Sydney AFL Players Canberra Bound?

[Troy G]

It's a new era in Sydney AFL this year.

The NSWACT AFL's Alan McKinnon in my interview seemed to think that very few of the SydneyAFL's good players would leave the Sydney AFL because they aren't "football nomads" although the Canberra competition now includes the Swans Reserves, Wagga where many are from, the Canberra clubs where many came from, a better standard, better playing income, the competition where players will be drafted by all AFL clubs including the Swans, good media coverage/ supporter numbers and playing at the SCG!

It'll be interesting to see if more of the good players like Balmain's Michael Ghobrial (Belconnen) who represented Sydney last year will find it all too enticing compared to the Sydney AFL!

And if that's the case then the decision by the Swans and the NSW ACT AFL Commission in support, will be the death of Senior Football in Sydney at the local level and all the more reason why the Sydney clubs must join the competition while they still have their destiny and their fate in their hands. Otherwise it's survival of the club fittest for promotion. So let the games begin!

[desredandwhite]

I would say it's entirely feasible that the very best players in Sydney will want to play in the Canberra comp - that's where the attention will be focused, and it's closer than Melbourne/Adelaide/etc

Having said that though, it's still a fair move, so you will see most players stay local unless they really believe they have a shot at the big time.

[jude_boltons_babe]

i know what you mean about the players

[shearer]

Troy i dont believe many of the "top" players will go down there at all.

Sydney Football will continue on because there are great rivalrys amongst the clubs. There is no need in my opinion to join the Canberra League. I think Troy you should do a player poll and ask the players if they would like to travel to Canberra every second weekend.

I would gladly do one for you for our club and forward the results to you.

The enticement of driving to Canberra three times a week to train and play in minus degrees isnt a great enticement.

[Norris Lurker]

Unless a Sydney club joins the ACTAFL (which Campbelltown did for a couple of years in the 1990s before returning to Sydney), it'd be impossible for anyone to even consider it unless they moved to Canberra. Too much commuting to do that drive several times a week as well as hold down a regular job outside football.
So as long as they stay in Sydney, it won't happen. And I can't see any Sydney clubs going into the ACTAFL in the near future - if it was too much travelling for Campbelltown, it would be so much further for anyone else.

[robbieando]

One Sydney based team joining the ACTAFL would have alot of traveling to do and as such wouldn't be a good idea. However if NSWAFL did its job and set up a proper state league travel wouldn't be so hard because at least 4 Sydney based clubs would be involved.

A state league should be set up with the SFL and other such leagues becoming feeder leagues to the state comp thus giving the SFL a role to play.

[cos789]

The ideal is to setup a state league and the optinum for the state league is the maximun number of Sydney to participate.One or two teams causes problems with travel and future admittance of more Sydney teams.The solution is an NFL style conferance system or local teams play each other twice ,out-of state teams once.Lets face it,there wont be too much added focus on local games ,but there could be a little hype of the finals.Maybe the premiers could play off to see the best out of ACT,NSW and QLD ?

[cos789]

The ideal is to setup a state league and the optinum for the state league is the maximun number of Sydney to participate.One or two teams causes problems with travel and future admittance of more Sydney teams.The solution is an NFL style conferance system or local teams play each other twice ,out-of state teams once.Lets face it,there wont be too much added focus on local games ,but there could be a little hype of the finals.Maybe the premiers could play off to see the best out of ACT,NSW and QLD ?

[Spanner]

There are a number of huge problems which would need to be addressed before any Sydney based club could seriously consider competing in the ACT-AFL.
If two SFL clubs were to be accepted by the ACT they would then have to travel to Canberra at least 6 times and once to Wagga. This impost alone could cost the clubs between $20,000 and $30,000 extra per year. This would be to field First grade teams only as the cost of playing reserves and Under 18s in the ACT would be prohibitive. Clubs would then have to split their already sparse volunteer base in order to field their different teams over the weekend.
The creation of new teams through the amalgamation of established clubs is a popular concept in some circles of thought but even at the very highest levels of professional sport in Australia these "forced marriages" have proved far from ideal in several areas (eg: Northern Eagles, Wests Tigers, etc) and one club generally loses its identity completely.
By far the greatest hurdle to overcome for any SFL team to compete SUCCESSFULLY in the ACT is that of finance. For the cost of $50,000 most clubs in the SFL would be able to pay ALL of their first grade players AND all the coaching staff. In the ACT most of the coaches are fulltime on 50 to 100,000 dollar salaries and many players are on $10,000 to $30,000 contracts plus full time employment packages.
No SFL club can counter this problem under their present setup and with the desertion of the NSW AFL and the Sydney Swans from giving their total support to the growth and strengthening of Sydney football the imbalance between the two competitions will only grow wider.

[cos789]

I didn't know canberra was in such a healthy condition.
They should have an AFL side.

At the moment there are two hot issues- State League and Affiliation.At the moment there are three financial AFL teams affiliated with a SFL team . WCE,Essendon and Collingwood.
Surely these teams could underwrite their SFL counterparts-
ECE ,Nth Shore and Western Magpies in a state league.

[Norris Lurker]

Originally posted by cos789
At the moment there are three financial AFL teams affiliated with a SFL team . WCE,Essendon and Collingwood. St George are also affiliated with Adelaide.