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bohemia
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+xAFL has grounds for concern in SydneyGillon McLachlan has vowed to find football grounds in Sydney for junior players being turned away by local clubs due to a critical shortage of facilities. Pointing to the scarcity and inadequacy of grounds as "almost the biggest challenge facing our game", the AFL chief vowed he would not "accept turning kids away" after holding talks in the harbour city on the eve of the finals with the president of Sydney's biggest junior club.  Lance Franklin has had a huge impact on Australian rules in Sydney. Photo: AAPMcLachlan called a meeting with Eastern Sydney Bulldogs president Iain Dunstan after launching the finals on Wednesday in the harbour city. "The situation, as he explained it, was quite dramatic," said McLachlan. Dunstan, who turned away 70 juniors before this season and said that number would grow into the hundreds come 2018 registrations, pointed to the success of the two Sydney AFL clubs, the enormous impact of Lance Franklin, the influx of junior girls and the league's growing impact in Sydney schools as creating a supply-and-demand crisis. Of his meeting with the AFL boss, Dunstan said: "I think he was genuinely shocked. My view is the AFL has to put in some serious money to fix it and the current growth is only going to exacerbate. "I understand the girls' success caught them on the hop but right now it's like running a business and spending all your money on advertising and then having no product to sell. "I appreciated the time he (McLachlan) gave me and for listening, but I've had to resort to civil disobedience because I just think the AFL is spending the money in the wrong places." Dunstan's club East Sydney was formed in 1880 and boasts 685 junior players, including 100 female players. Forced to share their 139-metre ground at Paddington's Victor Trumper Park with rival club the UTS Bats, Dunstan said his club faced massive expenses renting facilities at the University of NSW 15 kilometres away. For the second successive season both the AFL's Sydney-based clubs are challenging in September and Dunstan said AFL NSW should have pushed harder to follow up negotiations with Randwick racecourse to establish an Australian rules playing field in the middle of the track - first proposed last season. "We"re not getting our message across," said Dunstan, "and we've got two successful AFL clubs, Buddy Franklin is a superstar here and kids are now playing at school on Saturday and wanting to play club footy on Sunday. "It's causing friction between the boys and the girls because we can't send girls in their first season 15 kilometres away to play and the boys think we're favouring them. I can't walk down the street without disappointed parents asking why their kid is being turned away. Where am I going to fit them in?" McLachlan conceded that while football clubs across Australia were being stretched by a shortage of grounds, clubs in Sydney's eastern suburbs were "bursting at the seams". "The facilities challenge for us is almost the biggest challenge facing our game," added McLachlan. "We'll play whatever role we can in turning it around and whatever the solutions are, I'm not going to accept turning kids away." The AFL boss said the competition was working with Sydney's local councils and schools and confirmed the code was exploring establishing a football ground in the middle of Randwick's racecourse. McLachlan added that the NSW minister for Sport Stuart Ayres had been sympathetic to the dearth of playing fields restricting the code in Sydney. Easter Sydney was the junior club of Sydney's Dane Rampe, Hawthorn's Will Langford along with Paul Roos' sons Dylan and Tyler. AFL commissioner Jason Ball coaches the under-15 girls team.
AFL has grounds for concern in Sydney So reading between the lines, there's a junior aussie rules club in Sydney, then you have to drive 15km away to find another one. lol tragic stuff And of course they can't just rent from a cricket club because that doesn't let them control the property and kick other sports off it. Poor guys
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aussie scott21
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AFL has grounds for concern in SydneyGillon McLachlan has vowed to find football grounds in Sydney for junior players being turned away by local clubs due to a critical shortage of facilities. Pointing to the scarcity and inadequacy of grounds as "almost the biggest challenge facing our game", the AFL chief vowed he would not "accept turning kids away" after holding talks in the harbour city on the eve of the finals with the president of Sydney's biggest junior club. Lance Franklin has had a huge impact on Australian rules in Sydney. Photo: AAPMcLachlan called a meeting with Eastern Sydney Bulldogs president Iain Dunstan after launching the finals on Wednesday in the harbour city. "The situation, as he explained it, was quite dramatic," said McLachlan. Dunstan, who turned away 70 juniors before this season and said that number would grow into the hundreds come 2018 registrations, pointed to the success of the two Sydney AFL clubs, the enormous impact of Lance Franklin, the influx of junior girls and the league's growing impact in Sydney schools as creating a supply-and-demand crisis. Of his meeting with the AFL boss, Dunstan said: "I think he was genuinely shocked. My view is the AFL has to put in some serious money to fix it and the current growth is only going to exacerbate. "I understand the girls' success caught them on the hop but right now it's like running a business and spending all your money on advertising and then having no product to sell. "I appreciated the time he (McLachlan) gave me and for listening, but I've had to resort to civil disobedience because I just think the AFL is spending the money in the wrong places." Dunstan's club East Sydney was formed in 1880 and boasts 685 junior players, including 100 female players. Forced to share their 139-metre ground at Paddington's Victor Trumper Park with rival club the UTS Bats, Dunstan said his club faced massive expenses renting facilities at the University of NSW 15 kilometres away. For the second successive season both the AFL's Sydney-based clubs are challenging in September and Dunstan said AFL NSW should have pushed harder to follow up negotiations with Randwick racecourse to establish an Australian rules playing field in the middle of the track - first proposed last season. "We"re not getting our message across," said Dunstan, "and we've got two successful AFL clubs, Buddy Franklin is a superstar here and kids are now playing at school on Saturday and wanting to play club footy on Sunday. "It's causing friction between the boys and the girls because we can't send girls in their first season 15 kilometres away to play and the boys think we're favouring them. I can't walk down the street without disappointed parents asking why their kid is being turned away. Where am I going to fit them in?" McLachlan conceded that while football clubs across Australia were being stretched by a shortage of grounds, clubs in Sydney's eastern suburbs were "bursting at the seams". "The facilities challenge for us is almost the biggest challenge facing our game," added McLachlan. "We'll play whatever role we can in turning it around and whatever the solutions are, I'm not going to accept turning kids away." The AFL boss said the competition was working with Sydney's local councils and schools and confirmed the code was exploring establishing a football ground in the middle of Randwick's racecourse. McLachlan added that the NSW minister for Sport Stuart Ayres had been sympathetic to the dearth of playing fields restricting the code in Sydney. Easter Sydney was the junior club of Sydney's Dane Rampe, Hawthorn's Will Langford along with Paul Roos' sons Dylan and Tyler. AFL commissioner Jason Ball coaches the under-15 girls team.
AFL has grounds for concern in Sydney
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aussie scott21
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+xYou could look at it another way. Every football club should now be readying their applications for government funding by reclassifying rectangular football fields and stadia as 'multi sports' facilities, also suitable for Aflx. Yep, I think Melbourne getting a new bigger rectangle stadium could depend on AFLXs success. It would be much easier to propose with MV and AFLX on board.
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MarkfromCroydon
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You could look at it another way. Every football club should now be readying their applications for government funding by reclassifying rectangular football fields and stadia as 'multi sports' facilities, also suitable for Aflx.
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redcup
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Years ago I remember that a strong rumour was suggesting that Futsal was to be made an Olympic sport and the 11 a side game was leaving as they were continually getting larger crowds than most of the other sports.
Some of my friends are mad keen on ARF and they're avid believers in the outrageous mis-truths that the AFL come out with. I never argue with them as they enjoy watching that messy game and really there is no contest, crowd or money wise between it & football.
I must admit, though, my smugness as banners in the main streets proudly announced Hindmarsh was hosting Football during the 2000 Olympics.
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Langan
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In some areas it's very hard to find a decent pitch to play and train on. Now this stupid AFLX is going to start using our pitches, tearing them up and being given priority booking. Not happy Jan.
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redcup
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+x+xClassic AFL article, spend the first half talking about how massive and dominant AFL is in Australia, spend the second half dreaming about how it is going to become an international game. God love 'em. With these sort of fluff stories the real story is in what they're trying to divert your attention away from. A 5 second browse of the newspaper yields a pretty good answer. Channel 7 making a billion dollars worth of writedowns today due to losses on sports broadcasting. Admits they overvalued sports rights and a correction is coming. AFL in the box seat for this one. I took this as an abysmal reading of watchers. Most TV watching now is online streaming and online networks, like Netflix. These are universal and not parochial, so sports that are not international are not shown as much and those TV programmes that rely on some untrained mob building a house, or telling some kid that they have a great singing voice just doesn't cut it against HBO or BBC dramas. But that may be more my dislike of commercial TV over-riding the realities that commercial TV has to address.
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TheSelectFew
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+xWould love for our code to include futsal as part of our development to have our sport to be year round or at least some of 5v5 aside, a shame the FFA doesn't to burn of that opportunity. No. They did. They had plenty of opportunity and they gambled with it instead of playing it safe.
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Barca4Life
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Would love for our code to include futsal as part of our development to have our sport to be year round or at least some of 5v5 aside, a shame the FFA doesn't to burn of that opportunity.
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TheSelectFew
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+x+xAFLX sounds ridiculous- I can't imagine it ever catching on, either with traditional AFL fans, or non-AFL fans. Might be better with women playing it. It's basically their answer to Futsal. Is futsal as popular as football on TV? No, definitely not in Australia that's for sure. Is it as popular to play? Yes, definitely. If the AFL play their cards right they can make it popular, at a recreational level, especially during summer. Would it work overseas? Not a chance in hell. Never heard much about their China experiment after it happened. On that, I would love every club to have futsal and egaming departments.
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azzaMVFC
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+xAFLX sounds ridiculous- I can't imagine it ever catching on, either with traditional AFL fans, or non-AFL fans. Might be better with women playing it. It's basically their answer to Futsal. Is futsal as popular as football on TV? No, definitely not in Australia that's for sure. Is it as popular to play? Yes, definitely. If the AFL play their cards right they can make it popular, at a recreational level, especially during summer. Would it work overseas? Not a chance in hell. Never heard much about their China experiment after it happened.
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connaust
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And this: 'aspires to taking Australian football to that elusive international audience.'
Maybe that international audience finds AFL elusive and incomprehensible, or simply curiosity value?
Related, there is quite a bit of healthy crossover in interest between AFL supporters and football amongst younger generations, especially understanding the international allure of football through more exposure (even understanding that some 'innovations' in AFL tactics were imported from football).
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localstar
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AFLX sounds ridiculous- I can't imagine it ever catching on, either with traditional AFL fans, or non-AFL fans. Might be better with women playing it.
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aussie scott21
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Broadcasters attracted to AFL’S answer to Twenty20It’s still a work-in-progress with no fixture and a half notion about its raison d’etre, but the AFL’s answer to T20 cricket, AFLX, is already raising interest from broadcasters. The modified rules competition, which is a chance to be trialled by the AFL early next season, is partly aimed at spreading the game into local territories where there are not enough football grounds and possibly aspires to taking Australian football to that elusive international audience. AFLX is a 10-a-side (seven on the field at any one time) game, played on a rectangular pitch with four 10-minute quarters. It is still in the development phase and the AFL is not sure whether it wants to exploit the concept as a participation product or something at the elite level. The non-contact nine-a-side AFL9s has been a hit at the community level since its introduction five years ago and fills the participation space, but is limited because it is played on AFL fields. The league originally planned to trial AFLX in the bye week before the grand final this year, but has abandoned that idea and is considering a tournament in the 2018 pre-season. There are also suggestions it may be trialled before the International Rules games in Adelaide and Perth in November, with the prospect it could replace that concept, which has been beset with troubles. GRAPHIC: Proposed AFLX rules The AFL pre-season is a shifting zone with the league abandoning its trophy and moving it to a three-game-per-club competition in response to concerns about player loads and some team’s not taking the competition seriously. If the AFLX is played next year it would cut the pre-season JLT Community Series down to two games per club. Shorter, faster and transportable — AFLX can be played anywhere in the world — the idea will be watched anxiously by cricket and soccer who compete for oxygen with the AFL. Fox Footy general manager Michael Neill admitted there was always demand for new content and AFLX has the potential to attract broadcasters. “It’s difficult to know exactly what its full potential is until you know who is involved, what level of player and what the structure of the competition is. It is hard to say, but I can see it as a bit of a tune-up for players in the pre-season,” Neill said. “We will absolutely be looking at it if they bring it to us.” Neill agreed that the abbreviated form of the game would be a threat to tournaments such as cricket’s twnety20 Big Bash League, but thought it would probably be scheduled for later in the summer. The AFL has always been limited by the demands for a unique field shape, which has seen it go to great lengths over the years to enable exhibition games to be held in England, America, China and the like. The growing popularity of women’s football and Australian rules in NSW and Queensland has put even more demands on the limited ground availability. AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said last week the league was in consultation with clubs and other stakeholders about the future shape of AFLX. “We would like to put an AFLX weekend in prior to the JLT Community Series, and I think that had support from the clubs and I am confident that will happen,” McLachlan said after a two-day meeting with club CEOs last week. “We’ve got to finalise that and we have to work with broadcasters and sponsors on the final configuration of the JLT. If it is two or three games we would still be doing something with AFLX.’’
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/afl/broadcasters-attracted-to-afls-answer-to-twenty20/news-story/6b9280e0082094900a2a08ec2096b6dc
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walnuts
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+x+xClassic AFL article, spend the first half talking about how massive and dominant AFL is in Australia, spend the second half dreaming about how it is going to become an international game. God love 'em. With these sort of fluff stories the real story is in what they're trying to divert your attention away from. A 5 second browse of the newspaper yields a pretty good answer. Channel 7 making a billion dollars worth of writedowns today due to losses on sports broadcasting. Admits they overvalued sports rights and a correction is coming. AFL in the box seat for this one. We'll probably be thankful for Foxtel in a decade's time, as opposed to relying on FTA to support the game financially. Would love to see the FFA be more proactive with things like streaming but hey, they could't organise a root in a brothel, so there's that.
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bohemia
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+xClassic AFL article, spend the first half talking about how massive and dominant AFL is in Australia, spend the second half dreaming about how it is going to become an international game. God love 'em. With these sort of fluff stories the real story is in what they're trying to divert your attention away from. A 5 second browse of the newspaper yields a pretty good answer. Channel 7 making a billion dollars worth of writedowns today due to losses on sports broadcasting. Admits they overvalued sports rights and a correction is coming. AFL in the box seat for this one.
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Iknowbest
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+xFor those not in Victoria let me explain. Aussie Rules is a religion here. 90% of locals follow it and they all have been brainwashed to absolutely believe it is the best sport in the world. 90% of people would follow an Afl team and identify the sport as forming part of their cultural identity in being Australian. The majority also believe its elite level players could pick and choose to play any other sport and be superstars at that other sport. Every single day, this type of thinking is promoted and reinforced in print, radio and tv news and other programs. Football is seen as a threat from foreign lands that actually threatens people's very own cultural identity. That's what we're up against. Good summary. Dad's teach their boys and girls from a young age to get into it (some smart kids see through this but the majority do not) and it just becomes part of life. People follow teams that they have absolutely no association with. For example, how many Collingwood supporters actually live in or near or would even want to visit Collingwood. Collingwood are not even based in Collingwood. Similarly for most Melbourne clubs. People choose a team because their dad like that team or their friends barrack for them or they like the colors etc. There is very little logic to it. Having said that as the population increases with people from oversea footy is losing it strong hold. I work for a company that has a lot of smart people in it. Footy is hardly ever discussed. Infact real football would have more support. Among the stupids though it will survive for some time.
Full trophy cabinet (but yours looks a bit empty) !
Reigning BACK2BACK 442 A League and World Cup (Mens and Womens) Tipping Champion - so yeap, I do know best !
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Feed_The_Brox
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+x+xAre Victorians really so stupid that they believe any other country in the world will brace their boring little game? It will never even matter north of the Murray river, where most Australians live. As a Victorian, yes there are a large portion of people which are that stupid. They live in an AFL centric bubble and believe the rubbish spouted by an AFL dominated media. sad but true unfortunately. but most AFL Bogans I have come across on social media ridicule this AFLX concept as much as us.
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MarkfromCroydon
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For those not in Victoria let me explain. Aussie Rules is a religion here. 90% of locals follow it and they all have been brainwashed to absolutely believe it is the best sport in the world. 90% of people would follow an Afl team and identify the sport as forming part of their cultural identity in being Australian. The majority also believe its elite level players could pick and choose to play any other sport and be superstars at that other sport. Every single day, this type of thinking is promoted and reinforced in print, radio and tv news and other programs. Football is seen as a threat from foreign lands that actually threatens people's very own cultural identity. That's what we're up against.
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Iknowbest
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I am Victorian. AFL is absolute rubbish. I can not stand it. So many dumb rules. The rest of the world will never get into it. I can not believe it still survives. It belong in the sports I would like to see disappear forever category such as Rugby, netball, cricket, walking, dwarf tossing etc. (Actually maybe keep that last one).
Full trophy cabinet (but yours looks a bit empty) !
Reigning BACK2BACK 442 A League and World Cup (Mens and Womens) Tipping Champion - so yeap, I do know best !
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localstar
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How is AFL going in China? (lol)
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sokorny
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I think if the AFL wants to market the game to countries outside of Australia they need to change the brand / name. AFLX (the A stands for Australian) or Aussie Rules ... not really inclusive terms. Then they have the problem that outside of Australia the term football is already taken by soccer (or NFL). Not sure footy will take off either in these countries.
How many sports unique to a single country take off around the world?? Especially one with such limitations as Australia demographically and geographically??
Rugby still struggles outside of their strong holds in Europe and has been there for many years, with big salaries. They've tried for years to break into the US market, recently made head way in Japan (esp. with the Super Rugby team) ... I just think the lack of international competition will be the main limit on other countries taking up AFL though (rugby has had an international, be it limited, competition for many years before trying to establish new markets).
They would probably be best targeting the Pacific Islands ... although rugby has a big presence there, and probably not enough ROI for the AFL in that area.
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City Sam
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+xAre Victorians really so stupid that they believe any other country in the world will brace their boring little game? It will never even matter north of the Murray river, where most Australians live. As a Victorian, yes there are a large portion of people which are that stupid. They live in an AFL centric bubble and believe the rubbish spouted by an AFL dominated media.
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Crusader
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Are Victorians really so stupid that they believe any other country in the world will brace their boring little game? It will never even matter north of the Murray river, where most Australians live.
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Nachoman
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Ah good old Patrick Smith
another well paid AFL journo supporting his masters ...
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Eldar
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Classic AFL article, spend the first half talking about how massive and dominant AFL is in Australia, spend the second half dreaming about how it is going to become an international game. God love 'em.
Beaten by Eldar
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TheSelectFew
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Yet they struggle to fill up some games at Etihad. How about investing here first.
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walnuts
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So AFLX is essentially netball with a Sherrin?
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Lastbroadcast
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Good Ol' football imperialism - colonise the foreign lands and spread the gospel of AFL
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Langan
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FFS
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