Graham Smorgan recently suggested that it was not out of the question that we could sell a home game interstate. That is a pathetic soft option.

former super power in steady decline.
the next melbourne football club, this club is soon becoming.

Carlton and Collingwood games at the MCG were regularly over the 80000 mark during the early 90s without any hype other than playing on the traditional rivalry. You wont need any extra ANZAC day hype if you go back to promoting the rivalry despite our relative positions on the ladder.

Exactly!! If the AFL only realised what they were doing then they would change the format. They could schedule the Essendon* v Collingwood game at midnight on July 12th and they would still come (and tune into TV to watch). Why waste Anzac Day on Essendon* and Collingwood?

Huddo and Schwarter were only talking this afternoon about the number of matches per season over 50,000. From memory the biggest year was 1999 with about 29 matches and now the numbers are in steady decline. This comes from the fact that we have no more Waverley, a small Dome at the Docklands (which has more matches than it should) and some minor modifications to the G (it was only the last 3 years remember).

So where have all the big games gone?

ANZAC day is not an Essendon*/Collingwood tradition, unless a tradition can be manufactured in ten years. I don't know when footy was first played on Anzac Day but it was long time ago. One of my earliest memories was of an Anzac Day clash between carlton and Essendon* at PP in 68. We kicked 1:11 and got thrashed but it was way before the 'tradition' of Essendon*/ c'wood started.

If it is supposed to be relevant to Anzac day, and it is hard to correlate a group of spoiled, rich young sportsmen playing footy to a group of young australians utterly slaughtered in a pointless side battle in an utterly futile, horrific war, then it should reflect all australians not just those unfortuante enough to barrack for ess/c'wood.

And what about the H/Sun reporting of the Anzac 'heroes' - you know those same spoilt footballers who's greatest sacrifice will be whether to buy a porsche or a bmw. Talk about crass....

The game is not about honouring Anzac day, if it was ess/c'wood would insist it be shared around. It is about marketing and revenue. We all remember Eddie McEgos very touching effort to get the head of Emirates airlines to toss the coin at the game a few years back. It's not just about what is made on the day but the massive marketing opportunity this 'grand final of mediocrity' represents. It means the imbalance of supporters will grow between ess/cwood and the rest.

It is also another reflection on our previous adminstration that they let this develop unchallenged.

All the other 14 clubs should put huge pressure on to alternate the clubs competing. Perhaps there could be two games one at the Dome, and then the 4 clubs represented could play again the following week to circumvent advantages with shorter weeks.

Ess/C'wood may have 'pioneered' this very recent marketing tradition, but the Roos pioneered Frday night footy and were very successful. So much so that they got dumped and C'wood took their place.

The only footballers who went to war were not c'wood or ess players as the AFL and those two clubs would have you believe. The main outcome of Anzac day footy is to remind us all how powerful Ess/Cwood are and how they have the AFL in their pocket.

Too right, Prez.

Make the Good Friday match PART of the Good Friday appeal. Great kudos to the AFL, would be a great revenue raiser for the Appeal. I said before they could add $2 to the cost of tickets with that entire amount going to charity, and then the AFL matching the amount dollar-for-dollar. Crowd of 80K = $160K, add the AFL amount, it would mean a boost to the appeal of $320K.

MEMO To The 'Smorgasboard' : Create Some Annual Clashes

As highlighted in another thread here on the Carlton Supporters Club forum, the 'Smorgasboard' have got a huge job ahead of them in regards to improving the club's image, financial position & onfield performances. One thing that could assist the club all round is for there to be 3-4 annual/traditional clashes every year against the same opposition.

As I sit here and type, I'm watching the Bombers V Pies traditional Anzac Day game on the box with a full house in attendance. Now there are a lot of Blues fans who would not remember this but the Blues had the Anzac Day game sewn up as they used to play the Bombers every year out at Waverley. Why we lost that is still a mystery but I'm guessing that the Eddie McGuire would have had a huge influence on that decision. Both of our biggest enemies reap huge financial benefits from this game by marketing the game to their supporters very well.

For us to get involved in a similiar scheme, we need to need to be proactive in our approach to this. The steps are quite simple, firstly identify some specific dates and then marry it up with some suitable opposition. Once this has been achieved, then we have to lobby the AFL with the plan and sell the benefits of it to them as well. If it is a win-win-win situation, one would expect the league to jump at it.

So, looking at the calendar, here are the specific dates that could be looked at :

1. Good Friday - is the most obvious one and at present is wide open for a concept of this nature but we need to work quickly in getting our proposal on the table. There would be some resistance to the scheduling of games on a religious holiday but I reckon there could be a groundswell of support for it as well. Next year's holiday is on Friday, 6th April.

2. Easter Monday - already has games scheduled in the round but what we could aim for is that our game was the only on in Melbourne which is quite achievable. Next year's holiday is on Monday, 9th April.

3. Labour Day - whilst this is celebrated nationally, every state has a different day (work that one out ??). In Queensland, this will be celebrated on Monday, 7th May.

4. Adelaide Cup Day - a South Australia only public holiday which in 2007 falls on Monday, 21st May.

5. Foundation Day - this is a public holiday only in Western Australia and in 2007 falls on Monday, 4th June.

6. Queen's Birthday - next year is on Monday, June 11 and given that it's a public holiday, a good opportunity beckons here.

Now, if we accept that we there are some obvious match-ups for 3, 4 & 5, we need to find some suitable opposition for the other matches and some sort of a rationale behind the games.

So, in my opinion, we should look at this as our 'traditional clash' schedule :

1. Good Friday - played at the MCG against either Geelong, St. Kilda or Richmond

2. Need to focus on Good Friday first, the Monday is a fall back position if it is decreed that footy will never be played on Good Friday.

3. QLD Labour Day - played at the Gabba against Brisbane

4. SA Adelaide Cup Day - played at Pleurisy Park against Adelaide

5. WA Foundation Day - played at Subiaco against West Coast

6. Queen's Birthday - played at the MCG against either Geelong, Richmond or St. Kilda

* I should point out that we pull huge crowds against Essendon* & Collingwood regardless of when we play them so why waste a special occassion game when the result would be the same ??

Now, that would give us five specific dates and opponents which could be built up and marketed to get full houses at each of them.

I haven't got a rationale for each of the games (by rationale I am suggesting why the game is played when it is etc) but I'm sure that we could collectively come up with something that is believable & workable.

At this stage, I reckon we could do something with the game on Foundation Day with an East VS West type scenario and that Carlton is one of the foundation members of the competition. Could the clubs play for the Foundation Cup ???

With the Adelaide Cup Day, surely there could be something done around the fact that we have had some of SA's best players at Carlton over the years and the game is played for the AFL's own Adelaide Cup.

Let me come back to you with some more concepts about those games, feel free to add your own ideas, we may be able to brainstorm this to something really workable.