Boring time on TC
So open this one for food for thought
IMO our board has not been innovative enough in looking way ahead to the future of our club.
As a consequence we have fallen behind some of the other clubs.

One area is playing games overseas for 4 premiership points
The Saints have stolen NZ

At the very least the board should look at to see if it is financially possible
to play a game in China
one billion people
fast growning economy strongly linked to Australia
Close enough geographically to be feasible
3 hours behind us in time so twilight game starting at 6.30say perfect for prime time viewing

30 years ago you wouldnt believe where we are now with footy

Thoughts and I would be interested in Taff's view.

..i would think that NZ is a much more viable option because it's not a long flight over the 'ditch', with pretty similar weather conditions and timezones.. ..i think China would be too long a flight, and depending on where you play [HK most likely], if you're not in southern china then it's getting too far away, with very different weather coming into play as well..

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..if you can't be good, be good at it..

@#$%&! that, tin pot clubs do that shit for premiership points....

Exhibition, preseason games fair enough

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"I will rejoice in their anguish, delight in their failure and revel in our success"

We are Carlton, @#$%&! the rest !!!!!!

There is footy team is here in Beijng with a loyal band of followers. Sadly they are called the Beijing Bombers! Shanghai has had several games yet so far not one in Beijing. There is a part time AFL development guy here. If the AFL are keen it could be a go. However pre season AFL is still freezing winter in Beijing so unlikely at that time so not sure if that would work.

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"our electorate seeks less to be informed and more to be validated." Sad times.

Great discussion point. at present to many differences to overcome ( some of which mentioned in post above this one ie distance, climatic etc). an evolutionary rather than revolutionary expansion plan is probably more realistic but its the type of innovative thinking suggested in your post that will contribute to ongoing success of game & individual teams with vision & good planning.

show me how we financially benefit out of it first

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Between our dreams and actions lies this world

Same arguments could apply for India couldn't they? Huge population, rising middle class, money to burn etc. If you were going to go down that path you would look at getting a partner team and making a spectacle of it each year

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The only way for some people to understand is for them to be on the receiving end

Left wing moralists
In self serving denial
They shit me no end

India has better weather than Beijing in the pre-season.

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"our electorate seeks less to be informed and more to be validated." Sad times.

No, I've got enough crockery, thanks.

Lots of other cities in China with mega populations and a few expats, have much better weather (and less pollution) than Beijing in the pre-season. Some of these cities also sport active AFL competitions of one kind or another, plus the sporting infrastructure to enable this to occur.

Should not be dismissed out of hand.

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A Blues Supporter - not a Blues Bagger.

i am all for it, if scheduling can work ie as Taff says pre-season and its pretty cold.

I am in Shanghai every second month and am a big wrap for the place. Been lucky enough to do business across 50 countries in my lifetime and in my (humble) opinion Shanghai right now and for the foreseeable future is THE capital of the world......great energy and commerce......as they "if i can make it there....I can make it anywhere....."

I think MFC is leading the race with their China relations. Been into there for a while, incl end of season trip etc a couple of years ago (when Scully packed his bags early).

The AFL can't handle what they've got here yet.....new rules and different interpretations every season...

..can't make up their minds on playing days/nights and what start times....the is it/was it ''playon'' confusion....

..this new Judd debacle....goalpost cameras/videos or not....no idea whatsoever on how to program Grand Final Day..

...bounce the ball or throw it up...''holding the ball'' underneath the weight of 5 players....


..the #^%*(@% interchange bench debacle.....''away guernseys''....''free trade''.....etc. etc....

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No ones listening till you make a mistake.

china would be good if you could get a foothold

1. Make a commitment to an international rookie from china - its low cost but will get good publicity
2. Play an exhibition/preaseson/regular season match there
3. Get chinese rookie over there doing promo work and sell heaps of merchandise/long distance memberships (see jeremy lin/yao ming etc)

On playing matches in HK/southern china - I dont think it is too horrible given that there isnt too much change in time zones involved

China Blues....finally makes sense...dollars and cents!!

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

India/SriLanka - plenty of ex-pats living here to sign up

The AFL's investment in China is simply pissing money up against (The Great) wall (of China)... I'll get my coat.

Seriously, the number of businesses that look to China and just see numbers without any understanding of the significant differences in culture - including their relationship with sport - soon fall flat on their face.

The one key factor for a sport to succeed in China is the one thing Australian Rules doesn't have - and that is the ability to compete on a global scale. This is important as it allows China to project their strength on a global stage (i.e. Olympic sports).

Let's say that the 1,000,000-1 shot pays off and it's a huge success. 20 years from now, when China's the largest economy in the world, do you think they'll be happy for their team to be based at Royal Parade?