Expansion Why AFL fails miserably in Queensland

[Sausages]

Solid points Matchu, well made and agreed - it is a heavily Bris-centric approach insofar as what I've written.

However, at it's roots all expansion clubs face the same issues - a lifetime of AFL handouts UNLESS massive inroads are gained in the next 20 years.

And I guess the rest of the competition, for better or worse, needs to understand and accept that. I don't really think they have to be honest. Thus far, increased cap spending and start-up recruitment concessions is all that is seen on the face of it. Sure, there are other avenues of action being instituted - but they are working, imho, slower than expected.

 

[mediumsizered]

What's AFL if not blue collar?

Nowhere near blue collar enough for Qlders who like the 'biff' & body crashing that is still a part of rugby league, despite the best efforts to tone it down.

 

[The King!]

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-ne...millions-in-aid-from-afl-20150301-13rqwm.html

St Kilda will receive an additional $3.8 million from the AFL in 2014 after recording a $3.91 million loss from $30 million in 2014. Carlton also made a loss in 2014 of $1.6 million as did Geelong, recording a small $280,000 deficit.

The Sydney Swans announced a profit of about $846,000 but received about $12 million in AFL funding, higher than many clubs including the likes of Collingwood, Essendon and Hawthorn.

Yes, we are really the ones bankrupting the AFL. Gifted flags and your sorry ass mob still cannot be self sufficient. I'm very impressed bro

Collingwood win 1 flag in 20 years and can be totally self sufficient, West Coast win one in 20 years and are also self sufficient. You could win 6 flags in a row and something tells me you would still need the AFLs help. Thought equalization was to help teams become more competitive to one day stand on their own two feet, but I wager 50 years from now you will still be getting bailed out by the league.

Read annual reports for the last decade we are middle of the pack for distributions behind teams including collingwood and The mighty saints

But cherry pick one year, bang on about gifted flags, then PM sooking i pick on you, laughable

 

[domus]

Thanks for your commentary, it was most illuminating.

My pleasure.

 

[The_Reaper]

Read annual reports for the last decade we are middle of the pack for distributions behind teams including collingwood and The mighty saints

But cherry pick one year, bang on about gifted flags, then PM sooking i pick on you, laughable

Rob can explain how poor Sydney's finances are.

 

[inamedthegiants]

Too bloody humid.
Too bloody hot.
Too many rum drinkers.

 

[Kwality]

I always find comments about passion hard to swallow when they come from the mouth of a Rugby League supporter. The RL crowds are currently averaging 16 000 in 2015. Wow. Such passion and love of the game coming from the grassroots supporters. It is pathetic. They'll all crawl out of the woodwork for three games and then crawl back into it. The AFL are doing a good job. There will be ups and downs. Three weeks ago the Lions game had 31 000 people attend. Not bad for a team that has wallowed near the bottom of the ladder these past few years.

From your experience in NRL country it appears you havent come across a League tragic & they are every bit as passionate as any Aussie Rules tragic - the facilities at some NRL venues would be unacceptable to the AFL event conscious princess set that wont go to this game/this venue, Melbourne based supporters of clubs that cant pull a crowd, needing the opposition to make up the numbers, something the non Vic clubs face week in, week out.

Passion, nah.

 

[Kwality]

I live in Queensland. Living in Queensland suck if you want to watch quality AFL matches on Free to air Television. I have foxtel so I am alright but Last weekend for example the Sydney V Freo match and the Port V Hawks match both were not on free to air television due to the GC and GWS match being on at 5:40pm. Not to mention shows like footy classified and talking footy and the footy show are on at like midnight. The Sunday footy show isn't even shown at any time.

If you want to watch AFL footy, take what you get on FTA or pay for Foxtel, not Einstein stuff.

 

[Maddhew]

I stopped reading at "Waddya wanna be? A Walla-Walla-by"

something no one under the age of 25 would have ever heard

 

[E Shed]

So if GC fold can we have Martin and O'Meara sent back home please?

 

[fabulousphil]

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ne...-private-schools/story-fni0cx12-1226698955700

Lured by financial incentives, such as paying for half of the uniforms, providing coaching mentors to each team and running the gala day competitions each Saturday for the 10-team, 10 round competition which wrapped up last week, six schools, St Patrick's, Riverview, Waverley, Trinity, Knox and Cranbrook, signed up for the AFL's inaugural Independent Schools competition this winter.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ne...-private-schools/story-fni0cx12-1226698955700

There's a thread on this topic too: http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/afl-footy-moving-into-private-schools-in-sydney.980442/

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/spo...s-for-afl-talent/story-fnca0u4y-1227049499315

this years Sydney independent Schools comp is bigger again this year

http://www.sportingpulse.com/comp_info.cgi?a=FIXTURE&compID=366820&c=0-10806-0-0-0

About twice the size of 2 years ago when it was first introduced

 

[Rob]

Rob can explain how poor Sydney's finances are.

He's right, they are middle of the pack, although take out AFL membership money and they aren't behind Collingwood in AFL funding.

Their finances aren't poor at all, but there will be issues if they have a few years out of the finals. Sydney's problem is that they spend too much, and they aren't putting away enough now when times are good to cover for the bad years. But very very few clubs actually do this (I can think of maybe 5 that do) because the AFL covers them all if they ever get into the shit. So they generally spend like a bitch in pursuit of a flag.

 

[kranky al]

you have written a letter to impress bigfooty - and then sent it to a game administrator - mmmmmmmmmmmm - should have thought that one out a little more


btw - as someone who has lived in qld on and off for 25 years - when i was in qld first 25 years ago there was no such thing as afl. bugger all footy grounds - minimal clubs

last time i was there i was astonished at how far the game had come - just because it wont happen in 10 years doesnt mean it wont happen in a hundred

 

[santa claws]

Born in Tasmania though?

and considers himself a tasmanian. geez petterd has a tassie link. his old man pedro or wayne was a tassie lad and a damn good player at hobart.

 

[Balony_pony16]

Thread is confusing. Who gives a **** what is happening in Queensland?

why are you here?

 

[KeSter]

I think south east Queensland can support a team.

I'm pretty confident it can't support two. We currently have Brisbane who have about 25K members, and get crowds of 17.5- 25, but due to their stadium deal don't break even until the crowd hits about 15K. And the Gold Coast who have smaller support but a better stadium deal. I certainly don't want to see my team shifted back down to carrarra, but if the AFL were to merge the two clubs, have the Gabba as the Home ground but sell two or three games a year to Metricon, they may just be able to develop a viable long term entity.
Then get a team into Tasmania.

Here, here. Better still I'd love to see the Lions remain an AFL entity and end up IN Tasmania. Surely we old Roys supporters deserve to finally see our club find a home in a safe, traditional AFL heartland (especially after the AFL did everything in its power to destroy us). Lions to Tassie ASAP!!!

 

[YeahNahYeahNah]

If you want to watch AFL footy, take what you get on FTA or pay for Foxtel, not Einstein stuff.

I agree. But how are you going to get non AFL fans hooked if you don't show the best games on free to air?

 

[Yidaki]

Grass roots AFL is strong here. The support is there, however, it's just that most people are out camping, fishing, and surfing. The weather is amazing year round.

 

[dockshark]

why are you here?

Too deep for big footy bro. Too deep.

 

[master bate]

I agree. But how are you going to get non AFL fans hooked if you don't show the best games on free to air?

Are Friday nights on FTA (digitial channels).

The AFL should definitely try to get Friday night and the 2 local teams on Free To Air. 3 games a round is a pretty good start for interstate markets. If you've got free access to your team playing every week (presuming you pick a local team), plus the marquee time slot of the week then you'll either watch and follow your team or not. If 3 games don't do it then 8 games won't!

 

[YeahNahYeahNah]

Are Friday nights on FTA (digitial channels).

The AFL should definitely try to get Friday night and the 2 local teams on Free To Air. 3 games a round is a pretty good start for interstate markets. If you've got free access to your team playing every week (presuming you pick a local team), plus the marquee time slot of the week then you'll either watch and follow your team or not. If 3 games don't do it then 8 games won't!

Hmm Yeah good point. I'm probably just complaining haha. Yeah we have Friday night, local teams, Saturday nights and Sunday game. Just annoys me as a pies supporter that they always show the QLD teams games over better and more aesthetically looking games.

 

[master bate]

Hmm Yeah good point. I'm probably just complaining haha. Yeah we have Friday night, local teams, Saturday nights and Sunday game. Just annoys me as a pies supporter that they always show the QLD teams games over better and more aesthetically looking games.

The reality is you shouldn't be a Collingwood supporter in QLD. Now that there's 2 teams there the hope is that the local kids all grow up supporting one or the other of them. No good for Pies fans, although you get a good run on Friday nights at least! For all the trouble they are in now both Brisbane (2nd half) and Gold Coast (1st half) dished up some pretty watch-able footy last year.

Foxtel or the AFL live pass at least provide a couple of options compared to the dark ages of 1 game a week or nothing at all.

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

Being a Queenslander born and bred, here is an excerpt from a letter I have sent the AFL Chief Executive...

"What you seem to not understand is that a manufactured team won't have any impact on the psyche of the average sports followers in the South East Queensland market. We don't grow up with AFL. In the southern/western states for example,the top private schools produce an awesome amount of quality AFL footballers - In Queensland and NSW, the top private schools produce, not rugby league players, but rugby union players. "Waddya wanna be? A Walla-Walla-by". Representative football - something the AFL cannot give. Hell, you can't even give me a State of Origin team. I can accept that AFL is our game and thus beyond green and gold representation, aside from the stop/start International Rules series (which even then has struggled for relevance), but surely, SURELY, the fact that it's almost 30 years after the formation of the Brisbane Bears and we couldn't field a starting 11 of Queenslanders, never mind a 22, of AFL standard, demonstrates how little impact your efforts have had.

Private schools, certainly in my experience attending a GPS school in Brisbane, set the tone for the public schools. I know they are playing GPS AFL now, which is good - but they are private schools whose honour rolls (go look at them sometime - Brisbane Grammar, Nudgee College, Brisbane State High School etc) are awash with Australian cricketers and Wallabies. These are constructs which have meaning, relevance, identity and above all, RESPECT. Our state's greatest rugby league player, Wally Lewis, went to my school, was an outstanding rugby union player...but chose rugby league in the 70's because Union back then was amateur and he couldn't earn a living off it. Otherwise, he would have been a Wallaby. And these schools STILL have that same mentality -despite AFL being played there, the school's sporting identity is linked to how many Test cricketers/Wallabies they produce. Not at all unlike Scotch College or Geelong Grammar - just different sporting cultures, with the Melbourne schools removing Union and adding in AFL.

Furthermore, in the rugby league and union circles, it's acknowledged that if you have terrible skills but good athleticism, you play league - only the very gifted progress far down the road with Union. And that, interestingly, is a sentiment echoed by that other great bastion of Union and League - NZ...and don't you have some far seeing plans for a footy club there? Yep, that'll work, lock it in Eddie.

You would be better off limiting the number of non-local players on the Lions/Suns books and forcing them to play sub-standard, but LOCALLY PRODUCED, talent. At least then, the sports followers could read about how our local boys are getting creamed every week. BUT THEY'RE OUR BOYS would be the cry from the locals after 20 years of no wins, 200 losses. And maybe, just maybe, the parochial community in Queensland would rally to redress the balance. And that first win would be savoured as a flag. It's the EXACT scenario which led to what is arguably Australian sports greatest domestic annual event, the Rugby League State of Origin. A select few Brisbane rugby league players and identities/administrators were sick of hearing how superior NSW players were - so we put 2 teams on the park and the rest is history. Oh, and we smashed 'em. Perhaps a lesson in passion over skill, but that's not relevant.

What has become alarmingly evident to the local Brisbane-ite, certainly the mass of seething humanity I spoke to in 20 years in the airlines, is that when we win, it's because we are "propped up". Our 3 flags aren't accepted EVEN BY THE AVERAGE SPORTS PUNTER IN QUEEN STREET, never mind the rest of the AFL community. We aren't relevant here Mr McLachlan. And nothing you do, NOTHING, changes that.

So, even when you help us, all you do is widen the gap between acceptance and antipathy. You'd be far better off removing ALL assistance and letting the people of Brisbane decide if they want an AFL club or not. Stand or die. We'd die though...you know it and I know it. And you are chained to the broadcast rights deal. So, to ensure extra money in the coffers of all clubs, ours will be left, eternally, as just an irrelevance in the sporting market. We can't live on our own and you won't let us die on our own. And do you know what the definition is, of something that is neither alive nor dead? A zombie. And zombies don't have passion....

Mr McLachlan, I implore you to don a pair of shorts and go do a pub crawl in Brisbane - perhaps then you and your executive committee might be able to make better decisions regarding expansion footy clubs, rather than listen to the accountants ejaculate over your balance sheet when the next broadcast rights deal is negotiated. You show so little concern for your product, your game of blood, mud, sweat and history, that you take cuttings and plant them wherever suits you, not where there is fertile soil. The battle you fight here is not only against rugby league but rugby union as well. And everytime the Bledisloe Cup rolls around - well, your product fades into obscurity."

Very Queensland, I must say.

Just can't imagine a New South Welshperson (if that's what we're called), even when talking about Aussie Rules in NSW, being quite so New South Walesy as you've been Queenslandy.

I guess that's like they say about SoO. Queenslanders go apeshit when they beat us (as they often do) but for us in NSW it's all just a bit of a lark, win or lose.

 

[Colonial]

Too many rum drinkers.

Thats the main problem right there

 

[Sydney Bloods]

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-ne...millions-in-aid-from-afl-20150301-13rqwm.html

St Kilda will receive an additional $3.8 million from the AFL in 2014 after recording a $3.91 million loss from $30 million in 2014. Carlton also made a loss in 2014 of $1.6 million as did Geelong, recording a small $280,000 deficit.

The Sydney Swans announced a profit of about $846,000 but received about $12 million in AFL funding, higher than many clubs including the likes of Collingwood, Essendon and Hawthorn.

Yes, we are really the ones bankrupting the AFL. Gifted flags and your sorry ass mob still cannot be self sufficient. I'm very impressed bro

Collingwood win 1 flag in 20 years and can be totally self sufficient, West Coast win one in 20 years and are also self sufficient. You could win 6 flags in a row and something tells me you would still need the AFLs help. Thought equalization was to help teams become more competitive to one day stand on their own two feet, but I wager 50 years from now you will still be getting bailed out by the league.

ah yes the old lets count the the same money just about everybody gets as a handout for the swans
at least bay 13 understands what a troll is.
for you dead shits that actually don't understand: