Opinion: Report card on IC2005

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Opinion: Report card on IC2005

Authored by: Brett Northey
on Wednesday, August 24 2005 @ 06:29 am ACST

Hi Robert, thanks for your comments. That's great news about the increased numbers at training, especially younger players. Hopefully you'll hang onto a few long term, and hopefully the trend is being seen at other clubs. It would be great to see a regular under 18s competition emerge, say in Auckland, in the next few years.

Thanks to you too Sean. I figured my report might stir a few comments, but as long as they are constructive like yours then that's fine. Certainly I'm not saying that all Melbourne people are dis-interested. And you list some good reasons why people didn't show. But I'd also suggest that with a population of what, 3.5 million, if there was general interest then even if a tiny percentage could make it, then crowds would have been much better, especially on the weekends. People may have a passing interest, but obviously not enough to put the shopping off or whatever. Again, I understand plenty would have fixed committments, but surely 10s of 1000s didn't. But yes, there is also the issue of getting the message out better.

You made some good points that I think are representative of many people's thoughts and probably would be similar to mine some time ago before I became more heavily involved with international footy and realised some of the issues all parties face. I'll try to address them here.

I agree that the changing schedule was a problem. It highlights a key issue for the tournament. People like us want the AFL to push the event to the general public. They stepped up a notch this time, and spent a fair amount of money. But then Nauru pulled out in the last few days, and with Denmark already out, the best they could do is modify the draw as little as possible. Then during the tournament Spain ran out of fit players and pulled out of a match. So again the draw was wrong and people wondered why Spain wasn't playing Canada. By the way, you mentioned the draw on here being wrong - we had to change it quite a few times but I don't think it was ever wrong for very long - we worked hard to keep it right, and we warned about Spain the night before, although obviously not many would have seen that. Again, I know you weren't criticising us.

Regarding the IAFC site, I don't want to go over old politics but it should be made clear that the original IAFC that started the International Cup was wound up and its role taken over by a commitee working with the AFL. The inaugural President and the President at the time are both still around and involved with international footy and happy with the outcome - and they were both at the Cup. So the IAFC site you were probably looking at has no affiliation with the old one or the AFL or the International Cup or any of the attending countries.

So on the one hand we want the AFL to spend more money on promotion and get the public along, whilst still maintaining its professional image, and on the other hand teams will pull out and the public will turn up for games not on, clutching copies of the draw that were correct 24 hours earlier.

The issue is that international footy is still very much an amateur sport. Things are improving but sometimes we get impatient. You mentioned matches being during the week, but because of the amateur status of the players, they need the entire tournament held inside 2 weeks - many can't afford to be off work or don't have any more leave (e.g. I think Americans get quite a bit less annual leave than Aussies do). So matches were played every second day, including on weekends. Of the 6 rounds 2 were on weekends, which is the maximum possible without extending the tournament or asking teams to play on consecutive days.

I agree that having to pay for an AFL match to see the IC grand final is unfortunate. But again, if you analyse it, what other options are there? They can't clear the stadium after the first match. Talking to players there is no doubt that playing at the MCG is a huge incentive, so they would not like the thought of moving it to a smaller venue. And the expense of opening the G for a one off Cup match for a small crowd would be massive.

You say you don't buy that some teams couldn't find the money. I can assure you it's a massive issue. Countries spend from AU$70,000 and up to get here. Airfares for 30 - 40 people are huge. All play this game for free. Most are young men who probably have little savings and modest incomes. They don't know if they'll definitely be picked until a few months out. Where does the money come from? The leagues themselves are normally flat out just organising umpires and grounds during the season, let alone getting sponsorship. And most games don't get crowds, and not paying spectators. And I'd suggest Ireland's paypal didn't receive too many donations. The most likely people keen enough to donate are people like you and me. Did you? I know I didn't - figured I was spending enough on this site and getting myself to Melbourne and covering the whole tournament. So you can see, money is a huge issue.

Of course some want the AFL to pay for it all, but ultimately it has to answer to the clubs, and with several struggling financially, I don't imagine spending a couple of million on an amateur international tournament would be too popular. The whole thing is the chicken or the egg - the public need to push the AFL for it, and the AFL is best placed to create public interest. So what comes first? Both have to evolve together.

I agree that growing the game internationally could really help development in Sydney. I'm hoping the AFL will increasingly see that as well.

Finally, you said you hope someone fixes things before 2008. If you agree with my ideas above (maybe not!) then you'll see that some things are very difficult to overcome. However, I have spoken with the tournament organiser Ed Biggs and he is analysing the event and there were definitely issues he is keen to address. I probably shouldn't air details here but having a country pull-out at the last minute was a major problem in terms of professional appearance, promotion, bookings etc, and they will be seeking a way to prevent it in future.

Well, a lot said, but I thought it worthwhile hopefully clarifying some of the issues. We all want this to grow bigger and better, and I'm sure it will, but no doubt not as fast as we'd like. Countries are making connections, networking, and preparing better and developing improved players which will make the show more worthwhile for spectators. Meanwhile the AFL is slowly increasing its interest and contribution. We just need to keep pushing and spreading the word, whilst ensuring we aren't simply whinging at the AFL or knocking them when they are, after all, the biggest single funder of international footy, even if not as much as we'd like. We have to be constructive and do what we can.

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Brett Northey - Co-founder of WFN, Chief Editor and Editor for North America and Africa

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Brett Northey - Co-founder and Chief Editor of WFN

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