The_Wookie wrote:
Bullshit. No matter how many times you trot this out its still wrong. St Kilda were in Tasmania and left of their own volition and later admitted that it was a shortsighted mistake. Richmond thought about it, but never lodged a formal proposal. North went to Hobart as soon as their Queensland option was shut down by the league, and no one prevented it. Hawthorns Tasmania sponsorship is a product of 15 years of commitment from the Hawks, and as a sponsorship also reflects the fact that Hawthorn have won several flags in the process.
The AFL can fixture what it likes, but the Tasmanian Government didnt have to move its sponsorship and ground deal to any other club. Whilst many sponsors do take AFL advice before sponsoring a club, in the end its up to the sponsor. (see Audi this year - the AFL recommended they sponsor St Kilda who badly need a major sponsor, instead they went with Hawthorn).
The only people Carlton have to blame are themselves, and former presidents Elliot (for his lovely Grandstand which was built against AFL advice and put us into considerable debt) - and singlehandedly being the reason we lost Aaron Hamill to St Kilda, Ian Collins (for not taking a harder line against the AFL on the salary cap rules, something we would have almost certainly won in court on Restraint of trade grounds, and which he later admitted was a mistake) - I dont blame him much for the sell out to Docklands, we needed the money they paid up front. Then the clubs recruiting staff, inability to manage and look after players such as Fevola and in more recent times, our entire forward line, whilst failing at any kind of player development and bringing in hacks from other clubs.
Yes, I agree with every single word you said there...including bullshit.
Ha. had you going there for a while. You thought I believed your post for a nanosecond.
If I may be good enough to respond.
Your opinion is that Hawthorn getting 25 million in sponsorship from the Tasmanian govt (conservative figures) plus extra membership from Tasmanians, but this has had no effect on their success. Well, may I say in response ...absolute rubbish...or to put it mildly "I disagree ever so mildly".
Next you will be telling me that COLA had no effect on Sydney winning premierships. Yes, they recruited well, but it is the extra 10-20% that got them over the line. Yet winners are grinners as the premierships are in the bag.
Have a read of this article - with some key points highlighted. The key question remains -
should the AFL have allowed just one team to play out of Launceston? If not St Kilda, then another team should have taken up a rolling fixture.
"St Kilda and the Hawks both began their Launceston experiments in 2001; each played home games – predominantly against the non-Victorian clubs – at Aurora Stadium. The Saints left Launceston in 2006, shortly after the notorious “Sirengate” game in which the AFL handed the premiership points to Fremantle days after the game.
St Kilda didn't enjoy Launceston, believing that it didn't perform well at the ground, and vacated. St Kilda was then making healthy profits with a lean business operation and had been close to the flag in 2004-05.
No sooner had the Saints left Launceston, than the Hawks pounced.
They would turn the stadium into a gold mine, worth several hundred thousand dollars a game, receiving a hefty sponsorship from the Tasmanian government. Jeff Kennett renegotiated the deal, in defiance of the AFL's wish to make Tassie the second (seven-game) home of North Melbourne, in late 2010.
Today, the Hawks have four home games in Launceston, [b]in
an arrangement that earns them close to $3.5 million. Moreover, the impact is far greater when considering the spin-offs, and the fact that they've had the market to themselves (until North landed two games in Hobart)."[/b]
Read more:
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/h ... z3tcTHw6Vl