Our board is looking at playing the Swans in Canberra on Anzac Day - Melbourne wants Anzac Day action.

Other good news is that we're half way there in the debt demolition stakes and well on the way to collecting $3 million out of the $5 million required to clear the debt.

And we've asked the AFL for less Sunday fixtures. Hooray!

I think its a great idea! If your going to play in canberra for a game, ANZAC day would be ideal!!

This is such a great idea.

A) It'd be Sold Out.

B) As it's ANZAC Day the Canberra press would be all over it, pushing the club in a solid way into a new market.

C) We'd make money on the game given it's in Canberra and it would be an honour to play this game in the Nation's capital on such a auspice day.

D) It has the roots and foundation to make it a real blokbuster, as oppossed to the past ANZAC Day games a the SCG which just seem to have felt like a normal Home & Away fixture. Will be great if we play it on the actual day like is being suggested.

This is such a great idea.

A) It'd be Sold Out.

B) As it's ANZAC Day the Canberra press would be all over it, pushing the club in a solid way into a new market.

C) We'd make money on the game given it's in Canberra and it would be an honour to play this game in the Nation's capital on such a auspice day.

D) It has the roots and foundation to make it a real blokbuster, as oppossed to the past ANZAC Day games a the SCG which just seem to have felt like a normal Home & Away fixture. Will be great if we play it on the actual day like is being suggested.

" I concur"...Frank W Abagnale

I think an ANZAC game between Melbourne and Sydney in Canberra shows great initiative. The sides have played an ANZAC game before at the SCG. If Essendon and Collingwood start whinging and carrying on they can go jump as far as I'm concerned.

The AFL should support this idea. Should also be supported by the Federal Government in a positive ANZAC tradition; and it represents Australia's two biggest cities. Melbourne and Sydney.

Jim is quite right that our club has a rich history of former players that went to war and fought for their country.

If its a long weekend Canberra may be a ghost town??? Used to be that way when I lived there.

This has Neita 3000's approval

Correct me if wrong, but Canberra has the War Memorial, which would attract many people on ANZAC day. Which either means there will be plenty of people to go over to Manuka to watch the footy, or everyone will be busy at the War Memorial. I dunno.

They can pay their respects, etc in the morning with the dawn service. The footy can start at 1-2:00pm. Those who fought in the war can be remembered at the footy too...

I thought the game we played years back against the Swannies was a good idea then..and stil ldo now. There's just a natural occurence that there ought to be something made of a Melbourne Sydney rivalry..it permeates everything else on this continent so why not package it al up and lets make a buck

It might be a very good way of utilising the away-home game to our advantage.

come in spinner !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

this shows great initiative by Jimmy and the Board - half time events like 2 up, runners / trainers dressed in jungle- type battle gear - hope it comes off.

battle gear ?? I think not..

Anzac day ..if you ask the survivors is about remembering your mates.. ..The last thing most ever want to see again is a battle...other than in shorts and stops

ANZAC day in Canberra is a very good idea.

War Memorial is, easily, Canberra's biggest attraction, and it would be quite approriate to have the demon players visit, attend a seminar (WM is really good for seminars, beleive it or not, they have a whole series of presentation rooms for school groups and smaller, more formal rooms for academic and research presentations) on the 21 Melbourne past players lost during the wars.

They could also individually look up family history of war service - another excellent facility the Memorial provides both through self-directed research terminals and experts who can help people find what they are after.

This would be a highly appropriate and respectful activity for the club, would help to promote the quite in-depth services offered by the memorial, and would 'add value' to the MFC Manuka game in the eyes of the ACT government.

I also think there's just something 'right' about playing at a smallish suburban ground on ANZAC day.

We should also invite the NZ high commission to attend the game. They are half of 'ANZAC', after all, not that anyone would notice, what with the way some people promote the day as some boorish 'Aussie Aussie Aussie' event.

I am sure that NZ people have things to do in NZ for ANZAC day, and i am sure that NZders in general remember the NZ people who dies, not the aussies.

great post though.

Yeh, great idea. Hope we get it through. If MFC can become competitive and with the AFL really pumping money into footy development in the harbour city, this could be a great move in the long run. It also accentuates that an Australian football league must have a "Melbourne".

Linking it to a nationalistic ideal is really beneficial IMO. Playing it in the national capital may eventually take some steam out of that other suburban game we suffer through. Well, we live in hope, don't we?

Is there a ground in West Sydney we can play the Swans at?

Given Western Sydney's propensity to be obsessed and passionate about AFL and all...

Sounds like a great idea from a club/business point of view. Sits a little uneasy, trying to use war and those whose lives were lost in wartime, to make money for your own club. But it happens in so many facets of life, and if done well can provide respect and knowledge about some of those who died for our country

Is there a ground in West Sydney we can play the Swans at?

Given Western Sydney's propensity to be obsessed and passionate about AFL and all...

Sounds like a great idea from a club/business point of view. Sits a little uneasy, trying to use war and those whose lives were lost in wartime, to make money for your own club. But it happens in so many facets of life, and if done well can provide respect and knowledge about some of those who died for our country

Isn't the work site for the ground at Rooty Hill? I'm sure BB or someone posted something about it on another thread.

Will the AFL try and schedule games there before a team is created there? Or will it come out of thin air?

At least Gold Coast has some "history" of AFL matches

If its a long weekend Canberra may be a ghost town??? Used to be that way when I lived there.

Pretty sure it's one of the biggest days of the year in Canberra.

The Barassi Cup, named after RDB Snr had been played in Sydney for number of years over the Anzac weekend.

This disappeared this year, for whatever reason, and I really do like this push of having the game in Canberra.

We have a number of games we have to play there, and this could prove to be an excellent initiative.

But this is something I am curious about, is it worth us playing more "home" games there against teams like Freo or Port?

It is a very good idea by Jimmy & the board. As Jim pointed out - we have lost the most players across all the walls (and thats what ANZAC Day is all about).

Play the game against Sydney, start it at 2.30pm & heavily promote The Barassi Cup.

The only issue is that it would have to be shown on Foxtel, as Ch 10 will be showing the Ess v Coll game (its on Sat arvo in 2009) - pity Canberra doesnt have lights as we then could play it at night.

Will the AFL try and schedule games there before a team is created there? Or will it come out of thin air?

At least Gold Coast has some "history" of AFL matches

That would be smart move by the AFL to dip their "feet in the water" to see if it's right...