GWS needs to learn from the Suns' mistakes

http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/113789/default.aspx "That's certainly not true," he said. "All the people on the outside can say things and they're entitled to, I can't control that, but I'm enjoying [AFL football] and [I'm] loving it at the moment

Izzy's presser on his return to Brisbane: http://www.gwsgiants.com.au/giants-vision-izzy-brisbane-press-conference.html&item_id=&album=gallery#/

The rumours about Izzy wanting to jump ship just won't go away: http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/sport/a/-/afl/9430552/folau-scuttles-rumours-he-wants-out-of-afl/

Ian - Playing at full forward takes much more game knowledge than playing in defence where you have the option of just shutting down an opponent (although this is hardly sufficient in the modern game). Plus Folou would be exposed time and again by rebounding defenders. For example Matthew Watson (18 year old first year player) played in the VFL of Fevola at full back on the weekend and got 25 touches. While Fev is a bit unfit he is still many times the player Folou is and ever will be so it is massivleover simplistic to say "He’s big, he’s tall, he’s strong he can jump and he can catch.Play him at Full Forward."

Dont overthink it. He's big, he's tall, he's strong he can jump and he can catch. Play him at Full Forward.

Sorry Bren. My mistake. Won't let it happen again.....

Searly I am going to have to report you. Serious, considered balanced opinions are not allowed.

Ian - 1) Drop Karmichael Hunt into Carlton and he is playing in the reserves for the next 2 years before he goes back to the NRL 2) You clearly have no idea of the number and quality of blokes who have come off the rookie list, Michael Barlow, Nick Maxwell, Michael Jamison, Jeff Gatlett, Andrew Carrazzo, Ed Curnow Crameri to name but a few 3) I am not suggesting they should of used their first pick on a mature player but maybe their last few 4) A quality mature player will have much more chance of "carrrying a side" than a 18 year old. 5) Beating Port Adelaide (while a great achievement for the Suns) says more about what's going on at Port Adelaide than what's going on at the Suns (as evidenced by Port's 10 goal loss to fellow struggler North)

I hate to say it but I think lesson GWS can learn from the Suns is that they are probably wasting their time with a RL recruit - i.e., the Folau experiment is unlikely to work, on the field at least... and Folau can also learn the same thing....he's going to find it very hard to be anything more than a fringe player, and he'll be making plenty of basic mistakes along the way.....I think Folau and GWS could/should/will sit down and talk turkey after the end of season 2012 - the AFL should give Folau some sort of partial payout for the 2013/2014 seasons so he can play those seasons back in the NRL where he is a star...and this would free up money under the GWS salary cap to spend on an on-field experience players - AFL star players for GWS....everyone is a winner... on a more positive note I have to admit that my honest assessment of Folau is that he's actually going to be a better AFL player than Hunt - I know this goes against conventional wisdom out there but having watched him I think he seems to have a better feel for the flow of the play and reads it slightly better than Hunt, not that that's much to brag about....yes Folau makes basic erros, as does Hunt...and yes he needs to work on his kicking and marking...still to my eye Folau moves around the ground more like an AFL player than Hunt...and Folau is more uselful as a key defender for tall forwards whereas Hunt has already been exposed for height many times...

aami park had all stands open and there weren't many green seats visable. big deal if they got half priced entry some turned up to have to open the gates to let them in is fantastic pr work. melbourne now have another sporting event on anzac day to be proud of.

NSW is home to 43 % of the nations advertising $$ and many of the top 100 companies. We seem to have to repeat this argument every time it comes up. MILF produced the Roy Morgan figures showing the same number of people followed the Swans as the Broncos though obviously not as passionately. Advertisers know this and even if they watch once or twice a season its important for big advertisers. Being able to market your game that has tentacles in every populated area of Australia is fantastic leverage for advertisers. Hence $1.25bn for the Tv rights. Case closed...,

Well said Searly! It is a shame that people who only watch one sport think their sport is the best and try to degrade others. Aussie Rules is my favourite sport but I also enjoy watching a good game of NRL and other sporting events. Just because another sporting event is interesting or good to watch in no way detracts from my love of "Rules".

Oh dear, sensible talk!

Why does following the NRL and the AFL need to be mutually exclusive? Sure you might not get people committing to the extent of buying memberships to clubs in two codes, but speaking for myself, I'm happy to go along to a number of games each year in both codes. We have to move beyond this ridiculous mindset that sets up a dichotomy between the codes. I love them both!

In all fairness to the AFL, you have to consider that their original plan was to move a Melbourne based team to the Gold Coast, then bring in two new clubs - Western Sydney and presumably Tasmania..

AC - just a response to the League figures.. The recent 22k game was the ANZAC game against New Zealand, which is a very well supported team in Melbourne.. And furthermore all attendees to the AFL ANZAC Day clash were given a discounted entry to that NRL ANZAC Day game, so even if it was the 29k crowd that you claim, it's not a accurate representation.. More accurate would be the 11k attendance the Storm drew to it's home game against the Canterbury Bulldogs.

GWS is undoubtably a good idea in the long term.

"Sydneysiders need a reason to switch from NRL to AFL, and a team of kids suffering heavy losses from day one, won’t give them motivation." Well, no they don't.. There are millions of Sydneysiders who don't watch NRL. Whether they are likely to become interested in AFL is impossible to gague, but the Giants don't neet to convert NRL fans into AFL fans, they can just target the people who aren't interested in League and can get a huge supporter base from that.

These are the Swans ratings in Sydney for their five games this season: 70k, 66k, 55k, 68k, 45k. So you are incorrect that they average 50k, the average is currently above 60k. On top of that, that figure you see of 55k was a game against the Eagles simulcast on Fox, and got 175,000 there (plus 125k in Perth on Ten). If you were a Sydney fan with Fox, you would just watch it on Fox rather than on Ten. On most measures, the Storm is nowhere near the Swans. Swans are miles ahead on memberships, attendances and sponsorship. In fact, Swans earn the more money on their playing strip than any other sporting team in Australia.

The Swans i think are well liked in Sydney. But the Sydney market is very fickle. Sydney and Melbourne are very different places. Different culture. Just look at the weekly TV Ratings and Melbourne hacing 500,000 less people than Sydney still have higher rating Shows (in raw numbers) than Sydney. What does that prove - mmmm, Melbourne people watch telly more. But, seriously, i think the AFL in its bid to roll out this new team have forgotten one thing. The Swans average 29,000 at the game and 50,000 on Tv. Thats it week in week out. Channel TEn in Syndey must be so glad they wont be forced to show the AFL on prime time in Sydney anymore on a saturday night. Woeful figures. As for the Storm they got a crowd of 22,000 but was believed to be around 29,000 recently (they had to open the gates to get every one in before the kick off). They are on par with the Swans , maybe a little less. But the Media in Melbourne give them NO exposure at all. There is room for all at the Inn. Best wishe to Aussie rules and Rugby League both great games.