This weekend another story has emerged of the Australian Football League (AFL) trying desperately to poach more National Rugby League (NRL) superstars to improve the profile of another one of its failing expansion clubs, the Greater Western Sydney Giants (GWS).
AFL’s desperation over NRL superstars?
For you Americans reading this, the AFL is basically southern Australia’s less interesting derivative of Ireland’s Gaelic football, invented in 1858 to help with cricketers’ fitness during their off-season. The sport began in Melbourne as the Victorian Football League, and it is here where its key administrative, media and fan base lies. It has expanded in the past two decades to include teams in Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane, Sydney and the Gold Coast however its most recent expansion – to the Gold Coast and western Sydney – has had limited success given the saturation of the two rugby codes and the ever-increasing presence of soccer in those regions. The NRL is the predominant winter sport in Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. With the exception of a team in Melbourne, it has yet to successfully expand into new markets – although this is on the cards in the near future.
In an attempt to garner traction, particularly in Sydney – probably the most saturated professional sports market in the world – the AFL poached a handful of high profile rugby league stars, snaring Karmichael Hunt and Israel Folau from the Brisbane Broncos NRL club. Both endured significant failures converting sporting codes, with Folau in particular struggling for impact in a code made for far more agile men. Hunt too apparently struggled but adapted much better than his former league teammate including kicking the winning goal in a game in 2012.
Their promotional value, the primary reason for their recruitment on million dollar plus salary and endorsement deals, was questionable. Little evidence (other than some increase in media reach) exists that their AFL clubs derived any tangible benefits through increased memberships, crowds or sponsorship. Between them, the AFL’s own website states, that they played just 57 matches, pocketing some $7 million. Both have since left and are playing top level rugby union for Australian clubs in the Super Rugby competition – Folau is likely to spearhead Australia’s bid to win another Rugby World Cup later this year.
Several years ago, a bid was made to poach NRL superstars Greg Inglis and this weekend it emerged that an approach was also made to fellow star Jonathan Thurston. Both are amazingly skilled players, and the latter in particular is tipped to become a future “Immortal” – the peer reviewed, Rugby League Week magazine sponsored award that is among the code’s highest accolades. Both eventually resisted what were probably financially lucrative overtures from the southern game to stay in the NRL, but the question must be asked – when will it end? The AFL’s latest profile-lifting strategy for the Gold Coast and Sydney has been to transplant two of its Victorian-based stars – Gary Ablett Jnr and Lance Franklin to those cities. Both are accomplished players but it remains to be seen whether their presence can capture the imagination of places where top flight AFL has been unable to grab a foothold.
It is abundantly clear that both strategies – poaching NRL stars and transplanting high profile stars to lesser profile expansion clubs have had minimal impact in raising the profile of the AFL in non-traditional markets. It must surely be time to reconsider the financial viability of the continued push north for the AFL with tens of millions of dollars being wasted with probable little long-term return on investment.
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