Sam Mitchel now Jordan Lewis. Can Port have Shaun Burgoyne back? Why are Hawthorn parting ways with these talented leaders?
Can you imagine if Tasmania get a footy team?
Especially if a few well known players are poached & first picks from the draftâŚ
The entire state will bo bananas 
(With record TV ratings no doubt)
it hopefully will happen sooner rather than later.
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Where has this comment come from? Is there talk about it again? Pity Tasmanias ratings arent calculated as its would be hard to prove that statement.
Heard something about the Hawks doing this so they can get Fyfe/Dusty Martin next year. Really frees up lots of salary cap space losing Mitchell and Lewis!
[quote=âturdall, post:181, topic:803, full:trueâ]
Sam Mitchel now Jordan Lewis. Can Port have Shaun Burgoyne back? Why are Hawthorn parting ways with these talented leaders?
[/quote]Because they wanted Jaeger OâMeara etc. and clearly canât afford to keep them all in under the cap. Mind you, Iâm really surprised they let Sammy basically go for nothing in return from the Eagles (pick 80 something I think). This is very un-Hawthorn unlike to let such talent leave without getting compensated in some way. Guess you canât win 'em all! 
[quote=âLukeMovieMan, post:182, topic:803, full:trueâ]
Can you imagine if Tasmania get a footy team?
Especially if a few well known players are poached & first picks from the draftâŚ
The entire state will bo bananas
(With record TV ratings no doubt)
[/quote]Too bad this will highly likely be well over a decade before actually being a reality. But when/if it does occur the AFL will have to give the same generous concessions afforded to GC and GWS (particularly the latter) for it to even have hope of being moderately successful in its early years.
Gotta admit though, Greater Western Sydney has been a massive success 
Certainly in terms of ladder position (performance) & TV ratings, as we saw this year.
Itâs attracting lots of supporters to the club as well. As well as heaps of general intetest from the footy world and media. They have around 15,000 members.
Whilst remembering theyâre only 5 years old!
It was just a couple of years ago, that GWS were an absolute basket case & laughing stock.
Now the AFL can gloat.
(It should be noted, NRL still donât have a club in South Australia or WA⌠LOL)
Yes, I was surpised just how much GWS have improved in the last 12 months.
Now thereâll be calls for a 3rd Sydney team!
But everything has a flipside, the Swans will struggle to be as successful as to what they have been in the last decade, and it will put even more pressure on some Melbourne teams that have been already been struggling for a number of years. And on the 2 QLD teams, you have to wonder whether they can both survive long term.
As for the NRL, the game is still suffering somewhat from that Super League war of 20 years ago and may never fully recover. But thatâs for another thread.
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It does help immensely when youâre giving the crème de la crème year after year since being established doesnât it? Meanwhile other clubs are forgotten about somewhat.
Establishing another team up there (Qld) was huge mistake. Considering the Lions had been struggling for many years and all not sure what they were thinking with this expansion. Wouldâve been better off giving a âtraditional stateâ a team first before giving another one to a ânon-traditional stateâ which barely supports what they originally had. Time to relocate them I think. 
Another wonderful legacy left by Andrew D I guess⌠
From 2017 and for the next 5 years, Tasmaniaâs home of footy (even the Southern based Mercury called it that!), York Park, will be known as University of Tasmania Stadium or UTAS Stadium. This ends the naming rights sponsorship of Aurora Energy where it has been known as Aurora Stadium since 2005.
The biggest reason for this is UTAS are relocating from Mowbray and other suburbs to the Inveresk precinct which includes York Park (also sometimes known as Hawk Park with the Hawthorn games there).
What does everyone think of Good Friday match next year, reportedly to involve North Melbourne? For years people have been protesting against the AFL for even considering playing a match on such a religious day, but if the NRL, Super Rugby and even the A-League schedule matches on that day and night, it is inevitable that the AFL will follow suit. If people want to keep Good Friday sport free in Australia, it should protest to all sporting organisations to stop playing on that day.
About time. I dont understand why there is no game.
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And you give the other codes like soccer and NRL a massive advantage by not having a game on that day!
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Shouldâve happened many, many years ago IMO. As usual the AFL are behind the times. How is it that the VFL, SANFL, TSL and even WAFL, along with the NRL and countless other major codes have scheduled Good Friday matches (some for many years) yet the AFL has only just now decided to follow suit?
What would be nice is if money were raised during the match in conjunction with traditional GFA.
The 2017 fixture was released this morning and it contains many firsts: first Good Friday match, first premiership match in China, Canberra and Ballarat, and first Friday night match in Canberra. There will be more Thursday night matches (eight compared with five this year). Western Bulldogs and Sydney dominate Thursday and Friday timeslots.
Thoughts on how your club fare in the fixture?
I donât understand why itâs sooo important to some people to have a Good Friday Match?
Im planning my China trip.
looks like 11 less games on FTA in 2017 - http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-10-27/fewer-games-on-freetoair-tv-in-2017
I am actually considering getting foxtel. Is it worth it?
Just to watch the AFL? No. It really depends on what you want to watch.