PhilG wrote:The Raiders are a bad example, which in fact backs my point up - because Canberrans are getting sick of thugby (both varieties). The AFL should strike while the iron is hot. Before the advent of the Raiders, the biggest drawing local activity was the ACTAFL. And the fans are still there. I wouldn't go on the current crowds at Manuka. There are only three or four games a year there, so there's no way a proper following could be established. Now if a team actually moved there - that would alter matters entirely.
I lived in Canberra for two years. I umpired locally. Believe me I know. The only thing that would stop it is the lack of lighting at Manuka. But I'm sure the ACT government would fund it in a heartbeat if someone announced they were moving there. And it could be used for cricket as well (I know the ACB were keen on that).
Canberra was an AFL city twenty years ago but you could hardly call it that anymore.
The city itself is a mixed bag - a transient city in the sense that a hell of a lot of people pass through Canberra but don't stay there. Of those that do, most have already pledged their alliegences elsewhere.
Banking on refugees from SA/Vic/WA for support is fraught with danger. Why? Because they wouldn't give a damn about the Canberroos or whatever incarnation that would take foot there.
Manuka is too small for a permanent club - the capacity is what, approx. 15,000? Would need a major redevelopment.
Then - and this is the biggest mark against it - is the fact that there's not enough corporate dollars in the ACT to support an AFL club.
Without the league's clubs, the Raiders would go under and were on the verge of doing just that until a rescue package saved their @rses a few years back.
And the operating costs of an AFL club is significantly more than an NRL club.
RIP Canberra Cannons and the Canberra Cosmos. And soon, farewell the ACT Brumbies.