over the last few months and understand that you guys don't want to see any team go through what you guys have and thats all that you and other posters are trying to convey.

 

[Mo7]

No truth to this rumor according to Western Bulldog membership manager, Dino Imbriano. They are as surprised as anyone else!!

 

[Dogs_r_barking]

However, with the amount of on field succcess that you have enjoyed (in stark contrast to our own I might add), sadly I think it is only a matter of time before you will have to move. I think you are only stalling the inevitable[/QUOTE

Move where?

.

Aylett couldn't fix the football club so he thought the only chance to survive was to cut and run. David King is just an ex-player with an opinion, one no more worthy than that of a fan.



None of that matters, because generational support issues or only one flag doesn't change the fact that there is a difficulty in attracting the member numbers of the biggest clubs.

And what did we do after '96 and go into another flag year in '99 doing?Playing home games in Sydney. Disasterous decision. We were gypsy travellers trying to promote our "brand" into a non-footy market to placate the AFL and then losing the battle to keep the same brand viable in our heartland. Rubbish decision that we are still paying for.

See where I'm going here?



You might add? I'd rather take the info I could get from the football club, thanks all the same. If it was more than 300 I would be very, very surprised. We are at 20,1000 and almost 10,000 ahead of this time last year. Give us a break, for christs sake.



If you choose to give up 4 home games to Western Sydney given what happened to my football club last year, your board should be removed for sheer stupidity. We did it, but were almost too late.

You are obviously a very passionate supporter and I respect that. Good luck with your year and your membership drive.