21 April 2006

Gazza warns 'Roos of Carrara boogeyman

| johnboy
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Politicians of all stripes have been putting out increasingly shrill media releases as part of a campaign to “save” AFL in the ACT.

Senator Humphries has taken it to a new level with a release warning that the “curse of Skase” haunts Carrara Stadium and any team playing there is doomed to failure and ignominy.

Our dear bearded one is by no means alone in this charade. But he has gone the extra mile to look stupid. Three games a year was always an ugly compromise that did little to build the game in the ACT while undermining the once strong local league.

And at the end of the day Manuka Oval has never been up to the task and no Government has been willing to spend the money required to make it competitive.

All the bleating just masks the reality that neither side of politics was willing to do what it takes and are now trying to use spin to cover for substance. If they’re genuinely interested in the well-being of “AFL fans” they’d be directing this energy into pushing local TV to show more games at decent hours.

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You forgot to add the superior femininity.

Superior athleticism my ass. Each sport is different. What defines athleticism in your books? Speed (let’s throw a Matt Bowen or Lote into the mix), strength (Lote again, maybe a Shane Webcke). Comparing the football codes is like apples v oranges. Each has their own defining skills.

If Manuka cant be filled for 3 games a year its a waste of time…and I went to a couple of the games. Raiders can continue to function with roughly 10K per game, and the Brumbies with 15-20K. TV rights drive them.

AFL as a large scale spectator sport in Canberra is up there with the dodo. Its a shame but its the truth

No need to go on. I’ve buckled under the sheer weight of your argument. Sadly I haven’t been spending enough time doing arm-weights to keep up with minimum AFL requirements. After all, you need a lot of upper body strength to hold a one kilo ball.

I’ll stick to my pathetic, inferior football codes and leave the elite stuff to the blokes in tight shorts.

superior athleticism, skills, tactical awareness of individual players.

superior place in national psyche as a home-grown game.

superior sporting code in oz in terms of spectator attendance AT MATCHES.

superior sportinh code by TV audience figures.

shall i go on ?

Slinky the Shocker2:33 pm 21 Apr 06

We might trade the Brumbies for the ‘Roos. Could potentially double suicide rates amongst private school boys, but hey, that’s life…

“i couldn’t give a rat’s arse….stupid game.”

Well that saves me from writing a rebuttal to bonfire’s comment that AFL is a “superior” game. Lest this discussion falls into a bout of insult slinging.

Back on topic though, I was previously going to mention the Carnellification of Canberra Stadium as a nail in the coffin of AFL in the ACT. But lets face facts, you’re not going to get 20,000 punters to watch 3 AFL games a year, even if you were handing free Crownies.

We simply don’t have the population, location, or corporate dollars to support numerous sports at the national level. Cosmos, Bushrangers, Cannons, et al.

i couldn’t give a rat’s arse….stupid game.

I’ll be there on Sunday! AFL rocks!

carnell deliberately killed afl by developing bruce stadium as a rugby only zone.

prior to this redesign, it could happily accommodate superior codes like afl.

the afl need to signal to the act that even if the roos go to carrara, that act will still get three games a year.

im not a roos supporter, but i go to each game to support afl in the act.

Agreed. Well said JB. You might need a job in people magazine me thinks.

The Raiders will probably hitch a ride on the Roo’s coat tails and head to the Central Coast if their poor form and local turnstyle figures don’t improve.

Although I am an Adelaide Crows fan, I will be going to the game on Sunday to support AFL in Canberra. I urge all other AFL fans to do the same, otherwise I fear this may be the last year that we see AFL premiership games played in Canberra.

For AFL to remain viable in the ACT a few things need to be done:
1. People need to actually turn up … no matter how cold or wet it is! Anything less than a full house at Manuka is seen as a failure to the AFL.
2. Manuka Oval needs to be upgraded to accommodate more seating for more fans … a capacity of around 20,000 is required.
3. The ACT government & business community need to provide more financial support to lure a melbourne team here for more than 3 games a year.

Due to their financial position the ACT government is unlikely to inject the necessary funds into AFL development and upgrading Manuka Oval.

I am sure the Kangaroos will be making the sunny Gold Coast their holiday home from next year!

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