Forget Australia, AFL expansion should target the whole world!

.......the NFL don't aspire to international status but I suppose their market is self sustaining. Just because a sporting product boasts the international tag doesn't make it better or more sustainable. 'Domestic bliss' is certainly achievable for our code I reckon.

......actually I read somewhere that Gridiron participation is higher in NZ than is our code. Soccer is a soft option as well but the participation in NZ is high and rising, as it is here.

PS Thats $250K too much in my opinion......

.....the GWS member ship is at least half Canberra based, a city with a pop of just over 400K.

Tokenism is what the AFL continue to placate Tassie and the ACT with. The fixtures that Canberra and Tassie are afforded amount to blackmail because if we did not buy these then we would not have exposure to ANY live AFL despite more than 100 years of Aust footy pedigree in the ACT. Hey but GWS can have a side because we are all about national dominance so that must be good for the game. So all the decades of the code being supported and fostered in demographics i.e. ours means diddly to those of your ilk who would prefer to 'grow' the code by leeching off the likes of Canberra and Tassie? This is the exact myopic commercial philosophy that the AFL espouse. It is an exercise in farce to say that the AFL is a national comp given such contradictions. Gazing into the crystal ball, NZ, a sovereign nation so NOT integral to our Australian Federation, are gifted a plastic side under the very same philosophical guise, in the elite comp while the nations capital continues to be patronised with the GWS brand of 3 fixtures a year and that boasts NO cultural or symbolic affinity with the city or region.. There is only one hard fact of substance - the CEO of the AFL and his bankers have publicly stated that their next expansion focus is NZ and that the ACT and Tassie are commercially unviable. Their double standard is breathtaking to say the least.

Sorry Republican, I posted a link to an annual report showing the AFL New Zealand gets $250,000 in funding a year and yet still persist with the fallacy that the AFL is pouring resources into New Zealand. There is not much one can do to convince someone so jaded that they are unresponsive to hard facts. GWS and GC both had over 10,000 members and average crowds last year and are growing. These "investments" are absolutely orientated to laying down deep roots rather than a superficial focus on TV revenues. There are 3 games in Canberra each year, 7 in Tassie and 1 or 2 in the NT. The AFL's clear and overwhelming strategic focus is to establish national dominance.

.....'a tree that isn't growing is a dead tree'. Some trees are only ever going to grow to be bonsais truth be told. In that respect the resources spent on new frontiers i.e. NZ are a complete folly and at the expedience of the established demographics that continue to give 02 to the AFL and the code culturally. There remains plenty of potential to grow our game further in both Tassie, the ACT and the NT / top end amongst others, say Newcastle Hunter region for e.g. The only growth that will be realised in NZ is tele $'s but today this seems to be enough whereby memberships, support on the ground and gate at home fixtures has been rendered virtually superfluos.

Mr F, I've no idea who Symonds is, and I don't want to know. How he gets an opportunity is anyone's guess. Off season or not, the standard is woeful.

........I don't believe in our codes case , that it would be able to survive as an Austrlian sporting cultural entity i.e. maintain its quintessential skill set, culture etc which is already being lost courtesy of the commercial AFL and its dependance on television. The question is whether this matters or not? It does to me.

.......ah yes but isn't that the capitalist philosophy that sees us all living on money we do not have.

.....disagree again Maxirius. The AFLs criteria for growth of the game is completely dominated by commercial interests so health is exclusively fiscal. As custodians of our indigenous code the AFL continue to turn a blind eye of neglect to any criteria that is integral to virtue, history, loyalty et el. I happen to believe these criteria are vital to the ongoing social health and growth of any code and none morerso than our indigenous one. The AFL's double standard over the Nations Capital and Tassie, that they are not commercially viable is dismissive of their meritorious status. If their respective inclusion in the elite league means they need to be financially supported by the AFL so be it. The AFL are already throwing good money after bad at non footy demographics in GC and GWS so why not on established and guaranteed footy communities i.e. ours? I reiterate, that the AFL or any one who considers themselves a supporter of the Australian game, would mention NZ in the same breath as Canberra, Tassie or any other option here for that matter in respect of 'growth', serves only to disenfranchise those loyal heartlands from the grass roots up and insults the very DNA of a game that has to be more than simply a product for consumers perpetuated by multinational tele interests.

Absolutely agree with you Northerner - I would not embarrass myself by saying AFL or league would take off at all in Canada, you will see by my previous posts, and I believe I have often said, most AFL fans are under no delusions that the game will have much impact internationally - that the best it can hope for is to be a niche sport that a few people take up - league fans on the other hand...

FC Why go down that route, especially when we know little of Mr Symond's proclivities? He might be a synchronised swimming enthusiast (not that there is anything wrong with that). He wrote not one, but two articles about the NRL placing a new team in Tasmania. Most of us thought he was being fair dinkum, but on current evidence, he was clearly having a laugh. Could he be this Nicholas Symonds from Melbourne: New Zealand born singer/songwriter - Symonds explores the elements of space and movement whilst creating an honest platform on which his stories are told. Meh - it's the football off-season.

I should offer a satirical piece or two. Something along the lines of : "Why Rugby League needs more Pacific islander involvement". Or, "Rugby Union ; going from strength to strength in Australia". You know, some real garbage!

.....it matters not if the locals hold interest or affinity, it isn't about grass roots growth or potential, its about air lifting a plastic footy brand completely staffed from the turf up by Ozzies, into an alien Kiwi market and creating the illusion it is integral to the culture, by hard sell top down commercial spin. Over time, given enough commercial support it just might catch on, say 50 in years time in NZ s case........

Mark I concur with you however the fact that our code lacks international status does not render it inferior in my opinion. Soccer to its credit has sustained its global appeal and is dominating at the GR here as well but then it could be considered the Maccas of footy codes truth be told. I firmly believe our indigenous codes strength is in its unilateral appeal, so the focus of the governing body should be domestic rather than going head to head with the pseudo international code i.e. League or even Union. Why those i.e. yourself hold such contempt for our code is because it is the the dominant footy brand in the nation despite its domestic status. All codes have their merit and diversity in the market should be seen as a healthy situation, however due to the commercial dog fight that has codes competing for the same $ pot in our saturated market this is no longer the case.

........and?

Just because a sport is not the biggest code in a nation, it does not discount it from being a major code. That is like saying Basketball and Ice Hockey are not major codes in America because they are smaller than Grid Iron football. A very no sense logic. But then again most of what you have said has made no sense has it lol!! The very fact England can play competitively against Australia in Rugby League says it is one of the major codes. Behind Union and Soccer I am happy to admit that. But facts are facts. You can woffle on as much as you want and try to compare a few expats playing AFL in Canada to give your amateur one nation Victorian game some kind of merit. But at the end of the day if AFL had any real presence overseas anywhere. They would at least be able to have televised international matches. Or people would at least be wanting to invest in the sport like has happened with Toronto Wolfpack. Sure Rugby League is well behind Union, Cricket and Soccer at an international level. But it is still a million miles ahead of anything AFL can come up with. 4 Nations Telivised Pacific Nations Telivised World Club Challenge Telivised RLWC Telivised Australia vs NZ Test Telivised UK Superleague Telivised Now please tell me what AFL has internationally that a tv network shows?? Hmm nothing... Proof there is no real presence outside Australia anywhere for AFL. And AFL international rules is'nt even AFL. A completly different sport. So your stuffed there too. And what is even funnier is AFL fans are always saying Grid Iron is only in America just like AFL. Actually no. Grid Iron is played professionally in Canada too. So your fools there too. http://www.cfl.com Making AFL and Gaelic football the only single nation football codes at a professional level. Haha!!!

...actually, I see that on the first instance you wrote "off"...

It definitely says "out" rather than "off" though I'm sure you meant the latter. , "Take off" is of course very subjective. If af got to the level of cricket or rugby in Canada I would very much call that "taking off", in fact I would for significantly less.