No more Sydney home finals: Demetriou

[H_T 3,032]

it was in response to the claim that sydney have so many competing teams in town and that's why crowd numbers are low HT

I understand 45. My point is regardless of the population in Sydney, it is getting them to the events that is their problem. Melbourne is football and event mad. Melburnians are an outgoing lot, we'll turn up anywhere, regardless of poor publicity. Sydneyites struggle to attend, they're a weird bunch. They're not as outgoing, and they're not sport mad. History repeats itself in many ways.

[45HG 1,539]

As my incredibly in-depth post would indicate, which no doubt you read

It seems an odd point to bring up after what i'd written, given i was certainly not arguing the opposite

[H_T 3,032]

As my incredibly in-depth post would indicate, which no doubt you read

It seems an odd point to bring up after what i'd written, given i was certainly not arguing the opposite

Yes it was in-depth. My point is I don't think they can handle the teams which was your first point, which you in no doubt stated. Which I alluded to in my previous two posts. Totally relevant points I might add.

All the more reason that throws caution to the wind in Vlad fast tracking a second Sydney team.

[beelzebub 23,198]

Sydney... They're a Weird Mob ... For sure

This isnt an opportunity for Sydney bashing..( well it is ..but I wont .lol ) but HT and others are on the right track. Sydney doesnt operate the same way we do in Melbourne..Its no coincidence that many of the better Stage ( and international events ) productions come to Melbourne first !! Its done for a reason.. because we will go. If you want to be a success you need to get runs on board and bums on seats and get that register going caching caching !! This is never guaranteed in Sydney..go ask a producer. Often things need to be legitimised to Sydney-siders before they'll go.

Its really the strangest of phenomena. Why does it happen.. why are two cities only a thousand clicks apart so very very different ?

What does it say when we can get as many , if not more , to a NRL State of Origin game down here.. and who could really give a toss !! But as a city Melbournians will go. Go get Richard Attenborough and ask him..lol. maybe he knows!!

Essentially its a cultural thing, but possibly a Doctorate Thesis is needed to do that subject justice.

I really think ol' Vlad is just malelovently blind in his outlook to the expansionist requirements of the league.

Often its offered.... If you build it , they will come.. but there's a BUT !! They have to be used to coming to things in the first place..and this isnt Sydney's forte!!

[Sir Why You Little 36,622]

No more Sydney home finals: Demetriou by The Great Pretender at ANZ Stadium

An angry AFL Chief Executive Andrew Demetriou has lashed out at supporters of the Sydney Swans who stayed away from their team's Elimination Final clash at ANZ Stadium on Saturday night.

He told reporters after the game in which the Swans overran North Melbourne with a stunning eight-goal blitz in the third term to set up a 17.8 (110) to 11.9 (75) victory that the attendance of 19,127 was simply "not acceptable for an AFL final" and that the AFL would not play a final in Sydney again after such a "pathetic response from the Sydney football public."

"This was a crunch final for the home side and the fact that their supporters stayed away indicates they are not interested in finals football up here."

Demetriou stopped short of agreeing that future Swans finals could be played at Carrara to pomote the new no name Gold Coast team but he did indicate that the AFL might do some more homework on the future West Sydney Football Club as a result of the poor attendance figure. He discounted claims that the typical Sydney weather of three days of sleet and driving rain had anything to do with the poor attendance.

Demtrious was also angry at reports that North Melbourne had "tanked" their last three games to secure the coveted number 9 draft pick.

- with AAAP

Nice Piece of Humour that obviously went way over most peoples heads (The best Kind) Cheers GP

[45HG 1,539]

At my reckoning, 4 of the 16 people who replied in this thread didn't seem to get it at first, that's hardly most.

[deanox 9,643]

i think vlads plan for sydney is with 2 teams there is a game each weekend, double the exposure in newspapers, double the tv exposure etc. he expects that the exposure will pick up a new market, given that with population there technically should be a market. that being said, it appears there is no market in sydney as sydneysiders dont like their sport like melbourne does.

and my biggest gripe with the whole issue is why does the afl need to expand at the expense of the games tradition and character, and current members? is it just for money? because it feels like that is the only driving force and motivation. if it was for the true betterment of the game, a team in tassie, where people play and watch they game already, makes much more sense...

[beelzebub 23,198]

Deanox, i tend to agree with that. He ( Vlad ) is looking at al lthis purely through the polarising glasses of marketin getc. He is however failing the first rule of marketing..i.e Know your market. He seems to ascribe to our northern neighbours the same qualities that we Melburnians have. Mistake #1 . He also I feel has a very poor feel for the demographics of Sydney , mistake #2. Anyone who has lived , worked or visited for any extended time in Sydney will know the polulation works to a very different tune up there. Its strange., amazes me every time.

Down here we really revel in the sense of occasion..silly thig slike Auctions..far more poluar here than north of the border. Sydneysiders would much rather coallesce in smaller numbers and watch something on telly or go do somethig else. Footy in Melb.. and Tassie.., Adelaide..and even Perth is a religion.. a passionate religion.. In Sydney its just another parochial past-time..and Vlad just doesnt get this.

[CarnTheDees 52]

and my biggest gripe with the whole issue is why does the afl need to expand at the expense of the games tradition and character, and current members? is it just for money? because it feels like that is the only driving force and motivation. if it was for the true betterment of the game, a team in tassie, where people play and watch they game already, makes much more sense...

Exactly my thoughts.

Why does the AFL need to become bigger all the time? Is it growing for growing's sake? Does AD have dreams whereby AFL is played worldwide within 100 years, and there is a huge World Cup every 4 years?

This has the whiff of every great dictator and conqueror in the past; never happy with what they have, always wanting more, more, more! Just hope the AFL doesn't end up so thinly stretched into areas that don't care that it collapses like the Roman Empire...

I'm happy for expansions to happen, but only where they are being demanded. And the rubbish that is West Sydney has stirred the Tasmanians into action such that they are putting together a pretty good case for a team of their own in the next few years. But this should only be considered if/when all 16 existing teams are strong enough to stand up without financial assistance.

[beelzebub 23,198]

I fully understand the requisite to expand into forming markets. Not only as an opportunity but as a rear guard to your exisitng market penetrtation and stability. Yep..Im with ya Vlad on that!!. I can even see a validity in a Gold Caost team... just cant abide the amaterishness of things so far.( different argument for a different page )

What I simply dont understand is the manic rush to failure that is the establishment of a West Sydney team..especially if it is at the expense of a ready made participant in the greatest game, that being a Tasmanian team.

How can the AFL be so ridiculous in its stance with deaf ear qualities to the cocophany of opinion, not just here and on other boards but out in the Football World at large. Almost to a tee there is alligned dismay amongst the football press that a Tasmanian application is given no justice of hearing

How can a choice between one , where all but a push of a button is required to get going as compared the other where nothing..but a turned sod exists... be so wrong ( the choice )

If ever an organistion chose to p!ss off its supporter..and indeed its constituents ( being the exisitng clubs its supposed to work for ) it must the the AFL..and Demitriou must take full blame

Me thinks Vlad is mistaking a fall away from NRL as an invitation to expand his reach. Vlad..its not that they want AFL..its a total indifference to all things !! Again..you just dont want to open your eyes and admit you're wrong.

[deanox 9,643]

perhaps he is hoping that one of the vic teams will move to tassie as there is a market there,as opposed to west sydney, which no ones wants to go to, because they will keep struggling?

[beelzebub 23,198]

Vlad is playing Russian roulette with the game. There's a lot of "hoping" and "maybe-ing " etc about the way he's going about it. He's listening to spin doctors who are nothing more than fumbling sycophants to his own message anyway.

Im sure he strolls his home in a toga !!

[H_T 3,032]

Vlad is playing Russian roulette with the game. There's a lot of "hoping" and "maybe-ing " etc about the way he's going about it. He's listening to spin doctors who are nothing more than fumbling sycophants to his own message anyway.

Im sure he strolls his home in a toga !!

Isn't it time someone else took the reins?

With the economic slowdown in motion, whilst Vlad says the game has never been better - (he says himself the AFL are obsessed with statistics) - I believe with the introduction of the Gold Coast team, the competition is reaching a critical stage.

No objection to the Gold Coast team introduction, it's the following year with the West Sydney team that has and will create concern.

[QueenC 74]

I guess I am the only person who lives in Sydney (and was actually a little ticked off by a hell of a lot of what has been said)........

I guess the pompous critics from you Melbourne folk obviously gives you a much more vast understanding of a city I have lived in my entire life.

The other thing that should be taken into account is that AFL is not a sport born here, it has no tradition here and minimal multi-generational support.

For a comparison try the Storm in Melbourne. Granted the NRL is an overall smaller competition but the Storm have a base set of fans that go to most matches similar to the Swans, no generational support and as I understand minimal media coverage. The comparisons are very similar.

Sydney is unbelievably not ready for a second team (something I have said for ages) and won't be for at least ten years, after a hell of a lot more prep work (Aus Kick etc) is done otherwise it will be a club purely funded by the AFL to actually stay in existence like the Swans were twenty years ago.

And if I hear we are an "odd lot" one more time.......you guys honestly have no idea, why?

Cause you don't live here, but be sure to stay the course with your arrogant know it all sling shots.

[QueenC 74]

Vlad is playing Russian roulette with the game. There's a lot of "hoping" and "maybe-ing " etc about the way he's going about it. He's listening to spin doctors who are nothing more than fumbling sycophants to his own message anyway.

The whole thing is nothing more than a vanity exercise, as he tries to sure up his place in football history.

[Tigers Dayz 2]

perhaps he is hoping that one of the vic teams will move to tassie as there is a market there,as opposed to west sydney, which no ones wants to go to, because they will keep struggling?

I don't see any reason at all why Jeff Kennett shouldn't take his team to Tassie. In all sincerity they could be instantly competitive, and market attractive particularly when they get some Tassie talent in the side. Expansion of the Tassie sponsorship... perhaps a green "V" added to their strip.

[beelzebub 23,198]

Queen..Im sure no offence is meant..lol. but surely youd be inclined to agree..Sydney is NOT Melbourne..not the city, nor its residents cut of the same cloth !!

Ive lived and worked in both cities, there ARE differences. If youre from Melbourne you know instinctively that Sydney is different.. No better, no worse...but its different and thats just a matter of record.

Sydney has now existed for a generation...and yet it still struggles in many respects in its own market, that despite recent success at the highest level.

Queen..what would you suggest to the AFL in order to bolster interest, let alone support for the code ?

[Jumping Jack Clennett 1,748]

[quote 'QueenC'

", plus it has been raining for a three days straight!!!"

I want a drought like Sydney's!

[QueenC 74]

[quote 'QueenC'

", plus it has been raining for a three days straight!!!"

I want a drought like Sydney's!

You really don't.

[QueenC 74]

Queen..Im sure no offence is meant..lol. but surely youd be inclined to agree..Sydney is NOT Melbourne..not the city, nor its residents cut of the same cloth !!

Ive lived and worked in both cities, there ARE differences. If youre from Melbourne you know instinctively that Sydney is different.. No better, no worse...but its different and thats just a matter of record.

Sydney has now existed for a generation...and yet it still struggles in many respects in its own market, that despite recent success at the highest level.

Queen..what would you suggest to the AFL in order to bolster interest, let alone support for the code ?

I know no offense was meant but honestly this discussion does tend towards condescension from the the south when I still bet most people who have a derogatory opinion on Sydney have never lived here and therefore have no basic understanding of the city itself, only a belief that Melbourne is automatically better.

As for the other point there are any number of things that the AFL could do and doesn't, and it is about selling the code that matters here, from increasing junior programs, increasing funding to the Sydney grade comp, all the way through to bettering the free to air broadcast arrangements (which currently suck).

I don't have time now to go into it with any more depth but I will when I get the chance.

[45HG 1,539]

I heard in Newcastle that Auskick numbers have dropped, and overall there are only a couple of hundred more playing AFL than play NRL down here.

It just doesn't seem viable at the moment as far as I can see, and I still haven't seen much evidence that many, if any, Sydney teams are well attended. Something that traditional AFL teams and localities have struggled with this year.

Just look at Port Adelaide

[beelzebub 23,198]

Again.. I only suggest Syd is different..neither better nor worse..its all subjective as to where you rather be etc.

Strangely I often noticed a great support of junior sports up there..like there is here.. Strangely this doesnt rollover into attendances at teh premier levels of sport. Cant figure that oneout to be honest..again..Its jsut different. But in this instance the difference has a noticable effect come the planning of sports investmenet etc.

Queen..would you think that instead of trying to create a head under which the AFL seem to think a body wil grow ( in teh west ) that they say cool their heels and invest a reasonable amount..but only a fraction of the touted 20M ( say a quarter of that ) into furhter developing a foundation via better participation in AFL at under age levels in the outer burbs !

Personally I think the code is stil half a generation away from even conceiving suficient interest in a second team...but do the ground work and it might just naturally flourish..as opposed to creating something that doesnt really exist..i.e West Syd FC !!

[beelzebub 23,198]

p.s memo to Vlad.. I suggest that a second Syd team take its time to evolve naturally and in that vein get a team into teh VFL..much like Tassie had. Yes its Tier 2..not nearly as prestigious or as much of a tug for you.. But it will allow honest street cred to evolve. They can also initially act as the alignment team for the Swans as and until such time as the western team can legitiatley stand on its own at the elite level. Probably far too lateral ( and logical ) for your limited comprehensive abilities Im sure.. but take your time Vlad..read it a few times !!

You know Vlad..the ol United we stand thing !!

[QueenC 74]

Personally I think the code is stil half a generation away from even conceiving suficient interest in a second team...but do the ground work and it might just naturally flourish..as opposed to creating something that doesnt really exist..i.e West Syd FC !!

Bingo !!!

[WonnaJurah 5]

not just in afl sydney crowds struggling, in nrl, watched countless games on tv live from anz stadium that are pretty much under 10,000, and they even had a day when any pacific islanders get free entry and still got hardly anything