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What the three wise men could bring each football code this Christmas

Bruce new author
Roar Rookie
26th December, 2014
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David Gallop and FFA might now want South Melbourne in the comp. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch)
Bruce new author
Roar Rookie
26th December, 2014
34

As is customary this time of year, my mind invariably turns at some point to the story of Christmas.

This year I was wondering about the part played by the three wise men. As all of us who have taken part in, or watched a nativity play know, the three wise men brought Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh to the infant Jesus.

This got me thinking, If the CEOs of the major football codes in Australian sport (AFL, football, NRL and rugby union) could request three ‘gifts’ in 2015, what would they ask for?

David Gallop (association football)
1. I suspect that one of Mr Gallop’s requests would undoubtably be a first piece of major silverware for the Socceroos. By that I mean for Mile Jedinak to be holding the Asian Cup aloft at the end of January 2015 in front of a packed out stadium in Homebush.

How likely this is remains to be seen but surely playing at home against a relatively weak selection of teams by global standards, one would think that the socceroos are joint favourites with Asian heavyweights Japan and South Korea.

2. The next gift that would not have Mr Gallop searching for a receipt so he could return it would be for the code to continue to grow as it has over the last decade.

Ten years ago, few could have predicted that the A-League would capture the attention as it has with sell out derby games in Sydney and Melbourne now commonplace.

The challenge for the FFA and Mr Gallop is surely to try and get the other parts of the country to share the interest that the nation’s two biggest cities now do in association football.

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3. A successful strategy to the vexed issue of expansion would surely be the third gift David would seek. The expansion experience so far has been a mixed bag to say the least. The Western Sydney Wanderers have been successful in ‘engaging’ the western suburbs of this country’s most populous city. In all honesty it is bizarre that the FFA took so long to get a team there in the first place.

Conversely the Gold Coast, Townsville and Auckland franchises were a disaster and were quickly terminated – or relocated in the case of the New Zealand based franchise.

The team formerly known as the Melbourne Heart appear to have been saved by the owners of Manchester City, but the new owner of the Central Coast Mariners has put a fair few noses out of joint by trying to move an increasing number of their home fixtures to north Sydney.

Expansion – a contentious issue to be sure.

Dave Smith (rugby league)
1. The first gift Dave would like from the three wise men would be an NRL season where most of the media coverage is reserved for on-the-field issues, rather than off-field scandals by players.

Mr Smith must be sick of having to deal with numerous examples of players bringing the code into the media for the wrong reasons. While no one expects NRL players to behave like a bunch of angels, a bit of common sense wouldn’t go amiss.

2. Gift número dos? Replacing three of the top five players in the sport. Sam Burgess, Jarryd Hayne and SBW have all exited stage left, leaving a huge hole in the superstar stocks. Ben ‘Benji’ Barba, Daly Cherry-Evans and Shaun Johnson need to try and fill the void as the NRL like any sport needs its star players.

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The NRL can only rely on the Storm’s big three and Greg Inglis for star power for so long.

3. Third and final gift for Mr Smith then? I suggest that more fans attending regular season games.

Crowds, particularly in Sydney, are simply not good enough compared to the good viewing figures the code gets on TV and at Origin time.

Although crowds have not fallen in the last decade, they have plateaued. Given the huge increase in the nation’s population in the last decade, the numbers are effectively going backwards.

Gillon McLachlan (Aussie rules)
1. First gift for the new CEO of the AFL would be a successful year of consolidation for the league’s two newest clubs: the GWS Giants and the Gold Coast Suns.

Both clubs improved last season, with the Suns finishing 12th and the Giants finishing a respectable 16th.

While both clubs have taken steps in the right direction in this last 12 months, there is still a lot of work to do – especially in Western Sydney where the AFL competes with not only the NRL but the A-League for the attention of fans.

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If this coming year the Suns could clinch a finals spot for the first time and the Giants finish in the top 12, I suspect Mr McLachlan would be very satisfied.

2. I presume that a second gift might be a quick resolution to the ongoing ASADA saga. This has doubtless been a stressful time for many of the players and staff at Essendon and I imagine that they would all like this issue to be history sooner rather than later.

3. The third gift I imagine would be that this coming year’s fixture be welcomed by the fans, especially in Melbourne where some clubs suffered lower crowds than usual last season. Fans voiced their dissatisfaction at the staging of Monday night games.

To their credit the AFL listened to the fans and this season’s fixture has no games on a Monday.

Bill Pulver (rugby union)
1. Last but by no means least we have Mr Pulver, the current CEO of rugby union in this country.

I feel fairly certain that Mr Pulver would nominate winning the Rugby World Cup being staged in late 2015 as one of his gifts. Although having an average year this year, the World Cup is always full of surprises and if the Wallabies forwards can raise their game then just maybe they will fancy their chances.

That being said, the Wallabies are in the so called ‘group of death’ in the World Cup with hosts and fellow heavyweights England and a resurgent Wales – so even getting out of that group will be no mean feat.

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2. Israel Folau signing a long-term deal to stay in rugby union would probably do as a gift for Bill. Since he moved to union early last year, he has been a revelation for the Wallabies.

However there is chatter that he may be considering a return to the NRL post the Rugby World Cup in 2015, with the Parramatta Eels often mentioned as a possible club as Folau’s brother has had close links to the Eels.

3. The final gift that would have Pulver smiling would be some cold hard cash, not even a voucher for a major department store would do!

It is fair to say that Aussie rugby has over the last decade been usurped by association football as the nation’s third most-popular football code. The ARU’s bank balance is in dire straits. Players have had to take a pay cut and staff at the ARU St Leonard’s headquarters have been laid off.

The new NRC competition is not losing money, which is a positive considering the NRC debacle.

How many of these ‘gifts’ will be given remains to be seen, but one things for sure – 2015 is shaping up to be a fascinating year for the nation’s four football codes!

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