Swans vs Giants - general match discussion

[Kez11]

I'm heading out to the game and looking forward to smashing the giants out of the park. I haven't forgotten the last time I went out for the qualifying final last year and Steve Johnson took out Kennedy early with a knock to the head. He wasn't the same afterwards even with the time out on the bench. Same for Tippett. It was a nasty game and a big win will go some way to evening up the ledger. Hoping Rohan, the excitement machine, fires up!

[Mug Punter]

The last banners before relocation/merger.

- - - Updated - - -

I heard the swans players refused to run through it.

The Lions one is sad, their "merge" was just a shotgun marriage of convenience and from what I gather the connection with their Melbourne fans has been strained.

Roosy was interviewed by Sheehan and apparently the previous genuine relocation had unanimous support from the player group, and they still had a pretty good team at that stage. Then their dick of a President, Leon Wingard I think, went on some hare-brained scheme to save them.

[KTigers]

Sorry to digress, but I'm watching the State Of Origin right now, and Channel 9 have this
thing called the "Intensity Meter" up on the screen that measures players individual performances
in the game. Not quite sure how it "works". Maybe we should all put it and get one for Kingy and
the boys.

[Mug Punter]

And if they were, what were they saying about the WC Eagles and the Crows when they came into the AFL?
Both these clubs were formed only four or five months before they ran out on the field for their first game.
Poor old GWS are copping it big time, when all they are doing is following an AFL "tradition" of constructing
clubs.

Big difference between the two, enormous really

* West Coast and Adelaide were able to do that mainly by just mining their local comps, so the artificial claim really is inappropriate for them.
* Both West Coast and Adelaide were formed off the back of a community push by WA and SA, GWS in contrast had no community support but were born out of a focus group to facilitate a TV deal.
* The support, commercially and from joe public and their commercial viability was undeniable from Day 1, who knows when GWS will be self-sufficient

GWS is a different animal so it's not fair to compare the two. We can all have our opinion about them but the reality is we won't know if they are a success or failure until 2030

I wasn't a fan when they were formed because I genuinely didn't think Sydney had the capacity to support two teams and I feared it was a conspiracy to weaken the Swans. The biggest fear was having two weak teams in Sydney as has occurred in Qld. I also didn't like their entitled arrogance (as befitting an outfit run by AFL stooges) and I detest some of their playing group.

I have changed my tune to a large extent now. I do very much believe that GWS has help "grow the AFL pie" in Sydney and I really do think the AFL newscycle in Sydney is now 24/7 albeit less intense than in Vic/SA/WA. I believe we are even stronger now due to the growing of the pie in our North Shore/Eastern Suburbs heartland and that has been facilitated by a number of reasons including Buddy but also greater fan engagement via the Academy system.

I am also very grateful that the introduction of GWS has allowed the academy system to take hold where there is now a pathway for local boys to play for the Swans. This is a game-changer.

I still dislike GWS intensely but I do believe they have, on the whole, had a positive effect on the game in Sydney.

[goswannies]

The Lions one is sad, their "merge" was just a shotgun marriage of convenience and from what I gather the connection with their Melbourne fans has been strained.

"Shotgun marriage"? More like a consumption. I still don't get how taking 8 players from one club and adding them to 36 players from another club can really be called an equitable merge

Oh, and it's not lost on me that the original South Melbourne Football Club amalgamated with the Albert Park Football Club to be hence forth known as ... South Melbourne

Roosy was interviewed by Sheehan and apparently the previous genuine relocation had unanimous support from the player group, and they still had a pretty good team at that stage. Then their dick of a President, Leon Wingard I think, went on some hare-brained scheme to save them.

Dyson Hore-Lacey

[barry]

No sides existence is beyond question.
In a more hard arse world of relegation or private ownership teams like the bulldogs would be long gone from the AFL.

[Beerman]

The last banners before relocation/merger.

I heard the swans players refused to run through it.

That's the one! I can't imagine anything like it now, which is a shame. The South Melbourne one is particularly fine - only four words but you can feel the world of pain and anger behind them.

[Boddo]

The Lions one is sad, their "merge" was just a shotgun marriage of convenience and from what I gather the connection with their Melbourne fans has been strained.

Roosy was interviewed by Sheehan and apparently the previous genuine relocation had unanimous support from the player group, and they still had a pretty good team at that stage. Then their dick of a President, Leon Wingard I think, went on some hare-brained scheme to save them.

Fitzroy never merged with anyone. They still exist in the Victorian amateurs. The Bears were rebranded and took over Fitzroys records.

https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/the-deed-of-arrangement-between-fitzroy-and-brisbane.885996/

[Beerman]

Mumford is such a dirty little p***k.
I like think he was turfed out under the "no dickheads" policy, rather than the lack of moolah.

Mumford has always been a very physical player. It worked in our advantage when he was with us (although I do remember he copped at least one suspension).

More and more it seems like he's playing to hit as hard as he can, rather than impact the game, which I think isn't a great look. But he does keep it within the rules, so fair enough. Look at his hit on Duncan last year - he absolutely lined him up to smash him, but he used his chest and arms in a tackling motion, which is completely legit so good luck to him.

[The Runner]

A club or league first mentality: GWS is bad for the game
A code first mentality: GWS is essential to survival and growth.

The exponential growth in sports rights is over. Cricket, rugby, soccer etc are in for a tough time over the next decade financially. What the AFL did to secure the financial stability of the game will set us up as the premier code for a generation.
Once you stop growing, you're dead.

[Mug Punter]

Fitzroy never merged with anyone. They still exist in the Victorian amateurs. The Bears were rebranded and took over Fitzroys records.

The Deed of Arrangement between Fitzroy and Brisbane | BigFooty AFL Forum

Not quite as black and white as you state.

Fitzroy did not drop down to the Ammos as you say. University Reds dis-associated themselves with Melbourne Uni and became the Fitzroy Reds which had no official connection with the Fitzroy VFL club. They then renamed themselves as simply Fitzroy Football Club and took the whole livery of the old Roy Boys and formed an official connection.

I imagine that some old Fitzroy fans follow the Brisbane Lions as their old team, some will see the Ammos as the natural continuation and many would regard the club as completely dead and are just neutrals now.

[0918330512]

Not quite as black and white as you state.

Fitzroy did not drop down to the Ammos as you say. University Reds dis-associated themselves with Melbourne Uni and became the Fitzroy Reds which had no official connection with the Fitzroy VFL club. They then renamed themselves as simply Fitzroy Football Club and took the whole livery of the old Roy Boys and formed an official connection.

I imagine that some old Fitzroy fans follow the Brisbane Lions as their old team, some will see the Ammos as the natural continuation and many would regard the club as completely dead and are just neutrals now.

Good work MP

[Mug Punter]

A club or league first mentality: GWS is bad for the game
A code first mentality: GWS is essential to survival and growth.

The exponential growth in sports rights is over. Cricket, rugby, soccer etc are in for a tough time over the next decade financially. What the AFL did to secure the financial stability of the game will set us up as the premier code for a generation.
Once you stop growing, you're dead.

The financial clout of the AFL above its competitor sports is quite incredible. Whilst the ARU have issues of solvency the AFL are sitting on a BILLION DOLLAR asset down at Docklands. This platform can and will be used in years to come - the NRL is very resilient but chronically mismanaged, Soccer has some unique qualities and cultural loyalties that make it a strong competitor but rugby I believe is in the short to medium sights in the Sydney and Melbourne markets and they are ripe for the picking.

[Hotpotato]

The NRLs massive money grabbing arm State of Origin is so boringly predictable , I nearly switched to Masterchef.
Watching blokes being repetitively smashed to the ground by three very big men would not appeal much to parents choosing a code for Sebastian. But they love it in Qld.

[KTigers]

You mightn't be dead, but things aren't as much fun. They released the latest census recently and you can see from
that that the ethnic make up of Australia, and especially areas like western Sydney really has changed substantially in the
last twenty or so years. We have all kind of figured this out already, but seeing the numbers in black and white shows
the true scale of the change. I think for any code to grow in such a crowded market as Sydney they will really have to
embrace to use the current buzzword this changing demographic. For the Sydney AFL clubs, this will be more of a need
for GWS than the Swans because of our existing support. It's not just GWS, I'm sure there are areas of Melbourne where
the population has changed a lot too, and that must effect growth prospects for some of the clubs there too.

A club or league first mentality: GWS is bad for the game
A code first mentality: GWS is essential to survival and growth.

The exponential growth in sports rights is over. Cricket, rugby, soccer etc are in for a tough time over the next decade financially. What the AFL did to secure the financial stability of the game will set us up as the premier code for a generation.
Once you stop growing, you're dead.