The Harbour Views AFL

[BSA5]

Yes, fantastic. They are rivalries. Hmmmm ... maybe not. Personally, I don't give a rats behind about either match and wouldn't waste a second of daylight (or darkness) even watching either of these games. Yet I could be persuaded to actually go to the ground to watch Collingwood and Carlton, or Collingwood and Essendon.

They really are derbies, nothing more, nothing less. I doubt they rate as well on National TV as they do on local TV. A game between the other clubs I mentioned, however ....

A game between GWS and the Swans, IMO, will only ever be a derby.


Derby ¹ (?d??b?, US ?d??rb?)
1. the Derby an annual horse race run at Epsom Downs, Surrey, since 1780: one of the English flat-racing classics
2. any of various other horse races
3. local Derby a football match between two teams from the same area

How exactly do you define a "rivalry" then? If Freo and WC, and Port and Adelaide, don't have rivalries, then quite simply there is no such thing. Whether you'd watch it is irrelevant, the rivalry is between those team, those fans, and there isn't a fan of either who would miss it.

[Frog]

You are right. It is a rivalry. Next.

[Dosser]

I liked your blog. Keep it up. I am a Sydney boy living in Melbourne for the past 10 years. Swans fan since first ever game in Sydney (as South Melbourne).

I'd like to see a story about the history of Aussie Rules in Sydney.

When did it start? How many clubs (SFL and districts) are there? Which ones are the most successful? Who are the legends? What sort of crowds do they draw? Where do they play? That sort of thing? I had a mate who lived near Gore Hill 20 years ago and we used to wander down occasionally with a six pack and watch North Shore play but I have no idea how may years people have been doing that.

Just a thought.

For what it is worth, as a member of the very first East Coast Eagles (Baulkham Hills) team that split from Pennant Hills, I have many vivid memories of being beaten every week with scorelines of about 200-6. Our coach was Kevin Hall (Carlton) and whenever we played North Shore, all of us used to run around taking speccies over each other before the game while the North Shore boys sat around polishing their boots. They used to flog us, too... Ah, this is better than telling these stories to my kids!

[ScottH]

FWIW, we have a detailed history of the Swans including there move from Melbourne to Sydney.
It was originally written by RobbieAndo and it's his work up till 2004 ( I think). I've then kept to up to date.
If people feel they can contribute to it in more details please feel free to update it.

Detailed history - RWOwiki, South Melbourne, Sydney Swans, Detailed History

[Chilcott]

Good work Andyn. Your writing style makes it an enjoyable and easy read.

Don't know what your journalistic ambitions are, but you should nag the hell out of the Swans media team to get some of your fine work onto the Swans website. Get your foot in the door at the Swans, which might help you get your foot in the door at the SMH, or one of the other papers in Sydney.

[andyn]

Thanks for posting Andy but you haven't answered the big question. Derby or Derby - how are we going to pronounce it?

I'm sure the media will call it something like 'the battle for Sydney' or even have a go at Swans being latte sippers from the east and kebab eaters of the West. Cliches go a long way in footy. So maybe we can avoid the word altogether?

[Triple B]

The 'Sydney Smackdown'

Smackdown I
Smackdown II
Smackdown III
etc.

[andyn]

Good work Andyn. Your writing style makes it an enjoyable and easy read.

Don't know what your journalistic ambitions are, but you should nag the hell out of the Swans media team to get some of your fine work onto the Swans website. Get your foot in the door at the Swans, which might help you get your foot in the door at the SMH, or one of the other papers in Sydney.

Would love to write about footy every day. Who wouldn't! I think there's only so much space on offer in major papers these days. Hopefully with two Sydney teams in the comp, that might change. But the papers will write more if more people want to hear about it. We do have to combat the initial attacks on AFL in Sydney 'in the west.' Trust me, it'll be the big story (especially with newslimited papers) in the same way as newspapers like to write about failed political leadership. Poor old Israel is already under the microscope.

I actually look after media and communications for a major Aust. charity. One of the things we've found is that it's very difficult to get media coverage of the issues NGOs face day to day. So the alternative is to create your own and control what you can control. In the old days that would mean printing independent newspapers, but these days everyone has the power to broadcast their views through blogs, forums etc. The potential is huge for all of us, either as readers or contributors

[jono2707]

I'm sure the media will call it something like 'the battle for Sydney' or even have a go at Swans being latte sippers from the east and kebab eaters of the West. Cliches go a long way in footy. So maybe we can avoid the word altogether?

I for one wont be sucked in to believing that it's a derby, rivalry, smackdown or anything. The AFL will try to con us into some type of cross-town rivalry with the West Sydney Whatevers but I aint buying into a pretend challenge with a made-up team that is doomed to fail anyway...

[RogueSwan]

. Then of course there was the great West Coast/Swans rivalry born out of two great teams smashing out great game after graet game. And I can still remember how much we hated the dogs when Tony Liberatore was running round. This is what I mean when I say rivalries are born and not created...

Or when the Roos played "home" games in Sydney.

Carey's a wanker...
Carey's a wanker...

[Gezball]

Well Andy, I enjoyed your articles and look forward to reading others in the future.

[andyn]

new blog published - looks at media's coverage of interstate teams, especially the Sydney Swans.
The Harbour Views - Sydcentric AFL

Footy is national - deal with it

Victorian media need to embrace the competition as a national one. From next year, the competition reaches a new level of nationalisation with more than one team in each state (except for poor old Tassie). It?s another step away from the VFL and like it or not, foundation clubs need to get used to sharing their game with new clubs on the scene.

[Bloody Hell]

I liked your blog. Keep it up. I am a Sydney boy living in Melbourne for the past 10 years. Swans fan since first ever game in Sydney (as South Melbourne).

I'd like to see a story about the history of Aussie Rules in Sydney.

When did it start? How many clubs (SFL and districts) are there? Which ones are the most successful? Who are the legends? What sort of crowds do they draw? Where do they play? That sort of thing? I had a mate who lived near Gore Hill 20 years ago and we used to wander down occasionally with a six pack and watch North Shore play but I have no idea how may years people have been doing that.

Just a thought.

Stumbled across this on Wikipedia a couple of years ago, which I found quite interesting:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_rules_football_in_New_South_Wales

Some bits and pieces from within:

The first recorded game of Australian rules football in Sydney was between the Waratah rugby club and the Carlton Football Club in 1877, two days after a rugby game between the two clubs and 14 years after rugby was first played in the state.

the proponents of the Australian game formed the NSW Football Association in 1880 and in 1881 the first Australian rules game between NSW and Victoria was played in Sydney. The NSWFA was small, with only a few clubs, including Waratah who switched code in 1882, and competition did not begin in earnest until 1889, when clubs competed for the Flanagan Cup. Having trouble gaining access to enclosed grounds, and therefore gate receipts, the association also had trouble with antagonism between its clubs, and it collapsed in 1893.

In 1908, largely through the switch of codes by the talented Dally Messenger, rugby league established itself into the culture of Sydney, and although Australian football remained popular, the NSWFL was again denied access to enclosed grounds and the new professional code further drew players from the NSWFL. By 1911, Australian rules had achieved more support than rugby union.

Australian football was introduced to Newcastle, New South Wales in 1883 when the Wallsend Football Club was formed by miners from Ballarat. In 1888, the Black Diamond Cup, Australia's oldest existing and active sporting trophy, was first awarded to the champion team in the region.

[Bloody Hell]

This is quite interesting too - Universal Football.

Universal football - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia