GWS Showgrounds upgrade another box ticked by AFL

Interesting point. I visit Canberra each month and have good friends there. They advise Soccer is dominant, Union is very strong, League beats Union and AFL runs 4th but is also strong. The 'convenient illusion' you refer to though amuses me because in the pubs, and believe me, I spend a lot of time in the pubs, its all League. Sorry. Maybe I need to change my social circle to suit your prejudice. My own view, after flying in to Canberra for 30 years is that all Codes are there but League is the most discussed and watched where it matters - in the pubs and in the homes of the great unwashed.

AFL INC Rules

8.7 per cent of the TV audience is not having a great presence in the city.

There is a train line there already Big Sam. It's a 15min walk from Doonside station. M7 and M4 are very close as well, so driving is no problem either. Though no point lobbying this state govt, the worst state govt ever. The point is that the $45mil if spent on Blacktown ground, would provide the West, the real West with a great facility. Homebush already has plenty.

Well, why didn't the Blacktown Council lobby the State Government to get the funding for transport links to Blacktown and buld up the Blacktown Stadium to 30,000? Seems like a failure on the part of the Blacktown Council - or are you arguing the NSW Government should have sunk hundreds of millions of dollars into a redeveloped Blacktown Oval? You seem very contradictory mate.

So republican, the picture you paint is completely different to reality by the looks of it.

Republican, if AFL was all that in Canberra, they would have a team or be screaming out for one. The fact is, when the swans play in Canberra, their fans all drive up the Hume to watch them, when the swans do not play in Canberra, the AFL can't give the tickets away. Here's something that should interest you, I know I found it enlightening lol. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................... http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/sport/football-australian-rules/timeslot-review-as-capital-shuns-friday-night-afl/670460.aspx Time-slot review as capital shuns Friday night AFL MERRYN SHERWOOD 08 Jun, 2007 07:49 AM AFL NSW/ACT officials will meet with Prime television general manager Doug Edwards early next week to discuss the future of prime time free-to-air Friday night football in Canberra. Last week Prime attracted only a 12.9 per cent share of Friday night audiences in the Canberra region between 7.30pm and 11.30pm. In comparison, Friday night rugby league on WIN attracted 33.4 per cent of viewers in the same time-slot. During the second half of the ratings block, from 9.30pm, Prime's AFL viewing audience dropped to a mere 8.7 per cent, the worst of any free-to-air channel. The result could only be seen as disappointing given the match broadcast was a much-anticipated clash between Collingwood and Fremantle. Prime has broadcast Friday night AFL matches in the Canberra and southern NSW region in the prime-time slot of 8.30pm for the first 10 weeks of the 2007 season. All Friday night games are shown live on Foxtel, but Prime provides the only free-to-air Friday night coverage. Tonight's match between Essendon and West Coast will be shown at the same time. But Edwards had made it clear at the start of the season AFL would hold the 8.30pm time slot only on an 11-week trial and, depending on ratings, it could be pushed back to 9.30pm. AFL NSW/ACT general manager Dale Holmes said yesterday he had been in contact with Edwards and together they would analyse the 11-week period early next week. "It's still a work in progress and there is room for improvement," Holmes said. "As to the immediate future for the rest of this season, it would be premature to make any assumptions as I really don't know until we get through the analysis." Edwards had said at the start of the season he would judge the success of the coverage on Prime's individual Friday night figures compared to the past few years and not in direct relation to other stations. Edwards told The Canberra Times if the ratings equalled those for a Friday night movie or even slightly less, then AFL would likely stay at 8.30pm

Yes, yes now you are getting it, follow that line of thinking, a new team in the NSWRL came along compared to a established code with just games between some Canberra suburbs which was the biggest code at the time. The then VFL did nothing to help the local code as it was pouring it's time into the Swans. Yes, yes keep going, suddenly press, interest and lhe local league community was bouyed and so it goes. Republican is right, having said that league did all the right things as well.

Come off it. If AFL stuffed up its advantage in Canberra then that is what happened. Republican's line inferred that AFL just let Canberra go and rugby just turned up and fell into the vacuum left behind. That's just plain silly. All the AFL players and fans left behind suddenly took up rugby did they? There must have been a thriving rugby competition in the ACT long before AFL gave up on the territory.

Nope, his comment regarding the "rugby's being king by default" is not nonsensical, but you appear to have not been following. Immerse yourself in some sporting history of the Canberra area, then we wil talk, hang on .... i will give you a hint, where was Australia's government stationed before 1901 ?, where did many of the first public sevants come from?. etc etc etc

You must have missed Republican's "The Rugby codes are king only by default". It's a pretty nonsensical comment. How could any one be dominant by default? Even if the VFL made a mess of the ACT then rugby must have been relatively strong already to change the allegiance from one code to another. RL people don't post on the Roar generally for fairly obvious reasons. I'm a rugby man but I don't hate RL like some. I can see some of the abuse from AFL and rugby fans on here against positive RL comments become very tiresome and repetitive. No point headbutting the wall when you go somewhere else to find free debate without the anti RL bigotry of many on the Roar.

I dont think anyone disputed that the rugby's are king in the ACT now, but your really show your ig norance of the region to have not known that at one stage Australian football was king. The recent AFL game in Canberra that got over 14k to a game shows there is still support for the native code, if they actually had their own team they would draw as many and most likely more people. No point crying over spilt milk, the AFL has missed the boat in Canberra, although they will now put more time into it because of GWS, but simply Canberra is a small market, but obviously the rugby's had little other options and to their credit have grown their codes. Suffice to say Canberra has a good level of support for Australian football, perhaps the circles you mix in are limited ?. BTW i have not heard from RL people who grew up in Canberra disputing both mine and Repub's points ?.

Well you didn't appear to limit your grandiose analysis to just Canberra. Still, the reality is all the evidence one needs to prove the folly of your summation. If the VFL or AFL chose not to serve that market that is their own stuoid fault. It would appear from my knowledge of the ACT that there just aren;t enough AFL fans to bother putting a team there. Cry all you want but there are two national rugby teams in the ACT and none from AFL.That makes rugby the dominat sport in the ACT not AFL. But chin up old chap. WIth any luck the IWS Whatevers and Sheedy could be pulling up in their removalist van from Homebush even as we speak.

Beaver. Historically Tassie should and I have always gone into bat for them in that respect, even ahead of Canberra! Canberra now compete well v Tassie, so yes it is a numbers game. Tassie and Canberra have both long held an affinity for Aust Footy compared to Sydney of course. Thanks for your input mate.

Billio Sorry mate, allow me to expound. Canberra League was a virtual non entity compared to Aust Footy and Union, certainly when I arrived in the early 60's. League was the game they played in Quenbeyan and various NSW regional demographics that surround the ACT. It was in fact Queanbeyan where the Raiders initially set up shop, as I am sure you are fully aware. Had the AFL given Canberra a piece of the national pie all those years ago, League would quite possiibly never have considered Canberra as a base for an elite club - truth be told. I tire of this Rugby chest thumping that continues to deny the Idig Code due credit and indeed status in this part of the world, based on ignorance, fear and out right lies. The elite presence afforded both Rugby codes in the Capital is a convenient illusion used to perpetuate respective codes exaggerated status and tells only half the story of the actual status of footy codes in the ACT. Good night and good luck..

Good grief in return, having lived quite a number of years in Canberra it's MO that if there was a AFL team in Canberra and surrounds it would be as big and possibly bigger than either of the rugby's. No-one can say with certainty that this is a fait-a-compli but Australian football was certainly bigger than either rugby's up untill a few years after the Raiders were formed. It is a testament to Australians football strength in Canberra that the Raiders were primarily a Quenbeyan team for quite a few years and financed/run out of the Queanbeyan leagues club. By no means was Australian Football dominant like in the southern states but IMO was clearly bigger than either rugby code.

"The Rugby codes are king only by default" What a trite and ridiculous statement! Care to elaborate? You've had 150 years to get over the top of the rugby codes and soccer and you haven't done it yet. Everywhere rugby is king there is no one who doesn't know what AFL is. Good grief.

Canberra footy at senior level is as big as Sydneys ( team wise and at the top level a better standard), where Sydney wins hands down is at junior level (understandable considering population differences), so in effect i understand the AFL giving the team to GWS rather than the ACT, looking at growth projections. Should GWS fall flat , Canberra is a option, but i feel that the growing Sydney junior base will underpin the new Sydney team in the next 10 years. Sydney will add many new senior teams and clubs in the next few years, something that wont happen in Canberra. Historically and culturally football wise Canberra has it over Sydney, but on the other hand Tassie has it over Canberra, so who should really have got the new team.

Typically alot of ignorance shown here re Canberras Aust Footy pedigree. I also believe fear has much to do with it when you consider the emotive tripe served up by the likes of Akazie. The Rugby codes are king only by default and this is in some respects an illusion created by the elite brands of respective Rugby codes having a tenuos presence in the Nations Capital. If you compare what is happening in real terms i.e at the grass roots, you will see that Aust Footy as with Soccer, is more than competitive despite NO elite presence. The Swannies and Doggies fixture a fortnight ago turned away punters because the Manuka stadia was unable to cater for more than 14.5K. The Raiders and Brumbies only average that as is and these are touted as local brands that reflect the Capitals true codes of choice, not so. That our Indig code continues to 'bubble away' is something that competing footy codes are extremely mindful of and dare I say concerned about as it seems are many adversaries posting here on the Australian game.

interested to note in AFL Sydney this year that 2 new clubs debuted in Div 4 (Auburn and Saints afc), across now a 5 division league, the following clubs and number of teams in the various senior divisions: North Shore (2) Wollongong (2) Western Suburbs (2) Balmain Dockers (1) St George (1) East Coast EAgles (3) Pennant Hills (3) Campbelltown (1) Auburn (1) UTS (5) Holroyd-Parramatta (3) Camden (2) Sydney Uni (5) Moorebank Sports (2) UNSW/ES (4) Southern Power (3) Nor-West (2) Penrith (2) Saints afc (1) Manly-Warringah (4) Macquarie Uni (3) Macq Uni Warriors (1) Macq Uni Kookias (1) They've been coping with additional demand to play both within clubs (now fielding extra teams) and the new clubs - - it's getting more and more respectable all the time. Further development via a decent junior base just helps build it going forward.