North Melbourne

[GVGjr]

Apparently the deal:

3 years
North sell two games a year (6 games in total)
Get approximately $2M per year
Will stay in WA and ?host? back to back games
One in Perth, another in a regional centre
WCE & Freo set to stop complaining about travel with the extra home game each, each year


Seems pretty desperate and short sighted from North.

The AFL is breaking their own rules if the above is accurate and by the sounds of things it is.
The regional centre should be the only one that North should be allowed to play at.
The AFL should not regard Perth as an emerging market.

North are clearly concerned with their financial position. I heard earlier in the year that they were offering significant discounts to try and attract sponsors. I don't think they had a sponsor for their shorts.

North need that Hobart cash and must be in a dire position.

[comrade]

God what a shit show.

[The Underdog]

What a bush league.

Yeah, shut it down.

[Grantysghost]

If it's become so lop sided for teams like North to survive I'm wondering what's the point.
Selling wins for cash.

[GVGjr]

The North decision a few years back to rip into the playing list to then secure some early picks and bank on a decent bounce back has really backfired on them in a big way and they've never really recovered. Unless they can get their Melbourne based supporters on board with this they are going to continue to struggle. They need to show some progress and bank some wins to help attract supporters and sponsors.

[The Underdog]

The AFL should not let them. There's an integrity issue here.

I understand that clubs should be able to play 'THEIR' home games wherever they like. At the same time, if that location is the home venue (or home venue adjacent) to another club, it should not be allowed.

I should probably shut-up as I said not a single word when we played some games up in Cairns - clearly NOT part of the Bulldogs heartland - but North playing in Perth is just plain silly. If there was a suitable venue available, I could ALMOST understand them trying to play a game in regional WA (Bunbury) - but there just isn't (great country venues are not even the standard of state league grounds in most cases and in the case of Bunbury that is definitely the case) but to play in Perth in front of a crowd filled with opposition supporters? Should not be allowed to happen.

Ironically, the Fox Sports article mentions Bunbury specifically as a possible location for one of the games.

[comrade]

For those who shit on our arrangement with Ballarat and complain about playing games here, it?s a million times better than what North are being coerced into doing.