Ouch!

Yeah we did get a bit off topic ... what is the actual topic here? I guess saying that soccer and basketball aren't popular in Australia is what I was trying to say, they are certainly popular, but they have a failure to transition the pathways from junior to adult I believe. It's not like they don't have active junior participants... I agree with your comments otherwise :D

Thanks Daisy, but you are referring more to the nickname of 'The Bloods' attributed to the football club itself. I'm referring to the culture of 'The Blood's that is attributed largely to Stewart Maxfield's time at the swans in the early 2000s with Roos being there. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2014/sep/18/how-sydney-swans-built-the-bloods-culture We might be talking two different things?

Every Saturday morning I see soccer fields packed with juniors who play. Basketball stadiums for junior players are packed. What hasn't been managed is a way to harness the pathways for these players. Basketball is growing a lot faster than you think, the number of players now in the NBA, the expansion of the NBL....

I think Pre COVID is a great source for what CAN be. COVID is still around, but I didn't say look at things now, I said look at 2019 for what it could be again, once more.... give it some time to build back up. Remember Tassie's entry isn't happening next year, they are talking at least 4-5 years away to prepare. 1. Do you put that caveat on every club in the AFL currently including GWS and GC? 2. 19 Clubs will suck, and I hope *IF* 19 clubs are a thing, it's a transition to 20 clubs. 3. I contend that they come out the current pathways we have at the moment, they could also come from reducing lists to say 35-38 players. Reducing the list size by 2 for all clubs free's up 36 players. I'm sure those players ultimately would prefer playing AFL than VFL/WAFL/SANFL given an opportunity. 4. I think the AFL admitted they got the way GWS and GC wrong, I don't have an answer, but I suspect that there will be some concessions, but not like it was with those two clubs.

Just on this point. If anyone heard Alex Neale-Bullen on SEN recently, they asked him how he felt about the (then) 16-0 run that Melbourne was on. His reply was awesome, he said, we don't look at it that way, from the team's perspective we lost to Carlton in the preseason, so we are still just 9-0. when we get to the end of the season, it will be really interesting to see where both clubs are at.... if they are still top 3 and we are on top, it will be a cracker of a game!

even if that divide becomes too much, the southern population of Tasmania still exceeds the population of Geelong.

SWYL, can't agree with this sorry How many years will it take to fix the backyard though? Tassie's got a momentum issue that has to be addressed in the next meeting of the presidents, if they haven't gotten their 'cr@p' in order thats on them. This is basically the one and only time this bid will be put forward. I'm not sure on the argument of the talent pool being diluted, I see that a little bit of a cop out. 18 AFL teams started in 2012, Australia's population was a 22.9 million people. As of 2 days ago, the population of Australia is 26,057,364 people. You are saying that we can't find 40 talented players amongst those 3 million people? Add Tasmania and you will build talent pathways that have withered for too long cos the AFL has ignored the state. The impact the JackJumpers have had on basketball participation in the short time they have been here has been nothing short of stunning. This is also a commitment to both men and women's teams. Tassie will absolutely become a footy heartland and produce AFL quality players in very little time. Finally, you can't look at crowd numbers for 2022. Look at what they were in 2019, and what they will likely be in a couple of years when things are post COVID. Look at viewer numbers watching the game on TV.... that is what will drive the next media agreement.

I agree, but the system can sometimes break, especially if someone makes mistakes or the wrong people are in charge at the wrong time. I would argue that you can't afford to miss out on the climb too often. Melbourne arguably did miss out and it almost cost us dearly. That didn't mean we were immune to this very same type of conversation. The main difference I see is that the Tassie bid wasn't in full swing when we sucked. If it had been there could have been serious concerns.

We drink Boags in the south of the state and I've seen them drink Cascade in Launceston. It will happen. Geelong's population is 250k. Tasmania has a population of over 500k, with more than half the state based around Hobart. You cannot base the team in the Nth where the population is 66k. It's basic maths really. The biggest problem is actually political than personal, the electorates of Bass and Braddon are typically marginal seats, meaning that they get a LOT of attention and funding from election promises. Personally I think the politicians and local govt members are the mouthy gits that make the noise more than the people themselves. I used to live in Launceston.... I survived crossing down to Hobart without drama! 😉

Has to be built sometime though. Do you think that culture could be built on a relocated Nth Melbourne though? Yes I do think that they will travel, but the team can't and won't be located in Launceston. They've already identified building a new stadium on the Derwent Waterfront. People will start travelling purely because the talent pathways will become a lot more clear for juniors and people travel now for the Jackjumpers and the Hobart Hurricanes.

I think a lot of us feel like that Eelesie. I reckon I would buy membership to both teams as well.

We won't travel in enough numbers to fill quarter or half a stadium, but thats population, that said I don't think that current games between Melbourne clubs would see that criteria either. Attendance at games is an issue, but it will come back, those thinking it would immediately return after COVID were probably a little optimistic. Interest in the game (supported by our membership number increase) isn't waning, it's still growing, Tassie can and should add to that growth. I know it's a much smaller scale but the Jackjumpers in the NBL this year have had full houses almost every week. Been a good discussion thanks! 👍 August meeting with the AFL presidents will be interesting.

I'm not sure I quite get what you mean here.... playing interstate teams in Tasmania and we'd be at empty venues? why? or are you saying we'd be playing interstate in empty venues because Tasmanian members won't travel? Can you clarify what you mean? (oh and I don't agree with either premise) members travel interstate all the time to watch their team play,... why would it be different with Tassie? Travel time is similar from Melb - Geelong than Melb - Hobart. You blokes hate travelling to Geelong to watch the Dees, I can guarantee a Hobart waterfront stadium and the pub scene is much nicer ;) The side will receive all of the funding currently being funnelled into the Hawks and Roos, which other club has the state govt backing that this would have. Every club has AFL funding. I believe that the business case put forward by Tasmania is not going to require the ongoing support that the GWS and GC teams were derived from. It will be designed to stand on it's own feet. Look at the Green Bay Packers if you want to see how the model might look.

Yep, I think I said that whilst the Bloods itself had history beyond the swans and back to South Melb. It was Roos and their leadership team that are synonymous with the 'Bloods Culture'

SWYL, I actually agree with you here, I am not 100% convinced that we want 19 teams either. That said 20 teams gives us the best chance of an even draw, which is appealing, but the messiness of progressing as 19 teams and then towards 20 teams isn't something I want to see either.

Hey, but you see this is the EXACT issue. The club in Tassie SHOULD be about Tasmania, not about Nth, and especially not about appeasing the fan base of Nth, or keeping Nth Melb history going! The people in Tasmania couldn't give a stuff about the history of North Melbourne...why should we? The bloods culture was created by the swans, it might have some roots from South Melb, but I can assure you it was created by the Swans largely in the time that Paul Roos was up there. The Tasmanian team has history of it's own it will harness being a heritage football state, it won't be soulless like the GWS or Gold Coast. We already draw upon the fact that players like Hudson, Baldock, Richo, the Reiwoldts, Febeys, Gales, Robbo etc came from Tasmania. We are used to punching above our weight and this team would be no different. We can draw upon a similar population base to Geelong. (We'll also take Garry Lyon as one of our own too ;) ) Not only that but we have produced a lot of good administrators in Gale, Rawlings, Fagan, Robert Shaw, Scott Clayton etc... The AFL isn't selling anything to Tassie in a pitch now, Tasmania wants it's own team, and the whole business case lead by the state, with Clarko etc. I can tell you more Tasmanian people would prefer not to have a team than to have Nth foisted onto them. We don't want a clapped out Hyundai being sold to us as if it was a shiny new Jaguar thanks (shameless MFC sponsor plug there 😁)

riiiiight, and giving Tassie a half arsed club with no morale, poor fanbase, an unwanted branding and all of the baggage that goes with all of this is going to make it successful? 🙄 I wonder whether Nth supporters would prefer to be in the VFL rather than be relocated. I seem to recall some of the Fitzroy members indicated (at the time) that they would have preferred moving back down to the VFL or a local comp would have been better than the move to Brisbane. Interested to see what they think now after all this time.

North's fix could be be the VFL, and the loss of the AFL licence. Melbourne's was horrid for several years. But there ended up being an almighty intervention across board, admin and football department. I am not seeing that coming from anywhere with North... and they have had James Brayshaw and others intervene a few times before now.

haha Nasher :) I was wondering where you were going there! But yeah I was saying take the AFL license from Nth, either give them a chance to go to the VFL or dissolve the club. Players are all effectively free agents, Tassie is granted a 'fresh' licence and none of the baggage, and free to be branded as they wish.

Just putting this out there. I know there have been whispers that some @ the AFL have been pushing to still look to relocate Nth to Tasmania, and a lot of denials etc. Can the AFL, if it actually owns the licenses for all clubs, revoke the Nth license for the AFL and award a new license to Tasmania instead? Nth could play VFL if they didn't want to exterminate the club entirely. In terms of the AFL competition, it's not diluting the talent pool, Tasmania gets a new team with it's own branding etc, the complexity of 19 teams is a non issue. Clubs with loud moth presidents like Tony Cochraine who are mewling at the thought of someone taking the teat from their mouth would have less of an argument about the slice of the pie. I absolutely get this would be a disaster for Nth, but I doubt any supporters (other than the ones who live in Tas) would come across to support the team as a relocation anyway. Give me 2 minutes to run for cover and then fire away!!!😁

Hi, Not one to normally start a new thread, and this could possibly have found it's way into an old Jack Viney thread maybe, but I just felt it's worth giving credit where credit is due. Jack had a solid year in 2021, but I believe he has lifted even more this year. With his history of foot injuries he has looked slow and his field kicking frustrated me in recent years. I always felt he was well behind Petracca and Oliver and I questioned whether his body had let him down and would he be able to hold down the midfield role for much longer. However I think in 2022 he's improved significantly, and dare I say it looks quicker and more comfortable running over the turf. Resulting in his output both in running lines and his disposal looking a heap better than I can recall from prior years. He hasn't lost his aggression and love of tackling hitting the player hard. Whilst his possession count isn't up at the possession rate of Oliver and Petracca, Viney just seems to be making the right decisions in games more often and not, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him right up there in the B&F count to this point of the season, just does the things that the coaches would love! He's becoming exciting to watch within out team, and that's something I never thought I'd say :)

Love the initiative, maybe the long sleeve version is perhaps a bit busy for my liking. Perhaps the only criticism here is that they could have done a bit more in changing up the logo, just replacing the word Melbourne with Narrm doesn't show a lot of initiative (especially with the MFC remaining in the bottom section) would have liked the logo to be reworked a bit harder.

...and yet this season Sam has taken more contested marks than Tom with one less game to his name. What is the point of that stat? Sam also kicked 3 goals last week to go with his 1 mark which I am happy to take! I just like what Sam is bringing to the team, and want him to have an extended run of games. I think Tom is playing on a lot of goodwill.

Agree 100% with this! Tom isn't impacting the scoreboard enough to keep Weid off his back, and I feel it is starting to tell with his intent. Remember the line the boys have used in the last few years where everyone will 'Get a lick of the icecream', well it kinda feels like Tom is holding on to the icecream tightly. He's not the player that won that game against WCE in 2018 and he's not kicking 50+ goals any more. Weid, Brown and Fritsch are the forwards who are likely to kick bags of 3 or more in a game, Tom is good for a goal or two at best.

Looking forward to this challenge against the Saints, they are in pretty good form, hard slog up in Cairns and only just missed out on the win. I think they come at a good time for us too, we aren't playing awesome footy, but we are finding a way every week to win, and winning in different ways too. There are two very weak teams out of 18 in the eagles and north, everyone else is capable of causing an upset, and they are all trying to work out how to pick apart our game. Hawthorn scored more against us than I think any other team this season and that will be noted by other teams too.