Gold Coast signings to rock the AFL
Roar Guru By Redb, 2 Sep 2010 Redb is a Roar Guru
- Tagged:
- AFL, AFL draft, AFL expansion, Gary Ablett, Gold Coast Suns, Greater Western Sydney, Nathan Bock, Nathan Krakouer
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This week, and for the next couple of weeks, a host of uncontracted players will be picked up the Gold Coast Suns for their inaugural 2011 AFL season.
This will go down like the proverbial lead balloon with fans of various clubs, as the loyalty factor is eroded and players become footballing pariahs in the eyes of fans.
The first two uncontracted AFL players to be recruited to the Suns were announced on Wednesday – Adelaide’s Nathan Bock and Port Adelaide’s Nathan Krakouer. That was no surprise as both were extensively mentioned in the media, their respective clubs quickly making their dissatisfaction known to all.
This will surely create almost an immediate hatred of the Suns and their players. This rivalry may not have been intended by AFL HQ but it also has a potential downside, given the loyalty factor that so often has been the glue that holds fans to a club through the hard times.
As soon as a club starts behaving like a franchise, trading players to and from, the loyalty factor takes a hit. The smart clubs will limit their trading or spend time to ‘market’ new players to the fans – another name for that is spin. The Brisbane Lions a prime example in 2010.
Of the course, the horse trading of draft picks with GC/GWS and free agency in 2012 will help overcome the sluggishness of the draft system to rejuvenate lists in time.
It can extend premiership windows and hasten the development of rising teams. The balance though in the next two years seems very heavily favoured to the new teams.
The ‘Ayers Rock’ in the AFL world is still yet to be known. Gary Ablett-watch will carry through to the last day Saturday in September, assuming Geelong get that far.
The Ablett family home is up for sale on the Surf Coast, apparently. This was immediately twittered across the AFL universe as maybe another sign that Son of God is heading off to be a Sun God.
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September 2nd 2010 @ 9:26am
M1tch said | September 2nd 2010 @ 9:26am | Report comment
Welcome to the real world..
September 2nd 2010 @ 10:26am
Redb said | September 2nd 2010 @ 10:26am | Report comment
Not necessarily a better world.
September 2nd 2010 @ 10:27am
Michael said | September 2nd 2010 @ 10:27am | Report comment
Who cares.
September 2nd 2010 @ 10:31am
Redb said | September 2nd 2010 @ 10:31am | Report comment
If you don’t care why bother commenting?
September 2nd 2010 @ 11:47am
JamesP said | September 2nd 2010 @ 11:47am | Report comment
The next month and the weeks after finals (for GC to poach players from the higher ranking clubs) will be very interesting.
And we will do it all again next year with Western Sydney
Whats most important for the development of the game however are the new acadamies in Sydney and QLD. This will allow players born in those areas to be able to play for one of the 4 clubs. David Gallop has frequently commented on this as a limitation of the draft system…
September 2nd 2010 @ 11:49am
Redb said | September 2nd 2010 @ 11:49am | Report comment
Those academies are a good move for NSW and QLD development. Depending on success they may need to be reviewed in 10 years.
September 2nd 2010 @ 12:13pm
Wayno said | September 2nd 2010 @ 12:13pm | Report comment
Lets hope those to come take note of what just happened with Krakour and his clown of a mananger and try to insert a bit of professionalism into the process.
September 2nd 2010 @ 12:42pm
Republican said | September 2nd 2010 @ 12:42pm | Report comment
GWS are promising an academy for Canberra also Red.
There is no getting away from the robbing Peter to pay Paul paradox to growing any elite brand, since this is so of all codes these days. It is a top down model to growth that is prosaically supported and fed by the new age tele tubby supporter that have little grasp of those virtues of loyalty and passion and who change their allegiencies with impressionable whimsy. These are the slaves to marketing that perpetuate the soulesness of sport today.
What is compromised most is real tribalism, because respective codes in purchasing the razzle dazzle at the top tier don’t offer much substance below this – culturally speaking. GWS and GC epitomise such corporately sanitised brands.
I suppose the expectation of the bankers is that this cultural depth will develop over time, however in the interim the tribalism is manufactured and the clubs generic to this end. The novelty can and does wear off with some of the public, so it is a shallow risky business – to be sure.
Whether or not one cares is dependent on your philosophical and ethical bent, which is also to do with your generational conditioning.
I care and that is why I don’t support these elite generic brands that in the main, have absolutely no connection with supporters, club history, community, tribe or even country – the way things are going. I do however support the code I still love which is Australian Footy, albeit without investing any emotional capital in any AFL brand.
Cheers
September 2nd 2010 @ 1:02pm
Redb said | September 2nd 2010 @ 1:02pm | Report comment
Quite a rant there Repub. I agree there is a superficiality to modern fandom and franchises. I note with interest some people defecting from Melb Victory to Melb Heart in the A League for example . Literally swapping from one franchise 5 years old to one 5 minutes old. I read one bloke on the Roar declare he was ‘Melb Heart till I die’ I think they played one game at that stage.
GC and GWS will take a generation to garner the support of rusted on locals. Early success does help though.
I’ll stick with EFC est. 1873.
September 2nd 2010 @ 1:31pm
Mister Football said | September 2nd 2010 @ 1:31pm | Report comment
Republican
There is some truth to what you say, but the die has been cast, and it is no one’s fault.
We could have left all the state leagues alone, and allowed them to die a slow natural death, as they struggled to come to grips with modernity.
We could have insisted that only clubs formed pre 1890 be allowed any stake in the game.
But the purer one’s notions, the greater the inevitable contradictions.
We might recall how growing up, it seemed like the original 12 VFL clubs had been around forever, like the VFL itself, only to discover that there is no such thing as the original 12 VFL clubs, and that the VFL itself was born out of the 1890s equivalent of the super league wars.
Take a close look at those 12 VFL clubs (as they were in 1981), and 11 of them literally ring the city of Melbourne, all of them would be considered inner suburbs today. Four of them had home grounds within the City of Melbourne itself. By 1981, 90% of Melbourne’s population were already living in the middle and outer rings of suburbia.
I consider it a privilege to have grown up within walking distance of a VFL club (although I can’t imagine too many would see the postive side of living in Footscray), but what percentage of any population can ever hope to live within walking distance of an AFL club? (or any other type of club playing in the top tier of a professional league in Australia?).
It’s no longer a realistic proposition (if it ever was one).
Now we have the exciting prospect of two non-AFL states getting second teams. It’s fraught with risk, but surely anyone interested in the development of our national game needs to look at such a progression in a positive light?
With the Suns in particular, they’ve gone through a gestation period of over two years, have signed up 8,000 members for their VFL team, a big number in anyone’s language – who can argue that these people aren’t deserving of their own AFL team?
These moves protect our game for the remainder of the century (after which there will be more obstacles to over come).
But the days of relying 100% on those inner suburbs of Melbourne are gone forever.
September 2nd 2010 @ 7:00pm
beaver fever said | September 2nd 2010 @ 7:00pm | Report comment
Good post MF.
The Suburb in Perth i live in today could probably, in terms of size, fit in the suburbs of Collingwood, Richmond, Carlton and Fitzroy, from talking to people about the footy, many people are gobsmacked to find out that some of the most powerful football clubs in the country represent such tiny suburbs, in most other national competitions it is cities who do the representing.
Most people expect Collingwood to be a area populated by a couple of hundred thousand people, not by 6k.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collingwood,_Victoria
September 2nd 2010 @ 7:10pm
Mister Football said | September 2nd 2010 @ 7:10pm | Report comment
The ol’ Carringbush is an incredible story all right. It’s such a tiny suburb that you can barely believe your eyes when you see it on the Melways. The suburb is so small, crowded with tiny cottages and laneways, that they had to build the footy ground in Abbotsford!
As much as we non-pie fans love to hate Collingwood, you just have to love this classic aussie tale of the battler overcoming the odds and doing good.
God bless every toothless pie fan – I hope we give ‘em a touch up this weekend!
September 3rd 2010 @ 4:44pm
beaver fever said | September 3rd 2010 @ 4:44pm | Report comment
Well i did take a bit of liberty and leave out Abbotsford and Clifton Hill which i guess are part of Collingwood, but those tiny suburbs, and the same to a degree in Perth (East Perth, East Freo Sth Freo etc) have wielded power way above their size in the footballing world, where ever increasingly, Cities are represented, rather than old small suburbs.
Make no mistake, this is one of the great strengths of the Australian game.
September 2nd 2010 @ 1:17pm
Republican said | September 2nd 2010 @ 1:17pm | Report comment
Red
And what if they were to hypothetically, relocate and rebrand say to NZ – perish the thought, in compromising their 1873 historical pedigree. Would you remain a staunch devotee of the Dons?
Sorry for the rant as you called it – sometimes the opportunity to ‘deconstruct’ is simply too good to ignore.
September 2nd 2010 @ 1:25pm
Redb said | September 2nd 2010 @ 1:25pm | Report comment
That’s a very unlikely hypothetical scenario. But if it was to happen it would depend on how much of the club’s identity remained, ie: red and black colours, Bombers, club song,etc.
I warrant that there would be many other clubs that would go before Essendon.
In short though, they could relocate to the Moon and I’d still support them.
p.s. You dont work for in the Ad dept of the RACV?
September 2nd 2010 @ 1:18pm
Neutral Fan said | September 2nd 2010 @ 1:18pm | Report comment
Even though I don’t like the AFL and at the moment i see GWS and GC as artificial teams one can argue that the Storm is artificial and I agree. It would take them a long time to establish themselves and be one with the community. I wish the Western reds and Adelaide Rams were given a longer opportunity to establish themselves since there was an league fan base there they could of grown if they were given more time. I hope the AFL gives all the time and effort to GWS and GC to succeed if only the NRL did the same thing to Reds and Rams.
The artificial tag of GWS,GC,and the Storm would waiver once there is a)true passionate supporters b)home-bred talent (something the Storm hasn’t accomplished) c)the team is accepted by the community.
September 2nd 2010 @ 2:39pm
Republican said | September 2nd 2010 @ 2:39pm | Report comment
Red
One commercial reality of modern day sport is that this could happen to any club really, despite Essendon looking safe – for now.
Does anyone from Essendon or Mooney Ponds indeed play for the Dons?
Anyway, I am simply interested in establishing where individuals draw the line in this respect. NZ may not be the moon but hey, any nursery potential is probably greater on the moon.
I haven’t seen the RACV ads but I am a memebr of the NRMA.
Cheers
September 3rd 2010 @ 7:54am
Redb said | September 3rd 2010 @ 7:54am | Report comment
Repub,
There are quite few on Essendon’s list that have come through the Calder Cannons, Northern Knights, & Western jets TAC sides,etc. Fletcher, Hurley, Melksham, Zaharakis, Stanton, Carlisle, Houli, all local lads.
The draft has seen a bit of a turn towards recruiting from your own zone in recent years. Essendon however continues to draw from West Aussie stocks, well before the draft came in.
Once they pull on the red and black they are Essendon!
September 2nd 2010 @ 3:01pm
Republican said | September 2nd 2010 @ 3:01pm | Report comment
MF
‘Struggling to come to grips with modernity”?
No need to struggle at all – simply reject it.
I don’t disagree with what you are saying here at all since yours is a very pragmatic response to ‘progress’ however I also believe we are far from victums in this evolution and if anything are more sybiotic of it than ever, so I am not necessarily resigned to the die having been cast.
I rejected aspects of the corporatization of sport along time ago and believe that others of like mind should be empowered to do the same and see what we are left with. It may well be something far better.
From one fellow ‘ranter’ to another – thanks.
September 2nd 2010 @ 3:24pm
Mister Football said | September 2nd 2010 @ 3:24pm | Report comment
No worries Republican.
I was in my mid teens when the talk of sending South to Sydney first surfaced – at the time, it seemed like the most ridiculous idea I had ever heard, it made zero sense to me.
I’m now old enough to understand that if that hadn’t happened, there would be no Swans today of any version, and the AFL would not have won the nationwide pre-eminence it now has in the marketplace. Sometimes, you have to look back and conclude: ok, I got that wrong, thank goodness someone else was making the right call.
My team has had a precarious existence ever since, but after 40 years of eking out an existence, just maybe, it has earned a right to survive long term.
It’s a tough world out there.
September 2nd 2010 @ 4:13pm
Mega said | September 2nd 2010 @ 4:13pm | Report comment
Just heard GC Suns have a bye in round 1 then play Richmond at the Gabba in round 2. Not sure what sort of crowd they’ll get at the Gabba as they wait for their ground to be finished. Could be a rough start for them in terms of crowds.
September 2nd 2010 @ 4:23pm
Mister Football said | September 2nd 2010 @ 4:23pm | Report comment
It’s not the start the AFL would have wanted, but probably very little choice with the redevelopment of Carrara.
September 3rd 2010 @ 8:03am
Redb said | September 3rd 2010 @ 8:03am | Report comment
Yes, I think the development of Carrera not being ready until mid year meant the GC would take the bye early to increase the chances of at least 1 more home games at their new ground later in the season.