Roos warns of Sydney "catastrophe"

[Cheer Squad]

You obviously got stuck into the beers and got your flag wrapped around your head.

Mate, it was a Swannies crowd just like at the SCG, Homebush or Manuka.

[connolly]

Jared Crouch has been the leader of Team Swans for about 10 years now, and visited more schools and areas of Sydney than anyone else at the football club.

He is in the know when he says:

On West Sydney:
It is something that does need to happen. There are more people living in Western Sydney than in Adelaide or Perth. People support teams when they make an emotional attachment to them so it?s important to have a team in that area that is very active in the local community. This is something the Swans find hard to do throughout Sydney because of the size and population of the area.

Leadership Locker - Jared Crouch | AFL Players' Association

Puts everything into perspective - we cannot cover the whole area well enough and need support from another club to grow the game.

Finally, a view from the Swans without the hidden agenda of wanting more money or draft picks from the AFL.

Fishing for a contract. Because he wont have one with us next season. He'll play his last game against Collingwood. (One of about three too many). Maybe you should sign him up for the the lunatic venture Bear?

[Bear]

Mate, it was a Swannies crowd just like at the SCG, Homebush or Manuka.

Glad you liked that one

[CJK]

Unfortunately, the east-west divide is a fact of life in Sydney. It's mainly driven by people in the east who dislike and fear the west. Especially if they have to travel there.

This is true. Those from the West are dislikeable and look scary.

Less of them at Swans games please. Let them have their own team out there in the wilds.

[Hartijon]

It's ironic but the area that could support another team with players is South Australia. A team like Norwood or a combined Sturt/South Adelaide/Norwood team would rock the AFL and be a finals contender and Premiership winner like the Crows and Port before them.Just look at the number of South Australians playing in non SA based teams! Tassie or Canberra are other possibilities
Western Sydney/Gold Coast has the population and the potential growth but I am not sure that is enough!People love the home grown product and quickly tire of an unsuccessful imported team.

[pinkemu]

Unfortunately, the east-west divide is a fact of life in Sydney. It's mainly driven by people in the east who dislike and fear the west. Especially if they have to travel there.

Yes, I always drive as fast as I can along the M4 in my Merc with (Poodles the lapradoodle on my lap) on my way to my fave B&B up at Leura. Mmm Devonshire tea & scones yummay.

[Cardinal]

Canberra will save the day

http://www.realfooty.com.au/articles/2009/06/15/1244917985958.html

It's going to cost me another membership to support AFL in Canberra.

[barry]

Isnt the concept of having Roosey and Sheeds going head to head in the coaching "derby" is mouthwatering.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

[Cheer Squad]

http://www.realfooty.com.au/articles...917985958.html

It's going to cost me another membership to support AFL in Canberra.

The plot thickens.

Based on the detail in this article, you can see how things are likely to take shape. The fact that Demetriou and Dale Holmes are talking to the ACT Government about the new franchise - and especially refusing to guarantee it will be called "Western Sydney" - indicates they probably don't believe a team based exclusively in Sydney's western suburbs would work.

The ACT proposal has merit. I think it's possible for a genuine, new brand identity to be created along the lines they are suggesting. The catchment for their target market is sufficiently different not to seriously threaten the Swans, certainly not in the way a team based exclusively in western Sydney would.

[ROK Lobster]

What a great captian Craig Bolton would be. Brett Kirk as assistant coach (he's almost local) and Matt Gitteau in a forward pocket.

[Bear]

The plot thickens.

Based on the detail in this article, you can see how things are likely to take shape. The fact that Demetriou and Dale Holmes are talking to the ACT Government about the new franchise - and especially refusing to guarantee it will be called "Western Sydney" - indicates they probably don't believe a team based exclusively in Sydney's western suburbs would work.

This is not new news for those following the development of the WS18closely, but it is exciting news for the game.

It indictes that they believe the link with the ACT covers two important strategic markets in one swoop. It does mean that the club will be STRONGER for the alignment - just like Hawthoirn is with Tassie, and our club is with our SM heritage - but by no means is an admission that a pure WS team would not work in the medium term. It will.

It is simply a fantastic way to give both the ACT and Western Sydney a real involvement with an AFL team, with the ACT unlikely to ever get a franchise of its own.

The RAMS name makes a lot of sense too.

Again, smart thinking by the AFL.

[BSA5]

I reckon diluting the brand would be the worst possible way to go. There is a humongous population in Sydney's west, easily enough to make the ACT population seem frivolous. The unfortunate fact is that there is just not enough happening in Canberra to make this move the sort of explosive success it would need to be to ensure the team's survival.

Investment from the ACT government will be handy in the short term, but will severely limit the team's scope in the long term. I think some Victorians forget that Canberra is 3 hours away from Sydney! It would be like trying to start a rugby league team that split itself between Warrnambool (or a Canberra sized city located at Warrnambool) and Melbourne. For genuine, grassroots support to be encouraged, the team NEEDS to have a solid identity, a local image that plays up the working class culture.

[Bear]

I reckon diluting the brand would be the worst possible way to go. There is a humongous population in Sydney's west, easily enough to make the ACT population seem frivolous. The unfortunate fact is that there is just not enough happening in Canberra to make this move the sort of explosive success it would need to be to ensure the team's survival.

Investment from the ACT government will be handy in the short term, but will severely limit the team's scope in the long term. I think some Victorians forget that Canberra is 3 hours away from Sydney! It would be like trying to start a rugby league team that split itself between Warrnambool (or a Canberra sized city located at Warrnambool) and Melbourne. For genuine, grassroots support to be encouraged, the team NEEDS to have a solid identity, a local image that plays up the working class culture.

Garbage.

St George Illawarra-Wollongong, Sydney-South Melbourne, Hawthorn-Tasmania, Western Bulldogs-Darwin... all work for different reasons.

You're clutching at straws for the sake of being negative about the new club.

In terms of the medium term and long term, things may change and it becomes an exclusively WS franchise, but you can quite easily cross that bridge when you come to it.

By then we may even have a North West Sydney franchise with links to Central Coast/Newcastle.

Start thinking positively... it won't hurt

[chalbilto]

What a great captian Craig Bolton would be. Brett Kirk as assistant coach (he's almost local) and Matt Gitteau in a forward pocket.

Which position would you play Stirling Mortlock?

[BSA5]

Garbage.

St George Illawarra-Wollongong, Sydney-South Melbourne, Hawthorn-Tasmania, Western Bulldogs-Darwin... all work for different reasons.

You're clutching at straws for the sake of being negative about the new club.

In terms of the medium term and long term, things may change and it becomes an exclusively WS franchise, but you can quite easily cross that bridge when you come to it.

By then we may even have a North West Sydney franchise with links to Central Coast/Newcastle.

Start thinking positively... it won't hurt

I'm not at all negative about the new club. I'm a big supporter of a Western Sydney team. Just not a Western Sydney-Canberra team. Please don't make assumptions about my stance on this matter because you're in a combative mood and looking for somebody to fight (yes, I can make assumptions too. I hope the irony is not lost).

Wollongong is a lot closer to Sydney than Canberra is. The Gong just about qualifies as Greater Sydney. St George-Illawarra was also a merger between two ESTABLISHED CLUBS. Also, it never would have worked with a rival code. Only League, the most established code, would have had the strength in support to pull it off.

Sydney don't play half their home games in South Melbourne. I respect and appreciate the South Melbourne heritage more than any other purely Sydney-derived Swans supporter I know, but the fact is that the Swans are a Sydney based team now. The large portion of Melbourne based supporters is absolutely fantastic, vital to the the club, but, as with the St. George-Illawarra situation, these come from an ESTABLISHED CLUB. You only have to look at how South Melbourne support has declined to just a core group of 8,000 or so to see how many fans left because of the relocation. The Swans are not a split team. They are a Sydney based team with a strong history in South Melbourne.

Hawthorn-Tasmania and Doggies-Darwin are in the same category as each other. These are just teams looking to play a few games around the place, trying to supplement membership and reduce ground costs. Both already have an ESTABLISHED supporter base and identity. They're just trying to supplement it. It is very clear that their Victorian identity is by far the more dominant. The proposed WS-Canberra situation would be forming a club from the GROUND-UP in two completely different cities!

If you are seriously trying to pass these off as analogues to the WS-Canberra side, then it is you who are clutching at straws.

For the record, currently being a Canberra resident myself (though in all honesty, by the time WS rolls around, I probably won't be), I would not mind at all seeing WS playing a number of AWAY games at Canberra. Though I would always choose to see the Swans, in the interests of expansion I think it would be best for WS to take some or all of Sydney's away games in Canberra. But to play home games there, especially from the start, it to dilute the WS branding. And in a population that needs to be convinced to follow AFL (and I certainly believe they can be!), a weak brand is not going to do much.