TOPIC:

it is a dumb idea - period.

east perth will pocket about $2.5 million at the end of it. only benefit will be stabilizing themselves for the short term. nothing else.

Perth will be the aligned club after that. Eagles based at Lathlain, and playing at burswood.

The Eagles want Lathlain that is no secret how that happens or what happens to Perth is interesting. Perth and Swans merging is high on the commissions agenda.

I heard Smith will be at Claremont next year and Wulf is being headhunted in the amateurs for player/coach positions as he will retire at seasons end

Smith won't be at Claremont. Wulff has taken so much punishment in his time this could be his last year.

ROYAL 2019 wrote: The Eagles want Lathlain that is no secret how that happens or what happens to Perth is interesting. Perth and Swans merging is high on the commissions agenda.

The only way Swans would merge with Perth is as per following:

(i) We remain as the Swan Districts Football Club;
(ii) We remain at Bassendean;
(iii) We continue to wear black and white.

As you can see it would not be a merge.

Also, on what basis Royal 2019 do you make the comment that a 'Perth and Swans merging is high on the commissions (sic) agenda'?

Crazy thing I heard the same story a few weeks back, apparently both Swans and Perth are keen on the idea and $$$$ is a big problem.

royal1 wrote: Crazy thing I heard the same story a few weeks back, apparently both Swans and Perth are keen on the idea and $$$$ is a big problem.

this would be outrageous if we lost the identity of both swans and perth.

swans have a great following, and considering what perth have been through for 30 years, they too at least have an extremely passionate and good supporter base by todays standards.

peel have basically nobody and have achieved nothing. they have not come close to anything worth hanging their hats on. And they have drained the financial system through constant handouts, which ironically are at the expense of clubs like Swans & Perth.

yes swans and perth have had and continue to have money problems like every club. but do they deserve to lose their history and identity to keep peel alive? I am totally against this idea based on the slack allowed to a club who has given absolutely nothing to this competition, as opposed to 2 great clubs who have.

the greatest asset the WAFL has is its rich history. that history being the clubs themselves. I will be damned of i will stand for losing that too, considering we have been forced to accept the magnitude of changes since the expansion of the national league. enough is enough especially on this issue.

We have to accept to a degree that Australians just don't watch second tier sport.

You only have to look at domestic cricket in Australia. A very high standard competition but hardly anybody watches it. The fans are only interested in the international matches. The Sheffield Shield is basically subsidised by money made elsewhere. But it's invaluable to cricket in Australia nevertheless.

The WAFL is still a good quality comp. I've seen some outstanding games this year but people have their much hyped AFL now. But in my eyes the WAFL, like Australian domestic cricket, is invaluable to the health of the sport in this state. League, Reserves and Colts all play an important role.

If profit becomes the only bottom line in sport then the sport will suffer. There has to be a balance between the health of the game and the need to commercialise.

Every now and then I speak to the colts boys at Subi. Tell them well done, stick with it etc

One of the young lads who has had some terrible injuries this year told me that it would be a dream come true to play 150 league games in the WAFL. That said a lot to me. The media might have stopped supporting the competition and in turn the fans might have also but the players coming through know that the WAFL is still quality. The truly dedicated ones don't want to drift off to the amateurs - they want to make it in WA's best comp.

I know sometimes it's tempting to think that the WAFL comp is no good because everybody is swept up by the AFL. But that clearly isn't the case.

We really have something here but from now on we have to do what West Perth did more often. If not on a weekly basis at one game per round with a different club doing the hosting promotion idea each round. That's pretty much 2/3 home game promotions of a WP scale per club. Not a lot really.

nice read there lahincha, well said.

i agree all the clubs need to put their heads together, not on their own.

correct me if Im wrong but I am sure Swans did a similar day a few years ago along the lines of "against violence" or something. I think it involved young luke adams and that policeman (butcher i think). it was promoted well and im sure they got a big crowd of over 5000 against Subi.

Like westperth did last year with their english day, and last weeks events where they got over 6000 people at both events. all clubs can do it, west perth are proof.

jardine wrote: nice read there lahincha, well said.

i agree all the clubs need to put their heads together, not on their own.

correct me if Im wrong but I am sure Swans did a similar day a few years ago along the lines of "against violence" or something. I think it involved young luke adams and that policeman (butcher i think). it was promoted well and im sure they got a big crowd of over 5000 against Subi.

Like westperth did last year with their english day, and last weeks events where they got over 6000 people at both events. all clubs can do it, west perth are proof.

Yes, they are proof mate.

It's just a matter of thinking right, what other concepts can be turned into an "event" like multiculturalism. A variety of angles are needed to fill one match per week for 24 weeks. But I'm sure it can be done in conjunction with the regular smaller promotions which clubs are currently done on a semi-regular basis.