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AFL Chief Executive Officer Andrew Demetriou tonight stressed his organisation was up to the challenge of cultivating a second Sydney team despite a small crowd at the elimination final between the Swans and Kangaroos.
The attendance wasn’t helped by 78 millimetres of rain at ANZ Stadium in the 36 hours leading up to the game.
The rain abated shortly before the start, but Demetriou’s pre-match prediction of around 20,000 people appeared accurate.
With a second Sydney team slated for 2012, Demetriou didn’t under estimate the challenge facing the AFL.
“I know there will be some questioning our strategy in light of tonight’s crowd, which is estimated to be around 20,000, if we are lucky, but we love a challenge at AFL house,” Demetriou told a pre-match function.
He said the AFL wasn’t deluding themselves over the difficulty in wooing fans to the proposed Western Sydney franchise.
“We know it is not going to be easy and we know we are in for a battle for the hearts and minds of the Sydney people.”
Demetriou was talking on a night when the Swans were hosting a team which just a few years ago made their own attempt to grab a share of the Sydney market.
The nomadic Kangaroos played a number of home games in Sydney, which led to an escalation in the rivalry between the two clubs.
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