Action must be taken to stop the AFL killing league

[Beaussie]

NRL rowboats trying to fight the AFL warships in western Sydney. You're going down NRL. :<>

Action must be taken to stop the AFL killing league
Phil Gould
August 7, 2011 .

Let's get one thing straight. I am not the person responsible for fighting the advance of AFL into the western Sydney regions.

It would appear that since I was asked to become general manager of the Penrith Panthers, people have been given the false impression I am now in charge of western Sydney and that it's my job to confront the AFL. Talk about trying to deflect responsibility.

I work for the Penrith Panthers. I am not employed by the NRL. It is not my job. It is the NRL's job. And the evidence overwhelmingly suggests the NRL has failed to properly protect and develop rugby league in western Sydney over the past 10 years, leaving it vulnerable to the AFL machine. This vital region in the rugby league landscape has been neglected terribly.

The Panthers can't fight the AFL in Western Sydney. That's a total mismatch. The Panthers can only look after themselves. Rest assured, I will be fighting for the Panthers and the Panthers will always fight for our fans and our wonderful junior league.

However, it is the responsibility of the NRL to service grassroots rugby league to ensure rugby league's place in western Sydney. And despite the best efforts of many passionate individuals, the current programs are leaderless, disorganised and under-resourced. There are too many league brands. No focus to their efforts. No plan to have all these bodies working together.

If you ask me to name one man who has taken responsibility for this all-important role of devising a strategy for rugby league to maintain its stake in the west; well, I couldn't tell you. Rugby league needs someone with the leadership skills and the courage to say, ''The buck stops with me!''

Let me tell you, the AFL has got one! Everyone answers to Andrew Demetriou. He also has the ear of our government leaders.

Every major development issue in the game seems to have all our current rugby league administrations pointing the finger at each other, saying, "That's their problem."

This is why we have fought so hard to appoint an independent governing body that can give our game the direction it needs. The sooner they take control of the game, the better. However, they are now saying the current NRL partners will not hand over control of the game to the independent commission until November 1. That's way too late. The two years of procrastination in implementing the commission has already cost the game tens of millions of dollars. We can't afford to waste any more time - because the longer we maintain our current structures, the easier it is for AFL to continue its march across western Sydney.

Make no mistake; the NRL is directly responsible for the ease with which AFL has infiltrated the sporting fields of western Sydney. If you don't believe me, take a drive around the western areas to see for yourself.

Any rubbish you hear about the AFL not being a threat to rugby league in western Sydney or that the AFL is struggling to make inroads into this one-time rugby league stronghold is wishful thinking, naivety, or deliberate misinformation.

Quite simply, the AFL is a monster. You have no idea how powerful, how well resourced, how well connected and how determined this code is in its aim to not only be the No.1 sport in Australia, but to totally obliterate rugby league in the process. The AFL has parked itself at Blacktown, the fastest growing area in the country.

In doing so, they have strategically cut Penrith off from the rest of the Sydney NRL Clubs. They are advancing through the growth areas of western Sydney at an alarming rate. They have wooed councils, schools, licensed clubs and many of the major corporate businesses in the area. They have local councils and community-based clubs, many of which used to have a strong link to rugby league, now advertising the AFL and GWS brands, their memberships, their sponsorship options and their merchandise. There are AFL goalposts sprouting up like mushrooms. And this, my friends, is only the beginning.

The AFL has a 20-year strategy to achieve generational change in people's sporting preferences and habits. In the meantime, though, the AFL can't believe the ease with which it has been able to get such a strong foothold in what rugby league calls its own heartland. The AFL is all about ripping the heart out of rugby league. Now, the NRL and ARL's response to this column will be to highlight all the things they are supposedly doing for western Sydney rugby league. They will point to the schools programs, ARL Development and the NSWRL Western Sydney Academy. Mind you, all these bodies operate out of Centrebet Stadium at Penrith, so I have a pretty good handle on what they can and can't achieve in this battle. They are good people. However, these bodies are merely rowboats fighting the AFL warships. Quite simply, rugby league does not have an over-riding strategy for western Sydney. The AFL does.

I guess the final straw for me came a few weeks ago when I learned the AFL was proposing to build a $32 million centre of excellence at Blacktown as the hub of its western Sydney operations.

I understand this precinct in Blacktown was years ago offered to the NRL to build itself a showpiece academy in its western heartland. The NRL, for reasons best known to itself, chose to build its new administration block (not a rugby league academy), at Moore Park on SCG Trust land.

This is not only a terrible commercial decision, it is the worst strategic decision any sporting body in the country has ever made. End of story.

Meanwhile, western Sydney could soon be host to an AFL centre of excellence and community centre the envy of every sporting code in the country. Anyway, all is not lost. I have great hopes for rugby league's new independent commission and the people entrusted with developing rugby league's future.

What I want to do today is bring people's attention to the real situation out west, highlight the need for urgent action - and, hopefully, instigate more open and honest discussion on the matter. This is vitally important to the future of our code. It is not too late for rugby league to show western Sydney some love. I have been inundated with calls and emails from passionate league people offering assistance. Even though I have said it is not my job, together with some good friends and like-minded rugby league supporters, we have formulated a strategic plan for western Sydney that I believe will put rugby league back on the front foot.

But to whom do we take the plan? Who will run it? Where will we get the funding? Who will drive the promotion and development of rugby league in the western areas of Sydney to the heights our game deserves? Who will help us engage the communities and the hearts and minds of Western Sydney families? We need to have them choose rugby league as part of their lifestyles, for life. There are a lot of good rugby league people out west working hard for the game. But they need more support.

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/leag ... z1UKaWvY36

[King-Eliagh]

Gould just wants the NRL to put in the big bucks for his new beloved panthers. That's all

[Grim Reaper]

I would not say it is NRL rowboats, more like NRL canoes against the AFL Seventh Fleet =D>

[Truthsayer]

Gould just wants the NRL to put in the big bucks for his new beloved panthers. That's all

I must say that I concur with this statement. He must believe that more money into the club will resolve the problem he is speaking of. It would be nice to have money, but then the issue becomes where to spend it. I have reservations as to whether or not Penrith would know where to spend it and make it mean anything.

[Raiderdave]

Gould just wants the NRL to put in the big bucks for his new beloved panthers. That's all

exactly
& while they may not do this .. as I have said many times

GWS are in for a very rough time next year

as the NRL will gear the draw & the schedule to drive them under a rock from where they won't emerge
every time they have a home game ... at the showground .. the NRL will ensure the biggest NRL derbies are on at the adjacent ANZ stadium
( 100m away )
the NRL will hound them mercilessly

as soon as the AFL decided it would be fitting to start signing up our players
the gloves were off & the NRL has been waiting for a bit of pay back.... on top of stealing the Wests Tigers Colours
if the AFL & GWS were really just interested in co-existing peacefully with us .. they wouldn't have done what they did ..it was an act of war ... & we won't forget this treachery
there'll be no co-operation , where there might have been had this not occured , as the NRL would not have seen these plodders as a threat , but because of their actions there'll be harrasment instead just to make sure they know they're in a foreign hostile enviroment & are quite franky ... not wanted.

its going to be a hoot to watch
stayed tuned

[Beaussie]

Gould just wants the NRL to put in the big bucks for his new beloved panthers. That's all

exactly
& while they may not do this .. as I have said many times

GWS are in for a very rough time next year

as the NRL will gear the draw & the schedule to drive them under a rock from where they won't emerge
every time they have a home game ... at the showground .. the NRL will ensure the biggest NRL derbies are on at the adjacent ANZ stadium
( 100m away )
the NRL will hound them mercilessly

as soon as the AFL decided it would be fitting to start signing up our players
the gloves were off & the NRL has been waiting for a bit of pay back.... on top of stealing the Wests Tigers Colours
if the AFL & GWS were really just interested in co-existing peacefully with us .. they wouldn't have done what they did ..it was an act of war ... & we won't forget this treachery
there'll be no co-operation , where there might have been had this not occured , as the NRL would not have seen these plodders as a threat , but because of their actions there'll be harrasment instead just to make sure they know they're in a foreign hostile enviroment & are quite franky ... not wanted.

its going to be a hoot to watch
stayed tuned

Yeah ok, scary stuff. Perhaps you should look at what happened when you fools tried that rubbish on the Gold Coast. You got fucking smashed. Get used to it darlin we're on our way to western Sydney to do as we did on the Gold Coast. :<>

[Raiderdave]

Gould just wants the NRL to put in the big bucks for his new beloved panthers. That's all

exactly
& while they may not do this .. as I have said many times

GWS are in for a very rough time next year

as the NRL will gear the draw & the schedule to drive them under a rock from where they won't emerge
every time they have a home game ... at the showground .. the NRL will ensure the biggest NRL derbies are on at the adjacent ANZ stadium
( 100m away )
the NRL will hound them mercilessly

as soon as the AFL decided it would be fitting to start signing up our players
the gloves were off & the NRL has been waiting for a bit of pay back.... on top of stealing the Wests Tigers Colours
if the AFL & GWS were really just interested in co-existing peacefully with us .. they wouldn't have done what they did ..it was an act of war ... & we won't forget this treachery
there'll be no co-operation , where there might have been had this not occured , as the NRL would not have seen these plodders as a threat , but because of their actions there'll be harrasment instead just to make sure they know they're in a foreign hostile enviroment & are quite franky ... not wanted.

its going to be a hoot to watch
stayed tuned

Yeah ok, scary stuff. Perhaps you should look at what happened when you fools tried that rubbish on the Gold Coast. You got ******* smashed. Get used to it darlin we're on our way to western Sydney to do as we did on the Gold Coast. :<>

Smashed
Titans running last ... & Averaging 16K
Suns brand new .. & averaging only 19K
If the Titans were in the hunt for the finals ... they would be well above 20K .. the only reason the Suns are ahead is cheap tickets & a poorly performed Titans

I don't think anyone has been smashed & in fact the Suns numbers are a bit ordinary
The Titans averaged nearly 22K in their first year & played most of their games out of the dilapidated " old " Carrara Stadium... a hole of a joint.
the Suns have a shiny new stadium .. state of the art
& have not sold it out once

The Titans are on the up
some big signings for 2012... they'll be back in business & make no mistake .. their fans will be back.
the Suns will remain anchored to the bottom of the AFL ladder ... & also make no mistake .... their fans will dissapear

& as for GWS
the NRL will be reported for cruelty to the handicapped for what they'll perpetrate on those poor AFL merkins
I nearly feel sorry for them..... nearly

[Beaussie]

Suns averageing nearly 20,000 with nearly double the amount of members the Titans have. All of course for a team getting smashed on the field and sitting 2nd last on the ladder. Despite their on field form, they continue to cause all sorts of major financial headaches for the NRL/Titans. And we all know what happened last time the NRL/Titans tried to schedule a game up against the AFL/Suns. The following picture says it all. :_<>





Get used to crowd images like that above for the NRL in western Sydney. We're going to wipe you off the map. :<>

[King-Eliagh]

I dont think so. Long live the penny panthers and parra eels!

Anyway the GWS team home ground is in Homebush, Sydney's inner west! not even as far west as parramatta and nowhere near the penrith panthers supporter base!

I think perhaps if anyone would be worried it would be the wests tigers and perhaps even moreso the sydney swans.

Arent you still planning on jumping ship from the swans beaussie? I know I'm thinking of it. There's a couple less at the swans games already

[Beaussie]

Hmm, yes, KE who will buy a GWS membership and attend AFL games, but wont attend NRL games or purchase an Eels membership. Hilarious.

[King-Eliagh]

I never said I will buy a GWS membership. I'm originally a league fan remember? And $50+ to visit that dump called Homebush each fortnight? Noway! But I might support them over the swans. And if there's others like me, I'd be worried about the affect on the swans attendances.

It'll be interesting to see but I think they still shoulda gone to blacktown. There'll prob be a train line which links southwest sydney to there in the future and if you really want to 'break into the league market' rather than possibly poaching the swans fans, I think it would be better to be in blacktown.

[Beaussie]

Really. I'd be more worried about your beloved Eels when as you put it, you're originally a league fan but you'll support GWS.

As for your final point, did you know Souths get bigger crowds at Homebush than they ever did at the SFS. Same with the Bulldogs. Go figure eh?

[King-Eliagh]

I wouldnt attribute that to the Homebush stadium. And Idont know whether to believe you. A nicname I used to call you comes back to mind. Remember the "Man who cried wolf" nic?

Anyway even if you were correct with the increase in crowds they are more likely a result of ladder status as well as the fans believing this was their new home ground. The SFS is the roosters home ground, they were just lending it as far as I recall.

In any case a small crowd at homebush is a nothing atmosphere.

I'll be back out to parra stadium soon, never you mind.

[Truthsayer]

Staying at a small venue is a very good way to inhibit an expansion of one's membership. If Homebush is such an attractive venue it should be drawing larger crowds consistently, so many NRL teams should be trying to play their home matches there. This is why Melbourne AFL clubs concentrate on two large venues in Melbourne and it comes to pass that the AFL's average attendance is much larger. The NRL would do well to follow that lead, but first they must create interest in all clubs. An interest that presently does not exist to the same extent.

[Raiderdave]

Staying at a small venue is a very good way to inhibit an expansion of one's membership. If Homebush is such an attractive venue it should be drawing larger crowds consistently, so many NRL teams should be trying to play their home matches there. This is why Melbourne AFL clubs concentrate on two large venues in Melbourne and it comes to pass that the AFL's average attendance is much larger. The NRL would do well to follow that lead, but first they must create interest in all clubs. An interest that presently does not exist to the same extent.

Really

so why then did GWS choose to have the Sydney Showground renovated to a capacity of only 25K as their home ground

when 100m from this venue
is the 83K seat ANZ stadium

so GWS are inhibiting their membership too are they ?