Roos warns of Sydney "catastrophe"

[Bear]

...a weak brand is not going to do much.

Well that's where you and I differ, as I think it will be a huge strength of the brand to include the ACT.

I view this supportive alliance very positively for a number of strategic reasons and far from being turned off by it I reckon the WS18 supporters in Greater Western Sydney will also see it as a positive.

[Bear]

Which position would you play Stirling Mortlock?

Like Gitteau, he would have to learn to kick and catch first

[Cardinal]

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

And James Hird as coach

[Cheer Squad]

I view this supportive alliance very positively for a number of strategic reasons and far from being turned off by it I reckon the WS18 supporters in Greater Western Sydney will also see it as a positive.

Can you tell us their names and addresses?

[BSA5]

Well that's where you and I differ, as I think it will be a huge strength of the brand to include the ACT.

I view this supportive alliance very positively for a number of strategic reasons and far from being turned off by it I reckon the WS18 supporters in Greater Western Sydney will also see it as a positive.

Would you like to offer some reasons as to why you think this?

[Bear]

Can you tell us their names and addresses?

Ring up the NSW/ACT AFL and ask if they can the personal details of people involved with Auskick. That will keep you busy for a while.

[Bear]

Would you like to offer some reasons as to why you think this?

The first point is that GWS-based supporters won't be turned away by it, and many will see it as a positive. It is not as if they have something now and it is being partly taken away.

Just to name a few they will recognise the following positives:

- better private sector and government sponsorship and corporate hospitality that an ACT link brings - especially with the redevelopment of Manuka
- the bigger community it brings your club (like the Swans and Hawks now enjoy)
- slightly bigger home crowds in Sydney with ACT people coming up the road for a Sydney weekend
- more members (in ACT) to solidify the financial strength of the club
- a closer link to the reserves who may also play in Canberrs

Then you can add smaller positives like the ability for them to visit our nation's capital for a weekend holiday

[connolly]

The first point is that GWS-based supporters won't be turned away by it, and many will see it as a positive. It is not as if they have something now and it is being partly taken away.

Just to name a few they will recognise the following positives:

- better private sector and government sponsorship and corporate hospitality that an ACT link brings - especially with the redevelopment of Manuka
- the bigger community it brings your club (like the Swans and Hawks now enjoy)
- slightly bigger home crowds in Sydney with ACT people coming up the road for a Sydney weekend
- more members (in ACT) to solidify the financial strength of the club
- a closer link to the reserves who may also play in Canberrs

Then you can add smaller positives like the ability for them to visit our nation's capital for a weekend holiday

The western sydney canberra link works so well in politics why not sport?

[connolly]

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

You could also pick up the Bevantor in the amalgamation. True son of the west. Anyone outside the Bondi Coogee axis of evil is in the mix.

[Cheer Squad]

Well that's where you and I differ, as I think it will be a huge strength of the brand to include the ACT.

I view this supportive alliance very positively for a number of strategic reasons and far from being turned off by it I reckon the WS18 supporters in Greater Western Sydney will also see it as a positive.

How many people from Sydney's western suburbs do you believe will join the new franchise in it's first year of existence?

[ROK Lobster]

You could also pick up the Bevantor in the amalgamation. True son of the west. Anyone outside the Bondi Coogee axis of evil is in the mix.

We'll take Bevo.

[Cheer Squad]

Ring up the NSW/ACT AFL and ask if they can the personal details of people involved with Auskick. That will keep you busy for a while.

The personal details of all the people involved with Auskick? That sounds like the old trick of counting staff numbers to help inflate the size of a crowd.

I want hard numbers, mate. People prepared to stump up their hard-earned for full club memberships. Not kids kicking around a football then hitting their teens and deciding to do something else.

[pinkemu]

The personal details of all the people involved with Auskick? That sounds like the old trick of counting staff numbers to help inflate the size of a crowd.

I want hard numbers, mate. People prepared to stump up their hard-earned for full club memberships. Not kids kicking around a football then hitting their teens and deciding to do something else.

Sex, drugs and rock'n'roll

[Cheer Squad]

Sex, drugs and rock'n'roll

[Cheer Squad]

I reckon diluting the brand would be the worst possible way to go.

I think a lot of people have fallen into the trap - for perfectly understandable reasons - of assuming the westerrn Sydney franchise would be based exclusively on Sydney's western suburbs.

Let's define what most Sydneysiders consider to be the true western suburbs.

Using Homebush as a starting point, that would include anything directly to the west, such as Parramatta, Blacktown, St. Marys, Kingswood, and Penrith. To the south, you have Fairfield, Bankstown, Liverpool and their satellite suburbs - with huge numbers of people from non-English speaking backgrounds - and further south-west you have the Macarthur region, based on Campbelltown and Camden.

Anything to the north-west of Homebush - the Hills District, and the newly emerging suburbs like Glenwood and Kellyville, are not really regarded as "western suburbs" - certainly not by the people who live there! - because they're more affluent and upwardly mobile. They include the sort of people - all 3,000 of them - who turned up for our pre-season match against the Bulldogs at Rouse Hill.

Getting back to your fear of diluting the brand, if the club's identity was restricted only to Sydney's western surburbs, and you included Canberra as part of the deal, you would indeed be diluting the brand. But Demetriou's refusal to guarantee calling the team "Western Sydney" demonstrates his concern that basing the new franchise on Sydney's western suburbs alone would not work.

However, if club's identity, or brand, was broadened to include the sweep of territory down to the ACT - which I think it what the AFL intends - it has a good chance of working.

But there is simply no way, either in the short term - 1-5 years - or medium term 5-15 years - that a team based exclusively on Sydney's western suburbs would be viable.

Those who say otherwise need to start indicating what their full club membership targets would be in the short and medium term. Ultimately, that's the only way the new club will be able to survive.