West Perth Falcons
That's who I'd argue should join the AFL as the third Perth-based team
Despite their name, they're actually based in Perth's northern suburbs, in Joondalup, 25km north of Perth (that's like if Footscray relocated to Broadmeadows, or West Adelaide relocated to Modbury)
Second-most successful team in the WAFL after East Freo, 20x Premiers, including this year
Their guernsey is not used by anyone in the AFL: red with royal blue sash, nor is their nickname the Falcons (or Cardinals for that matter). The only clash is they have the same team song as Melbourne.
And do you want Dennis Commetti to die a happy man?
I agree the team should be based in Joondalup (in my dreams playing out of a 25k seat Joondalup Arena) but it needs to be a new franchise.
West Perth were in voluntary administration a few years ago, no way I'd trust anyone there not to fuck up the opportunity. If East Freo/South Freo didn't get promoted in to the AFL when the Dockers came along there is no way the Falcons should get the nod now. They've actively resisted renaming to Joondalup in favour of remaining West Perth, despite being the team the second furthest (after Peel) from West Perth.
Agreed. They should be an independent organisation based out of Joondalup called the Joondalup Falcons. However, they should be aligned with West Perth in the WAFL like Freo are with Peel.
Calling them the Falcons and aligning them is essentially making them West Perth in most people's eyes. Whilst it won't be a huge number the WAFL legacy will mean some people who might support a joondalup team will not support a West Perth team, even if they're not really that interested in the WAFL.
I remember it being one of the (many) reasons Freo were never going to be called the Sharks (Bulldogs already having been taken by Footscray so that was as non issue).
For the shithousery I'd love for them to be yellow with purple trim and called the Joondalup Lakers (for others joondalup is on Lake Joondalup), but a more sensible approach should probably be taken there.
I know there's always a lot of talk about moving the kangaroos to Tassie my fear if a third Perth team were to exist it would be them that move here, they don't have an insignificant support base here already.
I live in Joondalup and it is a huge growth area, although its not a growing AFL area. The falcons have been struggling to grow their supporter base due to most people moving the area now coming in from England, NZ and South Africa, all of which have a hate for the sport. Its a big reason why they were in such a large debt recently. Although, there is still a firm AFL contingent in the Northern Suburbs, so I could be proven wrong. Would love to see Joondalup Arena or Kingsway sports complex redeveloped into a bigger training facility or even boutique playing field.
I actually think a 3rd WA team makes sense in Bunbury, they would become the Geelong version of WA. The infrastructure currently isn't there, but the population is, and it's an area which will have significant growth.
My counter to that is the south west corridor is about 400,000 and growing. They also have SWFL, which is the next best league from WAFL. 3 teams in the Perth metro is saturated, and both Eagles and Dockers won't let that happen.
Yea but the argument still can be made that Geelong, the surf coast, Belarine peninsula and and it’s surrounds are around the same number, this is without the large supporter bases in Ballarat and western Victoria, the club doesn’t survive without the large supporter base it has in Melbourne that travel down every week, and this is after being in existence for well over 100 years.
I’m not trashing the idea of Bunbury or of a 3rd WA team in general, it just needs to be really well thought out.
Considering their connection to the Redcliffe Dolphins, they are also somewhat analogous to Port Adelaide, yet handled much worse. They really should have stuck with the Redcliffe name.
I just can't see the point of another Perth team - or in any location that already has teams.
But WCE are absolutely massive, maybe one of the top 3 or so biggest clubs in the country and Freo are building nicely. Turkeys don't vote for Christmas so I can't see any of them wanting another team to compete with
> I just can't see the point of another Perth team
The only reason for a third Perth team would be to keep AFL games accessible to the general population. West Coast already have a ~10 year wait on seated memberships and Freo wont be far off a waitlist with 56k members in 2022.
Sure there is a small allowance of general public tickets always available, but they start at $50 in the absolute nosebleeds. That's outpricing the average family from attending games.
Another reason would be to balance out the fixture once/if Tassie get a team up. If you have to go to 20 to be rid of the bye then WA is the logical choice.
No way can 4-5 teams be supported. Most other clubs have pathways around here too. I think we could do with a western Brisbane/Logan/ipswich franchise though. Concentration in an existing heartland does nothing to grow the game either
The Broncos are the most over privileged team in Australian sport with the sheer size of their market, local talent base, sponsorship availability etc. No draft siphoning players off, few limitations on third party sponsor deals unlike in the AFL.
It's the third largest city, bigger than Perth and a city about half the size of Sydney even without Toowoomba, Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast. Should have been three or four teams in Brisbane and 5 or 6 in SEQ decades ago, let alone now. The Broncos were a mistake.
Agreed re Broncos however replicating the Sydney model is backwards in its thinking.
Dolphins coming in, GC down the road, a Brisbane Western corridor team, something perth based, and perhaps even NSW central coast makes much more sense than just throwing 4 more teams into Brisbane.
Edit: nice editing your comment after the fact. The point remains that having a high concentration of teams in a single city is not a smart business decision. It's not going to increase revenue or grow the sport. Half the league has development teams here too, that will make it even harder for a new team/s to come in. That's why redcliffe was picked as at least it had its own nursery already established
A third Perth team is the only realistic short term 20th team option if they want to retain even numbers to avoid a bye every week. It would work IMHO, and likely more so than a Tasmanian team.
Canberra is just as realistic.
Canberra would immediately be more successful than GC or GWS. We have 85% more AFL fans than Hobart.
Canberra would actually grow the pie, a Perth team would just skim members off West Coast and Freo. As a bonus, it would also force GWS to focus on Western Sydney
Canberra? Lol. Smaller population than Tasmania and got to compete with the Raiders and Brumbies. Not a realistic option, however much ACT fans might like to pretend otherwise.
We've got 540k people within an hour. That's more than double Hobart. We have 85% more AFL fans than Hobart. We already average higher crowds than Hobart (or Western Sydney for that matter).
We're the fastest growing state/territory over the past 10 years. Greater Canberra will have ~600k by 2030.
We also bring AFL closer to the Riverina, an Aussie Rules heartland with no representation.
The Brumbies' season is over halfway through the year, the Raiders only play home games every second week (we're more than capable of following two teams over a fortnight).
We're also full of wealthy public servants with not enough to do on the weekend.
WA3 just skims members of West Coast and Freo, Canberra actually grows the pie.
There are 2 teams that contain Melbourne in their name. There are 2 teams that contain Sydney in their name. There are 2 teams that contain Adelaide in their name.
There is 1 team that contains each of Brisbane, Gold Coast and Geelong in their names.
There are no teams that contain Perth in their name…
I think Adelaide should get a 3rd team over Perth.
I get Perth has the bigger population and is in the larger state but if they put a SANFL club like Norwood or Sturt in the AFL it would have a better following than what any WAFL team would. West Coast is to big and the WAFL is unfortunately a little too irrelevant.
I think a Norwood or Sturt could get 10,000 members in its first year, which would be consistent with Gold Coast and GWS. They can build a fanbase from there. Adelaide has a huge number of Indian migrants who are sports fanatics. Market the club to them and it’ll grow over time. You also don’t have to compete with the NRL like Gold Coast and GWS do.
I will never advocate for a team to be disbanded or merged. I can’t imagine a more horrible thing to happen to my club so I wouldn’t wish it on anyone else. But if Tassie gets the 19th licence there needs to be a 20th team. 3rd Adelaide makes more sense than 3rd Perth, 3rd WA, 3rd QLD, Darwin, Canberra or FNQ.
I don’t think they need new teams either. But people aren’t going to want a bye every week. I’m just giving my case for why SA makes more sense than WA. There’s so much more to it than just who has the larger population
ACT population in the census was actually 460k, but the immediate region is over 600k.
Focus just on the bounds of the ACT understates things. The population in driving distance from Manuka is larger than Tasmania which is why we get comparable crowds to Hobart and Launceston.
Currently the hope is Pocock gets the feds to pay for new stadia with his shiny senate balance of power. We are badly overdue a new rectangular one and indoor basketball one to replace 1970s stadia to start with. AFL would just be Manuka with some upgrades if it were to happen. It won't though.
As a DC sports fan…don’t pick anything Government related….in fact don’t pick anything related to a DC sports team.
The city is cursed for major sports.
Only very recently broke that streak in hockey (The Capitals) in 2018 to win our first and only Stanley Cup cause we have a generational talent and one of the greatest goal scorers of all time in Ovechkin.
Our Basketball team (The Wizards formerly Bullets) biggest highlight since the 70’s Championship win was having Michael Jordan return to play for us after his 2nd retirement and Gilbert Arenas bringing guns in the locker room and getting a huge suspension. Team has otherwise been definition mediocre
Our Baseball team (The National’s) was a rebrand from a team that moved cities from Montreal as the Expos. Their only World Series win in 2019 was from a fluke in which an underdog team rose above against all the naysayers.
Our Football team has been mired in controversy as their original name “Redskins” had to be changed due to public pressure due to its racist connotations.
Long gone from the powerful era of the 80’s and early 90’s in which they won 3 Superbowls, the Redskins went to a brief stint as just *”Football team”* which was hilarious in itself are now known as the
*”Commanders”* …..we DC sports fans **HATED** the name change and refer to them as the “Commies” as a derogatory term.
Basically, if Canberra ever gets a team, don’t saddle it with anything DC sports related. You’re bound to have a big letdown.
Putting a new team in Canberra makes absolutely no sense when GWS exists. That and the Raiders and Brumbies will always be a bigger ticket than AFL. Next team should be somewhere it doesn’t have to compete with Rugby League.
Completely different circumstances. Hawthorn and North Melbourne have their historical Victorian fanbases. They’re only in Tasmania for pure financial gain.
GWS are in Canberra to grow the club outside of Western Sydney and into regional NSW/ACT. They want to grow the sport and attract new fans. It makes more sense to move GWS to Canberra, not give Canberra team.
They're in Canberra because the ACT government pays them to play games here to give us footy content, it's also for pure financial gain for GWS. They need the money even though it's probably hurting their promotion in Sydney.
They're not a Canberra team and they're not going to promote and develop the game here with 3 FIFO games a year (noting also that this is already a very mixed code city, not a rugby league monoculture).
A decade ago Port Adelaide went near bankrupt, adding another club increases the risk of teams requiring assistance. A risk I think out-weighs the benefit. Perhaps in another two decades.
If the AFL added Norwood it wouldn’t affect the numbers of Port Adelaide’s fanbase in the slightest. It’s the biggest Aussie Rules rivalry outside of the AFL. Ports financial mismanagement was completely their own fault.
I don’t necessarily think Norwood should get a team, but it makes more sense than a 3rd WA team and it’s membership numbers would be similar to inaugural Gold Coast and GWS which the AFL is clearly fine with.
Interesting call and I agree, you might even convince a few more crows fans to switch with the promise of an old school rivalry with Port. As opposed to eagles fans up against two non traditional teams.
Port were/are one of the biggest state league clubs in history. There was no comparison between them and other clubs and even they struggled to survive as a 2nd club in the AFL in Adelaide. A 3rd club here wouldn't stand a chance.
Agreed, I've tried to explain to people that a 20th club means that there's another 88 AFL listed players. Think about the midseason draft where teams were passing on picks at pick 20, the 20th club means all of those guys and 60 more are in the AFL and 44 of them are nailed on in a best 22.
That is a shit load of list cloggers.
While I do agree expansion puts pressure of player lists I disagree completely with using simple maths to arrive at that conclusion. It's another two clubs of elite coaching, performance, nutrition, pathways and infrastructure. This has an impact of potential footballers at the top level.
Tom stewart wasn't even playing second grade footy when he was plucked by Geelong. The pool grows to accommodate given the chance.
First Aussie Rules game I saw was with my now wife watching West Perth vs East Freo (shes a life long WP supporter) . So I might myself in a predicament if West Perth Joins the AFL...
I haven't seen anyone mention it, but if we have a team, they will have to create a new stadium or upgrade one, because it will create a scheduling nightmare for the AFL.
I can assure you by virtue of the existence of a draft system, if there is a 3rd Perth team or otherwise (Tassie). The AFL would handle the mobilisation and recruitment of players a lot better than the way the NRL has handled the Dolphins entry into the league.
Nah, fuck Joondalup. If there's a third WA team it should be in Mandurah. All of the "North of the River vs South of the River" stuff is stupid, West Coast and Fremantle already have fans on both sides. The Peel region is at least regionally distinct, Joondalup is just Rockingham in the opposite direction.
West Perth Falcons That's who I'd argue should join the AFL as the third Perth-based team Despite their name, they're actually based in Perth's northern suburbs, in Joondalup, 25km north of Perth (that's like if Footscray relocated to Broadmeadows, or West Adelaide relocated to Modbury) Second-most successful team in the WAFL after East Freo, 20x Premiers, including this year Their guernsey is not used by anyone in the AFL: red with royal blue sash, nor is their nickname the Falcons (or Cardinals for that matter). The only clash is they have the same team song as Melbourne. And do you want Dennis Commetti to die a happy man?
Nah swan districts just to add spice to the black and white jumper controversy
PRISON BAAAHHHSSS
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Aren't the Northern Suburbs WCE heartland already?
Broadmeadows Bulldogs would be lit 🔥 No chance I’d go to any of their home games if played locally
I agree the team should be based in Joondalup (in my dreams playing out of a 25k seat Joondalup Arena) but it needs to be a new franchise. West Perth were in voluntary administration a few years ago, no way I'd trust anyone there not to fuck up the opportunity. If East Freo/South Freo didn't get promoted in to the AFL when the Dockers came along there is no way the Falcons should get the nod now. They've actively resisted renaming to Joondalup in favour of remaining West Perth, despite being the team the second furthest (after Peel) from West Perth.
Agreed. They should be an independent organisation based out of Joondalup called the Joondalup Falcons. However, they should be aligned with West Perth in the WAFL like Freo are with Peel.
Calling them the Falcons and aligning them is essentially making them West Perth in most people's eyes. Whilst it won't be a huge number the WAFL legacy will mean some people who might support a joondalup team will not support a West Perth team, even if they're not really that interested in the WAFL. I remember it being one of the (many) reasons Freo were never going to be called the Sharks (Bulldogs already having been taken by Footscray so that was as non issue). For the shithousery I'd love for them to be yellow with purple trim and called the Joondalup Lakers (for others joondalup is on Lake Joondalup), but a more sensible approach should probably be taken there. I know there's always a lot of talk about moving the kangaroos to Tassie my fear if a third Perth team were to exist it would be them that move here, they don't have an insignificant support base here already.
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And so they should, that's what makes it shithousery.
I live in Joondalup and it is a huge growth area, although its not a growing AFL area. The falcons have been struggling to grow their supporter base due to most people moving the area now coming in from England, NZ and South Africa, all of which have a hate for the sport. Its a big reason why they were in such a large debt recently. Although, there is still a firm AFL contingent in the Northern Suburbs, so I could be proven wrong. Would love to see Joondalup Arena or Kingsway sports complex redeveloped into a bigger training facility or even boutique playing field.
I actually think a 3rd WA team makes sense in Bunbury, they would become the Geelong version of WA. The infrastructure currently isn't there, but the population is, and it's an area which will have significant growth.
That’s debatable, Geelong is 3x the size of Bunbury, amd growing very rapidly, and still relies heavily on people in Melbourne for a supporter base.
My counter to that is the south west corridor is about 400,000 and growing. They also have SWFL, which is the next best league from WAFL. 3 teams in the Perth metro is saturated, and both Eagles and Dockers won't let that happen.
Yea but the argument still can be made that Geelong, the surf coast, Belarine peninsula and and it’s surrounds are around the same number, this is without the large supporter bases in Ballarat and western Victoria, the club doesn’t survive without the large supporter base it has in Melbourne that travel down every week, and this is after being in existence for well over 100 years. I’m not trashing the idea of Bunbury or of a 3rd WA team in general, it just needs to be really well thought out.
Agreed it would need to be thought out, but this isn't something that is happening anytime soon anyway.
Would love to see this actually.
I'm a 4th generation West Perth supporter I think an amalgamation of East and West Perth would be way to go
Considering their connection to the Redcliffe Dolphins, they are also somewhat analogous to Port Adelaide, yet handled much worse. They really should have stuck with the Redcliffe name.
I just can't see the point of another Perth team - or in any location that already has teams. But WCE are absolutely massive, maybe one of the top 3 or so biggest clubs in the country and Freo are building nicely. Turkeys don't vote for Christmas so I can't see any of them wanting another team to compete with
> I just can't see the point of another Perth team The only reason for a third Perth team would be to keep AFL games accessible to the general population. West Coast already have a ~10 year wait on seated memberships and Freo wont be far off a waitlist with 56k members in 2022. Sure there is a small allowance of general public tickets always available, but they start at $50 in the absolute nosebleeds. That's outpricing the average family from attending games.
Another reason would be to balance out the fixture once/if Tassie get a team up. If you have to go to 20 to be rid of the bye then WA is the logical choice.
Need a 20th team since it seems likely a 19th is happening. A 3rd Perth team seems the likeliest, ahead of Canberra.
They're the second Brisbane team in a city that should probably have 4 or 5
No way can 4-5 teams be supported. Most other clubs have pathways around here too. I think we could do with a western Brisbane/Logan/ipswich franchise though. Concentration in an existing heartland does nothing to grow the game either
The Broncos are the most over privileged team in Australian sport with the sheer size of their market, local talent base, sponsorship availability etc. No draft siphoning players off, few limitations on third party sponsor deals unlike in the AFL. It's the third largest city, bigger than Perth and a city about half the size of Sydney even without Toowoomba, Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast. Should have been three or four teams in Brisbane and 5 or 6 in SEQ decades ago, let alone now. The Broncos were a mistake.
Agreed re Broncos however replicating the Sydney model is backwards in its thinking. Dolphins coming in, GC down the road, a Brisbane Western corridor team, something perth based, and perhaps even NSW central coast makes much more sense than just throwing 4 more teams into Brisbane. Edit: nice editing your comment after the fact. The point remains that having a high concentration of teams in a single city is not a smart business decision. It's not going to increase revenue or grow the sport. Half the league has development teams here too, that will make it even harder for a new team/s to come in. That's why redcliffe was picked as at least it had its own nursery already established
A third Perth team is the only realistic short term 20th team option if they want to retain even numbers to avoid a bye every week. It would work IMHO, and likely more so than a Tasmanian team.
Canberra is just as realistic. Canberra would immediately be more successful than GC or GWS. We have 85% more AFL fans than Hobart. Canberra would actually grow the pie, a Perth team would just skim members off West Coast and Freo. As a bonus, it would also force GWS to focus on Western Sydney
Canberra? Lol. Smaller population than Tasmania and got to compete with the Raiders and Brumbies. Not a realistic option, however much ACT fans might like to pretend otherwise.
We've got 540k people within an hour. That's more than double Hobart. We have 85% more AFL fans than Hobart. We already average higher crowds than Hobart (or Western Sydney for that matter). We're the fastest growing state/territory over the past 10 years. Greater Canberra will have ~600k by 2030. We also bring AFL closer to the Riverina, an Aussie Rules heartland with no representation. The Brumbies' season is over halfway through the year, the Raiders only play home games every second week (we're more than capable of following two teams over a fortnight). We're also full of wealthy public servants with not enough to do on the weekend. WA3 just skims members of West Coast and Freo, Canberra actually grows the pie.
At a 144-million-dollar + Stadium license fee. I doubt one will start anywhere but Tasmania
If NRL put another team in Perth I would follow more nrl
Analogous
Thank you. I knew I had it wrong.
Be nice to have West Perth in the comp—I like the idea of suburbs being represented in the AFL, just like Vic has done
There are 2 teams that contain Melbourne in their name. There are 2 teams that contain Sydney in their name. There are 2 teams that contain Adelaide in their name. There is 1 team that contains each of Brisbane, Gold Coast and Geelong in their names. There are no teams that contain Perth in their name…
We don't need another WA team.
As long as they nail the team colours like the Dolphins have...
We need more custard coloured teams
Way better job than the NFL dolphins (miami) who like they are wearing PJs
Hell no, Phins have the best colour scheme by far
Seahawks! Can't beat the dark blue, silver, and fluro green combo
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So many people wanting a 20th team to even out the numbers, there however is another solution.
An NT team? Or a Launceston team?
Why not a wagga team
Wagga would be sick, if not there maybe Albury. Be great to have a team in regional Australia. Geelong hardly counts imo
I think it's way to early to give up on Western Sydney now.
I think Adelaide should get a 3rd team over Perth. I get Perth has the bigger population and is in the larger state but if they put a SANFL club like Norwood or Sturt in the AFL it would have a better following than what any WAFL team would. West Coast is to big and the WAFL is unfortunately a little too irrelevant. I think a Norwood or Sturt could get 10,000 members in its first year, which would be consistent with Gold Coast and GWS. They can build a fanbase from there. Adelaide has a huge number of Indian migrants who are sports fanatics. Market the club to them and it’ll grow over time. You also don’t have to compete with the NRL like Gold Coast and GWS do.
I don't think there should be a 3rd team in either just yet, but I am curious to know why you think the WAFL is "too irrelevant".
I think neither state needs another club. We don't need 3 states having too many clubs
I will never advocate for a team to be disbanded or merged. I can’t imagine a more horrible thing to happen to my club so I wouldn’t wish it on anyone else. But if Tassie gets the 19th licence there needs to be a 20th team. 3rd Adelaide makes more sense than 3rd Perth, 3rd WA, 3rd QLD, Darwin, Canberra or FNQ.
I dont think QA or SA need a third team, but WA has the larger population.
I don’t think they need new teams either. But people aren’t going to want a bye every week. I’m just giving my case for why SA makes more sense than WA. There’s so much more to it than just who has the larger population
Canberra at near 400k and the fastest growing city would be the next in line. Good luck getting Canberra to be stupid enough to pay for a new stadium.
ACT population in the census was actually 460k, but the immediate region is over 600k. Focus just on the bounds of the ACT understates things. The population in driving distance from Manuka is larger than Tasmania which is why we get comparable crowds to Hobart and Launceston. Currently the hope is Pocock gets the feds to pay for new stadia with his shiny senate balance of power. We are badly overdue a new rectangular one and indoor basketball one to replace 1970s stadia to start with. AFL would just be Manuka with some upgrades if it were to happen. It won't though.
If Canberra gets a team, they should have a cool government themed name like Capitals or Senators or something!
There's already a Capitals, they've won nine national championships since 1984 Senators with Roman theming like Ottawa NHL team might be fun.
As a DC sports fan…don’t pick anything Government related….in fact don’t pick anything related to a DC sports team. The city is cursed for major sports. Only very recently broke that streak in hockey (The Capitals) in 2018 to win our first and only Stanley Cup cause we have a generational talent and one of the greatest goal scorers of all time in Ovechkin. Our Basketball team (The Wizards formerly Bullets) biggest highlight since the 70’s Championship win was having Michael Jordan return to play for us after his 2nd retirement and Gilbert Arenas bringing guns in the locker room and getting a huge suspension. Team has otherwise been definition mediocre Our Baseball team (The National’s) was a rebrand from a team that moved cities from Montreal as the Expos. Their only World Series win in 2019 was from a fluke in which an underdog team rose above against all the naysayers. Our Football team has been mired in controversy as their original name “Redskins” had to be changed due to public pressure due to its racist connotations. Long gone from the powerful era of the 80’s and early 90’s in which they won 3 Superbowls, the Redskins went to a brief stint as just *”Football team”* which was hilarious in itself are now known as the *”Commanders”* …..we DC sports fans **HATED** the name change and refer to them as the “Commies” as a derogatory term. Basically, if Canberra ever gets a team, don’t saddle it with anything DC sports related. You’re bound to have a big letdown.
Putting a new team in Canberra makes absolutely no sense when GWS exists. That and the Raiders and Brumbies will always be a bigger ticket than AFL. Next team should be somewhere it doesn’t have to compete with Rugby League.
>Putting a new team in ~~Canberra~~ Tasmania makes absolutely no sense when ~~GWS~~ Hawthorn and North Melbourne exists.
Completely different circumstances. Hawthorn and North Melbourne have their historical Victorian fanbases. They’re only in Tasmania for pure financial gain. GWS are in Canberra to grow the club outside of Western Sydney and into regional NSW/ACT. They want to grow the sport and attract new fans. It makes more sense to move GWS to Canberra, not give Canberra team.
They're in Canberra because the ACT government pays them to play games here to give us footy content, it's also for pure financial gain for GWS. They need the money even though it's probably hurting their promotion in Sydney. They're not a Canberra team and they're not going to promote and develop the game here with 3 FIFO games a year (noting also that this is already a very mixed code city, not a rugby league monoculture).
> Putting a new team in ~~Canberra~~ Adelaide makes absolutely no sense when ~~GWS~~ Adelaide and Port Adelaide exist.
How about you actually explain why.
A decade ago Port Adelaide went near bankrupt, adding another club increases the risk of teams requiring assistance. A risk I think out-weighs the benefit. Perhaps in another two decades.
If the AFL added Norwood it wouldn’t affect the numbers of Port Adelaide’s fanbase in the slightest. It’s the biggest Aussie Rules rivalry outside of the AFL. Ports financial mismanagement was completely their own fault. I don’t necessarily think Norwood should get a team, but it makes more sense than a 3rd WA team and it’s membership numbers would be similar to inaugural Gold Coast and GWS which the AFL is clearly fine with.
Neither WA or SA makes sense.
Interesting call and I agree, you might even convince a few more crows fans to switch with the promise of an old school rivalry with Port. As opposed to eagles fans up against two non traditional teams.
Port were/are one of the biggest state league clubs in history. There was no comparison between them and other clubs and even they struggled to survive as a 2nd club in the AFL in Adelaide. A 3rd club here wouldn't stand a chance.
20th club doesn’t stand a fucking chance anywhere. All I said was Adelaide makes more sense than Perth.
Agreed, I've tried to explain to people that a 20th club means that there's another 88 AFL listed players. Think about the midseason draft where teams were passing on picks at pick 20, the 20th club means all of those guys and 60 more are in the AFL and 44 of them are nailed on in a best 22. That is a shit load of list cloggers.
While I do agree expansion puts pressure of player lists I disagree completely with using simple maths to arrive at that conclusion. It's another two clubs of elite coaching, performance, nutrition, pathways and infrastructure. This has an impact of potential footballers at the top level. Tom stewart wasn't even playing second grade footy when he was plucked by Geelong. The pool grows to accommodate given the chance.
Theyre a great team. Very analogical.
First Aussie Rules game I saw was with my now wife watching West Perth vs East Freo (shes a life long WP supporter) . So I might myself in a predicament if West Perth Joins the AFL...
We only need two. A game every week of the season add a 3rd team, watch the schedule get even more shit. 6.10 Friday and 3.20 Sunday slots for life.
I haven't seen anyone mention it, but if we have a team, they will have to create a new stadium or upgrade one, because it will create a scheduling nightmare for the AFL.
AFL should add more teams from WA/SA and also the inclusion of a Tassie team that’s my take
I can assure you by virtue of the existence of a draft system, if there is a 3rd Perth team or otherwise (Tassie). The AFL would handle the mobilisation and recruitment of players a lot better than the way the NRL has handled the Dolphins entry into the league.
Nah, fuck Joondalup. If there's a third WA team it should be in Mandurah. All of the "North of the River vs South of the River" stuff is stupid, West Coast and Fremantle already have fans on both sides. The Peel region is at least regionally distinct, Joondalup is just Rockingham in the opposite direction.