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As a former “active supporter” in the SANFL (South Australian National Football League), I felt it is worth providing insight into what that term really means in the context of Aussie Rules football compared to its round ball cousin.
Speaking from some experience, then, here’s the back story.
In the mid 2000s, Central Districts were in the middle of their ‘Decade of dominance’. Having gone 39 years without winning a premiership, they would go on to feature in 13 Grand Finals in a row, nine of which they won. I was in my teens, and was part of the unofficial Centrals cheer squad known as the ‘End-to-enders’. The name came from the fact that we would always stand behind the goals our side was kicking towards.
I’ll start with the good aspects of having that designated area.
It was great fun being part of that group. We had flags, banners, a mix of Australian, English and French fans (Red/White/Royal Blue are teams colours) and witty slogans to stand under. We would sing, chant, yell and carry on within acceptable limits, and would have some great banter with the opposition players and supporters.
Most of us knew the security guards who were assigned to monitoring us, who would give us a polite “pull your heads in” if we were getting too rowdy.
A key part of being able to do what we did owed to the fact we were the unofficial cheer squad. This is a surprisingly important little caveat, which I will explore in a moment.
I later became an official one, and can answer some questions about our support in that group. Yes, the players could hear us, and I could tell you which person it was from 150m away. And yes, it does put them off. David Warner mentioned in an interview he loves a bit of banter on the pitch. For some players, they excelled with us “encouraging” them. Others felt like we put them off.
Now to address my why active supporters areas won’t work in the AFL.
Firstly, the end-to-enders was organic. There were no committees, and no heads organising anything. The most ‘organised’ part was that a couple of people were lead chant starters.
Politics immediately follow on from making it organised. If someone is in charge, and makes decisions on what you can or can’t say and wear, it’s likely going to step on people’s toes, and they will lose interest as the group loses its authenticity.
Once it becomes official, the cheer squad is the responsibility of the club. Any actions by cheer squad are directly related to the club, and the club becomes liable.
If someone is doing something illegal, a child is injured or flares or other objects are thrown, not only are the cheer squad in trouble, but the club is too.
Also, you can be told where you can and cannot be located when you’re official. There was a great argument after a game against the Eagles at Adelaide Oval, when the end-to-enders were physically locked out of going behind the goals at the southern end. Children were locked out from getting to their parents.
An official cheer squad can be directed to sit where they want.
The last point I wanted to make is that Aussie Rules is a different game to other codes of football.
Most clubs have cheer squads that have banners and flags behind the goals, and are pretty loud and passionate already. Geelong fans spring to mind, and there are still big pockets of diehard Saints and Richmond fans who cheer on their sides.
A previous poster on The Roar mentioned that active supporters needs to be organic, and I can’t agree more.
The best part of the whole exercise was the mateship, and that can’t be regulated and controlled.
If the AFL really wants to encourage the fans to be active, lower the ticket prices to something families and grassroots fans can afford and they will go every week and create it themselves.
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