North Melbourne rejected the hundred million reasons offered by the AFL to move to the Gold Coast, pulled out of their deal to play matches at Carrara, and now want to return to Canberra.
North Melbourne (then the Kangaroos) took the ACT government’s money to play matches at Manuka from 1998 to 2006 and then decided the $100 bills are greener on the Gold Coast.
Now they have gone back, cap in hand, to the ACT to bail them out again by playing games back at Manuka Oval.
The message from me is, “Thanks, but no thanks!”
The club destroyed all the goodwill generated by years of community involvement and the promotional activity by the Kangaroos in Canberra has been flushed away by the club’s decision to pimp itself out to the highest available bidder.
There are other teams who bring their games here now. So why would North Melbourne expect to waltz back in to Canberra and take over again.
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May 7th 2009 @ 11:45am
Chop said | May 7th 2009 @ 11:45am | Report comment
Michael C
I think you’ll find the ‘Kangaroos’ made a significant effort to gain support up here in the nation’s capital and were succeeding. As a Rugby League/Union follower the games in Manuka were among the first AFL matches I ever watched live.
Then they got greedy and took the $ to play on the Gold Coast and left a foul taste in most people’s mouths.
Say what you will about Canberra, no matter how cold it gets, North Melbourne won’t be stealing any of my $ any more and we’ll sit up here watching AFL with teams we actually enjoy watching while your sorry mis-managed side will end up playing VFL or some lower level.
Hope you enjoy watching them in the park
May 7th 2009 @ 12:03pm
Ronnie from Hobart said | May 7th 2009 @ 12:03pm | Report comment
They’ve jumped in bed with the ACT government and the Gold Coast. Why don’t they just crawl into bed with Melbourne like WJ suggests and be done with it? Must be a better alternative to getting it on with a frozen chook. Maybe they should be called the NM Ho’s????
And that strip they wore against Collingwood on Friday night last would get the laziest katoey real real horny.
But oh no, at the talk of relocation or merging, some villagers in Melbourne Town are up in arms with the usual muck about ‘tradition’, ”looking after heartland clubs’, and “you can’t do that to a foundation club” – all this at the expense of the code.
Somewhat farcically, the AFL Commission publicly says it wants 10 teams in Victoria (are they kidding?) whilst at the same time collectively crossing it’s fingers and toes that teams might move northward so the traditional Melbourne supporter bases will underpin the viability of the new clubs – as per Sydney Swans and Brisbane Lions experiences.
Does the AFL Commission actually get it? It makes a big fuss about GC and WS and yet all the time the stench of “Melbourne Rules” hangs over the competition – what else can one say about a competition with TEN Victorian clubs within a 75 km radius. Try selling that to Sydneysiders Sheeds – NOT THAT THE NRL AND SYDNEY ARE ANY BETTER. 56% of teams in the NRL and AFL ‘national’ competitions are based in 1 city. Go figure. The case of Cronulla shows that only when things become dire will resistance to change belatedly and slowly crumble.
Both leagues have probably gotten far too comfortable and addicted with suburban vs. suburban clubs fluffing up attendance figures and wish to avoid HAL’s dilemma of lacking this luxury. They want their leagues to be truly national but also want to keep a suburban competition. Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.
And the joys of multicodalism … Fev kicks Carlton out of a tight one on Saturday (oh joy!). Newcastle overrun Beijing on Wednesday night. Planet football is alive and kicking .. for those who wish to appreciate it.
May 7th 2009 @ 1:00pm
Redb said | May 7th 2009 @ 1:00pm | Report comment
RFH,
Give it up. Two London subruban teams almost made the final of the UEFA Cup meant to represent the whole of Europe – it is only the scale that is much bigger. The article is about North and the ACT, sure you can add broaden the discussion to survival of clubs generally but based on your last comment you suggest we ditch the whole thing. Sorry your sales pitch didnt work.
Redb
May 8th 2009 @ 12:02am
davido said | May 8th 2009 @ 12:02am | Report comment
Firstly, if youre not a North fan youve got no right to comment so sod off.
Second, I think you will find North pushed more than enticed to go the GC. The AFL pretty much gave them the choice of being de-registered or moving. Hmmm… Which choice was better for them?
May 8th 2009 @ 12:23am
Kurt said | May 8th 2009 @ 12:23am | Report comment
Davido – you’re kidding, right? Of course non-North fans have a right to comment on a matter of significance to the entire competition.
And not sure about your claim that the AFL gave North the choice of relocation or de-registration. They didn’t relocate and as far as I can tell are still in the competition. the fact is they had the opportunity to pretty much name their price for the GC move – debt elimination, priority draft picks, salary cap concessions, you name it. They chose to stay in Melbourne and slowly die, which of course is their right but let’s all understand that is exactly what will happen.
May 8th 2009 @ 8:29am
Redb said | May 8th 2009 @ 8:29am | Report comment
Other fans can comment that’s what the Roar is about. You may like it.
North Melb have not covered themselves in glory in the last couple of years. I’m starting to think James Brayshaw as good intentioned as he is obviously is, is immature in a management sense. Last night on the Footy Show (which I struggle to watch these days) he said from now on, no more away strips for North games against Collingwood becuase of a fear of fine from a deal he denies ever existed. So why didn’t they challenge the non deal beforehand? How about some clarity, make sure of your deals,etc.
Shunning the Gold Coast was a terminal move it is just delaying the inevitable which is a shame.
Redb
May 8th 2009 @ 9:03am
Pippinu said | May 8th 2009 @ 9:03am | Report comment
MC
Canberra ain’t all that bad – but it’s true that Manuka is a great venue for AFL standard games (not helped by the lack of knowledge for the game by the local inhabitants, who are by and large now rugby supporters).
Interestingly, it does continue to maintain a decent standard comp in which the Swans reserves play (and maybe the WS reserves in the future? only a touch over 2 hours distance)
I now understand that the Canberra question was raised once in a long strategic meeting between the AFL and North – so it looks like the media reports were a touch exaggerated – clearly, a return to Canberra was not really given to much thought in terms of serious consideration.
May 8th 2009 @ 9:03am
Pippinu said | May 8th 2009 @ 9:03am | Report comment
Sorry – that should read Manuka is NOT a great venue for AFL standard games
May 8th 2009 @ 9:20am
Redb said | May 8th 2009 @ 9:20am | Report comment
Pip,
AFL in Canberra appears to be more aligned with Western Sydney in the future. Some good marketing, player visits, clinics, schools,etc could be aimed at Canberrans adopting Western Sydney as their AFL team if they choose. Makes more sense than the Swans in fact it creates a natural rivalry although the name Western Sydney needs to be more literal and should involve all of central and western NSW including ACT.
A good example with admittedly a more aligned title is the Nth QLD Cowboys in the NRL, they have fans in Emerald, Mackay, Mt Isa,etc all over the north and the west of QLD. It has been well marketed to be ‘their’ team in the comp.
Redb
May 8th 2009 @ 9:26am
Pippinu said | May 8th 2009 @ 9:26am | Report comment
redb
I understand the WS promotions committee toyed with the nick name the West Sydney Shiny Arses as a means of attracting support from Canberrans.