Western Sydney Wanderers

[system]

Difference is that the physical attributes required for a AFL player are the most similar in terms of build etc. They are the junior base the AFL were trying to tap and that has now gone with the top flight A League side representing the region.

Those playing RL are never likely to switch for the same reason you would never see a talented soccer player play RL or Union at a high level

 

[Peaches]

In my local community, league clubs are folding and soccer clubs are running at absolute capacity.
The Wanderers are a real threat to rugby league. AFL can try its best but it won't ever have a real home in this area. Soccer/football and league dominate this area and the Wanderers success could start meaning kids want to grow up to be Shinji Ono and not Benji Marshall.

_Posted using RoarFEED 2013_

 

[AmericanHistoryX]

thats why i posted this thread in the first place - its taking Sydney by storm. Where did that come from. Grew out of nothing. Sydney is buzzing tonight - grand final days away. They want revenge and the crowds/fans want redemption. They wanna be on the map. I can tell you one thing this team is re-shaping culture not only in the West but to the reaches of the imagination. Whats in it for the rest of us? Well - the fact that it happened in our life time. Thats it i guess.

 

[Peaches]

It was always going to happen though. It's been sleeping silently and the Wanderers have united everyone. It's hear to stay too. They'll have more then 10,000 members next year that's for sure.

_Posted using RoarFEED 2013_

 

[pacey]

I still believe as much as we should respect the A-League and the Wanderers. I think any impact on league will be fairly minimal and require more of a re-evaluation of where and what the nrl is doing in Sydney. The one who should be worried is the AFL. The Wanderers are their worst nightmare. The AFL may well have cash but that'll be no good if the clientele is more interested in A-League. At a time where GWS are trying to establish themselves in Sydney, the Wanderers have taken away a lot of ground and momentum for them. Financials aside, I don't know that GWS can survive out there.

Haven't even heard of GWS since folau left. LOL

 

[innsaneink]

In my local community, league clubs are folding and soccer clubs are running at absolute capacity.
The Wanderers are a real threat to rugby league. AFL can try its best but it won't ever have a real home in this area. Soccer/football and league dominate this area and the Wanderers success could start meaning kids want to grow up to be Shinji Ono and not Benji Marshall.

_Posted using RoarFEED 2013_

Lots of people getting caught up in all the hype ey?

GF week does get a bit crazy and peopel start thinking irrationally.

 

[LaT]

Brisbane went through it when Roar was winning too. Sleeping giant stories in the media, bandwagon fans suddenly talking around the water cooler and how epic things were at Suncorp last weekend etc.

Not sure what its like on the ground in Western Sydney, but there seem to be common elements.

 

[Peaches]

In my local community, league clubs are folding and soccer clubs are running at absolute capacity.
The Wanderers are a real threat to rugby league. AFL can try its best but it won't ever have a real home in this area. Soccer/football and league dominate this area and the Wanderers success could start meaning kids want to grow up to be Shinji Ono and not Benji Marshall.

_Posted using RoarFEED 2013_

Lots of people getting caught up in all the hype ey?

GF week does get a bit crazy and peopel start thinking irrationally.

No they're facts.
I myself am a part-time member and will be a seasoned ticket holder next year. As will half a dozen of my mates. We all support different league teams and the Wanderers unite us.

Until you experience it, you don't understand. There aren't too many bandwagoners. The area was crying out for a side and its finally got one. It will continue to grow.

_Posted using RoarFEED 2013_

 

[LaT]

You don't know if they are bandwagoners until you play more than one season.

This inaugural season has been spectacular for them, its captured the media and everyones imagination. Like lightening in a bottle.

Happy to be proven wrong, but would love to see how things are down the track when things cool off and the fans aren't singing when their winning.

 

[Peaches]

You don't know if they are bandwagoners until you play more than one season.

This inaugural season has been spectacular for them, its captured the media and everyones imagination. Like lightening in a bottle.

Happy to be proven wrong, but would love to see how things are down the track when things cool off and the fans aren't singing when their winning.

That's the point though. We are always sining including when we were losing earlier in the year.
There will be some drop-off but there are just as many that miss out on tickets.

_Posted using RoarFEED 2013_

 

[LaT]

I've experinced that sort of hype when Titans came in. Seriously. Sold out games, people who never followed footy talking about it around the water cooler like seasoned pros, plastered coverage across radio/TV/print and billboards. Then it slowed.

But guess what? GC Suns arrived in town….rinse and repeat to believe it or not, even higher levels than Titans. Then it slowed.

And again, Roar provides a blue print of how a city can unite for the hype and buzz of the latest thing, but it doesn't last. Brisbane Lions, same again.

As I said, I'm about 1000k away so maybe its different. But there are just so many similarities, when you experience the buzz you think nothing will ever be the same again.

 

[Peaches]

Yeah I know what you're saying and only time will tell but I think the Wanderers are going to be huge. To say this area was crying out for a team is a massive understatement.

_Posted using RoarFEED 2013_

 

[Tigerpete]

Personally I think it's great what West Sydney are doing for the area. I love football, always have. Probably enjoy it as much as I do league. There are two constants in my sporting landscape. Wests Tigers and Leeds United. The reality I've always held is that football will become the number 1 sport nationally in this country. It's a case of when and not if. It could be 10 years away, could be 20, 30, 50\. Who knows. Football is the world game, a sport which unifies nations, cultures, foreigners to locals. It will happen.

However I still feel League will survive any impact from A-League. Like I said earlier, the AFL and even union are far more vulnerable here in Sydney than league. League will always be a constant here in Sydney. It may simply have to share the spotlight with football one day. As many have said. There is NO reason they can't co exist successfully.

 

[Peaches]

Football and league will coexist in Sydney. I just think the Wanderers will be a big club in this country, possibly the biggest.

_Posted using RoarFEED 2013_

 

[innsaneink]

In my local community, league clubs are folding and soccer clubs are running at absolute capacity.
The Wanderers are a real threat to rugby league. AFL can try its best but it won't ever have a real home in this area. Soccer/football and league dominate this area and the Wanderers success could start meaning kids want to grow up to be Shinji Ono and not Benji Marshall.

_Posted using RoarFEED 2013_

Lots of people getting caught up in all the hype ey?

GF week does get a bit crazy and peopel start thinking irrationally.

No they're facts.
I myself am a part-time member and will be a seasoned ticket holder next year. As will half a dozen of my mates. We all support different league teams and the Wanderers unite us.

Until you experience it, you don't understand. There aren't too many bandwagoners. The area was crying out for a side and its finally got one. It will continue to grow.

_Posted using RoarFEED 2013_

So you & your mates are **now** united?
Because before you had nothing in common, depite the fact you were mates? :laughing:

You were united before…..you dont even realise this, youre caught up in the hype.

 

[Cultured_Bogan]

The test for the Wanderers will be the hard times. Wait until they have a season like Sydney FC did this year, or worse yet, the Phoenix.

Yeah there'll be a core mob who'll always turn up, just like Sydney FC does, just like the Phoenix, just like BWS Giants and just like the WT. But what will measure the club is how people stick by them when the good times run lean.

 

[Peaches]

In my local community, league clubs are folding and soccer clubs are running at absolute capacity.
The Wanderers are a real threat to rugby league. AFL can try its best but it won't ever have a real home in this area. Soccer/football and league dominate this area and the Wanderers success could start meaning kids want to grow up to be Shinji Ono and not Benji Marshall.

_Posted using RoarFEED 2013_

Lots of people getting caught up in all the hype ey?

GF week does get a bit crazy and peopel start thinking irrationally.

No they're facts.
I myself am a part-time member and will be a seasoned ticket holder next year. As will half a dozen of my mates. We all support different league teams and the Wanderers unite us.

Until you experience it, you don't understand. There aren't too many bandwagoners. The area was crying out for a side and its finally got one. It will continue to grow.

_Posted using RoarFEED 2013_

So you & your mates are **now** united?
Because before you had nothing in common, depite the fact you were mates? :laughing:

You were united before…..you dont even realise this, youre caught up in the hype.

Yeah because you know what the relationship between me and my mates was and now is. You wouldn't know that many of us have supported the club since very early on before the bandwagon was actually attached.

I don't think many people understand just how big the following for football is in the South-West of Sydney. My parents were on the local clubs committee for years and I can tell you the playing numbers in the district have literally sky-rocketed over the last 10 years. The club itself doubled in size over 5 years. In all ages and also big female numbers too. Playing numbers in sports like cricket and league are suffering big time and I can tell you personally cricket really has no idea what to do (I'm the secretary of a cricket club).

Of course people are going to be caught up in the hype. It's the Wanderers first season and there was no representation for this area in the A-League. Fans have been made and I truly believe many of them have rusted on. Sydney FC did an okay job engaging the fans in this area, but many fans didn't feel like Sydney FC was their team. The Wanderers have done that.

_Posted using RoarFEED 2013_

 

[LaT]

Soccer clubs around my area have been growing since I was a kid too. We used to have multiple cricket/league clubs but now only 1 of each because they couldn't survive.

It really just seems like you are in the moment, much like a housing bubble. Its hard to think that the good times will ever end or slow down….but it does.

 

[Peaches]

The test for the Wanderers will be the hard times. Wait until they have a season like Sydney FC did this year, or worse yet, the Phoenix.

Yeah there'll be a core mob who'll always turn up, just like Sydney FC does, just like the Phoenix, just like BWS Giants and just like the WT. But what will measure the club is how people stick by them when the good times run lean.

That will be the test. I can tell you I'll be there singing with my mates and there are many who will do the same. There will be easily 10,000 plus members next year. I think it may be capped at 15,000.

I can tell you many of us regulars are somewhat secretly hoping the bandwagon dies off as it has brought an unwanted group of flogs who cause so much trouble and bring down the reputation. For example many of you would have seen the incident on the news at the last derby where a glass was thrown on a table of Sydney FC fans. It wasn't a good look but definately should not have been the first story on the news. That was just sensationalist journalism.
Many of you wouldn't know the RBB has raised finds and donated hundreds of tickets to charities in the area to distribute to disadvantaged groups. Or many of you wouldn't have known about the massive family fun BBQ which was done up at Newcastle which had a few thousand attend and just enjoy each others company.
Only the poor stories seem to be broadcasted and its a real shame because there are so many good ones.

_Posted using RoarFEED 2013_

 

[Peaches]

Soccer clubs around my area have been growing since I was a kid too. We used to have multiple cricket/league clubs but now only 1 of each because they couldn't survive.

It really just seems like you are in the moment, much like a housing bubble. Its hard to think that the good times will ever end or slow down….but it does.

It will slow down and we all know that. No team can just keep on winning.
I'm just saying this area and club has the potential to be the biggest club in the country. Those who think its just a flash in the pan I believe will be mistaken.

_Posted using RoarFEED 2013_