TOPIC:

MarkOlsen wrote: promoting a Peel game at Bassendean is totally illogical, Peel have no supporters and Freo supporters are not going to travel to Basso.
only East Freo and South would have a chance of getting a good crowd against Peel..

yes Mark, its absolutely pointless promoting it.

Dockers people regardless of the alignment, have no connection with the name Peel Thunder. Unless they are eventually based at Cockburn and re-named "Fremantle", the people will not acknowledge them.

Same with West Coast who are aligned to East Perth. Eagles supporters have zero connection with EP. They connect with the name Eagles and the colours Blue & Yellow. That is it. Proof in all this is the lame & pathetic turn outs at games this year so far.

The SANFL have a stand alone Crows team called Adelaide. Playing in Crows like colours too , which will attract Adelaide people to the SANFL competition.

Port Adelaide Power align with Port Adelaide Magpies. Immediately the Power supporters connect with SANFL Port Adelaide Football Club.

The two type of set-ups, both SANFL & WAFL are totally different. One has been thought through correctly with the integrity of the original clubs taken into consideration, attaining media interest along the way that otherwise would not be attainable, and a clean 10-team competition that starts in April.

The other is a half-baked idea, showing zero respect to the culture of local football, creating a public perception that the only important thing in all of this is the welfare of about 25 fringe players over 125 years of history, and a fixture that is a dogs breakfast, while keeping an uneven 9-team competition that starts in baking heat in mid-March. And no commercial TV interest as a result. You wont gain a networks interest with Peel Thunder & East Perth. But as Fremantle & West Coast you will, like Adelaide & Port Adelaide HAS DONE in South Australia with 7mate.

We are being led by incompetent fools.

From 2016 IF there is still an alignment involving Mandurah Districts - the team will be called Cockburn , the local council will insist on it given the coin they've invested in the venture .... and games will be played there it is a certainty

MarkOlsen wrote: promoting a Peel game at Bassendean is totally illogical, Peel have no supporters and Freo supporters are not going to travel to Basso.
only East Freo and South would have a chance of getting a good crowd against Peel..

What WAFL club they support is totally irrelevant. Clubs should be targeting the 40k+ members of the AFL clubs, most who have no WAFL leanings, who have no football to go to every 2nd week and an interest in their clubs juniors. Bloody hell a donkey could get 1% of them in just to see and support Morabito and his comeback.

Barney wrote:

MarkOlsen wrote: promoting a Peel game at Bassendean is totally illogical, Peel have no supporters and Freo supporters are not going to travel to Basso.
only East Freo and South would have a chance of getting a good crowd against Peel..

What WAFL club they support is totally irrelevant. Clubs should be targeting the 40k+ members of the AFL clubs, most who have no WAFL leanings, who have no football to go to every 2nd week and an interest in their clubs juniors. Bloody hell a donkey could get 1% of them in just to see and support Morabito and his comeback.

While I understand that logic , and it has merit for sure Barn , Foxtel has taken and compromised that notion mate
I know a heap of peeps who organise BBQ days for away games on the idiot box - they can get on the piss at home and the kids take care of themselves also at home
It's a hard one to crack mate

if you say so Barney

La Hincha wrote: Yes, most of the SANFL grounds have smaller outer banks/spectator areas which makes for a much better atmosphere. Even a small crowd can look ok at most of their grounds.

A combination of grass and paving as well for those that prefer one or the other.

They just look more "league standard" than some of ours.

Having said that, I wouldn't change anything about Bassendean or Lathlain. They are great grounds. Love watching footy at both.

East Fremantle Oval is a different story. I guess it's rustic at best nowadays.

Agree - Look one of the biggest problems in attracting people to WAFL are the Venues. the other problem is the Product itself - but thats another story.

On venues - look there is no point in having these vast surburban grounds designed to hold 15,000 people with huge empty grass banks and dried out lawn and half dead trees, remnants of rusted tin awnings and obselete entrance gates , empty with no food or drink vans - holding 500 people, most of whom these days are elderly.

All the venues are at least 30 years out of date, & a sign of the WAFL still harping back on an era that no longer exists.

Leederville ( OK with 2 clubs but even could be smaller ) , Lathlain(redevel. coming), Bassendean, EF ( days are numbered) and Joondalup and even Freo ( maybe with 2 clubs OK) are all way to big for current day WAFL.

Thank God Claremont are doing something, at least we will have one appropriate WAFL ground, a capacity of 5000 in a small contained venue will be a lot better,

As you say SANFL and even the old VFL and VFA suburban grounds are a lot smaller and more contained than ours, the only surbaban ground that would losely equate to an Eastern States ground would possibly be Fremantle Oval.

Arden Street, lake Oval, Glennferrie, Junction Oval were all small venues with great atmospheres.

Southerner wrote:

Barney wrote:

MarkOlsen wrote: promoting a Peel game at Bassendean is totally illogical, Peel have no supporters and Freo supporters are not going to travel to Basso.
only East Freo and South would have a chance of getting a good crowd against Peel..

What WAFL club they support is totally irrelevant. Clubs should be targeting the 40k+ members of the AFL clubs, most who have no WAFL leanings, who have no football to go to every 2nd week and an interest in their clubs juniors. Bloody hell a donkey could get 1% of them in just to see and support Morabito and his comeback.

While I understand that logic , and it has merit for sure Barn , Foxtel has taken and compromised that notion mate
I know a heap of peeps who organise BBQ days for away games on the idiot box - they can get on the piss at home and the kids take care of themselves also at home
It's a hard one to crack mate

I'm sure there are people like that. There will also be supporters that don't want to go to football every week or supporters who have no interest in the players other than the 22 playing this week and many other reasons.

But if the WAFL targeted just 5% of them to come to 2 or 3 games by years end WAFL crowds would be up 10-20%. Then next year the target could be to get those supporters back with a mate. Better for the comp over the long run. If the all clubs do to attract crowds is open the gates, expect the best then blame everyone else when nothing happens then in 5 years the A grade amateurs will take over and all the good players will be playing in country leagues close to the city.

Southerner wrote: From 2016 IF there is still an alignment involving Mandurah Districts - the team will be called Cockburn , the local council will insist on it given the coin they've invested in the venture .... and games will be played there it is a certainty

mate they will just be renamed simply - The Dockers.


long term the dockers will drop the fremantle tag altogther,

Barney wrote:

Southerner wrote:

Barney wrote:

MarkOlsen wrote: promoting a Peel game at Bassendean is totally illogical, Peel have no supporters and Freo supporters are not going to travel to Basso.
only East Freo and South would have a chance of getting a good crowd against Peel..

What WAFL club they support is totally irrelevant. Clubs should be targeting the 40k+ members of the AFL clubs, most who have no WAFL leanings, who have no football to go to every 2nd week and an interest in their clubs juniors. Bloody hell a donkey could get 1% of them in just to see and support Morabito and his comeback.

While I understand that logic , and it has merit for sure Barn , Foxtel has taken and compromised that notion mate
I know a heap of peeps who organise BBQ days for away games on the idiot box - they can get on the piss at home and the kids take care of themselves also at home
It's a hard one to crack mate

I'm sure there are people like that. There will also be supporters that don't want to go to football every week or supporters who have no interest in the players other than the 22 playing this week and many other reasons.

But if the WAFL targeted just 5% of them to come to 2 or 3 games by years end WAFL crowds would be up 10-20%. Then next year the target could be to get those supporters back with a mate. Better for the comp over the long run. If the all clubs do to attract crowds is open the gates, expect the best then blame everyone else when nothing happens then in 5 years the A grade amateurs will take over and all the good players will be playing in country leagues close to the city.

I agree mate, the vast majority of AFL fans have zero interest in second tier games, they already pay to go every second week to the real thing, so why drag themselves out to some crap ground to watch the reserves..

I asked a few FULL ON FREO fans around work how many would be going along to Peel games

everyone one of them said .never.

interesting that the Western Bulldogs have separtated from their aligned VFL club and gone back to having their own side named "FOOTSCRAY BULLDOGS".

They played at the toned down Whitten Oval, I went there last year and it is a real suburban footy ground which now is a good venue for locals. Very basic. And they had 5000 people attend the game. They would have been lucky to have 400 last year. AFL people identify with their club name.