Congratulations, Western Sydney Wanderers!

[bush demon 1,899]

GWS, an expensive drain on Aussie Rules, congrats Western Sydney Wanderers on winning the Asian Champions League after a courageous overnight draw in Riyadh. Started after GWS, on much lower funding. A genuine, grass roots football organisation. On the weekend, Gill said they wanted to collaborate with football in western Sydney. Well now they are going to have to.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-02/western-sydney-wanderers-win-asian-champions-league-title/5860430

[rjay 23,927]

GWS, an expensive drain on Aussie Rules, congrats Western Sydney Wanderers on winning the Asian Champions League after a courageous overnight draw in Riyadh. Started after GWS, on much lower funding. A genuine, grass roots football organisation. On the weekend, Gill said they wanted to collaborate with football in western Sydney. Well now they are going to have to.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-02/western-sydney-wanderers-win-asian-champions-league-title/5860430

This is Dill's biggest challenge. Wait till they go head to head on the seasons.

[Cards13 9,117]

Hahha amazing stuff. They were very very very lucky to win it but they did. GWS are a llllllllooooooonnnngggggg way off winning anything.

[Whispering_Jack 28,010]

A bit of fisticuffs and spitting added a nice touch to the game.

I'm not a big fan of the sport but the AFL's handling of GWS (and I mean its arrogance in the belief that you can win the area over and start a team by throwing money around) is not helping our cause. It's probably too late now.

[rjay 23,927]

A bit of fisticuffs and spitting added a nice touch to the game.

I'm not a big fan of the sport but the AFL's handling of GWS (and I mean its arrogance in the belief that you can win the area over and start a team by throwing money around) is not helping our cause. It's probably too late now.

Game over 'Jack' unless soccer chiefs make some serious mistakes.

[John Crow Batty 8,266]

There is logic for the AFL trying to expand their market but the timing was way premature IMO. Firstly they should have strengthened and locked up their sphere of influence where grassroots support is not reflected by an AFL presence. Namely Tasmania, Canberra(Southern NSW) and perhaps NT. Another consequence has been the weakening of core clubs due to shifting enormous resources and capital to where they are not appreciated and disenfranchising legions of supporters. Where once nearly every game in a round had some interest we are now left with sometimes half the games in a round being a complete yawn. The game is not as healthy as it could have been.

Edited November 1, 2014 by america de cali

[BIG JIM 508]

Why the AFL did not bring a team to Tasmania is just a joke they would fill a 35,000 stadium from round one down there. Western Sydney is no chance in the next ten years of being a AFL club with soccer up there now it could be the biggest fail in AFL history.

[BIG JIM 508]

Why the AFL did not bring a team to Tasmania is just a joke they would fill a 35,000 stadium from round one down there. Western Sydney is no chance in the next ten years of being a AFL club with soccer up there now it could be the biggest fail in AFL history.

Also thanks for Hogan Mr Scully

[Tony Tea 2,792]

Anything that puts a dent in Demetriou's vanity project is good for football.

[rolly 149]

Massive moment in australian sporting history!

[Dr. Gonzo 22,522]

Why the AFL did not bring a team to Tasmania is just a joke they would fill a 35,000 stadium from round one down there. Western Sydney is no chance in the next ten years of being a AFL club with soccer up there now it could be the biggest fail in AFL history.

It's simple because 1) Tasmanians already watch footy and 2) networks don't care about how Tassie goes in the ratings. It's all about the cash

[What 18,810]

RIP GWS

Great idea that was, Dimwitriou

[Soidee 1,496]

RIP GWS

Great idea that was, Dimwitriou

It was such a good idea that they still manage to win games against the oldest AFL club. We need to reverse this nonsense

[beelzebub 22,229]

It was game over for GWS before it started, let alone now. A total and epic fail in respect to understanding a market. Would have made more sense to have had an ACT team (not much...but more) as at least some grassroot support for footy existing there and history of playing there.

Its a dead horse [censored] perpetuating the Giants in western Sydney. ..stupid is as stupid does !

[Traja Dee 104]

Where have the Wanderer's fans come from? My guess is that there was already a critical mass of soccer fans who followed either Sydney FC from afar or local soccer clubs. Setting up the Wanderers was probably an easy job a la Field of Dreams: "build it and they will come".

Setting up GWS was a little like sending a well-funded missionary out into a wilderness of heathens: there was obviously no critical mass for Aussie Rules and you have to wince at the thought of what the heathens may do to our missionary. My point is that it is unfair to lambast the AFL for the relative success of the Wanderers, despite the AFL funding, as the Wanderers had a much, much higher level of latent support and goodwill.

I like to compare the establishment of GWS to the NRL setting up the Melbourne Storm. I know of only a handful of Storm supporters and only one who is native to Victoria - the rest are expat Queenslanders or Cockroaches. This is despite the amazing (and slightly suspicious) onfield success enjoyed by the Storm. Even after their premieship success, I wonder if the Storm has built up enough momentum and goodwill to survive a period of lean on-field seasons.

I'm not sure how sporting codes should expand into areas dominated by other codes. I remember when basketball grew fantastically in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but then contracted almost overnight. Maybe these initiatives take a decade or longer of sustained investment (and losses).

One more thing about soccer. I live in an inner suburb with two primary school age boys. One is still a rusted on Demon but his patience is starting to be really tested. The other has all but given up on Melbourne and the AFL. What my boys have done in 2014 is switch their focus to soccer, where 95%+ of the "kick-to-kick" on weekends was with a soccer ball rather than a football, where 95% of kick-to-kick in 2013 was with a football. Part of the reason is Melbourne's lean patch, but a major part of it is the brilliant marketing from FIFA and the World Cup all the way down to the A-League. My boys LOVE how soccer is presented on TV - it engages them far, far better than the AFL. Given that the majority of kids at their school now follow soccer (eg wear soccer shirts and play soccer at lunch) in preference the AFL, I think that the AFL will have a SERIOUS problem on their hands in 10 years time.

Edited November 2, 2014 by Traja Dee

[jazza 1,323]

Why the AFL did not bring a team to Tasmania is just a joke they would fill a 35,000 stadium from round one down there. Western Sydney is no chance in the next ten years of being a AFL club with soccer up there now it could be the biggest fail in AFL history.

No point spending money and time trying to expand in a footy area.

To expand means=Go to a non football area and re-educate the people into liking our game.

Western sydney has millions of potential new fans.

The biggest mistake so far has been not to include local arabic kids into the u16 teams and promoting them.

[Macca 16,173]

GWS will continue to be heavily subsidised whilst the big money keeps rolling in from the AFL's broadcast partners. And whilst GWS continues to be heavily subsidised, they'll continue to operate without any real ongoing issues.

I can't see that big money subsiding anytime soon and in fact, the broadcast rights money could be increasing quite substantially ...

Channel Ten expresses interest in 10-year AFL broadcast deal

AFL chief Gillon McLachlan has floated the prospect of an extended deal, with the present five-year, $1.25 billion agreement with Channel Seven, Foxtel and Telstra expiring after the 2016 season. Media analysts believe a new five-year deal could be worth about $1.6 billion and a 10-year agreement between $3.5 billion and $4 billion.

I compare the GWS "deal" to all 6 of the Sheffield Shield sides in cricket ... all 6 shield teams have been heavily subsidised for 40 years now (the money comes from ODI's, Tests, money derived from overseas tours and more recently, t20 cricket)

The AFL needs another presence in Sydney and they'll keep GWS as a going concern for as long as it takes ... at this stage, that's an indefinite number of years. GWS's income streams would be quite small compared to other clubs and that won't be changing in a hurry ... there biggest income stream would come from the AFL's annual dividend ... nearly all clubs receive a dividend from the league of 10 million plus.

Personally, I'd spend the money in other areas and would be looking at the overall health of the league in general.

[TeamPlayedFine39 8,177]

So happy for the Wanderers and their fans.

Just goes to show what happens when you build a team to win from the very first, rather than build a team of children that might win seven years down the track.

[Goodvibes 3,596]

I always find this anti-expansion sentiment interesting. Whilst I'm a Melbourne fan first and foremost, I'm also a lover of footy and would like to think I've done my own small role to further the game in the northern states. I don't see success for Melbourne and Australian Rules Football being truly embraced in all states as being mutually exclusive things. I guess, I'm asking why the hate? Is it the draft concessions? Is it Scully? Is Sheedy? Is it Demetriou? The Gold Coast expansion doesn't seem to attract the same level of hate from Melbourne supporters. How is it different to GWS?

[Guest]

The truth is Goodvibes is that the Gold Coast has a population of ex-pat Victorians (and in some cases South Australians and Tasmanians) who actually have an interest in the sport.
I don't think the issue with GWS is Melbourne only. A lot of AFL fans looked on and shook their heads.
As we have found out, the hubris of the AFL knows no ends. If they think something is effective, profitable or moral, then it will be done; outside advice be damned.
Sadly, headquarters seem to think that it is still 1996 and the SuperLeague war is still on. League in Sydney has certain aspects to it's culture that the AFL could learn from. There at least seems to be a sense of belonging and territoriality in that code unlike the 9 corporations that line up each week at two stadiums in the heart of the CBD.

[Dr. Gonzo 22,522]

I always find this anti-expansion sentiment interesting. Whilst I'm a Melbourne fan first and foremost, I'm also a lover of footy and would like to think I've done my own small role to further the game in the northern states. I don't see success for Melbourne and Australian Rules Football being truly embraced in all states as being mutually exclusive things. I guess, I'm asking why the hate? Is it the draft concessions? Is it Scully? Is Sheedy? Is it Demetriou? The Gold Coast expansion doesn't seem to attract the same level of hate from Melbourne supporters. How is it different to GWS?

I like watching GWS games, probably even more than GC.

[beelzebub 22,229]

Goodvibes et al

Have nothing against expansion per se but do it intelligently.

This was plain and simply misconstrued and ill concieved

10 out of 10 for dumb stupidity.

[bush demon 1,899]

I always find this anti-expansion sentiment interesting. Whilst I'm a Melbourne fan first and foremost, I'm also a lover of footy and would like to think I've done my own small role to further the game in the northern states. I don't see success for Melbourne and Australian Rules Football being truly embraced in all states as being mutually exclusive things. I guess, I'm asking why the hate? Is it the draft concessions? Is it Scully? Is Sheedy? Is it Demetriou? The Gold Coast expansion doesn't seem to attract the same level of hate from Melbourne supporters. How is it different to GWS?

I also like the national competition, and Sydney Swans is my second or third favourite team. But drawing players out of Victoria to fund teams such as GWS is going to hasten the demise of one or more foundation clubs. Who knows, that may even be a good thing. But GWS will remain heavily subsidised and heavily unsubscribed well into the future just so the AFL can prove a point. It will be quite interesting to see the impetus that football gets with next year's Asian cup being held here.

[biggestred 4,333]

WSW winning the asian cup is an achievement in australian soccer second only to qualifying and then reaching the 2nd round of the 2006 world cup.

I have been part of my local club for the last 8 years or so.

i have been a hardcore demon for the last 26.

the last few years i have found myself caring less and less about the AFL - i no longer even watch games not involving melbourne.

the game has changed for the worse - i think the afl saw soccer coming and wanted mums to keep their kids playing footy and so changed the rules to make the game softer with less contact.

footy from 10 years ago was harder with more contests and a much tougher game than todays rolling mauls and keepings off (not to mention soft free kicks).

they have changed footy for the worse and people are turning off.

also the clubs have gone away from being "clubs" and talk more about "brand"

there is also the amount of artificial hype around the game now. its over done and horrible.

dont change who you are. people love the afl for what it was. soccer changes for no one - and more and more people love it.

Edited November 2, 2014 by biggestred

[Little Goffy 12,664]

Goodvibes et al

Have nothing against expansion per se but do it intelligently.

This was plain and simply misconstrued and ill concieved

10 out of 10 for dumb stupidity.

Yep, part of my anger at the total botching of the expansion efforts is because I would really like to see AFL expand, particularly to edge out that awful Rugby League 'sport'.