Also, because of their limited time in the competition, GWS don't have to worry about the potential ravages of free agency for a couple of years.

However, when the time comes, I suspect GCS and GWS will be facing some concerted efforts to take the players who fit into that category.

19 minutes ago, Diamond_Jim said:

Slightly related.... but now Geelong are complaining that Iike GWS getting a prelim at Spotless they should get home prelim finals at Kardinia Park

http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/sport/afl/afl-preliminary-finals-geelong-cats-fans-angry-over-gws-giants-spotless-stadium-final/news-story/d3e473a880dc44568b074b6f4d4e8ee8

One would like to say no chance but the AFL is a strange beast.

Of course if you scream loudly enough about a prelim they might give you a first round final to appease you.

I might have more sympathy for them if they did not schedule all their games against the big clubs for the MCG during the home and away season !!

Geelong unlike any other Victorian team, get a huge advantage already, 8 certain wins at their boutique stadium each year.

Interstate Teams have to fly every second week.

Also maximising crowds can't happen at Skilled stadium.

8 minutes ago, Whispering_Jack said:

Also, because of their limited time in the competition, GWS don't have to worry about the potential ravages of free agency for a couple of years.

However, when the time comes, I suspect GCS and GWS will be facing some concerted efforts to take the players who fit into that category.

Whose to say how long FA's and RFA's will last, set at those times if GWS wins more than 2 in a row or the AFL get a new leader

14 minutes ago, Whispering_Jack said:

Also, because of their limited time in the competition, GWS don't have to worry about the potential ravages of free agency for a couple of years.

However, when the time comes, I suspect GCS and GWS will be facing some concerted efforts to take the players who fit into that category.

GW$ will be a huge player in Free Agency in the coming years. They will top up every year. 

No way they will bottom out. Television Revenue won't allow it. 

Im probably in the minority but i think its great gws are succesful and i wouldnt give a fig if they win the flag this year. In fact id be pleased to be honest.

Once the afl decided to go down the 2nd side in sydney road they had to make it work - and not just in the short term but the long term as well. Fitzpatrick said on saturday the goal was to make afl the leading sport in nsw within the next 30 years. Hugely ambititious. For that occur both syd teams have to be succesful.

My issue with the gws decision was the risk of thinning out the talent pool.  Two succesful sydney teams will be critical in terms of influencing talented athletes to switch to afl.

The other thing is that i live watching gws play. Thrilling stuff. Brilliant skills, fast ball movement and brutal contests. Exactly how we are looking to play. I hope they win the next two and we knock them off when going for the threepeat

Apocalypse xxxi,thankyou for highlighting my mistake we should have got Sheedy in lieu of Neeld,however we would never now what the outcome of Sheedy being the Dees coach  since he never actually got the position. Maybe we could reduced the number of rebuilds we have had.

38 minutes ago, ENYAW said:

Apocalypse xxxi,thankyou for highlighting my mistake we should have got Sheedy in lieu of Neeld,however we would never now what the outcome of Sheedy being the Dees coach  since he never actually got the position. Maybe we could reduced the number of rebuilds we have had.

Or we might be playing our home games on Mars.

2 hours ago, Redleg said:

Geelong unlike any other Victorian team, get a huge advantage already, 8 certain wins at their boutique stadium each year.

Interstate Teams have to fly every second week.

Also maximising crowds can't happen at Skilled stadium.

No probs with cats wanting home final when deserved 

But then make every team play every home game at their home ground.

Cats v pies? Skilled stadium.

Dees v saints? Mcg.

I prefer GWS winning a flag than most every Victorian side and West Coast.

3 hours ago, binman said:

Im probably in the minority but i think its great gws are succesful and i wouldnt give a fig if they win the flag this year. In fact id be pleased to be honest.

Once the afl decided to go down the 2nd side in sydney road they had to make it work - and not just in the short term but the long term as well. Fitzpatrick said on saturday the goal was to make afl the leading sport in nsw within the next 30 years. Hugely ambititious. For that occur both syd teams have to be succesful.

My issue with the gws decision was the risk of thinning out the talent pool.  Two succesful sydney teams will be critical in terms of influencing talented athletes to switch to afl.

The other thing is that i live watching gws play. Thrilling stuff. Brilliant skills, fast ball movement and brutal contests. Exactly how we are looking to play. I hope they win the next two and we knock them off when going for the threepeat

Yeah, I hope they win the next 5 flags and create a record that will only be surpassed by the third franchise they create in NSW, if they can win 6 that will really make the game huge in NSW, it may however have a bit of a detrimental effect on crowds in Victoria, never mind.

I don't mind going to the football each week knowing that we will never win a flag, as long as I know I've been part of the Australianisation of good old Aussie Rules, it may never be a completion again but boy will we get beat by some really super teams.

Go Sydney/Whoever.

 

The Punt Road End aren't happy that someone noted GWS have won more finals in the past 20 years than Richmond.

1 minute ago, george_on_the_outer said:

The Punt Road End aren't happy that someone noted GWS have won more finals in the past 20 years than Richmond.

To be fair to the yellow sash trash, they won 1 final in 2001, so it's even Stephen.

44 minutes ago, Tony Tea said:

To be fair to the yellow sash trash, they won 1 final in 2001, so it's even Stephen.

So GWS have won more finals than Richmond in the past 15 years. Better?

 

20 hours ago, Dante said:

Yeah, I hope they win the next 5 flags and create a record that will only be surpassed by the third franchise they create in NSW, if they can win 6 that will really make the game huge in NSW, it may however have a bit of a detrimental effect on crowds in Victoria, never mind.

I don't mind going to the football each week knowing that we will never win a flag, as long as I know I've been part of the Australianisation of good old Aussie Rules, it may never be a completion again but boy will we get beat by some really super teams.

Go Sydney/Whoever.

 

GWS are, as they say in the movie the Matrix - an artificial construct - and always will be.  No passion or interest in the vein of traditional clubs and the heartland. But the TV rights pay all our bills so they need to succeed.

The common theme this week has been the swans making the finals 18 out of last 20 years. A great effort but is code for treading water in the Sydney market.

Keep paddling guys, for to sink means disaster for AFL/NSW., a la Brisbane Lions.

 

they will be unbeatable imo

 

1 hour ago, Demon17 said:

GWS are, as they say in the movie the Matrix - an artificial construct - and always will be.  No passion or interest in the vein of traditional clubs and the heartland. But the TV rights pay all our bills so they need to succeed.

So are the Weagles and Adelade "artificial constructs" but does anyone care nearly 30 years later?

Everything must have its beginning.

The MFC itself is "artificial", having created not just a club but an entire sport under it.

1 hour ago, Demon17 said:

The common theme this week has been the swans making the finals 18 out of last 20 years. A great effort but is code for treading water in the Sydney market.

That's "treading water"? Damn, I look forward to the day when we can claim to be "treading water".

1 hour ago, Demon17 said:

Keep paddling guys, for to sink means disaster for AFL/NSW., a la Brisbane Lions.

That's why they won't sink. It won't be permitted.

There is some minor pedigree for Aussie Rules in SE Qld. The Lions will survive. But in greater Sydney? The AFL have built the club, the support, the everything. They cannot let it collapse or it will have all been for nothing.

"Greater Western Globetrotters"

On September 12, 2016 at 11:47 AM, Clint Bizkit said:

The scary part is they butchered a few high picks and lost some decent talent along the way.

They haven't really lost decent talent, they have just moved it into the next draft.  Treloar, Boyd, etc, they got high picks in for those players.

They have played the hand they were dealt beautifully. I think better and more cunningly than the AFL envisaged. 

The genie is out of the bottle and there's not much now 17 other clubs can do.

1 hour ago, Ted Fidge said:

So are the Weagles and Adelade "artificial constructs" but does anyone care nearly 30 years later?

Everything must have its beginning.

That's why they won't sink. It won't be permitted.

There is some minor pedigree for Aussie Rules in SE Qld. The Lions will survive. But in greater Sydney? The AFL have built the club, the support, the everything. They cannot let it collapse or it will have all been for nothing.

Adelaide and WCE raised the money and purchased the AFL license.  They were set up from a groundswell of support in SA and WA.  If these teams failed it was on the people running the clubs, but they were never going to fail because they had such strong backing, supporters, sponsors, etc.

The AFL granted themselves the licences for GC and GWS.  If these clubs fail it is their own money badly invested.  That's why they must succeed, to the detriment of all other clubs.

 

Not sure if it's been mentioned in here yet, but just to further the idea of how powerful these academies and zones can be - there is an article in the HUN at the minute which has GWS making a 'strong case' to get priority zone access to potentially the best key forward in next year's draft.  I know that's not necessarily something to do with the academies up there, but they are potentially going to get yet another free hit at one of the best young kids in the country.  As if they don't have enough already.

Yeah, they don't get a leg up from the AFL at all...

 

On 12/09/2016 at 1:50 PM, Dr. Gonzo said:

I can't imagine Sheedy drafting small/skinny outside players like Morton, Blease, Strauss, Maric, Gysberts, Cook hell even Watts.

I'm not sure Sheedy's final 6 or so years of drafting should be considered a blueprint for... well.. anything.

As much as Ty Zantuck, Kyle Riemers, Mal Michael, Andrew Lee, Henry Slattery, Jay Nash, Rick Dyson and Jay Neagle were all good solid bodies.

Besides which, you might have a spasm when you notice that most of their more effective draft selections over the period were comparatively lightly built types - for example Lovett-Murray, Stanton, Winderlich, Monfries, and Ryder.

 

Meanwhile, over at GWS - Scully, Kelly, Kennedy, and Whitfield are all particularly low weight-for-height.

Same height - Whitfield is skinnier than Jayden Hunt!

For all those who were concerned by the rapid rise of GWS.... Kevin Sheedy has given us all some advice...... "Get a Life !!"

 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-19/get-a-life-sheedy-has-a-message-for-the-gws-haters/7858472

51 minutes ago, Diamond_Jim said:

For all those who were concerned by the rapid rise of GWS.... Kevin Sheedy has given us all some advice...... "Get a Life !!"

 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-19/get-a-life-sheedy-has-a-message-for-the-gws-haters/7858472

Thanks for those words Kev

no doubt you were well paid to coach so many high draft picks

1 hour ago, Diamond_Jim said:

For all those who were concerned by the rapid rise of GWS.... Kevin Sheedy has given us all some advice...... "Get a Life !!"

 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-19/get-a-life-sheedy-has-a-message-for-the-gws-haters/7858472

Self serving [censored]

To me they are not even a real footy team. They are just a manufactured love child of the afl IMO. 

I would hate it if they won it.