Melbourne to ditch Alice Springs game from next year?

[Bring-Back-Powell 13,100]

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-04-22/chinese-whispers-is-melbourne-the-second-team-for-the-shanghai-match

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-04-22/suns-to-play-power-in-china-experiment

Interview with PJ suggests that we'll be scaling our NT arrangement from 2 matches down to 1.

The annual Alice Springs game with Port looks likely to be finished, and with Gold Coast being speculated as Port's opponent in China, there's a high possibility that we'll be playing one more home game at the G next year.

[Deeoldfart 7,711]

The financial benefits of playing an annual game in China are potentially substantial, but PJ makes the excellent point that they need to be balanced against the detrimental effects on team performance in the week(s) following the travel involved.  We are a football team first and foremost, and imo we have already seen the down-side of playing games in the NT.  I'll be very happy for us not to be involved in the China 'experiment', and to scale back our games in the NT (to zero if it doesn't compromise the finances too much, or our talent academy in the Alice). 

[stuie 7,374]

4 minutes ago, Deeoldfart said:

The financial benefits of playing an annual game in China are potentially substantial

The unconfirmed figures are: NT game - 500K, China game - 600K. Worth it?

 

[daisycutter 28,455]

gillon has said on radio just now that the reported suns deal to play in china is not a done deal

[Rod Grinter Riot Squad 5,636]

Much smarter to ditch Darwin and keep Alice Springs

[ArtificialWisdom 3,844]

Just now, daisycutter said:

gillon has said on radio just now that the reported suns deal to play in china is not a done deal

Yeah just heard this too, not really what i wanted to hear.

[stuie 7,374]

1 minute ago, Rod Grinter Riot Squad said:

Much smarter to ditch Darwin and keep Alice Springs

Think it's more because of the opponent who will now be playing a game in China and likely want to ditch the game in Alice.

[Pates 9,536]

I would much prefer they ditch the Darwin game but I don't know whether the financial benefits of one are better than the other, but from a player welfare standpoint it's the Alice that would be my preference. Maybe they could flip flop between the years.

[Bring-Back-Powell 13,100]

51 minutes ago, daisycutter said:

gillon has said on radio just now that the reported suns deal to play in china is not a done deal

If we are playing in China and the NT still want us for 2 games, can anyone for-see the possibility of the following next year:

7 home games at the MCG

1 home game in China

1 home game in Darwin

1 home game in Alice Springs

1 home game at Etihad (the AFL will always schedule us a home game there)

I would be bitterly disappointed if that happened.

Edited April 22, 2016 by Bring-Back-Powell

[stuie 7,374]

2 minutes ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

If we are playing in China and the NT still want us for 2 games, can anyone for-see the possibility of the following next year:

7 home games at the MCG

1 home game in China

1 home game in Darwin

1 home game in Alice Springs

1 home game at Etihad (the AFL will always schedule us a home game there)

I would be bitterly disappointed if that happened.

Won't happen.

"This idea that Melbourne is the other club, that's news to me at this point in time," Jackson said.

"No one spoke to us before that announcement and I haven't had any formal conversations with the AFL since the announcement."

[Dr. Gonzo 22,399]

43 minutes ago, stuie said:

Won't happen.

"This idea that Melbourne is the other club, that's news to me at this point in time," Jackson said.

"No one spoke to us before that announcement and I haven't had any formal conversations with the AFL since the announcement."

"If someone wants to sit down and talk to us about that we'd probably be very willing to talk."

[stuie 7,374]

25 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

"If someone wants to sit down and talk to us about that we'd probably be very willing to talk."

Yes, but the AFL already announced they had a second team lined up. If they're saying that, and PJ hasn't heard about it, then you'd assume it's not us.

 

[Willmoy1947 3,760]

We don't want push coming to shove from these B's. All they want is more space at our ground for their pets. To the ramparts!!!

[H_T 2,941]

2 hours ago, stuie said:

Yes, but the AFL already announced they had a second team lined up. If they're saying that, and PJ hasn't heard about it, then you'd assume it's not us.

 

It's Gold Coast Suns. Their CEO was on SEN this morning being interviewed. They are giving up a home game, they're getting $600K.

[Biffen 12,298]

Sweet.

[censored] China and [censored] Darwin.

[special robert 438]

What Biff said.

[hells bells 2,022]

8 hours ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

If we are playing in China and the NT still want us for 2 games, can anyone for-see the possibility of the following next year:

7 home games at the MCG

1 home game in China

1 home game in Darwin

1 home game in Alice Springs

1 home game at Etihad (the AFL will always schedule us a home game there)

I would be bitterly disappointed if that happened.

No cant see that happening.

Based on the interview I'd be confident of us only playing 1 game in NT from next year on.  Re China I got the impression he was a bit [censored] off that the AFL hadn't involved us considering what we've already done.

[Timothy Reddan-A'Blew 3,798]

ABC news confirming it's the Suns.

Hmmm, red and yellow. Well der!

Not as clear how the white (death), black and 'gr/ue' of PA will be received (see WikiP)

[Maple Demon 449]

1 hour ago, Biffen said:

Sweet.

[censored] China and [censored] Darwin.

What about your scouting trips, Biffen?

[BarnDee 284]

NO  china game for us please or darwin 

[Binmans PA 25,894]

14 hours ago, Deeoldfart said:

The financial benefits of playing an annual game in China are potentially substantial, but PJ makes the excellent point that they need to be balanced against the detrimental effects on team performance in the week(s) following the travel involved.  We are a football team first and foremost, and imo we have already seen the down-side of playing games in the NT.  I'll be very happy for us not to be involved in the China 'experiment', and to scale back our games in the NT (to zero if it doesn't compromise the finances too much, or our talent academy in the Alice). 

If we are scaling back our NT involvement, what's to be done with the financial gap minus those existing Darwin monies? They must be pretty confident that the business is up-trending and we can pull decent enough attendances year round to offset the loss or... we've got another plan up our sleeve?

[Seraph 1,713]

11 hours ago, H_T said:

It's Gold Coast Suns. Their CEO was on SEN this morning being interviewed. They are giving up a home game, they're getting $600K.

This is completely false.

Gil said on radio today that this was just 'posturing' and that no decision had been made at all. He also said multiple clubs were interested and that $600K figure was [censored]. 

[Je Roos Salem 661]

I hope it's not because of that tree that blocks the broadcast view from a certain angle. I'd rather play there than that sweat hole in Darwin.

I bet if we play in China, even if there's a bye the next week our players will under perform because they're adjusting their lungs from the smog, at least that's what everyone will say. 

It's pretty funny given there's an "if" attached to this game given the media circus that covered the meeting

[Jaded No More 57,632]

I wanna play at the G. It's better for our chances of winning and that is all I actually care about. 

If financially we don't need to sell home games, then why do it? 

Good riddance!

[Whispering_Jack 27,918]

I was in both Beijing and Shanghai not all that long ago and I have come to believe that the experiment of playing a game there, no matter how lucrative for the clubs involved, is in the present climate, a potential disaster for the clubs involved.

Whilst the Chinese economy has been booming during periods when other economies have struggled, there have been recent signs of economic slowdown. The progression from a socialist society into a combination unique to China of the old with capitalism is bringing its  own problems and then there is the environment.

Who is going to construct a stadium to meet the specifications and size for AFL and who can guarantee clean air for the participants? Beijing is one of the most heavily polluted cities on this planet and Shanghai is not far behind. Large numbers of people get around wearing face masks to assist breathing and also apparently to ward off infectious air borne diseases (nobody's sure how effective they are). We were in Shanghai for two or three days and never saw sunshine - the city was shrouded in a dull fog most of the time. Our guide, a well educated man who had good contacts told us that the authorities released dodgy figures of smog readings which are bad enough in themselves but the real figures are much worse and whilst other Asian countries are trying to clean up their acts in this area, the government in China lags far behind.

The AFL did not hesitate when the CAS sanctions were handed down against Essendon, to cite health and safety reasons in order to give the Bombers massive concessions to enable them to prop up their team. I wonder if the AFL will take the same concerns with it into the China project. Will it undertake studies into the pollution issues? Can it trust the authorities to provide decent grounds, issue visas etc for the games to go ahead and will they stick to their promises noting the stories about the ground set aside for football during the Melbourne experiment of five or six years ago remains untouched to this day. 

I suspect that this all boils down to one thing in the end and that's money. The health and safety of the players and the interests of those who follow the game can be damned as usual.