While the AFL are ready to let the competition settle into its 18 team configuration before further expansion, its successful foray into New Zealand last weekend will have had League bosses rubbing their hands together with glee.
A crowd in excess of 20,000 people, wide spread interest from the general public and media and positive responses from the participating teams all point toward the experiment being a resounding success.
With further games scheduled over the next couple of years, the challenge will be to maintain New Zealand’s interest and we will know soon enough if the success of the St. Kilda v Sydney Swans game was genuine and sustainable or just a novelty.
If it proves that the games do generate ongoing support, then the obvious conclusion is a New Zealand team being admitted to the AFL.
Based on expansion patterns of the past, that day could come within 10 year’s time.
The West Coast Eagles and Brisbane Bears played their first AFL games in 1987. The Adelaide Crows came four years later, in 1991, then Fremantle in 1995 and Port Adelaide in 1997.
During this time Fitzroy also merged with the Brisbane Bears, giving birth to the Brisbane Lions and allowing the AFL to consolidate as a 16 team competition after ten years of rapid expansion.
Having achieved their goal of having a team in each of Australia’s major cities, League bosses were happy to take breath and it was another fourteen years before the next team was added to the fray, although planning for it began much earlier.
The idea of including the Gold Coast Suns in 2011 and Greater Western Sydney last year was to ensure that the tough markets of Brisbane and Sydney had football matches scheduled every weekend, an impossible proposition with only one home side per city.
Created totally from scratch, the teams have struggled to gain traction and their development will take time, but don’t expect the AFL to wait another 14 years before expanding again.
In its bid to ensure that the tough markets are being dealt with, the AFL have continually overlooked one of Australian Football’s most passionate heartlands – Tasmania.
Of course we have all heard the arguments against a Tasmanian side, most of them revolving around financial concerns brought about by a limited sponsorship base, but in this day of wall to wall football broadcasts, sponsors do not have to be state based.
Given the number of elite level footballers that Tasmania has produced over the years and the level of support that the game has in the Apple Isle, it is a travesty that they are not already a part of the AFL.
It is a wrong that will eventually be righted, and with mergers and relocations never easily achieved (there has only been one of each since the competition began in 1897), the inclusion of a stand alone Tasmanian side could happen in conjunction with the creation of a new Kiwi franchise.
That fact that Australia’s elite football and rugby competitions each have New Zealand based teams would not be lost on Mr. Demetriou and let’s face it, he is not a man who likes to be outdone.
Including both a Kiwi team and a Tasmanian team at around the same time eliminates the need for the competition to have a bye each week (surmising the competition remains as it is now).
While having a Tasmanian team in the AFL is a no brainer, so to is eventually having a side representing New Zealand.
There are four main reasons as to why an international expansion into New Zealand would work.
Firstly, there is already a strong Trans-Tasman rivalry. The Kiwis love nothing better than knocking over their biggest neighbour while the Aussies love to keep their islander cousins in their place. The rivalry is ready made and translates easily from one sport to another.
Secondly, the travel factor is manageable and on most occasions would be no worse than what West Coast and Fremantle face each season.
The trip from New Zealand to Perth is the only real marathon but smart scheduling by the AFL would see the Kiwi side play West Coast and Fremantle in successive rounds allowing them to stay over for the week rather than make two separate trips.
Thirdly, New Zealand has a lot to offer players who may find themselves traded to or drafted by a start up Kiwi squad. It is a clean, safe country, with modern and vibrant cities (despite the jokes that may suggest otherwise).
We share a quality of life that is the envy of the world, lead similar lifestyles and hold similar values.
And finally, if the crowds and support for last weekend’s St. Kilda v Sydney clash prove to be the norm, sustainability will not be an issue.
With St. Kilda committing to play further games in New Zealand over the coming years we will get a better gauge on the overall level of interest. If interest is maintained however, then this first small testing of the Trans-Tasman waters will have been a glimpse into the future.
simmo green
Guest
I think AR is good value, he's at least able to discuss things without going off like the bogan zealots that typify the Vic Footy supporter base. They remind me of Mormons, persisting in the face of overwhelming resistance. Ever struck one overseas? He's wearing the Collingwood scarf in the Greek Isles, testing the patience of the Club Med co-ordinator, as he goes about trying to convert people who's third language is English :)
Von Neumann
Roar Guru
well said simmo, and fishes. dont mind australian rules, he loves to go on the attack all the while he tries to appear reasoned and intelligent. AFL is overstated time and time again. its a nothing sport. It barely registers in qld and nsw, let alone NZ where it only has about 1000 expats playing it. case closed. the people of nz turned up for the novelty. __ Where afl gets it wind is that rl crowds have not been a priority until the last several years. NRL is tracking for 30k within 15 years. It will have overtaken afl on other metrics by then too. oh dear!
fishes
Guest
Spot on simmo. one further main point- the game just isn't that good. NSW is and will be a soccer heartland a 1000 years before anyone even thinks about AFL. The ego of the victorians is astounding.
simmo green
Guest
No emotion mate, just incredulity with the laughable excitement among Vic Footy fans. The teams you talk of are relocated or created in the misguided belief that locals can be sucked into a state of interest. You have a decent market in the ar** end of the continent and support from ex pats on the east coast. FTA ratings are pathetic in the Wollongong to Cairns corridor. It doesn't matter how many illusions Demetriou et al create, it's a nothing sport in the greater scheme of things.
Australian Rules
Guest
Hmmm...there's a lot of emotion happening there simmo. Consider this: if Australian Footy is a "nothing game"...yet it's the only game in Australia with 2 teams in every mainland city, and the only one premiership games in every state and territory....and its revenue is more than all the others combined...what does that say about the other "games"? And what does it say about you...who is emotionally debating all this on an AFL thread? May I suggest you attend an AFL match to improve your self-esteem? (ps I'm not Victorian)
TW
Guest
Good to see an article highlighting International Footy. The article below discusses another growing area of our game which like I.F. got little publicity until recent times - Womens Footy. The first national draft from the womens ranks of footy is coming up in Melb. This is the foreunner to a full scale National Womens Draft for the mooted National Womens League in about 6 years. The AFL has finally realised what the Soccer Football bosses have known for years -The advent of Soccer Football Mums. If they can do it so can we as a national sport - The arrival of Footy Mums - That is mums who play the game and try to influence their children to do the same.. On this topic - Last week in NZ on a talk back radio show a couple of Kiwi mums rang in to say that the size of some of the kids now playing RU had put off letting their kids play that sport. They thought for a few AFL might be a better proposition. Time will tell as per usual. http://www.afl.com.au/news/2013-05-03/inaugural-womens-draft-announced
Simmo Green
Guest
It's hard to judge, either rank stupidity is endemic down south, or they've just never travelled more than two tram stops in their myopic lives.
Licca
Roar Rookie
Canberra teens help spread AFL's global brand http://www.canberratimes.com.au/afl/afl-news/canberra-teens-help-spread-afls-global-brand-20130502-2iw99.html
simmo green
Guest
And by the by AR, what event generates the most revenues after the Soccer World Cup and the Olympics?
simmo green
Guest
It's the only code in the country that negotiated a billion dollar FTA/Pay deal then? What stadiums does it 'own' in Sydney and Brisbane? 150 years and how has it progressed? You relocate two grimy inner city suburbs of Melbourne and camouflage them as Sydney and Brisbane and that's game over? Its a nothing game, played at the ar** end of a continent at the bottom of a hemisphere, with a population of 23million. Victorians never cease to amaze me, if its not VFL its some other self promoting strategy to improve their self esteem
Sean Lee
Expert
I think what must be remembered is that last week's game in New Zealand was not just some lack lustre post season exhibition game, but a match held during the season for premiership points. This alone indicates that the AFL are thinking seriously about its position in NZ. Otherwise, why would they bother?
Reason
Guest
They should definitely go for it sooner rather than later. After all the Kiwi kids just need an alternative to all the other sports they currently enjoy, just like the kids of Western Sydney. Once they watch a game they'll be hooked and definitely won't wander out of the ground utterly bewildered to tell a TV journalist they didn't like what they saw.
Richard
Guest
Already happening. There are heaps of junior soccer teams in Tasmania, participation is growing at a rapid rate. The round ball game is boring to watch but its fun to play. It poses a big looming threat to the traditional football codes!
Jerry
Guest
There aren't any pro League teams in Wellington, so none.
Bogga
Guest
The three key gauges are Kiwi Kick, the NZ Aussie Rules league and crowds at the one or two AFL games per year. If it was such a boon having St Kilda fans go over in their droves, imagine if they had their own team and were attracting an opponent like Collingwood/Carlton/Essendon a few times per year. Sure there would be small crowds at matches against GWS, but they could shift them around the country as novelty games (Auckland, Christchurch, they've all got cricket grounds and a few Aussie expats.) The Tas govt stumps up cash because they know it brings in tourists, so why wouldn't NZ govts local and federal do the same. From a corporate point of view, if an NZ company wanted to break into the Aus market, AFL would be the best advertising vehicle, because it's the most watched sport and has teams in every state capital (assuming Tas has a team in Hobart). From a running costs point of view, if they pay the same $AUD in salary cap as Oz teams, the players will be better off in $NZ. If there was somebody on Gary Ablett Jnr's pay packet, they could buy half of Wellington. Stadium costs and most expenses incurred by a club would be cheaper in NZ than in Oz. The AFL will be watching the key indicators with great interest. A couple of Kiwi players in the AFL over the next 10 years (from Kiwi kick/the NZ league and the dream could become reality. Could.
Milz
Guest
Great club and great blokes!
1860melbourne
Guest
There are enough clubs that are a basket case in the competition. We dont need another one.
hog
Guest
Give the Rebels time :-)
enrico
Guest
Afl needs to be introduced aggressively for their own good. how much is left in the war chest? Suggest get on the front foot to recruit sonny bill williams asap. aleady have team colours, black..all black.
samsonite
Guest
Nail on the head cross-Tasman tourist dollars was the driving factor for Wellington City Council getting in on it. John Morrison the mayor was pretty happy with the 5000 supporters coming over and said there were more Australians than for a Bledisloe cup game.