Home games played interstate.

[Mitcha]

Guys, as this is the last year of our agreement to play home games in Darwin and Canberra, I was interested in your thoughts for season 2010 and beyond. Personally it would be fantastic if we could play all home games in Melbourne but at the moment with the dispute over match returns at the Dome and the G what would you do from the following scenarios assuming the dispute continues.
1. Look to extend the deals at Darwin and Canberra guarenteeing a financial gain.
2. Bring the games back to Melbourne and possibly lose money on the gate returns.
3. Bite the bullet and play games at Skilled Stadium with the possibility of a small financial gain but risk alienation of some supporters living south of Melbourne.
Which is your preferred option, 1, 2 or 3?

[boydogs]

I wouldn't so much mind the Darwin and Canberra games if it wasn't giving up a home state advantage. I know we are losing less crowd numbers on a Dogs v Port game being played in Darwin as opposed to say Dogs v Tigers, but would much rather the Tigers game be moved as then we are not giving up our advantage against an interstate side.

I am not sure whether the crowd loss on the Tigers game actually nullifies the financial gain, or whether the AFL would still pay the club to play in Darwin when it is not against Port

I am not opposed to playing games where small crowds are expected at Skilled. If we start playing there more, we should be able to develop a distinct home ground advantage with the unique conditions down there, even against Melbourne sides that are quite used to Etihad and the G.

[The Adelaide Connection]

If we start playing there more, we should be able to develop a distinct home ground advantage with the unique conditions down there, even against Melbourne sides that are quite used to Etihad and the G.

Would it be possible to develop a home ground advantage when we play more games than most other clubs in the perfect conditions of the dome?

[bornadog]

If we needed the money, I would prefer to play two games in Darwin in a row and forget about Canberra.

I don't believe we should be playing at Skilled Stadium as all we are doing is boosting the coffers of one of of our rival clubs.

[boydogs]

Would it be possible to develop a home ground advantage when we play more games than most other clubs in the perfect conditions of the dome?

Yes, but Geelong is a lot more unfamiliar. You can see below in 2009 only Port and Sydney, the two sides we are giving away our home ground advantage to at the moment, are the only sides to play less than 3 games at Docklands. Skilled on the other hand is only visited a maximum of once a season by all other clubs excluding Geelong

Adelaide 3
Brisbane 3
Carlton 8
Collingwood 4
Essendon 9
Fremantle 4
Geelong 4
Hawthorn 3
Melbourne 3
North Melbourne 11
Port Adelaide 1
Richmond 5
St Kilda 15
Sydney 2
Western Bulldogs 13
West Coast 4

So you could argue playing at Skilled a few times gives us at least an equivalent home ground advantage to playing at Docklands, and may serve us financially to avoid having to give up the advantage for the Darwin and Canberra games

[boydogs]

If we needed the money, I would prefer to play two games in Darwin in a row and forget about Canberra.

Why two at Darwin and not two at Canberra? Less heat to contend with there. Not sure if the players would appreciate having to spend the week away from home at either venue either.


I don't believe we should be playing at Skilled Stadium as all we are doing is boosting the coffers of one of of our rival clubs.

Would we not benefit financially ourselves though? Happy to give something to Geelong for that service if we are still benefiting, puts us ahead of where we otherwise would be relative to the other 14 clubs

[The Adelaide Connection]

Yes, but Geelong is a lot more unfamiliar. You can see below in 2009 only Port and Sydney, the two sides we are giving away our home ground advantage to at the moment, are the only sides to play less than 3 games at Docklands. Skilled on the other hand is only visited a maximum of once a season by all other clubs excluding Geelong

Adelaide 3
Brisbane 3
Carlton 8
Collingwood 4
Essendon 9
Fremantle 4
Geelong 4
Hawthorn 3
Melbourne 3
North Melbourne 11
Port Adelaide 1
Richmond 5
St Kilda 15
Sydney 2
Western Bulldogs 13
West Coast 4

So you could argue playing at Skilled a few times gives us at least an equivalent home ground advantage to playing at Docklands, and may serve us financially to avoid having to give up the advantage for the Darwin and Canberra games

Yeah that is a good point.

But I guess it is not so much the location or the amount teams have played on it that I was getting at, more the conditions. The games that we would be most likely to play down there are those that would pull the smallest crowds, being those involving the non-Victorian clubs. These clubs all play 18-20 games in outdoor stadia and therefore would they adjust better to the extreme conditions that often arise at the cattery and it actually play into their hands a little? I am far from suggesting that we are soft, more alluding to the skills in difficult conditions and Skilled offers about the biggest contrast in conditions to the Dome aside the moon.

An argument could certainly be made that Darwin and Canberra don't offer up the best conditions either though, but at least with Darwin there is the potential to grow the brand. This ability is questionable in Canberra and not even worth trying in Geelong.

I like the idea of two games up in Darwin back to back. Stay over there, flood the local media with appearances and smash out the clinics. Offer a special membership for the two games and other packages that have the two games and a few in Melbourne.

[The Adelaide Connection]

Adelaide Oval is looking for some AFL games, not convinced it would be a good move for any reason other than I would love a couple more games over here :D:D

[Mitcha]

Guys, as this is the last year of our agreement to play home games in Darwin and Canberra, I was interested in your thoughts for season 2010 and beyond. Personally it would be fantastic if we could play all home games in Melbourne but at the moment with the dispute over match returns at the Dome and the G what would you do from the following scenarios assuming the dispute continues.
1. Look to extend the deals at Darwin and Canberra guarenteeing a financial gain.
2. Bring the games back to Melbourne and possibly lose money on the gate returns.
3. Bite the bullet and play games at Skilled Stadium with the possibility of a small financial gain but risk alienation of some supporters living south of Melbourne.
Which is your preferred option, 1, 2 or 3?
Bumped
Now its seems we have another option.
4. Seize control of Tasmania.

[LostDoggy]

Bumped
Now its seems we have another option.
4. Seize control of Tasmania.

Funny thing is, we are SO much more suited to Tassie than the Hawks are, in terms of our club culture.

In fact, if you really think about it, there can't be any more mismatched club for Tassie than Hawthorn. Can you imagine any Melbourne Hawks supporters (see 'We're the Hawks, Let us be Known By Our Tweed' by John Harms - http://www.theage.com.au/news/rfnews/were-the-hawks--let-us-be-known-by-our-tweed/2009/04/14/1239474877063.html) being natural companions of Tassie Hawks supporters? Not in a million years.

[bornadog]

If we needed the money, I would prefer to play two games in Darwin in a row and forget about Canberra.

I don't believe we should be playing at Skilled Stadium as all we are doing is boosting the coffers of one of of our rival clubs.

Sorry for quoting myself, how did I guess this one:eek:

[Sleeve1970]

Lets thing about this. Playing games away in places like Darwin bring in money from Governments but dont really bring up the membership base, which you can argue is more important for the future of the club. If games were played in Geelong all of a sudden the Dogs are attacking the heartland of the Cats and thus getting kids to possibly become future supports and members.

I say One game in Darwin (Money Spinner) and at least two at Skilled (Geelong) could be seen as a second home ground advantage as I believe the size of the ground actually compliments the style of game played by the Dogs.

Just a thought....

[Throughandthrough]

Adelaide Oval is looking for some AFL games, not convinced it would be a good move for any reason other than I would love a couple more games over here :D:D



agreed!

Play there every week please!

[hujsh]

Lets thing about this. Playing games away in places like Darwin bring in money from Governments but dont really bring up the membership base, which you can argue is more important for the future of the club. If games were played in Geelong all of a sudden the Dogs are attacking the heartland of the Cats and thus getting kids to possibly become future supports and members.

I say One game in Darwin (Money Spinner) and at least two at Skilled (Geelong) could be seen as a second home ground advantage as I believe the size of the ground actually compliments the style of game played by the Dogs.

Just a thought....

I have a completely opposite view.

If we play at Darwin we may gain two game members (like what Hawthorn have) who may not add much money but will certainly be a bonus for us.

Trying to convert Geelong people to follow the Doggies would be like traveling to the Vatican City and telling everyone about Allah.

[Stevo]

We should stop experimenting and changing our mind every 12 months and actually stick to one venture. From what I hear if we keep stuffing around with Darwin and don't commit soon we will lose it to Port.

[bornadog]

We should stop experimenting and changing our mind every 12 months and actually stick to one venture. From what I hear if we keep stuffing around with Darwin and don't commit soon we will lose it to Port.

Your right there, we are all over the place. Smorgon mentioned today we are also considering two games at Skilled.

We need to weight this up pretty quickly and make the deal. I know fans prefer to go to Skilled rather than Darwin, but the reality is the dollars are in Darwin. If we had 40,000 members then we wouldn't need to sell home games, but people are reluctant to sign up. We will be lucky to get to our record number of members, which is well below 30,000.

[Throughandthrough]

The front page of today's Adelaide Sunday Mail has a story about the Dogs and the South Australian Cricket Association being in negotiations for us to play two games there (here!) every year.

Personally; i can't see it happen. I'm a member of the SACA but the management there are a bunch of tools; they have burned so many bridges with the SANFL before its allmost open warfare.

And the Dogs mention again "that we'd rather not but due to the bad stadium deals we are forced to"...

[Throughandthrough]

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,25562218-5006301,00.html

[LostDoggy]

Your right there, we are all over the place. Smorgon mentioned today we are also considering two games at Skilled.

We need to weight this up pretty quickly and make the deal. I know fans prefer to go to Skilled rather than Darwin, but the reality is the dollars are in Darwin. If we had 40,000 members then we wouldn't need to sell home games, but people are reluctant to sign up. We will be lucky to get to our record number of members, which is well below 30,000.
I think Smorgon and a couple of other clubs believe that if they keep applying pressure to both stadiums via the media then both parties will fold. I think that is a huge miscalculation of two very stubborn stadium managers. They might bend the agreements to save some face and publicly make a token gesture but they certainly won't break them.

[Go_Dogs]

The front page of today's Adelaide Sunday Mail has a story about the Dogs and the South Australian Cricket Association being in negotiations for us to play two games there (here!) every year.

Personally; i can't see it happen. I'm a member of the SACA but the management there are a bunch of tools; they have burned so many bridges with the SANFL before its allmost open warfare.

And the Dogs mention again "that we'd rather not but due to the bad stadium deals we are forced to"...

Would be great if something like that could be worked out. Great venue, and closer than Canberra or NT. Plus convenient for us. ;)

[hujsh]

Adelaide? Worst idea of the lot. Even if you two see a couple of games.;)

No expansion of the club (Darwin) and most fans can't go to the game (Skilled).


There'd have to be lots of money offered to get us there

[mighty_west]

My choices in order [IF we have to sell home games]

1 - Geelong - at least we don't have to travel interstate to watch the game, even though it would be a 2 hour drive for myself, maybe 2 1/2 hours, gives me an excuse to visit the folks, but AS LONG AS WE DON'T play Geelong as that home game, and maybe stike up a deal that Geelong have to play their home game against us at Edihad.

2 - Tassie - It's obvious that they won't get their own side, so their best offer would be as many games as possible of AFL footy each year, along with the Hawks 4 a season, maybe those games include us playing the Hawks there once a season as well.

3 - Darwin
4 - Canberra