Dream grand final just papers over the AFL's cracks
This week's grand final has put a compression bandage over the AFL's wounds of 2016. The bandage has not stopped the bleeding, just managed…
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Thats correct Tony,
The article was not published in its entirety,, which is unfortunate as it leaves books without book ends on the shelf and some discrepancy. The expansion dream was well under way before the bulldogs went to battle, however from my information and reading the plan, it was the immediate direction of the VFL/AFL to relocate/merge clubs to sure up the footings of interstate clubs travelling to victoria. The battle of the Dogs, was only one string in the bow that couldnt be tuned,; the desire at the time was to reestablish rather than create from new…the merger prosposals were thrown out with the bath water post lions/bears, the new direction was to establish identity and community in regions not generally associated with Australian Rules and also to allow or introduce licences for successful established clubs like Port Adelaide, Fremantle and Southport at the time.
The next wave of these licences will be awarded within the next 10 years, potentially bringing in franchises ftom Ballarat, Hobart, Darwin, however i believe the AFL will want clubs to merge into those franchises to provide sustainable foundations
Dream grand final just papers over the AFL's cracks
True enough Mathew.
The sustainability of long term expansion can only be dictated by the population and their “general interest” in the proposed entity. The USA and UK are not selling a foreign code into their regions, baseball, soccer, NFL, therefore it becomes a little like ” if you build it, they will come” however selling AFL into any one of those cities, similar to NZ or the rugby league states, then sometimes the population is irrelevant….Sydney and Brisbane (pre expansion of GWS and Suns) fail to secure support when the team are not winning…all the AFL have done is double down the problem, where creating expansion to Tasmania and the NT, would have at least had a chance
Dream grand final just papers over the AFL's cracks
When Stringer is on, he reminds me of G. Ablett Snr. hard to tackle, explosive off the mark, uncanny goal sense, same hair cut!
however Gary Snr earned his stripes doing this week in and week out over a number of years, so Jake wouldn’t rate in the same category as Ablett at the moment.
He probably has the ability to win the match for the Bulldogs on Saturday, even with a destructive 15 minutes of football. He will be well marked by the Swans, more than likely they will have three or four tackling him as he pushes through packs, he wont be allowed the same freedoms he is used to. Because he is so young, and already suffers with the burden, I think he will end up being traded in two or three years time, the same as Ablett was from Hawthorn. I think you will see the best of Jake Stringer at his second club…only an opinion
Western underdogs need Stringer to fire on Saturday
Yes onside i agree with you about the healthy migration of the brand into schools and communities north of the murray. Part of my assumptions are formed based on the saturation of the code into these communities with poor infrastruture or resource to accommodate the transfusion. An example of this is my son’s under 12 football team, coached by a parent with no previous experience in AFL. He has the coaching certificate, but cannot teach the basics of the game, kicking or marking, as a minimum, because he doesnt know how to teach something he has never learnt himself. I am all for the development of the brand, just have to have a solid infrastruture to ensure we are educating the kids how to play the modern game correctly…if they dont have the basics by 13, odds are they never will..and that is potentially fatal for the longevity of the sport. My sons under 12 team have lost 6 players already for next season opting to travel to a club with a better structure and resource…
Dream grand final just papers over the AFL's cracks