2011 confirmed for next IC, location up for tender

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2011 confirmed for next IC, location up for tender

Authored by: Brett Northey
on Saturday, January 10 2009 @ 09:49 pm ACDT

Thanks for your thoughts Jay, always nice to hear from the players themselves.

We've heard before just how strong a drawcard it is to come to Australia - so many players will have learnt the game from Aussies who will have talked about the country itself, and of course the lure of being immersed in Australian football culture - seeing AFL games, seeing state league or even amateur league games, and of course not having to explain it isn't Rugby!

I think that could be an issue. As long as many of the players are having to pay or raise the money themselves, or at least a large part of it, which for many countries that will be most of the players, then the destination has to be a big drawcard otherwise a lot of players probably just won't make the sacrifice.

It would be fine if it was all paid for, then players would just be considering using up their holidays versus representing their country.

On the other hand, if it was in Europe then it would be close to many countries so that would draw more along.

I think Perth would be a fairly good option. The WA Football Commission has previously expressed an interest in the IC and international footy in general, e.g. see Western Australia to target development for Indian Ocean region?. They also are getting involved with South Africa.

In terms of being a drawcard, okay, Perth isn't Melbourne in terms of as many AFL clubs and the MCG, but as tinka13 mentioned, it has 2 AFL clubs so the opportunity to see 2 or 3 games there and have a Parade of Nations, plus the WAFL is an excellent state league, and footy is very much of the culture. Many players from IC08 also headed off across Australia on tour after the tournament anyway.

A similar argument can be made for Adelaide, although the SANFL has not shown anywhere near as much interest in international footy as WAFC/WAFL has. I've also heard the Gold Coast mentioned on a wishlist - it should have 2 AFL sides in SE Queensland by then, plus a lot of development money continues to pour in there, and Brisbane/GC is pretty much the base for AFL Oceania and has been very supportive of Papuan players. Not the same footy culture just yet, but would be a good chance to showcase international footy to a market the AFL is trying to win over.

I certainly agree Melbourne has had it 3 times in a row and while it has been successful overall, Melbourne has not really got behind it like it could or should have. There was real excitement and interest in the two country cities in 2005 and 2008 and good crowds to some of the games, but not in Melbourne itself. Perhaps absence will make the heart grow fonder?

I think in some respects it comes down to how the IC is to be used. Is it to put on the best event for the players (then in Australia is probably better at this stage) or is it to be a showcase for international footy and to try to throw the spotlight on the game in a given area to promote the sport in a given country? So far has been used as the former but in the future?

As for an under 18 versus an open age Australian amateur side, surely tinka13 you don't suggest the full All-Australian amateur side just yet? Depends how you define amateur, but the amateur leagues could put together a devastatingly good side that might prove a bit of an embarrassment just yet for most nations. I suspect even the U18s would be too good - there's many damn fine 17 year olds out there. Australia nominally has 600,000 players (all ages) versus about 50,000 worldwide (don't quote me, that's very very rough).

---
Brett Northey - Co-founder and Chief Editor of WFN

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