Western Sydney - Are u on board??

[Mug Punter]

I wasn't around in 1982 when NRL Origin for formulated, but it seems to me that in the present day the rivalry is huge. I think that while the Swans/GWS rivalry will be pumped up by media in the begining, it won't take long for it to live up to the hype. Someone will get knocked out, or finals will be on the line, or fans will go feral bragging about it (I honestly think Fremantle calls the year good if they finish the year with only 2 wins - both over West Coast).

Like a good souffl?, it just needs time to rise.

gnomey, whatever you are on I want some of....

League SOO is right up there with Carlton-Collingwood, Man U-Liverpool, Celtic-Rangers, Real Madrid-Barca, Arsenal-Tottenham derbies. REAL rivalries bourne out of decades, generations, OVER 100 years of rivalry and sometimes hatred....

Even the WC derby is based upon traditioanl Freo-Perth derbies built for over 100 years. The SA derby is based on the fact that everyone except Port supporters hates Port Adelaide.

I vividly remember SOO 1 when Beetson landed one on the Crow. That was real but it was symbolic, the rivalry was there for almost 80 years, SOO just released it based on the fact that we had been stealing their players for the last 15 - 20 years.

That the AFL can get a plastic team that no-one asked for, with no members, no backers and no history create a MEANINGFUL rivalry and passion apart from manufactured rubbish is totally absurd. For starters there will be no-one there......

[Mug Punter]

I think I do want them to succeed. Everything I've seen and read suggests the AFL has done their homework on what went right with the Swans and the Bears and why what went wrong did go wrong. The AFL is prepared to back this club for 20 years, which is long enough to draw a supporter base from the Western Suburbs without really impinging on the Swans brand.

Compare that to the Melbourne Storm, which are making multi-million dollar losses every year despite playing in the last 4 Grand Finals, and the reluctance of the NRL to pour money into the franchise further. My understanding is that there is a small but growing voice suggesting a move of the Storm to the Central Coast entirely. The Club has been in existance 10 years and the support from HQ is waning. I can't see the AFL, flush with cash and vision, doing the same thing with GWS after a similar time period.

Surely if the AFL has to back this team for 20+ years it is equally unsustainable as the Storm. BTW I agree totally with your take on that. With the new Super 15 Franchise, which I think is sustainable as Melbourne has a real Rugby culture (bit like the Sydney AFL culture pre-swans actually) I can see News Ltd cutting their losses, taking the NRL relocation allowance and setting up in the Central Coast as soon as 2011 (Don't forget you heard it here first)

If enough people have your view it WILL be a success and I will be happy, as much as I can be as I don't really care, because the ONLY way it will be is if the AFL pour enormous money into grass roots football in Sydney. For mine that will be a fair trade-off.

I am just of the opinion it won't work. I think this is a massive ego trip by a meglomaniac AFL CEO who wants a "legacy". We could have the grassroots legacy for a fraction of the cost of a $200+ 20 year+ subsidisation but there is no personal glory in this.....

[BigD]

I wanted to vote but can't see an option that sums up my feelings.

"I live in Sydney, but will only attend when they play against the Swans, and really don't care but part of me hopes they can be sucessful and part of me hopes they fall flat, but, having said that, maybe in time they will be my second team.

[BigD]

I ended up going with

"I live in Sydney and don't care and won't be attending games."

[goswannie14]

I wanted to vote but can't see an option that sums up my feelings.

"I live in Sydney, but will only attend when they play against the Swans, and really don't care but part of me hopes they can be sucessful and part of me hopes they fall flat, but, having said that, maybe in time they will be my second team.

There wasn't room in the option box to fit that in!

[BigD]

There wasn't room in the option box to fit that in!

Touche

[Northern_Swan]

gnomey, whatever you are on I want some of....

League SOO is right up there with Carlton-Collingwood, Man U-Liverpool, Celtic-Rangers, Real Madrid-Barca, Arsenal-Tottenham derbies. REAL rivalries bourne out of decades, generations, OVER 100 years of rivalry and sometimes hatred....

If you think that SOO is 1 tenth the size of some of the derbies you listed, you sir are the deluded one

[mcs]

If you think that SOO is 1 tenth the size of some of the derbies you listed, you sir are the deluded one

Have to agree with this to be honest.

Those European football derbies are mental to say the least. I went to a Celtic-Rangers one earlier in the year and well I was told beforehand (Going with a couple of Scottish mates from uni- more for a day out then anything) to wear neutral colours and not say a word. Cracking atmoshpere, sh** game of football but so much more then SOO is as a 'rivalry'. Being a manchester city fan, I also got to a Manchester derby, and while not quite on the level of some of the other ones mentioned (Though it soon will be close if city can actually make something of all our cash and become a genuine rival for the league), and it was pretty intense as well. I think the difference is the level of the 'hatred'. In those derbies it is real, it is almost bred into kids when they become blue or red, or a celtic or rangers fan or whatever that they don't just dislike the other team, they hate them with a passion. SOO here, well we hate queenslanders the night of the match (Or NSW men) but once its over we don't really care that much.

I like the idea of a Sydney derby, but out of town I don't really care what happens to the Blacktown bogans. I'm not going to support them, and they will feel very plastic to me. But I guess the Swans did to many when they first turned up in the 80's in Sydney, so give it time and it could work eventually.

[Mug Punter]

If you think that SOO is 1 tenth the size of some of the derbies you listed, you sir are the deluded one

In sporting terms I think it is in equal terms to be honest! Have you ever been to a SOO at Lang Park? It is the League equivalent of the Bledisloe Cup.

Of course it doesn't have nastiness and outright hatred those other mentioned, particularly the Old Firm which is a very nasty affair indeed. It is more of an intense sporting rivalry but in sporting terms it is right up there.

My point that the Bogans v Swans still derby will never approach SOO still stands.

[goswannie14]

My point that the Bogans v Swans still derby will never approach SOO still stands.

Never is a long time!

[Dunger]

In sporting terms I think it is in equal terms to be honest! Have you ever been to a SOO at Lang Park? It is the League equivalent of the Bledisloe Cup.

Of course it doesn't have nastiness and outright hatred those other mentioned, particularly the Old Firm which is a very nasty affair indeed. It is more of an intense sporting rivalry but in sporting terms it is right up there.

My point that the Bogans v Swans still derby will never approach SOO still stands.

How can you compare the two?

QLD V NSW to Eastern Sydney V Western Sydney?

First of all there's the population difference that means most of the East Coast of Australia is interested in SOO.

Second of all the other aspect that helps boost SOO is that it's the best players in Australia (essentially the world of RL) squaring up against each other.


A more comparable rivalry is the Silvertails V Fibros and I think that is a rivalry that will take place between the Swans and GWS as there is still the real rivalry that exists outside of all codes of football of Westies vs the Eastern Suburbs that comes from socio-economic status rather than 2 clubs being in the same city.

Balmain V South Sydney rivalry started from an onfield event even though the Tigers weren't on the field so some sort of on field drama between GWS and Swans could start their own rivalry organically rather than synthetically via the media.

[Wardy]

You know - why dont we just wait and see what happens. All the hoo har of people getting upset, both AFL & NRL followers and the divisions being created by the media you would have thought that the end of the world was near. Well its not.

After considerable thought, and reading the absolute trash that some media outlets have put out there, with some of the comments being of redneck like proportions, I am starting to really hope that GWS is successful. We all know that it wont take over from league - but hopefully it will give it a bloody good fright.

At the end of the day if someone wants to have dual membership of the Swans and the Blacktown Boogies, then that is their perogative, and no one elses. It doesnt mean that their devotion to the Swans has diminished. They are just showing that they LOVE AFL FOOTY, are wanting to support the brand and are relishing the opportunity of being able to attend a live senior AFL game every week in our fair city. There is certainly no crime in thinking that way.

Also, Kevin Sheedy may appear to some as an "egomaniac" but by god, he's a bloody successful one!