R13 - Central v Adelaide @ Elizabeth

[bulldogproud2]

19 AFL listed players named, good luck Dogs!

Where is the Crows skipper?

Played for Echunga today

Well done Doggies, Ravens have been ordinary for 4 or 5 weeks.

I think that saying Adelaide have been ordinary recently takes a bit away from Central's performance. After all, the only two losses the Ravens have had to teams other than Central this season were to South by 1 point and Sturt by 10 points. Additionally, Adelaide had 19 AFL-listed players playing yesterday.

Cheers

[Apachebulldog]

All i can really say is FAARK FAARK FAARK FAARK OFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF !!!

[wild dog]

Agreed, even before this game Central lead the league with home crowd growth this year. Eagles currently a distant 2nd.

Everything helps and if you want a really big crowd you need a multitude of things happening.

When we (Eagles) got 4670 for a Crows game last year, the MWJFL Carnival was the foundation bringing in about 1700 but other specific promotions also brought in about 800-900 which when added to the normal 2000 that attend, gave us a great figure.

I am sure the Bulldogs worked to a similar plan and with the new scanning able to give regular updates through the day they should have a good idea who came for what.

So there is a deliberate strategy in having the junior carnivals prior to an Adelaide reserves game. Tex turns up and the crowds follow. I gather with the obvious success this will continue and will be copied by all clubs. So we will have a season to look forward to where half of the Adelaide reserves fixture will contain junior carnivals and the subsequent crowd boost.

[johntheclaret]

Yep, all all the other games the crowds will be shit and the powers that be will use those stTs to support their argument that it's the Reserves that are pulling in the crowds.

Why aren't these carnivals being held on Marchdays when two sovereign clubs

[PhilH]

Wild Dog - A Crows game usually brings no SANFL reserves game as a curtain raiser, each club has developed it's own plan on how to fill that hole.

Eagles have run a carnival last 3 years, Glenelg ran a schools carnival last year, West tried this year but Easter Saturday wrong date to get teams along, Central have just had theirs and Norwood are planning one later in the season. That is 5/8.


John - Until Eagles brought in 4,672 to their carnival day last year I don't thing other clubs had given the concept much thought, it is a LOT of work and quite a logistical challenge to mix a carnival and SANFL league game together. Most weeks there is a reserves game to provide the curtain raiser, playing a carnival for say a North v South game means moving the reserves to another place / date / time.

What I like most about the concept is that if you do it right, you provide a wonderful SANFL experience for kids who play local footy in your area.

Hopefully all the kids who play school footy in the Bulldogs zone now have a great experience of a day at Elizabeth.

[twosheds]

It's great by the clubs and great for the clubs clearly BUT just watch it get spun by Rucci, Rowe,Bickley etc as a sign the blow ins are bringing the crowds and the run of the mill Crows or Port supporter who doesn't care about the SANFL will swallow it hook line and sinker. What happened to all the work the blowins were going to do in the zone leading up to the game, sound like the SANFL clubs have done all the heavy lifting .

[whufc]

Problem is when u give that experience to the kids on the day the Crows are there they are most likely going to 'fall in love' with the corporation

So apart from being a small money grab (even if there is profit after u account for time and effort etc etc) there isn't s whole lot of long term gain

You would be better of putting that effort into a game versus say Centrals where no doubt 95% of the carnival kids will support and feel an affiliation with the Eagles not the opposition side

[Dogwatcher]

On the field - a great win by the Dogs against a side of 19 professionals, who played bruise-free footy.
The opening concerned me a bit, with the Ravens scoring a goal straight from the first bounce, whoever we regained equilibrium and took control for the remainder of the match.
A strong second term was excellent and gave us confidence and set the tone for the remainder of the match.
Jenner turned back the clock a bit with some good goals, Holman was excellent and Chris Jansen also played well.
Presbury came into the game late.
Contests between these two sides had always been reasonably close, so it was only in the final quarter I was totally comfortable that we would win.

Off the field - it was nice to see so many people at the ground on Saturday for the junior stuff prior to the match. I'm glad we've followed WWT's lead in programming this type of event. Hopefully, it translates to ongoing support from the kids. We can only hope that we keep our unbeaten record against this side so that these young kids will have one less reason to support the parasitical interlopers.
For a dyed-in-the-wool fan, I had mixed feelings about the vocal Crows supporters being there. On the one hand, it felt like another kick in the guts that these people would bring their paid-for-by-the-club flags into the ground, rather than support a traditional club. But, we have criticised the Ravens from the start, questioning what they bring to the competition, particularly from a supporter base. So good on them for getting to the game and spending a little bit of money at our canteen.
Sadly, though, the harsh reality is that every fan who attends to watch Adelaide is another fan lost to our traditional clubs. That will never change.

The most confusing thing for me on the day was seeing a bloke wearing a Centrals guernsey and waving a Crows flag whenever they did something good. I just can't imagine doing that.

[therisingblues]

It's great by the clubs and great for the clubs clearly BUT just watch it get spun by Rucci, Rowe,Bickley etc as a sign the blow ins are bringing the crowds and the run of the mill Crows or Port supporter who doesn't care about the SANFL will swallow it hook line and sinker. What happened to all the work the blowins were going to do in the zone leading up to the game, sound like the SANFL clubs have done all the heavy lifting .

Yes, that's true.
We need to get the crowd figures out to the wider football public somehow, that shows the SANFL crowd figures are down overall. I don't know how the media types would be able to put their pro-reserves spin on that. Going on memory, overall crowd averages are down quite significantly, Port's are down by an incredible amount. Crows might be pulling a crowd on par with what we got pre-reserves. That translates as everyone has taken a hit, and interest is down overall, to satisfy two clubs. Not only that, it proves the point we all made prior to them joining, which is interest in the comp will diminish beyond it being a practice run for the "ones that matter". The meaning of the SANFL is often lost on some fools who can't seem to understand that there's football in this state, which exists outside the Power and Crows. Their addition is like knocking down a hundred year old facade to install a McDonalds.
Surely, even AFL supporters would see the damage being caused when confronted with the overall figures. The question is how.

[Booney]

Sadly, though, the harsh reality is that every fan who attends to watch Adelaide is another fan lost to our traditional clubs. That will never change.

That happened 26 years ago, that's not a new phenomena.

[Dogwatcher]

Sadly, though, the harsh reality is that every fan who attends to watch Adelaide is another fan lost to our traditional clubs. That will never change.

That happened 26 years ago, that's not a new phenomena.

Yes, it is something new. There was always the possibility that a kid brought up in a Crows supporting house would have an SANFL team as a second side. Now they can support that side in the SANFL as well. The number of SANFL supporters decreased in 1990, correct, but this further dilutes the pool of potential.

[Booney]

Sadly, though, the harsh reality is that every fan who attends to watch Adelaide is another fan lost to our traditional clubs. That will never change.

That happened 26 years ago, that's not a new phenomena.

Yes, it is something new. There was always the possibility that a kid brought up in a Crows supporting house would have an SANFL team as a second side. Now they can support that side in the SANFL as well. The number of SANFL supporters decreased in 1990, correct, but this further dilutes the pool of potential.

Someone born post-1990 with Crow (and no longer SANFL) supporting parents would barely know of the SANFL, let alone get hard earned out the pocket to support them.

[Dogwatcher]

Sadly, though, the harsh reality is that every fan who attends to watch Adelaide is another fan lost to our traditional clubs. That will never change.

That happened 26 years ago, that's not a new phenomena.

Yes, it is something new. There was always the possibility that a kid brought up in a Crows supporting house would have an SANFL team as a second side. Now they can support that side in the SANFL as well. The number of SANFL supporters decreased in 1990, correct, but this further dilutes the pool of potential.

Someone born post-1990 with Crow (and no longer SANFL) supporting parents would barely know of the SANFL, let alone get hard earned out the pocket to support them.

[therisingblues]

I'd say the number of people who gave up on their SANFL club completely, would have been very few.
I have two brothers, both Glenelg supporters. One has always loved the game, the other only really got on board when the Crows came in. One still has a soft spot for the Bays, the other doesn't know and doesn't care about them. If you really loved your club before, you surely wouldn't be able to drop it just like that. If you could, that would make the AFL just as meaningless to such people as the SANFL obviously once was. As soon as the next big thing comes around, those types will drop their "undying" Crows / Power allegiance straight away.

[wild dog]

It's great by the clubs and great for the clubs clearly BUT just watch it get spun by Rucci, Rowe,Bickley etc as a sign the blow ins are bringing the crowds ......

Isn't this what is happening Phil H. While the kids love it and there is an extra amount spent on the canteen, how exactly is this benefitting the clubs? Adelaide is able to refer to these crowds to reinforce their stance that the Crows reserves are not affecting crowds. However if this carnival was not held prior to the game, we potentially could have had a sub 1000 crowd at Elizabeth.

The SANFL should be demanding a greater payment for the inclusion of the reserves team. First of all work out how much it will cost to field a reserves team in the VFL, and make that the starting point in negotiations. These carnivals artificially inflating Crows reserves crowd numbers is not helping on that front.

[johntheclaret]

Wild Dog - A Crows game usually brings no SANFL reserves game as a curtain raiser, each club has developed it's own plan on how to fill that hole.

Eagles have run a carnival last 3 years, Glenelg ran a schools carnival last year, West tried this year but Easter Saturday wrong date to get teams along, Central have just had theirs and Norwood are planning one later in the season. That is 5/8.


John - Until Eagles brought in 4,672 to their carnival day last year I don't thing other clubs had given the concept much thought, it is a LOT of work and quite a logistical challenge to mix a carnival and SANFL league game together. Most weeks there is a reserves game to provide the curtain raiser, playing a carnival for say a North v South game means moving the reserves to another place / date / time.

What I like most about the concept is that if you do it right, you provide a wonderful SANFL experience for kids who play local footy in your area.

Hopefully all the kids who play school footy in the Bulldogs zone now have a great experience of a day at Elizabeth.

Thanks Phil

[PhilH]

Wild Dog ... you answered your own question

" While the kids love it and there is an extra amount spent on the canteen"

In my role this is far more important than how any 3rd party wants to spin it.

The carnival Eagles ran this year involved U8 & U9 teams across 12 clubs

EVERY U8 & U9 junior club player in the North West from Lockleys, Flinders Park and Henley up to North Haven. from the coast across to South Road came to Woodville and hopefully had a great day. (Plus Hectorville).

It probably brings hundreds of families to the ground who otherwise have no Eagles connection.

Remember our "Carnival Day" is not just a series of footy games, there is a heap of other activities organised as well around the event.

[johntheclaret]

It's a fantastic effort Phil and I'd love to see 4k+ crowds at every SANFL game. I'd just like to see it without the AFL Reserves in the league thats all.
And I know where Wild Dog is coming from. Unfortunately the poor advocates that are the SANFL will only be too willing to use your hard work for their own ends and argue that crowds are up where the Reserves play so they are doing a good job. They will of course ignore all the other facts to the contrary.

[Dutchy]

Phil is doing his job and you can't criticise what he has done, in fact he has done a great job in thinking outside the square to engage his community/zone. Maybe a free ticket to all attendees for another game later in the season might be a way to get them back?

[RB]

It's a fantastic effort Phil and I'd love to see 4k+ crowds at every SANFL game. I'd just like to see it without the AFL Reserves in the league thats all.
And I know where Wild Dog is coming from. Unfortunately the poor advocates that are the SANFL will only be too willing to use your hard work for their own ends and argue that crowds are up where the Reserves play so they are doing a good job. They will of course ignore all the other facts to the contrary.

Good point. Idiots like Mark Bickley might point to the crowd of 4,000 and go on about how the reserves teams are drawing in loads of new fans, but I bet he would have no idea about the work that Phil does.