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Here in Australia this battle is not just a regular fight between a couple of heavy weights, this is a battle of epic proportions.
I'm not afraid to say it; I've bitten my finger nails down to the bone supporting Sydney FC, lost my voice at numerous Sydney Swans matches and I've come to realise just how long a queue can be to buy a beer whilst at a West Tigers game. In an ideal world I should be able to support all three teams happily, however I feel that I'm stuck in an impossible game of tug-of-war between three very strong parties.
Football. A game played on a patch of grass with goals at both ends. Rugby League is the same, as is AFL. So why do we feel the need to be constantly fighting over these sports? Sure I can argue that football is much more technical and is the most played sport in the world, but there is no reason to ever say that an AFL or rugby league player is any less of a sportsperson or that they don't train as hard to ensure they perform at their peak each weekend.
The Hyundai A-League is just eight years old and with so many 'old soccer' personalities refusing to move on from the days of the National Soccer League, it feels impossible that this concept of ‘working with the enemy' will change any time soon.
There are cases such as Nathan Tinkler in Newcastle, who is trying to bridge the gap between football and NRL through his ownership of both Newcastle Jets and the Newcastle Knights. The first move Tinkler made was making sure the two clubs shared team colours - blue and red - ensuring the two clubs are easy to identify. Tinkler may have done this without consultation of the Jets fans, alienating a number of them, but he did this with good intentions.
There are fans who are very grateful for all Tinkler has done for the Newcastle sporting scene. Tinkler has already started winning over the people of Newcastle by having the cheapest membership deals in the A-League, lowering the price of general admission tickets to loose change and giving away 10,000 tickets to the match against Melbourne Heart in October 2010.
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| The 'WE' in WE ARE FOOTBALL is the most important word |
Football. A game played on a patch of grass with goals at both ends. Rugby League is the same, as is AFL. So why do we feel the need to be constantly fighting over these sports? Sure I can argue that football is much more technical and is the most played sport in the world, but there is no reason to ever say that an AFL or rugby league player is any less of a sportsperson or that they don't train as hard to ensure they perform at their peak each weekend.
The Hyundai A-League is just eight years old and with so many 'old soccer' personalities refusing to move on from the days of the National Soccer League, it feels impossible that this concept of ‘working with the enemy' will change any time soon.
There are cases such as Nathan Tinkler in Newcastle, who is trying to bridge the gap between football and NRL through his ownership of both Newcastle Jets and the Newcastle Knights. The first move Tinkler made was making sure the two clubs shared team colours - blue and red - ensuring the two clubs are easy to identify. Tinkler may have done this without consultation of the Jets fans, alienating a number of them, but he did this with good intentions.
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| There are in fact some Jets fans thankful for all Nathan Tinkler has done for them! |
What is next for Tinkler and the two teams in Newcastle? Dual memberships.
By having a Jets membership, it should guarantee you access to three Newcastle Knights home matches, the same as if you have a Knights membership. Sure there will be people who will simply refuse to go, but if an extra 800-1000 people watch the Jets play and think to themselves, "this isn't half bad", there is a strong chance they will return for more. After all, as it’s possible to wear your Knights jersey to an A-League game, most people wouldn't even notice (thanks to having the same shirt designer in ISC).
The second and probably best example of where the relationship between three sporting codes could work together in a new and thriving environment - the Gold Coast. Founded in 2007, the NRL side Gold Coast Titans are enjoying playing some attractive football and bringing in a good crowd number to Skilled Park. 2008 saw the birth of Gold Coast United, a football team with big ambitions led by a man with big pockets. Finally, in 2009 we welcomed Gold Coast Suns to the AFL world with their first season in the competition in 2011.
Gold Coast United and the Titans use the same colour scheme - yellow and blue - for their jerseys, hoping to perform a similar concept as Tinkler's men in Newcastle. However if we look at community involvement, the NRL is winning the contest hands down. If you walked up to a random person on the street on the Gold Coast, there is a good chance that they would not have even heard of the football team, Gold Coast United.
Therefore, if there was to be a partnership, it would obviously need to benefit everyone. For Gold Coast United, it would quite simply be exposure. The more people who know about the team, the more people are likely to get involved and cheer on their local side. For the NRL, it can be the sharing of training facilities, doctors and coaches. Despite football and NRL being very different sports, their training schedules are quite similar and so the trading and sharing of resources would help both clubs.
In the case of Gold Coast Suns, their first season in the AFL wasn't the greatest with the club finishing bottom of the table having won just three matches all season. For their club, they need to gain respect. Rather than trying to create their own identity (they differentiated themselves and use red and yellow in their guernseys), they need to look only at their surroundings. The beach. The people. The lifestyle.
To get people through the gate, ticket prices and memberships need to be marketed at the people who are most likely going to make the trip to Skilled Park or Metricon Stadium. There needs to be a 15 game pass, where people can attend matches for all Gold Coast teams. Memberships need to work together so that if you're a United member, you get 15% off a Suns or Titans membership, and vice versa.
Ultimately, what will matter most for the Gold Coast is their level of communication. The bosses of all three clubs need to sit down, talk and rather than think about what is best for their individual game; what is best for the people.
Back to the original question. As War famously sang, why can't we be friends? Sure, football wants to be the number one played sport in Australia, as does NRL and AFL. But rather than saying to a six year old, "you've got to choose if you want to play football, league or AFL, make your choice now", we should be making sure that these competitions will still be around in 10 or 30 years time for there to be a choice. Perhaps we need to be diplomatic in the space allocated to each sport in the newspapers. It'd certainly make football pundits like Les Murray happy, especially after his recent mouthful about the T20 Cricket.
We shouldn't see other sporting codes in Australia as the 'enemy', rather we should see the potential members or fans who just haven't been given the opportunity to see what each game can offer.
Gold Coast United and the Titans use the same colour scheme - yellow and blue - for their jerseys, hoping to perform a similar concept as Tinkler's men in Newcastle. However if we look at community involvement, the NRL is winning the contest hands down. If you walked up to a random person on the street on the Gold Coast, there is a good chance that they would not have even heard of the football team, Gold Coast United.
Therefore, if there was to be a partnership, it would obviously need to benefit everyone. For Gold Coast United, it would quite simply be exposure. The more people who know about the team, the more people are likely to get involved and cheer on their local side. For the NRL, it can be the sharing of training facilities, doctors and coaches. Despite football and NRL being very different sports, their training schedules are quite similar and so the trading and sharing of resources would help both clubs.
In the case of Gold Coast Suns, their first season in the AFL wasn't the greatest with the club finishing bottom of the table having won just three matches all season. For their club, they need to gain respect. Rather than trying to create their own identity (they differentiated themselves and use red and yellow in their guernseys), they need to look only at their surroundings. The beach. The people. The lifestyle.
To get people through the gate, ticket prices and memberships need to be marketed at the people who are most likely going to make the trip to Skilled Park or Metricon Stadium. There needs to be a 15 game pass, where people can attend matches for all Gold Coast teams. Memberships need to work together so that if you're a United member, you get 15% off a Suns or Titans membership, and vice versa.
Ultimately, what will matter most for the Gold Coast is their level of communication. The bosses of all three clubs need to sit down, talk and rather than think about what is best for their individual game; what is best for the people.
Back to the original question. As War famously sang, why can't we be friends? Sure, football wants to be the number one played sport in Australia, as does NRL and AFL. But rather than saying to a six year old, "you've got to choose if you want to play football, league or AFL, make your choice now", we should be making sure that these competitions will still be around in 10 or 30 years time for there to be a choice. Perhaps we need to be diplomatic in the space allocated to each sport in the newspapers. It'd certainly make football pundits like Les Murray happy, especially after his recent mouthful about the T20 Cricket.
We shouldn't see other sporting codes in Australia as the 'enemy', rather we should see the potential members or fans who just haven't been given the opportunity to see what each game can offer.