AFL expansion to continue?

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Authored by: Sean Finlayson
on Sunday, August 28 2005 @ 10:04 pm ACST

Queensland and NSW are certainly a tough nut to crack. The AFL's latest census figures on football participation show a real problem with participation in these states which represent nearly half of the country's population, are growing rapidly and which suffer from heavy competition with other codes (league and union) which are well established. By comparison with other states, the participation in all levels of AFL is negligable in NSW. This state is the last piece of the puzzle that is the national competition.

Many people also forget that Sydney was the first interstate team, and they have made little relative impact over their 24 years playing there, yet when they first went there it was almost a given that with a population that big they were bound to be sustainable. For encouragement, the AFL often makes comparisons are made with the crowds of the Sydney Swans (averaging about 31,000 in 2005) and the average crowd of rugby league games (about 16,500 in 2005). This is not a true reflection of the participation rate for the code. These crowds are spread between about 11 NSW teams. As well as this, the AFL ignores the popularity of Union in NSW, which attracts average crowds of 30,000 to Super 12s and Internationals. As well as this, it must be considered that other interstate AFL teams from less populous states easily draw bigger crowds. Considering that Rugby League is most popular in NSW and Rugby Union is very popular also, even during Sydney's successful seasons, the AFL has been languishing in a distant third place, possibly even eclipsed by soccer. Not only do the Sydney Swans need to sustain success for many more seasons (possible multiple premierships like the Brisbane Lions) before people even start to take notice, but to maintain an icon player like Tony Lockett or big "bad" Barry Hall who represents the physical nature of our game. This is a big ask, since Barry only has a few playing seasons left in him. Unfortunately a second team, even if successful, is not going to help, especially considering the Swans early financial and support woes. If the AFL thinks that by sending big Barry Hall out to a few schools, they'll kickstart junior development in NSW, then they are wrong. Most kids would not even recognise him in the streets.

From my experience, people in Sydney (and to a lesser extent, Queensland) don't take a football code seriously unless it is played elsewhere in the world. Maybe it is like some sort of sense of security that they are not watching or supporting a dud. The AFL needs to take notice of the popularity of international Union and League in Sydney, and maintain a focus on international footy as a catalyst for getting Sydney people interested. Perhaps if big Barry Hall took his International Rules guernsey out with him to schools, some of that instinctive drive to play for your country might inspire some NSW kids to get into footy. The sad tale is that he has to play a compromised game of Gaelic football against Ireland, which although great for footy, won't be the real deal until we're kicking the oval ball. Noone could really take this as seriously as a kid dreaming to play union for the Wallabies against other sides that live and breathe the same game.

I think that if the AFL staged made a World Cup in 2011, or whenever, in Sydney a reality, with the right amount of promotion, they would get people turning up in droves, and a whole new generation of kids would grow up dreaming of "taking a screamer", kicking the winning goal after the siren from 50 metres out for their country. In my opinion, the AFL's focus on development of NSW is a lost cause. This would instantly achieve the same effect as wasting many millions of dollars and another 25 years on local development and the Swans at the expense of the game internationally. Unfortunately the AFL's stance represents the sort of backward, narrow and parochial atitude that will be it's downfall. Only sites like this one, and people like Ron Barassi who have spent some time coming to grips with the reality of football in Sydney (and put so much focus on grassroots international football), hold a glimmer of hope for AFL being a truly national - and international game.

By the way, the comment about visitors is interesting. Recently one of the cast of the popular US television series "Lost", which features Australia heavily was recently quoted as saying what he didn't like about Australia is that they don't play "football" (soccer) and that instead all people are interested in is rugby. Many people like this who visit Australia only see Sydney, and get little exposure to the Australian game, so there is little opportunity for them to spread the word.

AFL expansion to continue?

Authored by: Brett Northey
on Monday, August 29 2005 @ 10:46 am ACST

Trouble is if the AFL staged a World Cup in 2011 with a full Australian side it would still trounce everyone else and perhaps make the tournament look a bit silly. Although it seems to be a long way off, we need to be patient. I'd like to see an All-Australian amateur side introduced at some stage but not sure when. I don't believe there are any plans to do that soon.

The AFL are well aware that the Sydney market has yet to be successfully captured to any extent. There are many reasons. Maybe it includes the lack of international dimension - it could only help.

Here's an article from a few months back in which Demetriou discusses the challenges:

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12796761%255E2722,00.html

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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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