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AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou today assured the Swans their staff wouldn’t be raided by the AFL as they assemble the new western Sydney team for 2012.
Demetriou was at Blacktown Olympic Park today to announce the 2012 western Sydney team would use facilities at the venue as a training base and administrative headquarters.
Home games are expected to be played at ANZ Stadium with some pre-season matches likely to be played at Blacktown’s 10,000-seat venue, which will be the subject of a $30 million redevelopment.
Geelong president Frank Costa last week expressed concern after Cats chief executive Brian Cook received a lucrative offer to head up the Gold Coast franchise which is slated to enter the competition in 2011.
“We have said to the Swans that we don’t want this new club to be trying to attract people from the Sydney Swans to be in this (western Sydney) organisation,” Demetriou told AAP.
“What I would say is there are lots of people from other clubs who have already expressed interest in working both with the Gold Coast and with western Sydney, who see it as a great challenge.
“And that’s not just in administration, that’s in coaching, it’s in all areas of a football club.
“We see 100 to 150 jobs being created out of this.”
Blacktown mayor Leo Kelly today accused rugby league officials of “sitting on their hands” and welcomed the AFL’s push into western Sydney.
“They (NRL) have been sitting on their hands,” Kelly said.
“A lot of the supporters like the old traditional teams like Balmain and Western Suburbs have switched codes and are now following AFL, strangely enough.
“We’ve had negotiations with them (NRL).
“They’ve retreated to their north shore bunker and we are waiting for them to come back.”
Demetriou is under pressure from the Tasmanian lobby to give the Apple Isle an AFL licence but says the AFL is sticking to its plans for a Gold Coast team in 2011 and a side in western Sydney a year later.
The AFL chief has also fended off Collingwood president Eddie McGuire’s concerns about expanding the league in tough economic times.
The AFL became free of debt last year and has an $82 million future fund.
“We see this as a great opportunity. Our greatest risk is if we do nothing,” Demetriou said.
“It has the fastest-growing economy in Australia with the Gold Coast and we think there is a great sense of community out here.”
Demetriou was reluctant to comment on the actions of the NRL.
“All I know is that I think we know where we want to go. We’ve got plans,” Demetriou said.
“We know that it is now ready for 2012.
“One thing that we have taken great heart from with the Sydney Swans is that three years ago they were selling just around 2,000 three-day match passes for their games out at ANZ Stadium.
“Last year it was about 5,500, this year it’s 11,000 for those three-match passes.
“A lot of our research shows that a majority of those people aren’t going to SCG games and of those people who go, a lot of them live out in this area so that’s encouraging.”
Demetriou says it will be great to have two local derby matches in Sydney each year from 2012.
“It will create a rivalry,” he said.
“We don’t want to have one poor team in Sydney. We want to have two very successful teams.”
NRL chief David Gallop said rugby league had been heavily involved in western Sydney for generations.
“Our clubs and league have been investing in the communities of western Sydney and providing kids with a sport they’ve loved for generations,” Gallop told AAP tonight.
“We have over 20,000 (junior) players in western Sydney and we’re endeavouring to invest evenly across the whole area.
“It’s a different comparison when you’re comparing one code’s heartland to another one’s new frontier.
“We’ve got 27 development officers out there and thousands of grassroots volunteers who are part of the fabric of the community.”
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