Osborne laughs off AFL threat in the west
By Ian McCullough, 10 Nov 2009 Ian McCullough is a Roar Pro
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- AFL, Parrama, Parramatta Eels, paul osborne, Rugby League
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Parramatta Eels chief executive Paul Osborne has laughed off suggestions the new Greater Western Sydney (GWS) AFL franchise will have any affect on NRL clubs in the region.
The GWS, which will enter the AFL in 2012, unveiled four-time premiership-winning mentor Kevin Sheedy as their inaugural head coach on Monday, but Osborne said he’s unconcerned by the appointment.
“I am not particularly worried by it,” Osborne told the Ten Network.
“It’s a pretty ordinary game and we’ve got a much better product.”
And the former Canberra prop is also unfazed by the prospect of losing young talent to the rival code.
“I am not too concerned as I am sure they will come back when they see how boring it is. They are quite intelligent in Western Sydney.”
However, Osborne did admit he had held discussions with local rivals the Bulldogs and Penrith about the new AFL club and said the three clubs all share the same opinion about the new team.
“We’ve had a couple of chats with the Panthers and the Bulldogs and we all believe we have the much better product and that our heartland is very much here,” he said.
However, North Queensland chief executive Peter Parr cautioned against dismissing the professional manner in which the AFL go about their business.
Parr said rugby league already had programs in place to protect the game in Sydney’s west and on the Gold Coast where a new AFL team will enter the league in 2011, and as long as it didn’t drop the ball, it should meet the latest challenge.
“They have shown a lot of initiative and once the AFL decide something, hats off to them, they pursue it at 100 miles an hour,” he said.
“They’re targeting two very tough areas to crack because of what Searley (Gold Coast chief executive Michael Searle) has done it will be particularly difficult on the Gold Coast and they’ll find it just as hard in West Sydney.
“I don’t think we’ve got anything to be fearful of as long as we’re doing all the right things.”
NRL chief executive David Gallop refused to comment on the appointment of Sheedy or the threat of the new AFL club when contacted.
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Kurt said | November 10th 2009 @ 2:14am | Report comment
Ah this is going to be good – Oikee, over to you.
Redb said | November 10th 2009 @ 4:43am | Report comment
Sounds a bit arrogant to me.
Freud of Football said | November 10th 2009 @ 4:53am | Report comment
Redb, I suggest you, myself and every other AFL fan just leave this one be. Wait for the League trolls to get over here, they’ll have a field day with this.
Ironic because most AFL fans don’t care a great deal either way about the NRL which many League fans don’t seem to understand, Melbourne Storm don’t attract a great deal of hostility even though they entered AFL heartland and are doing ok but they don’t like the “Australian game invading” Sydney.
Redb said | November 10th 2009 @ 5:02am | Report comment
Freud,
This is just more attention seeking from the NRL fraternity. They have to make everything about them – anyone spot this?
It’s pretty clever on one hand, but time will show that AFL WS is not directly targetting the NRL or its diehard fans. On the other hand the more the NRL clubs, media talk it up, it does give exposure to the new Western Sydney club.
In 10 years the war will be forgotten but the coverage will have helped along the way.
Redb
MyGeneration said | November 10th 2009 @ 8:09am | Report comment
I spotted that the AFL fans were the first to swoop on this topic. AFL is never involved in attention seeking, is it, Redb? Karmichael Hunt was a 100% football decision.
Redb said | November 10th 2009 @ 1:00pm | Report comment
it is actually a comment on AFL expansion. I wouldnt call it a league only thread.
MyGeneration said | November 10th 2009 @ 1:10pm | Report comment
But it’s certainly not deserving of “League trolls” comments (I know that was Freud, not you). Just seemed to me the AFL crew were a bit quick on the trigger with comments like that and “attention seeking”. As I said to Freud, a bit rich.
Redb said | November 10th 2009 @ 1:04pm | Report comment
Both GC and WS will be filling their playing list with AFL draft picks and out of contract existing AFL players, by directly I mean the main focus is not NRL players, in fact they would be in the minority in terms of targets.
Same with fans, diehard NRL fans will remain that. Plenty of other fish in the WS sea.
Redb
MyGeneration said | November 10th 2009 @ 8:05am | Report comment
League trolls on a League thread. That’s rich, Freud.
oikee said | November 10th 2009 @ 6:48am | Report comment
I am off to Brisvagus today, i will comment when i get back, but before i go, and seeing a few comments already ,,, i will say one thing about what ozzie has said. Its about bloody time.
As i mentioned once before, everyone north of Melbourne knows that these people down there are the most arrogant people ever to walk the planet, . They have no respect for other codes and they dont even realise they are arrogant?
Thats how arrogant they are, Ozzie has finally thrown down the challange and being the monster he is, i would love to see any AFL ignorarmass take him head on, i have been waiting for this day to arrive. And this guy dont mince words like some of us on this blog. If he calls you a twit, your a twit. Like i said, rugby league is going to eat the afl alive. I have seen this coming.
girlfreind 
Well??? he called the AFL a inferior product?? what are you going to do about it Demetriou.
Kurt said | November 10th 2009 @ 7:29am | Report comment
That’s my boy!
Dave1 said | November 10th 2009 @ 3:31pm | Report comment
Didnt Clive palmer bag AFL? Hows that all turning out for him?
Mick from Giralang said | November 10th 2009 @ 6:51am | Report comment
I I have little interest in where the AFL decides to establish teams. But I acknowledge the AFL has enough faith in its game to push its boundaries. Whether they are successful or not, their expansion decisions are being driven by people who believe in the future of their game. This is where rugby league is at a huge disadvantage. Since the superleague war its destiny has not been in its own hands. There are encouraging signs that those with the interests of our great game at heart are winning the fight to regain control of the game. Rugby league is a breathtaking spectacle with all the on-field ingredients needed to guarantee its future as one of our nation’s favourite sports. Unfortunately, while this is a necessary condition for league to reach its potential, it is not a sufficient condition. It must be matched with a controlling body that is free of conflicts of interest, with a keen understanding of the relationships between culture, traditions and commercialism and, above all, with an evangelistic faith in the innate qualities of this enigmatic game. Dare I say it, everything that the AFL administration has been putting into practice for decades on behalf if its own code.
A footnote on Paul Osborne. AFL cheerleaders should be careful not to judge his abilities on his colourful quotes. He is a man of substance with a shrewd mind. He is part of a new band of rugby league administrators such as Michael Searle who, hopefully, will come to control the destiny of our game. If this comes to pass, rugby league will be in good hands.
Michael C said | November 10th 2009 @ 8:05am | Report comment
Good comments Mick from G.
Redb said | November 10th 2009 @ 12:57pm | Report comment
and NRL cheerleaders need to recognise immaturity when they see it.
Pippinu said | November 10th 2009 @ 6:57am | Report comment
Hopefully Paul Osborne’s comments can get wide circulation in the Southern Capitals – it’s only fair that such pearls of wisdom be widely distributed.
Mick from Giralang said | November 10th 2009 @ 7:03am | Report comment
I hope so too. It’s about time strong voices for rugby league are heard around the country. You’d better get used to it.
Michael C said | November 10th 2009 @ 8:13am | Report comment
The irony with most of these stories so far about AFL and GWS18…is, that in Sydney papers, it keeps getting reported in the NRL pages (at least ‘online’ it does).
and it really makes you (well, me anyway) wonder.
If that’s what media people think is needed to stir up a story…….then, the NSW media is giving AFL free publicity to an NRL audience.
But, then on the flip side, are leveraging off an AFL story to put NRL ‘personalities’ back in the lime-light.
Perhaps it’s a NewsLtd conspiracy to use an unholy alliance of AFL-NRL to smother soccer and the HAL!!!! Wait for it – — there’ll be an email or a letter or a text that someone’s mate assures that his neighbours cousin saw at work.
Dave1 said | November 10th 2009 @ 3:32pm | Report comment
I dont think they will get much circulation in the Southern Capitals.
Crosscoder said | November 10th 2009 @ 7:22am | Report comment
All Ozzie is saying and he was asked by a Tv interview (particularly the 10 network that gushes over the AFL),not going out and shooting his mouth off,was exactly the same comments that appeared when the Storm took root in Melbourne.Comments like who cares,thugby league , and they will be lucky to get 3,000 to a game.initially there was hostility in Melbourne,to suggest otherwise is nonsense.
He(Osborne) is the CEO and as stated one of the new breed,who is defending his game in an area that will be targetted.Hardly a shock to the system.
it is quite Ok for one code to bag another,but not vice versa,it appears.
The fact that the first comments on this thread were AFLers,speaks volumes.
The game(AFL) is not directly targettng the fans of the NRL LOL.When Sheedy talks about options for players and offering fans an additional choice.The fact also they are targetting all young athletes,they are indirectly targetting ther parents of players who may be soccer or NRL supporters.Any code worth its salt targets the widest number of people possible,otherwise they are not doing their job.
Pippinu said | November 10th 2009 @ 7:33am | Report comment
I just noticed another quote from Osborne in the SMH, I hadn’t seen this one before: “AFL is a low game – almost as bad as rugby.”
Kurt said | November 10th 2009 @ 7:36am | Report comment
Yeah, that was a good one. I don’t know much about this Osborne guy but a fair bit of this sounds tongue in cheek to me. All good stuff for the headline writers.
AndyRoo said | November 10th 2009 @ 8:56am | Report comment
Despite being an ex politician he is a lariken…. I could imagine he could rock up to the MCG and have a beer with anyone their just fine
LK said | November 10th 2009 @ 9:00am | Report comment
He did introduce laws in the ACT to limit pub opening hours….
Pippinu said | November 10th 2009 @ 7:40am | Report comment
Apart from being a player with the Raiders (helped them win the 1994 grand final when he came in as a late replacement), he was a Member of the Legislative Assembly in Canberra for two terms (I think).
He’s a strict Catholic, has a huge family, and is staunchly opposed to abortion and euthenasia.
In some respects, he would get on fine with Sheeds, who has always been staunchly opposed to playing games on Good Friday.
oikee said | November 10th 2009 @ 7:50am | Report comment
Mate, he is just being honest, its what all rugby league supporters already knew, but we were just trying to be nice people. But now you have made the hulksters angry.
Crosscoder said | November 10th 2009 @ 7:41am | Report comment
Osborne apart from being a might fine humanitarian(viz a viz Ruanda),is just taking the p… out of the ch10 journos.
oikee said | November 10th 2009 @ 7:47am | Report comment
All codes target grassy roots, but if the NFL walked into Australia and said, we are taking all the AFL very best players, what would the public do. Now put this senario into the Position of what AFL are doing, they have not even got the team up and running, but they are running their mouth off already, we are going to buy leagues best players. Never happened with the Storm, they did not walk into Melbourne and say, we are going to Buy Carey, and Albleit.
Look, aussie is great, he is a voice that rugby league needs, if reporters try to mince words with him, i am sure their will be some black eyes. No fisacal stuff, just headbutting.
Just remember who started this war, like union has been doing to league for the last 100 years, now AFL with the backing of the unionites, are trying to do the same to league. Like i said, bring it on baby. I have been waiting for 30 years for a good blue. The gloves are now off. The oikmeister is about to finally dust off the gloves, step aside folks, this anit going to be pretty.
Thats the beverley hillbilly coming out in me. 
Anyhow off to Vagas, brisvagas that is, texas tears, movie stars.
King of the Gorganites said | November 10th 2009 @ 11:00am | Report comment
union has been doing to league? what u mean? it was league who stole union players. however, the tide as now turned my friend, largely to our international game. the kangaroos get to play infront og 6K in paris. how appealing. at least when the afl goes overseas (ireland) they get full stadiums.
BN said | November 10th 2009 @ 12:05pm | Report comment
Didn’t Hitler used to fill out stadiums. And I bet they thought he was a “good sport” at the the time too.
Simmo said | November 10th 2009 @ 12:08pm | Report comment
You cited Hitler, therefore you fail at the internet.
Dave1 said | November 10th 2009 @ 3:37pm | Report comment
The ARU can’t afford to steal players anymore. If the next TV contract is fair the NRL will once again be able to take players from Union. The problem is there are no union players good enough in Australia to play league. However there maybe some in New Zealand and some of those South African backs are very athletic and may be able to make it in League.
aubgraham said | November 10th 2009 @ 12:45pm | Report comment
aubgraham said | November 10th 2009 @ 12:45pm | Report comment
oikee said
All codes target grassy roots, but if the NFL walked into Australia and said, we are taking all the AFL very best players, what would the public do.
Cheer and shout that their sons were being paid millions of dollars….
Paul J said | November 10th 2009 @ 7:51am | Report comment
In regards to the AFL expansion plans – some league fans seem to see the AFL as arrogant and some AFL fans seem to get defensive if it is suggested that the AFL are aggressive and cut throat.
Why?
The AFL are very aggressive in their expansion plans and that’s exactly how their leadership are supposed to be. League fans will hope for more of the same when they get their own independent commission.
oikee said | November 10th 2009 @ 7:54am | Report comment
And this Indigernous code crap, poppycock, rugby league is as indigernous as AFL, if not more,. Thats another point i will make, you dont own the Indigernous people, league is full of indigernous players. Its on baby, you brought the fight to us, now your going to hear the truth. Marn grooky mearse.
You boys down their had better be ready for a fight, us leaguies have been in battle against codes for over 100 years, and we are still here baby. Bring it right on. Yeah oiksters, the giant has woken.
Mr cheese said | November 10th 2009 @ 10:49am | Report comment
Oikee,
you know very well that Rugby League comes from Huddersfield, where Nathan Brown is currently weaving his spell.
It is one of the oddities of sport that the big sport of Brisbane and Sydney ( as well as Papua New Guinea….) was invented by the northern Brahmins of Lancashire and Yorkshire when they told the wealthy Rugger people that things had to change.
Dave1 said | November 10th 2009 @ 3:43pm | Report comment
Where have all the great Indigenous players from NSW gone (other than Inglis)?
Preston is a great player but he’s getting old now
Are the recruiters not doing their jobs properly?