collingwood/sydney magpies???

[Charlie]

Originally posted by robbieando
A major sporting poll a few years back named the Swans the most popular club in the AFL. What was Eddie response??? He dismiss the poll as crap saying the AC Nelson doesn't know a thing, funny seeing as Eddie quoted them all the time and the boss of AC Nelson is a Magpie supporter.

Rob, that poll was hopelessly flawed. It polled people on a population percentage basis, meaning that with 20% of the nation's population, 20% of those polled would have been from Sydney. Now, that's a joke considering we failed in some matches last year to get .5% of the Sydney population to matches.

How many do you think said Swans, just because they are based in Sydney, who don't really give a hoot?

[robbieando]

Charlie the first question was

"Which league do you follow"

AFL
NRL
NSL
Super 12
Other
None

Of the people who answered AFL, the Swans were the most popular. But having said that if you got a different group of 1500 people I bet the result would be different. All I was saying was Eddie dismiss this poll as wrong and bagged AC Nelson. Funny thing was he had in the past used AC Nelson polls to prove his own point. Funny that

[Diego]

Let him blow his own trumpet.

Sydneysiders hate this kind of behavoir from an Australian and hence it will backfire on him.

Good luck fatso.

[motorace_182]

if they were to hold a poll on who is the most hated and despised man in Australia i think Eddie would be right up there. They need another "Boo-a-Roo" like campaign when the Magpies come up here. We need to let the Sydney public know that hating Collingwood and Eddie should be a top priority. An inter-state rivalry like that could become very helpfull when it comes to crowd drawing, So dash Eddies dreams this year

[desredandwhite]

Just moving this thread here, guys... Moving away from discussion involving the swans.

[Cheer Cheer]

I was against the boo a roo campaign when the swans launched it, but collingwood I hate so much I would love the swans to pull out another campaign like that one - even more degrading than the first - I would be one the biggest supporters of the campaign, god i hate collingwood

[Norris Lurker]

Walking the streets in Parramatta or Blacktown or wherever they're going will be a bit of a reality check for the Collingwood players. Most people won't know who they are, and even less will care.
I hope Eddie comes up with them and sees it. There's still more work to be done to establish the profile of the game up here, and if allowing the Swans to spend a bit more of their own money will help do something about that, then it's money well spent.

[bricon]

Eddie Everywhere has fallen for the trap that many do; ie western Sydney has a @@@@load of people, there is a fancy new stadium close(ish) to those hoards and they?re all simply salivating at the chance to follow a sporting team at that fabulous facility.

Let?s just have a look at some of these myths.

1) There are 4 rugby league teams that are located west of Homebush, or already play their home games there. Canterbury-Bankstown, Parramatta, Wests Tigers and Penrith; Parramatta are a powerhouse club and nearly always generate (relatively) good crowds to their home games; Canterbury play the most attractive football in the league and probably would have been premiers last season had their salary cap breaches not come to light ? they play their home games at Homebush (Showground last season ? Telstra Stad before that, playing there next season) ? they have had VERY disappointing crowds at Homebush, below 5000 on occasions last year. Wests and Penrith are really in the heartland of the west ? the people Eddie Everywhere is specifically targeting ? these teams consistently draw amongst the worst crowds in the league at Campbelltown and Penrith, although the Tigers do draw (relatively) well for their matches at the run-down Leichhardt Oval about 10Km from Sydney?s CBD.

People from western Sydney have NOT proven to be great supporters of live football matches on a weekly basis (Parramatta excepted).


2) Telstra Stadium is by far the greatest stadium in Sydney and crowds (particularly from western Sydney) will flock to the ground to see football there.

Well yes and no, the stadium IS a terrific facility and it does attract sell-out crowds to the big event matches (Rugby Union Tests, RL Grand Finals etc) but it is FAR from evident whether it is a success for club matches; even the first RL State-Of-Origin game only drew a little over 40,000 last year. Club RL games have drawn pitiful crowds at the ground (even by RL standards) apart from a double-header fixture in 2000 and the 3 Swans games played there last year could only be described as moderate successes, although the club spent a fortune promoting those fixtures. The next year or two will really see if the stadium is viable, once any ?novelty? factor may have worn off.

The Sydney Kings basketball club almost went broke playing at the (Homebush) Superdome; they?ve moved back to the Entertainment Centre and the crowds are back too.

The problem for the Homebush site (as I see it) is that it?s not particularly convenient for anyone. It?s not really west enough to be a goer for the people from Penrith, Campbelltown or the Hills District and it?s too far out of the way for the north, east and southerners who have traditionally been where the support for the Swans/AFL has been sourced. There is extremely limited car parking available at Homebush and the public transport is expensive and inconvenient ? particularly the post match train situation for patrons heading east (city bound).

Only time will tell whether I?m being overly pessimistic or not, hopefully I?m totally wrong.


Eddie Everywhere as well as the AFL and the Swans seem to think that the west of Sydney/Homebush Stadium is some kind of El-Dorado which will provide endless riches and an avalanche of new supporters and spectators. History (both recent and ancient) has shown that this is unlikely to be the case.

[TheHood]

Well Said Bricon! I was thinking about Telstra Stadium just yesterday, this is why I am never comfortable out there:

How freakin hard is it to find my car at the end of the game or where do I get the bus from to get back to the car park where hopefully I can find my car amongst the thousands.

Then there is the train which is a 20 meter per minute shuffle for the next 45 minutes. I don't mind a throng before a game but the post-game crowd sucks. Everytime I go there it is like the first time so I usually get lost. All these streets named after all these athletes from the 50s sends me nuts.

How about a cab? There is a 15 minute walk to a line longer than a Ben Graham torry. Then there is the 30 minute plus wait.

When I go to the SCG, I can get a cab home easy or if I am driving, I park in the same street in Surry Hills, 7 minutes walk from the member's entrance.

I live at Gladesville and it is still faster access in and out of the SCG than Homebush.

My theory is that the whole of Olympic Park, Homebush is in danger of being Sydney's worst white elephant and the trustees and government are desperate to keep it floating somehow. They will not let up easy, I hear cricket is there next year!

[Diego]

Let the bubble burst.

Great points there Bricon, overall exactly what i am thinking.

[robbieando]

Eddie seems to think that Western Sydney is simular to Western Melbourne - Fools who fall over themselves to have anything to do with Collingwood. The bubble will burst soon enough and he'll keep them wrap up in cottonwool in Vic Park.

And news on what sort of crowds have attended their training sessions or if a Rugby League club has kicked them off their oval yet??????????

[Rizzo]

My mates that live in the target area have already been branded at birth as Panthers, Eels or Bulldogs supporters. If there's any room left in their sporting calendar that's not filled by the Razorbacks (who have a very loyal supporter base) or Soccer (played rather than supported) then I can't see where the Pies are going to suceed where the Swans failed in 20years.

Anyone who lives out that way or has visited will tell you that the Panthers "world of entertainment" is like a city itself and plays a huge role in the community. A fly in by the Pies for preseason then for one game will achieve sweet FA.

[SWANSBEST]

I agree Rizzo but how do you tell that to somone like Eddie who is suffering from delusions of grandeur .
One thing that really puzzles me is Eddie's new found enthusiasm for promoting the game north of the Victorian border. Previously he was against Collingwood playing any games in Canberra , in particular after they played against the Kangaroos at the end of 2001. The local press .gave him heaps with his scowling face on the back page of the Canberra Times. I wonder what he is playing at now.