Roar Pro
Joined January 2012
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too much sport is not enough
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There is a strong smell of desperation around this corporate-created team trying too hard.
Every code has it weaknesses. Those little chinks in its game that people don't like, but exist all the same. For all the things…
Did anybody happen to see Riley McGree's goal on Friday night? The insane 'scorpion kick' in front of a boisterous home crowd propelled the…
Moves by the FFA to expand the A-League have a lot of fans buzzing about the future of football in this country. Many would…
People are listing seemingly never-ending lists of problems with the A-League of late, so here are some solutions. Fan engagement How do we turn…
The excitement and demand for new teams to enter Australian football has reached a tipping point, however we must proceed with caution, for there…
The A-League has finished for the season but the chatter among fans about where to take the beautiful game is never ending. The talk…
With the AFL's sights set on going international, now is the perfect time for the A-League and professional football to take centre stage in…
While replying to an excellent Jay Croucher article discussing Fremantle's woes, I asked in the comments section whether Matthew Pavlich can be considered a…
The whole of the AFL community and wider Australian sporting public is celebrating the landmark $2.5 billion media rights deal the league secured. It…
An interesting article written by Tony Tannous on the fate of two newly formed franchises in Western Sydney was fermenting debate yesterday on The…
An interesting article written by The Roar columnist Janek Speight led to a spirited debate on this very website. In the article he thought…
Could the A-League ever match the two dominant winter codes in this country and secure a $1 billion TV rights deal? Every successful sporting…
In his regular weekly sports column journalist Peter FitzSimons went on a usual rant about why "football" should be called "soccer" in Australia. This…
An initiative I would like to throw open to fellow Roarers is the idea of an A-League Cup replacing the finals system. Unlike the…
As we inch closer to the milestone of ten years of pro football in this country, I think the time is ripe to discuss…
The FFA Cup has been a welcomed and long awaited announcement. Although ignored by a lot of mainstream media, it is another block in…
Roarers have often talked about the style of football played on the park, but how do we feel about the style of the overall…
A popular debate in the comments section of football stories on The Roar is the notion the A-League or the FFA in general should…
The new reports of fan violence blasting across mainstream media and internet news sites should have every genuine football fan worried. Once again Australian…
Canberra doesn’t rate high enough on metrics. It’s a small market that is as much a “league/union” town as it is a “afl town”. Most of its citizens are fly ins from other states who allegiances are elsewhere ( similar to Gold Coast demographics).
I know people will point to Tasmania but really that was a purely emotional decision that was led on a wave of publicity – for which unusually the AFL caved.
GWS will need Canberra for a few decades yet. People might say that the ACT only makes up 10-20% of GWS membership – but taking that chunk away from an already low number would put them on life support.
The AFL massively overestimated its popularity in the Sydney market due to the success of the Swans. Anyone with local knowledge will know that the AFL in Sydney is largely seen as an Anglo middle class sport who basically stole the fans of Rugby Union in the East ( and some of the South) of the City.
Basically the need Canberra to keep the GWS experiment alive until a time they can ditch them and go Sydney alone
Time to end relationship of convenience: Canberra doesn't owe GWS anything
Tall and lumbering bowlers – can at times be a powerful batter. They can at times dominate at the crease. I think if we can mould Green into a Watson or even a Hayden it could be good.
Test Mortem: Head should be captain on tour, Carey’s glovework like clockwork and Kohli's future bleak with India imploding
He reminds me of Shane Watson. When he was moved to opener I thought it was fairly successful.
Test Mortem: Head should be captain on tour, Carey’s glovework like clockwork and Kohli's future bleak with India imploding
You forgot to mention that the Indians have been vocally supported in their campaign against correct decisions by Jonny Bairstow.
A sinister pattern? New research reveals Indians are being targeted by disgracefully correct decisions
The League has not built enough inter-generational support for that to happen. Plus the local league faces competition from better leagues around the world that people want to watch. The AFL and NRL don’t have that issue to contend with ( even cricket to some extent). It would takes decades to fix that issue.
At what point do we admit the City Football Group offer the A-Leagues very little?
Probably because its 40 degrees out there and a work day. Playing over 5 days the average audience is pretty decent.
At what point do we admit the City Football Group offer the A-Leagues very little?
Spitting facts. It’s time for a renewal. At least give a newbie a crack at India and see how they fair. Marnis and Travis have had a remarkable career but now is the time to rest them. Our bowling unit has kept us above water for almost 2/3 years. Now 75% of them are close to the “36” year old club where most players seem to fall off the cliff. Now is our time to tinker before the ashes.
Aussies on edge of a cliff as quest for greatness morphs into battle for survival - and to avoid unwanted 36-year first
The first and most obvious solution is the price point. Quite simply, it needs to be the cheapest ticket in town and advertised as such. There is no generational support as it is still a relatively new league so people need to be incentivised to attend before you rely on that rock solid support.
Also football support is massively misunderstood in this country. People look at showpiece events like Liverpool touring or the Matildas, World Cup etc and assume those are all football fans waiting to be engaged with – they aren’t.
They are theatre and event watchers. Also people are blinded by the playing numbers of the sport when any parent can tell you they sign their kids up to football not for any intrinisic love of the game. Its because its relatively simple to pick up (but difficult to master) and it is a relatively ‘safe’ sport compared to the collision codes of AFL and NRL.
Those same parents who take their kids to “soccer on saturday” morning are the same ones who take their kids to their AFL/NRL team later that afternoon.
The NSL, Soccer Australia, FFA, FA etc have always misunderstood this simple fact. Fans will not turn up to support a club simply because you have built/created one. Creating a top down approach never works as you must always build from the ground up – its the reason why the AFLW is flaming out spectacularly after an initial buzz.
The A League or football in Australia in general needs to create a “bottom up” approach that builds on teams created from communities that actually want them – not simply looking at “growth corridors” and assuming that they will support a team because lots of people need something to do.
The lack of atmosphere at A-League games is slowly killing the competition
Disagree. Women were given the opportunity, they just didn’t want it. The amount of girls who had to stop playing once they reached puberty were extremely small. Most girls for generations play netball, tennis, swimming and atheltics because thats what they chose to do.
If there was enough demand for womens football then they would of formed their own teams. This league was created by the AFL corporate as a PR exercise because they were losing ground to netabll, cricket and soccer and didn’t want to be seen as dinosaurs. No vast amounts of people were out there campainging for womens AFL like they were for a AFL team in Tasmania.
Former college basketballer Eliza West has proven she's a true footballer and has a second premiership in her sights
I have said this for a while now and I believe it still remains true. Football in this country is massively misunderstood. Its a mile wide and an inch thick. People look at 90K at the MCG for Liverpool or 10+mil watching the Matildas and assume all of those people must be die in the wool fans. They are theatre goers, bandwagon supporters….the proverbial “fair weathered fans” that only go because its the thing to do.
There has never been the solid consistent support fans of the sport think there is in Australia. Playing numbers are massively inflated by parents enrolling their kid in what they deem a ‘safe sport”.
Those same kids who play football on the weekend then go with their parents to watch their NRL/AFL team play. Those sports developed first in this country and thus have established deep cultural roots.
It will take a generation for this type of thinking to break. The FA need to get rid of this “build it and they will come” mentality. We need teams with an actual connection to their community.
Came from nowhere, built on nothing: Wanderers pulling just 6,000 fans in young season is a dire warning
The fact that she said she literally never played football before joining the AFLW is very telling. The fact she could succeed in the sport despite never having played it shows there aren’t enough female footballers to support 18 teams.
Former college basketballer Eliza West has proven she's a true footballer and has a second premiership in her sights
Seriously? This is a big issue? Who gives a flying fig about whether the foot touches the ball. Just roll it under your legs and get going.
Talk about making a mountain out of a molehill ????♂️.
Why fixing NRL play-the-ball plague isn't as easy as penalising sneaky players all the time
The whole league was founded on the wrong premise. They saw the advances cricket, netball and soccer and didn’t want to miss out. There was no actual demand for “womens” afl and there has never been. I watched a few games in season 1 and the commentators gushed how certain players were playing their first ever game of footy. Fans were excited by the novelty of it and turned out in big numbers, the afl got excited by this and quickly expanded the teams when there simply wasn’t enough talented players to warrant 18 teams.
The product has suffered as a result. I’ve tuned in back this year to watch a few games and this may be rude to say, but it isn’t an entertaining product. It is an amateur sport cosplaying as a professional sport. The low crowd numbers and anemic tv audience demonstrate that most people think this. The novelty has gone. People have it a chance but it isn’t enjoyable to watch.
The NRLW has got the balance right and kept it small and is far more entertaining to watch.
COMMENT: It's time for the AFL to decide whether they actually care about AFLW
Wasn’t Charlie Cameron used as the kid all grown up in that ‘made by fans’ AFL ad? Kinda of ironic
'Real tragedy': Internet comes for 'flog' Cameron over Auskicker snub amid love-in for 'BOG' Lions staffer
The proper decision was made. Horse wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice like picking Sam Reid in 2022. Robbie Fox is a good replacement and would be a starter anyway in most teams. The Swans are in no way a huge deficit by having Fox in the team.
Mills is no way the Swans true captain. That job should have gone to Heeny this year – or at least Dane Rampe again. Getting injured on mad Monday as basically your first captains act was a shocking lack of foresight and he should of resigned the captaincy then and there.
AFL News: Swans make GF call on Mills, umpires could get access to in-depth stats after Brownlow drama
And the Swans lost the year before that. They will also be hungry to avenge their loss.
Sydney have the better stars, Brisbane have more - who will rise on Grand Final day?
As a Swans fan of many years it pains me to say this but ever since our “never really should of happened 2012 win” we have consistently played our worst game of the season in the other 3 GF’s we lost. Longmire is a great coach but his weakness is he can’t adapt on the run when things aren’t working. If the swans can get over their habit of stage fright in the first quarter they should win comfortably.
Sydney have the better stars, Brisbane have more - who will rise on Grand Final day?
Bobby Hills mark was much better than Elliot’s. He was a deserving winner
Forget Cripps - Harley Reid's bog standard Goal of the Year was the most ridiculous win of Brownlow night
I disagree. I follow both codes and can tell you there isn’t anything inferior about the skill level of the NRL. For example I encourage you to watch the Game 3 in State of Origin of 2023 and 2024 and not be awed. It’s actually consistently a better game than the AFL. A blowout in AFL is unbearable to watch – there are very few blowouts in NRL . Also those crowd figures you cite are a bit misleading. You’re not taking into account the hundreds of thousands of people who watch NRL every week. The Swans..having the highest stadium viewing fans of any team in Sydney ( that’s in no doubt) – have only about 30,000 people watching them on tv – this is prime time as well in Sydney. Even the lowest rating NRL team averages close to 150k in viewing. It’s an oddity as to why NRL fans prefer the tv to the stadium – but Melbourne is better planned than Sydney for live events.
Finals Fix: How the Giants butchered their season with the greatest choke since the Colliwobbles
Did anyone notice how loud the cheer was for the Lions? Their fans were in equal number if not more than the Giants….and this was a Giants finals home game. GWS have barely made a blip in the conscious of Western Sydney. This is a two generation project – 40 years at least in AFL funding – to establish this team.
Finals Fix: How the Giants butchered their season with the greatest choke since the Colliwobbles
Let’s just hope no one suggest growing poppies 😂
Men behaving badly: Why a little old high school project could provide much-needed perspective to NRL players
All the best rugby juniors play or get moved into league. The traditional nursery of rugby in Sydney is slowly being overtaken by AFL . This is the real issue. Our players just aren’t good, and other nations have caught up. The current wallabies are invisible and wouldn’t even get arrested. If you were to ask rugby fans to name a wallaby they would say John Eales before Will Skelton.
'That's proper dark': England star says Lions should ditch Wallabies tour, Mils blames Aussies for All Blacks' woes
It is poor quality – compared to other leagues around the world. All those other countries don’t have to contend with popular domestic leagues from other football codes. There’s no other sport stealing the talent and sponsorships away from football in Europe like we have here in Australia with the NRL and AFL.
Also it is largely a plastic league with teams formed in boardrooms by lawyers and marketers. There was no community out there building Sydney FC or the Victory. If they weren’t built by the community they will always struggle for community support as people have no strong emotional bond with the team. A bit like how GWS Giants struggle for fans despite being a good team.
We need to change perceptions of Australian football: It's a myth that the quality of our domestic game is poor
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Rugby in this country did not survive professionalism. Our heyday was in the amateur era and slightly past that when they overlapped.
The Wallabies are essentially the b- grade Kangaroos. They are the players the NRL didn’t want. Anyone with any real talent gets poached early into NRL pathways. What we are watching are the players all the NRL teams rejected.
'Humiliating': Wallabies slump to new low after conceding most points EVER as Argentina run rampant
Time to cut him loose. He’s always injured. They need to move on.
Worrying deja vu for Petracca after 'frustrating' training injury puts comeback bid on hold