As a hypothetical what would folk prefer

An opening game in China , similar schedule to the syd v gws game 2012..i.e a few more days added before the next round ..for a truck load of afl expo money, in reasonable weather and conditions

or

a latter season game to darwin in attroicious body sucking conditions and 6-7 days til next game , with who knows what ramifications.

which is actually more beneficial ?

Have a think

As a hypothetical what would folk prefer

An opening game in China , similar schedule to the syd v gws game 2012..i.e a few more days added before the next round ..for a truck load of afl expo money, in reasonable weather and conditions

or

a latter season game to darwin in attroicious body sucking conditions and 6-7 days til next game , with who knows what ramifications.

which is actually more beneficial ?

Have a think

who said it was a choice?

who said it was a choice?

well true... but as a question it is.

How many games would you want to sell ? A Chinese game probably wouldnt count as a home game sold...just a bonus. Speculative I concede.

Again ..as a hypothetical I have it as either or..not both

Im willing to bt its something above zero....if only microscopic. The AFL set up a chinese based website some tears back to educate and explain the game. It was getting thousands of hits. Cant find it for the life of me now, but my search ability in either mandarin or cantonese is a bit rough. The AFL is very keen to establish an interest if only in a boutique sense.

BB, the site is http://www.51AFL.com but having a website doesnt change the fact that if there is any interest in AFL in China (other than amongst the expat community) it is close enough to zero not to matter.

We as a club have been pandering to exactly the same idea. So why as a club wouldn't we be at least interested in hearing it out ?

Pandering is a good description

The "push to China" under Gardner/ McNamee was another distraction we foisted upon ourselves. Just because "we had already though of that" doesnt make it a good idea. I though it was rubbish then and I reckon it makes even less sense now.

Clear up all this BS. Play some decent footy. Get the MFC winning and delivering success in Australia. How about that for a plan?

I agree Retro - it's India we should be looking at!

He was quoted at the very end of the article saying he couldn't see why the Dees wouldn't be interested in such a game... nowhere does he actually say he wants the other team to be us. Is the OP looking towards a career in journalism?

Oh, and what part of the closing paragraph of the article suggests to you that Sheedy doesn't want us to be his team's opponent in China?

"I couldn't see why Melbourne wouldn't be interested in a match over there as they have already worked on building some relationships in China."

Oh, and what part of the closing paragraph of the article suggests to you that Sheedy doesn't want us to be his team's opponent in China?

I will ask you the same question, you tell me what part of that sentence indicates that it MUST be us?

Yes, he has mentioned the Dees, and rightly so, as we are a team with one foot in China with regards to promoting the game over there, and due to the fact that we played a demo game against the Lions in October last year. Additionally, there was an article in the recent past (can't remember if I saw it in Real Footy or on the AFL site), that talked about the development of the game in China and the Dees connection... that may be what prompted his brainwave. However, nowhere in that article does he state that it MUST be the Dees that they play against - he merely cited us as an example of a team that might not be averse to such an idea because of our connection - hence my reference to your use of "journalistic licence"

I for one am not against the idea anyway, as given the right promotion (which will be easier given that inroads how been made) even a small audience in China would probably amount to the equivalent of a large audience here. It is not such a draining trip and at the time of year being discussed, conditions would be ideal, unlike Darwin where the oppressive heat and humidity would take far more out of the players than a few extra hours on a plane - in fact, in terms of jet lag, it would be no worse than a trip to Perth. The Super (whatever number it is now) Rugby Union competition requires teams to travel between Australia, New Zealand and South Africa on a weekly basis and it doesn't seem to have much of an impact on their ability to perform.

Sheedy is the real life equivalent of a forum troll.

He may be away with the fairies, but at the very least he had the foresight to acknowledge Melbourne as the pioneers for the China syndrome: -

"I couldn't see why Melbourne wouldn't be interested in a match over there as they have already worked on building some relationships in China."

We should put out a press release saying we're all for playing in China, but would like it to be against Brisbane, given we've both already made inroads.

Sheedy can sod off...

I agree Retro - it's India we should be looking at!

Indonesia?

New Zealand?

BB, the site is http://www.51AFL.com but having a website doesnt change the fact that if there is any interest in AFL in China (other than amongst the expat community) it is close enough to zero not to matter.

Pandering is a good description

The "push to China" under Gardner/ McNamee was another distraction we foisted upon ourselves. Just because "we had already though of that" doesnt make it a good idea. I though it was rubbish then and I reckon it makes even less sense now.

Clear up all this BS. Play some decent footy. Get the MFC winning and delivering success in Australia. How about that for a plan?

Good find on that site..

Im not saying for a sec we HAVE to...but if were open to ideas like Darwin , as well as other locales in past , then why wouldnt wee not at least listen to a proposal ? We have put some mileage into China. The upside could be immense. things like landing a sponsor like CSA perhaps couldnt do us any harm.

We have to think laterally and outside the box, in fact outside the currently accepted playing field. Better to at least have opportunities and reject for whatever reason than be beaten to the prize by some johnny come lately vulture.

Its good to have options.

Yes I agree that we all hate Sheedy and he stole one of our players and often he talks rubbish. But the idea has some merit. As the one of the first team to host a match in China this can have it advantages. China has a lot of 2 things people and money either one of those MFC could utilise. Currently AFL has little or no exposure as others have stated but that's not a reason by itself to not try and gain some ground in China. The country at its last census has 1.3 Billion people even if you got 1% interested in or talking about or discussing AFL and in particular MFC that is a potential market of 13 million people. Look yes 1% is probably a high target but 0.2% interest in a country that size still means 2.6 Million people. So if all people lnow about AFL for the first few years is MFC and potentially its merchandise then how can that be bad for the financial coffers of our club. A five year investment may have some value.

Just Saying...

Yes I agree that we all hate Sheedy and he stole one of our players and often he talks rubbish. But the idea has some merit. As the one of the first team to host a match in China this can have it advantages. China has a lot of 2 things people and money either one of those MFC could utilise. Currently AFL has little or no exposure as others have stated but that's not a reason by itself to not try and gain some ground in China. The country at its last census has 1.3 Billion people even if you got 1% interested in or talking about or discussing AFL and in particular MFC that is a potential market of 13 million people. Look yes 1% is probably a high target but 0.2% interest in a country that size still means 2.6 Million people. So if all people lnow about AFL for the first few years is MFC and potentially its merchandise then how can that be bad for the financial coffers of our club. A five year investment may have some value.

Just Saying...

What you say does have some merit & as long as we don't have a game in Darwin the same season i can live with it. As long as it occurs in round one, and does not become the Kevin Sheedy Show in China. The MFC i believe has got to deliver victories to its long suffering supporters before we go off shore, unless as i said before it is done in round one with a good break befoure game 2.

What you say does have some merit & as long as we don't have a game in Darwin the same season i can live with it. As long as it occurs in round one, and does not become the Kevin Sheedy Show in China. The MFC i believe has got to deliver victories to its long suffering supporters before we go off shore, unless as i said before it is done in round one with a good break befoure game 2.

and what else do you think it could become!

sheesh.....stay clear.....give him no oxygen whatsoever

Sheedy is the real life equivalent of a forum troll.

Maybe, but he'd be getting far bigger crowds to the game in Beijing than he would in Blacktown ......

Happy to look at it as a round one fixture to open the new afl season (maube a week earlier than rest of comp) so long as it is NOT a home game for us AND we share the revenue that no doubt the AFL will pay to make it happen.

Sheedy.... Looking for success in the Inner West by heading to the Far East!

AFL strategy at it's finest

Sheedy.... Looking for success in the Inner West by heading to the Far East!

AFL strategy at it's finest

Hey, don't lump GWS territory in with the Inner West!

Hey, don't lump GWS territory in with the Inner West!

exactly.... its frontier stuff out there...lol