Cape Town canned - again! - World Footy News

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Cape Town canned - again!

Authored by: Sean Finlayson
on Thursday, September 03 2009 @ 02:21 pm ACST

Brett, QLD and NSW have had teams for almost 30 years ! And very little (apart from some premierships) has changed since Warwick first pulled on the pink boots. If adding another unsupported team was the solution, shouldn't they have done it 30 years ago ? There is only true rivalry if there is passion - and you can't simply manufacture passion. Even if you did manage 1 blockbuster game a year during the good times, you've still got another 20 to play!

Personally I don't think these states are 30 year prospects, they are are 100+ year prospects. Even with billions of dollars spent it won't happen in my lifetime or probably the lifetime of my kids. Who knows where our game will be by then. Though I do believe I think you could create a vibrant international Australian Football scene with more investment in less time. So the money is wasted IMHO and greater growth potential lies overseas.

Anyhow, you're used to the concept of passionate support for footy in South Australia, and most South Aussies and Vics care more for local sport (like AFL) than international sport. If you'd lived in Sydney or Queensland you'd know that footy is still a very small scene and virtually the only sport they watch is international sport. The first thing most people ask is why isn't Australian Football an international sport ? Because it isn't there is an automatic mindset that it must be crap - regardless of how good it actually is to watch or play.

But when a guy from overseas or even an indigenous player from a remote community is playing in a local league, everyone knows about it and it becomes quite a big thing for promotion up there. Sometimes bigger than a homegrown talent making the AFL. Look at Dunstall, a Queenslander most people up there didn't know from a bar of soap even though he regularly kicked 100 goals a season. But players like Mal Michael have captured their imagination and changed their perspective of the sport. Queenslanders have an affinity with PNG and islanders and vice versa so yes, it has lifted the popularity. In the Brisbane private school system islanders get scholarships to play rugby and they are looked on like gods by the locals. But the AFL chose Karmichael Hunt (a guy I'm pretty sure you'd never heard of) because he is an islander. I can tell you once the islanders really get into footy, you're pretty much home and hosed in Queensland. Players like Canada's Scott Fleming are also continuing to have an influence but a game between Queensland and PNG at senior level would be a promoters wet dream. I mean why do you think the Gold Coast is the only club keen to take a punt on the PNG boys and a Kiwi league player - because they know the huge promotional benefits.

Sydney is different but similar - more Mike Pykes and a legitimate international played there will definitely help.

Anyway enough said, but to sum it up I think biggest problem is that AFL people just don't have the capacity to listen, and that's why I'm no longer interested.

Cape Town canned - again!

Authored by: Brett Northey
on Thursday, September 03 2009 @ 03:20 pm ACST

Yes, I had heard of Karmichael Hunt. One of about 20 players I'd heard of.

If you believe that success of PNG has helped boost the Brisbane Lions then up to you but I'm amazed you could truly believe it. The Lions have had declining crowds whilst at the same time a few Papuans have started to make it into the local league - which only existing footy fans would be aware of. But this year they have a new coach (their favourite son Michael Voss) and have played exciting footy, making the finals for the first time for several years. Kind of a no brainer as to why crowds are up for the first time in years.

If you think Scott Fleming is making a difference then with all due respect to Scott, that is an even more bizarre view. He played what, one season mostly in juniors in the state league in 2008 and then returned to Canada I think, someone correct me if I'm wrong. It would seem to me to be a pure fantasy to suggest that he would've had any influence whatsover, the kind of big talking line that discredits the credibility of the international push.

If QLD and NSW people will only start to jump on board when there is a thriving international game to the point that it is semi-pro or pro game then perhaps we are doomed because that's a 50+ year process. But I suspect that getting exposed to the game as kids and seeing how wonderful it is, and slowly changing the culture of schools to have more teams so that it becomes acceptable to play it, that is what will bring our sport up to a more widely followed game in those states.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Personally I think things are mostly headed in the right direction.

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Brett Northey - Co-founder and Chief Editor of WFN

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Brett Northey - Co-founder and Chief Editor of WFN

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