By Michael C Jordan -
November 23rd 2009 @ 7:23am
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Attention mothers of Sydney: AFL
The date November 9th was a pivotal day in the life of the fledgling Greater Western Sydney AFL team for two important reasons. The first of course was the appointment of legendary coach Kevin Sheedy as the team’s inaugural coach.
The second, while less obvious may be even more critical. It was the AFL unveiling their strategy to become a force in the region.
It’s not a strategy to convert life long NRL fans, it’s not a strategy to attract to teenagers, and it’s not even a strategy to appeal to the many people interviewed on the street who had no idea who Kevin Sheedy was.
It’s a well-calculated and well mapped out campaign to appeal to one market segment: Mothers.
You just had to take a quick look at the media conference to see the campaign in action. Who was it sitting there introducing the well-respected 61-year-old mentor, to the mothers of Sydney?
Was it the CEO of the AFL Andrew Demetriou? No.
Was it the Chairman of the AFL commission and Rhodes scholar Mike Fitzpatrick? No.
It was Sam Mostyn, a leading businesswoman and the AFL’s first ever-female commissioner. Both Mostyn and Sheedy then proceeded to wax lyrical about the opportunities the new team would give the Western Sydney area.
“I hope the kids grab the opportunity, I hope the parents love the opportunity.” Sheedy said.
This strategy would not have such a good chance of succeeding if not for the season the NRL has just endured.
It started with poster boy number one, Brett Stewart has been charged with the sexual assault of a teenage girl and finished with poster boy number 2, Greg Inglis being charged over the alleged assault of his girlfriend. Interspersed between were countless alcohol fueled incidents by both players and coaches.
This is a strategy that will take time, but with the huge amounts of money and resources the AFL are pumping into the area and the continued oafish behavior of NRL players it just may be effective.
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(44)
Michael C said | November 23rd 2009 @ 7:54am | Report comment
Sam Moystyn also happens to be a Sydney local…..that might have had something to do with it.
oikee said | November 23rd 2009 @ 11:46am | Report comment
M.C Mothers, ? Hey M.C, just lets say AFL does ok in W, Sydnet, which it might, and once the P.R machine gets into over-drive, and this is a fact, every tiny incident that happens in AFL down in Melbourne, and other places, will be shrewn all over Sydney and Brisbane papers. Now, you talk, and we all talk about lack of expossure to AFL, mate, they are leaving themselves wide open for this to happen.?
You know how i can tell, because last year the AFL went for the throat when rugby league hit the heasdlines with Voilience against women, and the AFL had that function showing woman all having a good time. Tell you what, and i know the Media, your being settup to fail , and fail miseribly.
Sometimes you need to scratch the surface, because your strength can become your weakness, just look at USA politics. They go back years to find a story. (Matty Johns anyone. )
Paul J said | November 23rd 2009 @ 8:11am | Report comment
Queue the arguement about which code has the worst off field behaviour.
M1tch said | November 23rd 2009 @ 8:13am | Report comment
lol..yes all the off field incidents surely hurt the NRL’s crowds and tv ratings this year? oh wait a minute
Pippinu said | November 23rd 2009 @ 8:18am | Report comment
You might be right about the “mothers” strategy, but there really ain’t no need to talk about off-field behaviour.
Soccer has always appealed to mothers both in Australia and the US, without it even being a deliberate strategy.
That the AFL might subtley use a similar strategy is no big surprise – especially when the AFL too will be working hard to appeal to immigrant families across Sydney, families from sporting backgrounds that do not feature full contact sports.
The AFL has been sanitising its game for decades (in the sense of eliminating unncessary rough play) – and time will show that it was the right thing to do.
Redb said | November 23rd 2009 @ 8:33am | Report comment
Agree. It has less to do with off field behavior more around issues such as Polynesian kids being too big in junior RL ranks or the fact that Australian football sits between the rugby codes and soccer in terms of rough and tumble.
Redb
Dave1 said | November 23rd 2009 @ 3:53pm | Report comment
In the southern states mothers have been know to steer their kids to soccer because they are worried that AFL is too tough.
This doesn’t happen in NSW. The AFL would be thinking to be targeting those kids who would normally be forced by their mothers to play soccer.
AndyRoo said | November 23rd 2009 @ 4:02pm | Report comment
I don’t think that’s a big market. I think the kids that get moved towards less contact sports would only play sport for a couple of years and then drop out.
Has it ever actually happened that a kid wanted to play AFL or Rugby League and his parents said no…you have to play Soccer or Tennis. I just can’t beleive that there are parents in Australia that would actually do that.
Dave1 said | November 23rd 2009 @ 4:08pm | Report comment
heres the stats
http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/0/2D0179A15287F5BFCA2574E400117321?OpenDocument
AndyRoo said | November 23rd 2009 @ 4:20pm | Report comment
I dont see the stats for the question that asks “is your mother a control freak and secretly wanted a girl”.
If a kid wants to play something else I can’t imagine him having to play Soccer instead. It’s more expensive than Auskick and Mod League for one. And if a parent is that uninformed and ignorant as to think Mod league is dangerous wouldn’t they be worried about their little precious heading the ball or perhaps being kicked by a boat person?
bever fever said | November 23rd 2009 @ 8:45am | Report comment
Yep gotta agree, i dont think this is about which code is cleaner, i think this is about getting a team going in GWS.
Their are protaganists on both sides of this so called footy war and if you look at it objectively its bunk.
I think if anything junior aussie rules will draw players from basketball and soccer rather than league, and thats going to be hard work.
League in the west will not miss a beat.
Jaredsbro said | November 23rd 2009 @ 9:19am | Report comment
Nonsense…again I say Not making much sense.
Now I’m an AFL fan, not exactly avid but I love the game (which is something I can’t say about Soccer which douses my cred a bit doesn’t it
) but the main target for Aussie rules in Sydney needs to be those who are disaffected with the main code Rugby League. Which one of you Vicball ( 
) bloggers, I think it was Pipinu, but I can’t remember fore shore said that every code has a part of the demographic it marginalises. None can help it as this is the product of the two states which have influenced Australia’s sporting character the most biting at each other since the 1850s
Anyway Mothers are rarely marginalised by any code of Football, disaffected maybe, but they’re not the same thing are they? I mean the NRL’s not looking too flash in its policies about Player discipline (but more importantly preventing player irresponsibility in the first place) but to put one’s child in another code of Football will disadvantage them in the normal State education system IMO
Yes Polynesians appear threatening, but there doesn’t seem to be any other sport that the majority of non GPS schools are happy to back these days. Because of this I would think Mothers would have a stronger desire to see their sons with the best chance of success, which Aussie rules in Sydney does not provide. See not every Timmy is good enough to excell at Rugby League, which for mine makes it more likely that Mothers will go with the Status Quo, unless they want to ostracise their kids…?
Pippinu said | November 23rd 2009 @ 9:29am | Report comment
Jaredsbro
Once again, an impenetrable post.
But you touch on one point, even if it doesn’t immediately make a lot of sense, I think there is something in there worth exploring – and it’s the point about mothers not necessarily feeling marginalised by any code, maybe disaffected, but not marginalised.
I can see something profound in that – but I’m not immediately sure what it means.
Then you mention that mothers will push their sons in the direction most likely to give success (which we can take in the broad sense: income, social acceptance, etc)
I think there is truth in that – but does the prospect of sporting scholoarships, and earning $50,000 per annum as a first year 18 yo rookie assist in changing the perception on that front?
Maybe.
Jaredsbro said | November 23rd 2009 @ 9:59am | Report comment
Thanks Pipinu. I wonder why I’ve suddenly become flavour of the month with you but any encouragement from you means quite something round these parts so cudos where cudos is due
Yeah the way I see it Public and Private school mentalities could not be any more different these days from how it used to be in Australia anyway. It used to be the case that in Sydney and to a lesser extent Melbourne RU was the sport of choice of Richie Riches and their Mothers/Fathers. Public schools of course tended towards the Working Class sports, which are the two major codes of Football, and this is still much of a much-ness.
But Private has moved towards boutique sports and unfortunately Soccer fans that includes the round ball game in Sydney at least anyway, unless you happen to be an Italian or a Greek or something, or from one of these ‘ethnic’ neighbourhoods. I think it’s part of the whole let’s be different, ie let’s not be homogenous ie Mothers tend to want their babies to be more individual/stand out these days…of course what a parent perceives as signifying ’standing out’ is so totally not the same as what the child themselves perceive…
So in some sense it comes down to what school you attend, but it’s not THAT simple and/or deterministic
But the key is that I don’t think safety is the main concern to be honest, so obviously Soccer will still have it’s niche, but I see RU being most under threat, certainly if Republican is to be believed…
Redb said | November 23rd 2009 @ 10:08am | Report comment
I dont know where you get your information from but rugby union has always been a minor choice in private schools in Melbourne. Australian football would easily be the number one football code in private schools and has been for decades.
In fact the first game of Australian football was between two Melbourne private schools such is its heritage.
Redb
Jaredsbro said | November 23rd 2009 @ 10:46am | Report comment
True in terms of numbers and as it is the case in Sydney (not in terms of numbers but in terms of a general marginal sport within the wider mainstream system.) My point was that public schools have as much of an agenda to push when it comes to being part of a mainstream image as private has of wanting to be different (which of course for them means being better or something equally as conspicuous)
Neither public or private want to disadvantage their ‘patrons’ any more than they see as a necessary part of the education of a young adult
oikee said | November 23rd 2009 @ 11:59am | Report comment
Yes, you are spot on, and also Public schools also need to be recognised, so they adapt to rugby league and Soccer because they know that one day, if they produce stars for their school, it encourages more students to acheive and want to play this game, which receives them more recognition.
If you look at the Melbourne Storms progress, you would notice they are growing around the public schools in certain areas. One day these schools would have produced a Kangaroo or Socceroo.. And then we see it grow more.
James said | November 23rd 2009 @ 9:40am | Report comment
It was reported that the AFL did not want to be seen as making this appointment….hence no Demetriou or Fitzpatrick…who delibrately stayed at home. You expect the president or ceo of a club to be making this decision, but given it is still in the AFL’s control, Sam was the perfect fit for the reasons given above (mother, Sydney sider etc)
Michael C Jordan said | November 23rd 2009 @ 3:48pm | Report comment
Thanks for all the comments. That was pretty much the response I was expecting.
If there is anyone who would like to read or comment on anything else I’ve written please visit my new blog at http://www.thefinalsiren.blogspot.com There isn’t a lot there at the moment but I am hoping to update it daily.
Hope to hear from you.
Thanks
Michael C Jordan
Westcoast929406 said | November 23rd 2009 @ 4:42pm | Report comment
It looks like some mothers -and fathers are listening Michael C Jordan in the West Sydney Region – Talk about a melting plot of nations which our game will get a share of.
How big a share – That is what everyone will be watching.
http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/rfnews/mickey-o-dips-into-sydneys-melting-pot/2009/11/21/1258220007495.html
Ziggy the God said | November 24th 2009 @ 12:28pm | Report comment
So if you play a sport when you are a kid, you are going to be a fan of the sport when you are older?
This has become the prism that the AFL spruiks, but where is the proof?
NFL is watched by millions in the US, but how many have played the game? What about cricket in India, how many have actually played it?
Then, you have Football, which has the most participants, yet how many watch the A-league?
Take it further, I have never pole-vaulted, run a marathon (slob) or played field hockey, but i watch the Olympics. I only played a handful of league games, a few seasons of Union and plenty of seasons of Football, but I mainly watch League. Go figure. The vica versa is Mothers who take their kids to Football on the weekend, but never watch a game on the box. That will be what befalls the GWS.
People want to watch the product for many reasons, but to think that it is because you had to play it as a child is ludicrous.
Last time I ventured out to Western Sydney, they all had TV sets, and they could all have switched over to watch the Sydney Swans play live every week, but they don’t.
Keep giving away the bribes, I mean free backpacks and waterbottles at Auskick clinics.
Just make sure that the AFL chips in for the Waste management Services which will have to pick them up on the side of the highway.
Cheers
Republican said | November 24th 2009 @ 3:32pm | Report comment
I agree that Aust Footy sits between Soccer and the ‘thugby’ codes which gives it a niche in this respect.
i also think this niche will be even more appealing than Soccer in NZ’s transition, as they embark on shedding their brutal sporting monoculture.
Cheers
Westcoast929406 said | November 24th 2009 @ 6:30pm | Report comment
This article is a classic because two different Junior Rugby League Coaches cannot agree if GWS is going to affect them or not, and to what degree. You would think the RL Junior Councils would agree on a common answer/policy for the stirrers in the media.
http://blacktown-advocate.whereilive.com.au/sport/story/on-football-s-battle-lines/
MyGeneration said | November 24th 2009 @ 7:19pm | Report comment
Why on earth would you think that? These guys are from different levels of coaching and different geographical areas, and they are speaking from different experience. The fact that they’re not regurgitating some corporate message is a good thing. I’m not aware of this ‘RL Junior Councils’ entity that you speak of.
bever fever said | November 24th 2009 @ 8:54pm | Report comment
I agree with you here, all talking on different levels.
In my experience it would not be league that the bulk of these so-called new juniors will come from, it will be basketball and soccer if they cross at all and it will be slow.
I just cannot see thousands of new players fronting up next year, maybe a couple of hundred.
The juniors ranks of soccer and BB can afford to lose quite a few juniors and really not miss a beat.
I could be off the mark here but in my experience the bulk of junior RL players are from rusted on RL families and the AFL has little hope of converting them, whereas plenty of soccer kids and BB kids are from families who have little historical connection to either game.
These are the kids to target.
MyGeneration said | November 24th 2009 @ 7:23pm | Report comment
I often think of mindless sporting monoculture when I visit Melbourne, Republican. Thankfully, this thought has been passing in recent years.
Cheers
bever fever said | November 24th 2009 @ 8:06pm | Report comment
Talking countries or cities here.
MyGeneration said | November 24th 2009 @ 8:12pm | Report comment
Population
oikee said | November 25th 2009 @ 11:05am | Report comment
Ouch, i think we can all take note now of how not to try and expand. The war started by the AFL in west Sydney could not have got off to a worse start. Public relations, rule number 1. Dont go into some codes heartland and tell them you are going to bully anyone. Keep your heavy hitters right away.(sheedy) and stay away from government funding when you already have a stadium, World Class,.
Now they are putting a tent up in league heartland to intice the mums, ? mate have they no idea i am frightened of league mums. Anyhow, their campaign is now set back 20 years. With no funding, get used to playing in the Big white elephant, cheers, welcome to league heartlands.
Westcoast929406 said | November 25th 2009 @ 2:24pm | Report comment
Sheedy steps into the vacant promotion spotlight.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/nrl/afl-to-set-up-marquee-at-sydney-v8-supercar-race-after-nrl-turns-chance-down/story-e6frfgbo-1225803476439
The NSW Premier turning down the AFL request for funds for The Showgrounds upgrade was predictable.
Redb said | November 25th 2009 @ 2:39pm | Report comment
Go and have a chat to him he’s a great bloke.
oikee said | November 25th 2009 @ 4:17pm | Report comment
Why chat to him Redb, i have his decipals on here to chat with, i am looking forward to his media reports under pressure from the Sydney press, should be good, i am giving him 1 year, tops.
Jaredsbro said | November 25th 2009 @ 7:18pm | Report comment
Actually I reckon AFL’s targetting Union players most of all. As always I struggle to find the data to support this, but if the Swans supporters are anything to go by they’re either ex-Unionites or dabble a little here a little there
Pippinu said | November 25th 2009 @ 7:25pm | Report comment
I thought I read at some stage that they sounded out O’Connor – some Wallaby fans might be wishing that he had accepted!!
There are a few ex-union players in AFL ranks, who converted around the age of 14/15 – but not many.
Tom Williams of my team is one. Awesome athlete – perfect build for a key position player, and he’s not too bad given his limited background in the game – the main thing is that he gives goals away by doing dumb things – which is not too surprising because you can’t develop nous and a gut feel for a game overnight.
In Hawthorn’s premiership year, he played one terrific game where he absolutely blanketed Buddy Franklin – so he definitely has plenty of upside.
Jaredsbro said | November 25th 2009 @ 7:29pm | Report comment
And of course Basketball. I think the problem is RU players are actually not physically suited to the game by in large, but it’s the clientele that are interested in watching the game (whether this entails that they will give playing the game a go is a moot point as I’ve never played the game, but am connected to the RU scene. BBers do and the technical elements of fielding the ball/avoiding the physical confrontations in transition etc are skills that are quite transferrable. Physique similarities too…but tactically Aussie rules is a physical game where the only physicality in BB is making fouls look worse than they really are/diving
bever fever said | November 25th 2009 @ 7:39pm | Report comment
Dont reckon Williams has the build for rugby, he would get smashed.
Having said that he looks the build for a endurance athlete (triathlon, rowing, iron man)
Sure he could bulk up for league but i think rules suits him better.
Dave1 said | November 26th 2009 @ 3:53pm | Report comment
Lewis Roberts-Thomson for the swans is an ex-union player
bever fever said | November 25th 2009 @ 7:36pm | Report comment
Junior aussie rules is strongest in Sydney around the city and in areas where Union is also strong.
North of the bridge would have the strongest junior comps, but interestingly that is where the Nth Sydney bears used to be, it is also the only place in Sydney where schools put teams in weekend AFL comps.
The swans draw their fans from around the harbour and eastern suburbs, this is where the rah rahs have always been strong so stands to reason their is crossover.
GWS is meant to be the opposite to the Swans and attract the blue collar fan.
Jaredsbro said | November 25th 2009 @ 7:55pm | Report comment
I can’t see Aussie rules as particularly WC in its current image not with their gentlemanly restraint and their occasional clangers of which the Fevola incident is said to be the worst in a long time. Maybe in Vic there’s WC connections but the game’s Australia’s glamour code or (proclaims to be) Thus I suspect Western Sydneysiders will agree with me, so they better market the game to the right people or…well it’s just like the International recruitment drive which is in vogue recently
Dave1 said | November 26th 2009 @ 4:00pm | Report comment
AFL in Sydney is strongest in the Hills district
Springs said | November 25th 2009 @ 7:44pm | Report comment
I find it really strange that AFL say they are giving the juniors that don’t want to play rugby league an opportunity by planting a professional team in GWS. I don’t think a mother would say ‘I might sign up my son for that new Western Stdney team’. Hasn’t there been junior AFL in Sydney for years? And even kids that don’t want to play League still follow it. Out here in country NSW it is remarkable how all the soccer playing kids follow NRL more than the A-League. Here there are 4-5 junior soccer clubs and only 2 junior rugby league clubs, last year there was only 1. Yet League still gets more media coverage, is more popular on TV and is more talked about than the A-League.
Pippinu said | November 25th 2009 @ 7:53pm | Report comment
Springs
What you are describing there happens all around Australia (kids playing soccer, but following NRL/AFL).
The FFA only need to attract a small percentage of such kids/families to be successful (the numbers of participants being so large).
Springs said | November 25th 2009 @ 8:12pm | Report comment
Exactly, so lets all live in peace.
Pippinu said | November 25th 2009 @ 8:26pm | Report comment
And peace be with you my brother.