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I recently listened to a radio discussion about North Melbourne.
There was talk about them looking to boost their revenue by selling games in 2025 and 2026 to the two WA clubs. This was considered by the hosts to be a defeatist attitude and virtually guaranteeing more losses.
However, the reasoning behind this is that in 2027, the Tasmanian team will be entering the competition and all the work the Kangaroos and Hawthorn have done there to build a fanbase will be undone and most of the state’s fans and sponsors will jump on board the Devils.
Competing against the big Victorian clubs is hard when you’re the smallest, so North Melbourne has failed to generate sufficient revenue for the last 20 years and has relied on handouts from the AFL.
However, their membership numbers continue to lag and they ended 2024 with the lowest number of members of any AFL club in Victoria.
In fact, the only two clubs they are ahead of in numbers are the expansion clubs – Gold Coast and GWS.
Previous talk of The Kangaroos relocating to the Gold Coast and merging with the Suns was never going to happen.
In fairness, any merger would be more of a takeover and the Kangaroos would lose their identity.
However, there is an option to relocate, open up new sponsorship opportunities, retain their identity and even make the competition fairer.
If the Kangaroos relocated to Perth and based themselves somewhere in the Northern suburbs of the city they could be the Northern Kangaroos, retaining their colours and attracting new members and sponsors whilst retaining most of the current members and sponsors.
Perth offers a different lifestyle to Melbourne and it’s a matter of personal opinion as to which is better but it is no longer a backwater country town. It is a great place to live – especially as an AFL player.
Cameron Zurhaar kicks a goal. (Photo by Jason McCawley/AFL Photos/via Getty Images )
WA and its’ economy is now big enough for three AFL teams and we have a 60,000-seat stadium currently only used once a week during winter.
The state needs a third team and it’s not coming from NSW, Queensland or South Australia. Creating a new team will take years to get established, chew up huge dollars, more early draft picks and dilute the talent pool.
Basing the Kangaroos in WA could create new rivalries with both the Eagles and the Dockers, generating an increased level of interest around a few more games each season.
The existing WA clubs would also appreciate one less trip to the East each year. Eastern state sides would mostly end up with two trips to Perth each season.
On the sponsorship side, it may dilute the value of a West Coast or Freo sponsorship but only slightly and both of those clubs are strong financially.
Obviously, there are many more issues to work out but I think the AFL needs to do something and this seems like a sensible solution to an ongoing problem.
The losers? Obviously, Melbourne-based fans of the Kangaroos will be disadvantaged. In 2024, The Kangaroos played 13 games in Victoria compared to six for the Eagles and five for the Dockers.
I wonder how many Kangaroos fans can honestly say they went to more than six games a season over the last five years.
However, if I lived in Melbourne and was a passionate Kangaroos fan, I’d be prepared for anything if it meant my side could be competitive again – on and off the field.
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