I have never figured out why the Sainter havent gone full bore on developing the peninsula identity...and in that the domain of anythig south of the Yarra ought to eb their focus on building the brand...but of course its StKilda...masters of self immolation and other bewildering idiosyncracies !!

Carlton arent going anywhere ( shame..lol )

North...to go North

Geelong...force uto selves in that part of world.. they are safe.

Hawks to continue devlopment of dual personality team..vic/tassie

Bulldgos ought to start scouting for somewhere along the Great Western Road ( syd..lol )

Toiges....they have a home..... its called the bottom of the ladder !!!! heheheh...onya toiges !!

Melbourne... some building to do...but were staying put !! just you wait and see

Cant see the AFL keeping up the safety net if have to fund Southport!

Just as a side issue, don't worry about Southport, they are probably the wealthiest football club in the country. They could buy and sell the Roos 10 times over.

What I see is a merger between the two, with Southport becoming the Roos seconds side in the local competition or VFL if that is possible. The Roos would then have access to the Southport pokies and they would be on the way with AFL help, to financial independence.

I actually wonder if the current resistance by the Roos Board is just show for their supporters.

I actually wonder if the current resistance by the Roos Board is just show for their supporters.

could be very much teh case...cant be sen to be TOOOOOOO enthusiastic can they !! Must be some semblance of rallying to the flag.. sounding the alarm etc..

All in all its a pretty good deal for a club..Would set them up forever. its not like they would never play another game in Melbourne !!

I have never figured out why the Sainter havent gone full bore on developing the peninsula identity...and in that the domain of anythig south of the Yarra ought to eb their focus on building the brand...but of course its StKilda...masters of self immolation and other bewildering idiosyncracies !!

Carlton arent going anywhere ( shame..lol )

North...to go North

Geelong...force uto selves in that part of world.. they are safe.

Hawks to continue devlopment of dual personality team..vic/tassie

Bulldgos ought to start scouting for somewhere along the Great Western Road ( syd..lol )

Toiges....they have a home..... its called the bottom of the ladder !!!! heheheh...onya toiges !!

Melbourne... some building to do...but were staying put !! just you wait and see

I think the thing is that it's easier too stay a powerfull club now if your presently there, but equally much harder to scramble up the powerfull ladder from down low because of the relevent drawing capacities.

ie - the lower clubs are hindering one anothers abilities to grow, a little like the chicks in the nest, the stronger continue to bully the malnourished.

We at MFC are currently behind the Tiges, Hawks & Sainters. Not good for the CV long term.

The Melbourne region cannot sustain the current amount of teams here competively, against the interstaters.

Rhino, Im not necassarily disagreeing and I hope you're right, but why do you think St. Kilda are stuffed and Melbourne arent necassarily? They'd have to have a much bigger supporter base than us. They'd obviously want a more stable board, but a few years ago we didnt have that either.

I believe the AFL do not need to kick out as many Melbourne clubs as possible.

I am wanting this in 20 years.

QLD (Brisbane, Gold Coast Roos)

NSW (Sydney, West Sydney Bulldogs)

SA (Port, Crows)

WA (Eagles, Dockers)

TAS (Hawks)

MELB (Pies, Blues, Demons, Essendon, Richmond)

Geelong in Geelong.

The Gippsland Saints.

I think Country Vic would be a great idea for a team. And Gippsland covers so many country towns and places. Could work a treat.

StKilda has no real history of stability...( anyone who knows this club would agree ) this may be their achilles heel into the future. They ought to be successful...but they arent.

Infighting will implode this club eventually... a shame. I like the Sainters.

The Toiges missed their golden chance to develop in Tassie.

Unless Tigerland tastes some sort of finals success they are more on the endangerd list long term than we are.

But with a dud of a coach.. and borderline infighting.. ( just smoulders at the blame level at moment ) they arent really travelling that rosey

I believe the AFL do not need to kick out as many Melbourne clubs as possible.

I am wanting this in 20 years.

QLD (Brisbane, Gold Coast Roos)

NSW (Sydney, West Sydney Bulldogs)

SA (Port, Crows)

WA (Eagles, Dockers)

TAS (Hawks)

MELB (Pies, Blues, Demons, Essendon, Richmond)

Geelong in Geelong.

The Gippsland Saints.

I think Country Vic would be a great idea for a team. And Gippsland covers so many country towns and places. Could work a treat.

Interesting call on the Saints.

Gippsland cant support an AFL side. Its not economically strong enough and the Saints would dissolve there.

How about a third team in Sydney?

they changed their name from north meloburne to north. we changed our name from melbourne demons to melbourne fc. we are making strategic moves to ensure that we are 'the melbourne football club', while north and western both made changes that have almost sealed their fate...

there will always be a melbourne side in the comp. in some form. we have that at least.

there is also an issue here in that north is 4 mil or so in debt, but is owned by shareholders. if the shareholders dont agree to the move, are they ultimately responsible if north is put into receivership? they wont want that...

i think carlton were sniffing around to try and organise a take over, and then snare them carey...im not sure how keen they would be these days...

Interesting call on the Saints.

Gippsland cant support an AFL side. Its not economically strong enough and the Saints would dissolve there.

How about a third team in Sydney?

youd have to be fair and give any second sydeney team a 10 year window before contemplating a third. it would be a very much a watch and go situation.

StKilda has no real history of stability...( anyone who knows this club would agree ) this may be their achilles heel into the future. They ought to be successful...but they arent.

Infighting will implode this club eventually... a shame. I like the Sainters.

The Toiges missed their golden chance to develop in Tassie.

Unless Tigerland tastes some sort of finals success they are more on the endangerd list long term than we are.

But with a dud of a coach.. and borderline infighting.. ( just smoulders at the blame level at moment ) they arent really travelling that rosey

I agree with the negatives and there are many. I cant stand them.

But I do take my hat off to them....they can pull over 30,000 members even when there side is that bad. They have a very large supporter base that AFL could ill afford to disenfrachise. Its no guarantee for them but it gives them a lifeline. But hell they are crap every where else.

The Sainters need to develop their domain.. The South/ South East of Melb and all of Gippo could be theres to cal home... they could sponsor events.. clinics.. a plethora of activities etc... build the base. build th enmae.. get some scoreboard success.. and instill some less rabid/egostical style business acumen and they'l lbe ok. ( hopefully )

The Sainters need to develop their domain.. The South/ South East of Melb and all of Gippo could be theres to cal home... they could sponsor events.. clinics.. a plethora of activities etc... build the base. build th enmae.. get some scoreboard success.. and instill some less rabid/egostical style business acumen and they'l lbe ok. ( hopefully )

True. But that aint it. It was a poor football zone for the Bulldogs. Its an economic low spot with minimal growth and poor per capita incomes with no existing infrastructure for AFL. Its the closest thing to a death sentence you could get.

youd have to be fair and give any second sydeney team a 10 year window before contemplating a third. it would be a very much a watch and go situation.

And that certainly won't be as esay as some here seem to think it will.........

It is one thing to say that Sydney can and should be able to support two (or three) teams, and population wise the city absolutely can, but what you need to factor in is that AFL while wanting to build its power base up here is not necessarily;y succeeding and it certainly isn't happening on the time frame that they wanted.

The Swans are well supported now, but when they drop off, and they will, the unfortunate reality is that most of their fans will go as well.

You need to remember that there are three codes of football competing for the same supporter base. Two of those are vastly more powerful (even with the rugby crisis as it is) and bigger than the AFL, and this will not be changing any time soon, no matter how much money you throw at the Western suburbs.

I simply can't see Sydney being able to support a second team in the near future.

Rhino, Im not necassarily disagreeing and I hope you're right, but why do you think St. Kilda are stuffed and Melbourne arent necassarily? They'd have to have a much bigger supporter base than us. They'd obviously want a more stable board, but a few years ago we didnt have that either.

Based on hope Two sheds.

I believe that MFC future is not stand alone with one or more of the following Melbourne entities....MCC, Melb Storm, Melb Victory, Netball etc. We cant survive on our own and wont.

St Kilda have been financial unstable like there Boards for 40 years despite their large supporter base. Not sure how financial they are. Its either two of Rich, St K and Melb surviving in Melb. long term.

I simply can't see Sydney being able to support a second team in the near future.

They said that 20 years ago when South went up there and they could not support one.

Look at the population numbers and the TV ratings for AFL out of Sydney. The AFL need to spot a second team (in 5 years) and eventually a third team (8 to 10 years) in Sydney to thrive.

Its makes no sense having Melb support 10 teams and Sydney only one in a national competition.

Probably Roos to GC.

Maybe WB to West Sydney.

But Melb, Coll, Carl, Rich, St.k, Haw, and Ess can be supported here. Geelong aint a Melbourne team.

Coll, Carl, Ess are financially secure. Haw has Tas to help with their bottom line and membership. Rich and St.K have enough supporters.

Melbourne may look vulnerable but there will always be a Melbourne in the AFL.

The city is big enough to comfortably support 7 clubs.

We are pretty safe with regards to relocation, as the worst thing that could ever happen is a merger and we still keep our name.

Extra teams in Sydney & Brisbane will do nothing but boost the game over there. What they need is a team to rival the Swans & Lions, and if another team in QLD & NSW were to come along then that will do all 4 teams a world of good. Trust me, there will be plenty of people in Sydney & Brisbane who hate the Swans & Lions, so iafter 5-10 years the sides up there will be much better off than the struggling sides in Melbourne.

The Swans are well supported now, but when they drop off, and they will, the unfortunate reality is that most of their fans will go as well.

this actually where two teams may work better than one.. more interest.. a chance to barrack for someone other than Sydney.

The westrern burbs would much rather follow a non city team.

Costa associaited with development etc would get better returns if two teams can benefit.

I think a second team might work well..

im not very certain about a third though...would have to watch ...and see how the second went.

Ina way off future I could see 3 working in Qld actually as the pop base will outstrip vic in about 25 years...and Q is very Footy receptive.

I don't mean to sound heartless, but I hope they go.

It lessens the pressure a lot on us, and I'll always have my clubs welfare over any others.

I hope this is how it goes in the next 20 or so years...

VIC--Melb, Coll, St. Kilda, Carlton (back at Princess Park), Richmond, Ess, Hawthorn (half in Tas) and Geelong

NSW--Sydney, Canberra doggies

QLD--Brisbane and the Southport Kangaroos (merger on the Gold Coast)

WA--Freo, WC

SA--PA and Adel

TAS--Hawthorn (half in Vic)

They said that 20 years ago when South went up there and they could not support one.

Look at the population numbers and the TV ratings for AFL out of Sydney. The AFL need to spot a second team (in 5 years) and eventually a third team (8 to 10 years) in Sydney to thrive.

Its makes no sense having Melb support 10 teams and Sydney only one in a national competition.

I understand your argument and I have no doubt that in the future we will have a second team.......

That being said it has taken fifteen of those twenty years, multiple finals appearances and a Premiership for the Swans to be anything more than a sideline up here, and the unfortunate reality for the bulk of the population they still are, that is the way it is no matter how much you seem to think otherwise. Remembering that they have been bankrupt on a number of occasions, propped up by the league, and have had relatively no support for most of that time.

The Swans need to succeed more than most to keep a hold of the market they have fought long and hard to get due to the other factors (other more powerful codes which most people are happy to ignore) that I'm sorry to point out don't really come into play in Melbourne. And while success will breed support for all teams, in the very fickle market with a foreign code it is paramount up here. And the ratings prove that up here people jump off faster than a speeding bullet.

And to make any kinds of inroads into the Western suburbs which is where the second team will I assume be put, will be a huge gamble as they are walking straight into the heartland and breeding ground of the rugby league and they will not concede control of this part of their world without one hell of a fight.

It is great to see the odd set of four goal posts up west of Parramatta, but the population is not automatically taking to the game like ducks to water, no matter how much the AFL or anyone else says that they should or will or can or anything else. It is not that simple as saying "oh they have the population they get a team".

Do we need another team to take the game to the kids? Maybe, but I genuinely believe that the Auskick and the junior development programs that have only recently been set up need to be in place for a hell of a lot longer before a second team is thrust on a city that frankly may not be able or willing to take it. Yet.

I guess what I am saying is that the game as a whole, outside of the Swans, will need to become bigger, better, and more popular up here before a second team could get the support both financially (independent of the AFL) and membership wise that would be required for sustained longevity. The news (TV and print) here barely even reports on anything in AFL outside of the Swans, and stuff like this would have to change dramatically for any kind of expansion to succeed.

Will it happen? Eventually probably, but this process of expansion has only just begun here and it won't be happening any time soon.

And hating the Swans is not a good enough reason, because it would be more along the lines of hating the code, or already supporting another team.

Just my opinion !!!

If the Doggies decided to venture up the Hume and park in the west of Sydney...and play some games in Canberra as well as SCG they could do quite well. Canberra would love someone to make a longer term committment to playing there....even if not as a real home team

this actually where two teams may work better than one.. more interest.. a chance to barrack for someone other than Sydney.

The westrern burbs would much rather follow a non city team.

Costa associaited with development etc would get better returns if two teams can benefit.

I think a second team might work well..

im not very certain about a third though...would have to watch ...and see how the second went.

Ina way off future I could see 3 working in Qld actually as the pop base will outstrip vic in about 25 years...and Q is very Footy receptive.

Maybe, but it is more likely that they leave the code altogether, and go and watch one of the other footy codes that have a fair hold on this city.

If the Doggies decided to venture up the Hume and park in the west of Sydney...and play some games in Canberra as well as SCG they could do quite well. Canberra would love someone to make a longer term committment to playing there....even if not as a real home team

If a second team was to play up here the SCG would be massively off limits.

They would either have to squeeze them into Hombush, which will not be easy given two or three league teams play off there or build or renovate their own stadium.

it might be the heartland of NRL...but League is hardly setting records . . I know its a Victorian outlook... but league can be battled. A lot of mums would rather kids played footy than league !!!!!!!