Rumours of playing 4 games in Sydney in 2009

[The Doctor]

If we play in Western Sydney I'll be the least surprised. The AFL has wanted a team (mainly us) to play there for years. I was told this by an AFL official in the early part of this century (makes me sound old doesn't it).

I can't remember exactly when but sometime in the late 90's, early 00's the AFL conducted some research on neutral supporters in the west to try and discover which non Sydney AFL team they identified with. Surprisingly the Bulldogs ranked highly. I guess this may have been due to the Libba/Kelly business that had been rampant at the time. Western Sydneysiders don't mind a rivalry (see State of Origin) and a bit of biffo so this research did not surprise me. Please note I lived in the Western Subs of Sydney for about 8 years so I know a bit about the mentatility.

So apparantly some of the westies (sydney western suburbs folk, approx 3 million of them) took a liking to the Dogs coz we stuck it up those aerial ping pong playing trendy toffs from the eastern suburbs. God love em.

Those times may now be gone but when you look at it from the AFL's point of view you only need to attract about 1% of those 3 million to get you about 30,000 to a game. It may be wishful thinking but not out of the realms of possibility. In the north west subs there has always been a strong AFL support base. This is known as the Hills district with areas like Pennant Hills, Castle Hill, Baulkham Hills, St Ives having a lot of AFL interest. THis might be a good area to establish a supporter base. Even traditional rugby league strongholds like PArramatta and Blacktown are nearby and even these major districts have teams in the local leagues and facilities. Pivotal to all this is Homebush.

It wouldn't be easy but AFL in Sydney's west is not a pipedream but a realistic opportunity to develop a new supporter base and grow the game. Geez if they can't do it the nice way they could always get a Libba clone to beat up some nice guy Swans superstar and that should do it for them.

[bornadog]

With the redevelopment of the Whitten Oval and the building of Edgewater, we won't be moving anywhere.

As for interstate games, will we need to play interstate after the Darwin deal is complete?

[Sockeye Salmon]

With the redevelopment of the Whitten Oval and the building of Edgewater, we won't be moving anywhere.

As for interstate games, will we need to play interstate after the Darwin deal is complete?

The two least financial clubs - regardless of who they might be - are still vulnerable.

If the AFL want someone in Western Sydney, all they have to do is pull out the CBF and give the players a $1 mil pay rise.

All of a sudden we will have to find an extra $2.7 mil a year.

We have to make sure that when the music stops, North and Melbourne have less money than us.

[hujsh]

Well I'd rather see the club die than see it relocate. It would just kick sand in the face of everyone who has kept the club running to give up and go.