20,000 South Africans to play aussie rules by 2010
Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 3:16 am
www.realfooty.com.au
WA foes in line for South Africa clash
Digby Beacham, Perth
February 16, 2007
THE prospect of a NAB Cup clash between West Coast and Fremantle in South Africa looms large after the AFL announced an expanding alliance with the republic.
West Coast, Fremantle and Collingwood have all been assigned a province in which they will promote the game. South Africa boasts 3000 Australian football players; the figure is predicted to swell to 20,000 in three years.
AFL national talent manager Kevin Sheehan said: "I know it (NAB Cup games being played in South Africa) is being talked about at commission level, and who's to say in the forseeable future that there isn't a game of note being played in South Africa, maybe in 2008."
Dockers coach Chris Connolly said: "Fremantle wants to be the first AFL club to have a South African play for its club and we'll put our money where our mouth is. The club's looking to spend between $50,000 and $100,000 promoting the game and looking to recruit players from South Africa next season."
The prospect of the Eagles and Dockers locking horns for premiership points in South Africa is unlikely because they are bound contractually to play 22 home-and-away matches at Subiaco Oval.(You sense that the Eagles and Dockers can see big revenue from launching a marketing caimpaign in South Africa, 20,000 footballers by 2010, by 2020 with that current growth. The market will be even bigger to tap into.
However, the AFL has no qualms about pitting the West Australian foes against each other in the pre-season competition.
Fremantle has played one pre-season match in South Africa, losing in 1998 to the Brisbane Lions in Cape Town.
Subiaco and North Adelaide will play an exhibition match in Potchefstroom, 140 kilometres south-west of Johannesburg, in October.
The Eagles will be responsible for pumping resources into the province of KwaZulu-Natal. Fremantle will have the North-West Province and Collingwood the Western Cape. (The Eagles got arguably the province that is the most blingzville in South Africa)
A fourth alliance, based in and around Johannesburg, is expected to be announced soon
- At the Force game I talked to a South African (white) who is a West Coast Eagles supporter. So they already embrace the game when they come to Australia.
In regards to the Eagles, expect it to be where their Manchester United characteristics come to the surface as the Eagles look to increase its global brand image.
I would not be surprised if KwaZulu Natal becomes a hotbed for AFL in 10 years time.
Not to mention austadium's own Stadium Seagull
WA foes in line for South Africa clash
Digby Beacham, Perth
February 16, 2007
THE prospect of a NAB Cup clash between West Coast and Fremantle in South Africa looms large after the AFL announced an expanding alliance with the republic.
West Coast, Fremantle and Collingwood have all been assigned a province in which they will promote the game. South Africa boasts 3000 Australian football players; the figure is predicted to swell to 20,000 in three years.
AFL national talent manager Kevin Sheehan said: "I know it (NAB Cup games being played in South Africa) is being talked about at commission level, and who's to say in the forseeable future that there isn't a game of note being played in South Africa, maybe in 2008."
Dockers coach Chris Connolly said: "Fremantle wants to be the first AFL club to have a South African play for its club and we'll put our money where our mouth is. The club's looking to spend between $50,000 and $100,000 promoting the game and looking to recruit players from South Africa next season."
The prospect of the Eagles and Dockers locking horns for premiership points in South Africa is unlikely because they are bound contractually to play 22 home-and-away matches at Subiaco Oval.(You sense that the Eagles and Dockers can see big revenue from launching a marketing caimpaign in South Africa, 20,000 footballers by 2010, by 2020 with that current growth. The market will be even bigger to tap into.
However, the AFL has no qualms about pitting the West Australian foes against each other in the pre-season competition.
Fremantle has played one pre-season match in South Africa, losing in 1998 to the Brisbane Lions in Cape Town.
Subiaco and North Adelaide will play an exhibition match in Potchefstroom, 140 kilometres south-west of Johannesburg, in October.
The Eagles will be responsible for pumping resources into the province of KwaZulu-Natal. Fremantle will have the North-West Province and Collingwood the Western Cape. (The Eagles got arguably the province that is the most blingzville in South Africa)
A fourth alliance, based in and around Johannesburg, is expected to be announced soon
- At the Force game I talked to a South African (white) who is a West Coast Eagles supporter. So they already embrace the game when they come to Australia.
In regards to the Eagles, expect it to be where their Manchester United characteristics come to the surface as the Eagles look to increase its global brand image.
I would not be surprised if KwaZulu Natal becomes a hotbed for AFL in 10 years time.
Not to mention austadium's own Stadium Seagull