Roo Bags Seaford

[Cairnsman]

The Peninsula is one of the most beautiful places Australia has to offer. I grew up in Mornington and used to catch the bus to Frankston and train to Moorabbin and walk to the ground. That trip alone was part of the fun going to the footy as a kid. A lot of my family still live around the Bentleigh, Mentone, Parkdale and Highett areas which I would classify as Bayside areas and most are died in the wool Saints supporters. I also have family and friends that still live on the Peninsula and don't have any issue with commuting to the footy every weekend. Not so long ago I used to fly from Cairns to Melbourne very regularly on a Friday afternoon to catch the Saints Friday night game so as someone said, if you want to see the club play you will get to the ground. I don't see all the hoopla and I think Roo needs to get out more if he thinks 25 minutes extra down the road is challenging.

[bergholt]

I don't see all the hoopla and I think Roo needs to get out more if he thinks 25 minutes extra down the road is challenging.

"Get out more"? I think that's the point - if you live reasonably close to Seaford then it's hard to get out at all. Picture this:

You're a 20 year old third year player. You're earning decent money, you're good looking and single, you want to make the most of that. You've got mates at lots of other AFL clubs - from your junior days - and you meet them in the city on weekends. They tell you how great it is to live in Port Melbourne or Fitzroy or St Kilda or Richmond or North Melbourne. Ten minute taxi ride home, lots of mates around to catch up with any night of the week, plenty of nice girls around the place who are impressed by a footy player.

But you live in Mordialloc because that's where the club recommended. You're near a few mates from the club but a long way from everyone else - too much effort to drive all the way to Richmond to play a bit of Playstation on a Wednesday night, so you stay home alone and watch a bit more Sons of Anarchy. When you head all the way into the city for a night out, you meet a nice girl from Moonee Ponds and try to get her back to your place in Mordi. She's not keen - it'll be a massive slog for her to get all the way home tomorrow morning. She ends up going home with a Collingwood player who lives in Docklands. You drown your sorrows and get a $60 taxi home. This happens lots of times.

When Collingwood comes knocking at the end of the year, you're pretty keen to get the hell out of "beautiful bayside".


All the pro-Seaford people on this thread are coming from the perspective of old sad bastards with families who've got nothing better to do than spend all night on Saintsational. Try to imagine yourself as a 20 year old footballer - where would you prefer to live?

[Cairnsman]

I don't see all the hoopla and I think Roo needs to get out more if he thinks 25 minutes extra down the road is challenging.

"Get out more"? I think that's the point - if you live reasonably close to Seaford then it's hard to get out at all. Picture this:

You're a 20 year old third year player. You're earning decent money, you're good looking and single, you want to make the most of that. You've got mates at lots of other AFL clubs - from your junior days - and you meet them in the city on weekends. They tell you how great it is to live in Port Melbourne or Fitzroy or St Kilda or Richmond or North Melbourne. Ten minute taxi ride home, lots of mates around to catch up with any night of the week, plenty of nice girls around the place who are impressed by a footy player.

But you live in Mordialloc because that's where the club recommended. You're near a few mates from the club but a long way from everyone else - too much effort to drive all the way to Richmond to play a bit of Playstation on a Wednesday night, so you stay home alone and watch a bit more Sons of Anarchy. When you head all the way into the city for a night out, you meet a nice girl from Moonee Ponds and try to get her back to your place in Mordi. She's not keen - it'll be a massive slog for her to get all the way home tomorrow morning. She ends up going home with a Collingwood player who lives in Docklands. You drown your sorrows and get a $60 taxi home. This happens lots of times.

When Collingwood comes knocking at the end of the year, you're pretty keen to get the hell out of "beautiful bayside".


All the pro-Seaford people on this thread are coming from the perspective of old sad bastards with families who've got nothing better to do than spend all night on Saintsational. Try to imagine yourself as a 20 year old footballer - where would you prefer to live?

1st World Problems, you gotta love em!

[SENsei]

Non-issue. Employees travel to the office supplied by the employer. It's the nature of the employer/employee relationship.

The bigger issue is where we actually play our games, not where the employees have to travel to the office. Think club not individual.

[PADDLEPOP1001]

Huge issue for the now generation of which these footballers are let alone for sponsorship and media!

[saintbrat]

Huge issue for the now generation of which these footballers are let alone for sponsorship and media!

as pointed out somewhere i was-- no new draftee - or recruit through trade-- said 'sorry not going all the way out there to play- I'll sit out the year....'

[3rd generation saint]

The reason why Collingwood, Richmond get such exposure to the public on punt Road is because it takes nearly a half hour to move a kilometre there in peak hour traffic. If we were on top of the ladder and winning premierships, the media would be down at Seaford, they don't mind the 80 kilometre trip to Geelong right now.
You don't see the media beating down the doors at the Western Oval, or at Melbourne right now unless it is bad news.
The real issue for us is what happened to our members? A few bad results, some bad press and they take their support away and hide, but still pretend to support the club, then complain about the financial situation when they are in fact one of the prime causes of the financial situation.
The reality is a club is only as strong as it's membership and we should be pulling in 40,000 plus members easily whether we finish 1 or 18.
Those members who pull their money are just bandwagon members, only want to be seen when things are good.
Yeah you have heard before, and your going to hear it again, from us who were around from the mid 70's to 1990, you have no idea how bad things were. Back then, before the draft and salary cap, it was really a question if we were even going to have a club to follow.
Now, I just see us in our downward cycle, we have some exciting young talent coming through and the future looks good. So to you bandwagon members, better jump back on now.
By the way, did anyone notice our intra club match was leading sports story on 7 last night, I thought the media didn't came down to Seaford.

[Dr Spaceman]

I can't think of one player who we've wanted to keep who has left for reasons specifically related to the location of our training ground.

And I can't think of one player who we've tried to lure who has knocked us back for reasons specifically related to the location of our training ground.

Indeed we've recruited some blokes who could've gone to other Melbourne based clubs but who chose us.

And we've re-signed many of the young "now" group of players.

And realistically, what major sponsorship have we failed to secure simply because our training ground is in a side street at Seaford rather than in a side street at Moorabbin?

[bergholt]

Non-issue. Employees travel to the office supplied by the employer. It's the nature of the employer/employee relationship.

Sure. And employees get to choose who their employer is. Collingwood can pay its players less because they've got a good location and they can offer strong opportunities after footy. We have the opposite - players need to be paid more than their market rate.

[8856brother]

Maybe, just maybe, he doesn't like fish.

[Spinner]

The Peninsula is one of the most beautiful places Australia has to offer. I grew up in Mornington and used to catch the bus to Frankston and train to Moorabbin and walk to the ground. That trip alone was part of the fun going to the footy as a kid. A lot of my family still live around the Bentleigh, Mentone, Parkdale and Highett areas which I would classify as Bayside areas and most are died in the wool Saints supporters. I also have family and friends that still live on the Peninsula and don't have any issue with commuting to the footy every weekend. Not so long ago I used to fly from Cairns to Melbourne very regularly on a Friday afternoon to catch the Saints Friday night game so as someone said, if you want to see the club play you will get to the ground. I don't see all the hoopla and I think Roo needs to get out more if he thinks 25 minutes extra down the road is challenging.

What a lovely anecdote. Once again someone reminding us that it's a beautiful place.

I have a beautiful painting on my wall. Unfortunately that sentence has the same amount of substance as that whole paragraph.

How about someone inform us how his strategy is paying off. Obviously that Cranbourne growth stat isn't thrown around anymore.

[Spinner]

Huge issue for the now generation of which these footballers are let alone for sponsorship and media!

as pointed out somewhere i was-- no new draftee - or recruit through trade-- said 'sorry not going all the way out there to play- I'll sit out the year....'

Sorry but that was a bulls*** statement from was it Richardson?

Draftees a beggers. They play where they're drafted.

[3rd generation saint]

Non-issue. Employees travel to the office supplied by the employer. It's the nature of the employer/employee relationship.

Sure. And employees get to choose who their employer is. Collingwood can pay its players less because they've got a good location and they can offer strong opportunities after footy. We have the opposite - players need to be paid more than their market rate.

What an absolute load of crap Bergholt, which Collingwood player is getting paid below their market value?
Are Goddard and Dal Santo being paid less at Essendon and North then they were with us?

[kosifantutti]

I can't think of one player who we've wanted to keep who has left for reasons specifically related to the location of our training ground.

And I can't think of one player who we've tried to lure who has knocked us back for reasons specifically related to the location of our training ground.

I can't think of one player who has listed their reasons for choosing / rejecting us.

[kosifantutti]

Yes Gringo, it's so entertaining in Melbourne....

I'm 40...

Maybe we could use you as a consultant to help persuade other 40 year olds who are looking to play for the club, that the city is over rated.

[SENsei]

Non-issue. Employees travel to the office supplied by the employer. It's the nature of the employer/employee relationship.

Sure. And employees get to choose who their employer is. Collingwood can pay its players less because they've got a good location and they can offer strong opportunities after footy. We have the opposite - players need to be paid more than their market rate.

Not until they are a free agent that can't choose. If they enter the draft, they go where they are drafted.

Cameron Mooney played in how many premierships for Geelong. Trained at Geelong. Lived in Port Melbourne. The bigger issue is our Etihad deal and how it is screwing us, not how far the players have to travel for training and meetings. Or how far they have to walk for a coffee.

[bergholt]

What an absolute load of crap Bergholt, which Collingwood player is getting paid below their market value?
Are Goddard and Dal Santo being paid less at Essendon and North then they were with us?

No idea, but BJ and Dal aren't the demographic I was talking about. What I do know is that when Taylor Adams was coming to Melbourne, we were never considered a serious contender for his services. None of us know why that is but obviously the Pies have more pulling power than us. Same applies to Dom Tyson and Josh Caddy - but in that case it was Melbourne and Geelong coming in well ahead of us.

Probably this is just because we're not winning games so the best kids don't want to come here. Let's hope that's the case, because there'll be more promising Suns and Giants coming home over the next few years.

[bergholt]

Not until they are a free agent that can't choose.

Right. Just like Caddy and Tyson and Adams.

[kosifantutti]

I don't think the club is very interested in embracing St Kilda.

At the St Kilda festival today, I got there at about 1PM just in time to see the stand coming down. Too windy for the stand apparently which was fair enough but all they had there was two people in polos, no players, no Saint Trevor.

Extraordinarily underwhelming.

[saintdooley]

^^ The suburb stkilda couldn't be further off what our club is. How far is stkilda from Seaford? Stkilda, beautiful parks beaches cafe's restaurants theme parks trams inner city people going for runs or bike rides, palm trees.....and then there's Seaford. East link and yeah..

[Scollop]

Non-issue. Employees travel to the office supplied by the employer. It's the nature of the employer/employee relationship.

The bigger issue is where we actually play our games, not where the employees have to travel to the office. Think club not individual.

+1

ALL our leaders need to take the captain to task for his selfishness and lack of leadership regarding the comments about the clubs training base. It is where you are employed!! Get on with it or choose another career and stay out 'til 3 am every night picking up chicks and taking them back into your inner city apartment...which is close to where you want to go to dinner/meet your mates for coffee/train as a professional sportsman and earn a very good living.

I cannot recall ANY individual player from ANY AFL club or VFL club or any state league or national league in ANY sport complain or make negative comments about their home training base - let alone the captain of a team

[Eastern]

Non-issue. Employees travel to the office supplied by the employer. It's the nature of the employer/employee relationship.

The bigger issue is where we actually play our games, not where the employees have to travel to the office. Think club not individual.

+1

ALL our leaders need to take the captain to task for his selfishness and lack of leadership regarding the comments about the clubs training base. It is where you are employed!! Get on with it or choose another career and stay out 'til 3 am every night picking up chicks and taking them back into your inner city apartment...which is close to where you want to go to dinner/meet your mates for coffee/train as a professional sportsman and earn a very good living.

I cannot recall ANY individual player from ANY AFL club or VFL club or any state league or national league in ANY sport complain or make negative comments about their home training base - let alone the captain of a team

I've got a feeling that this will be very high on the agenda at their next "Leading Teams" Meeting !!

[Scollop]

and what's the bet that he tells everyone he was talking about the parking issues for the public and he wasn't thinking about the commute or the lack of coffee shops in the area

[Spinner]

Non-issue. Employees travel to the office supplied by the employer. It's the nature of the employer/employee relationship.

The bigger issue is where we actually play our games, not where the employees have to travel to the office. Think club not individual.

+1

ALL our leaders need to take the captain to task for his selfishness and lack of leadership regarding the comments about the clubs training base. It is where you are employed!! Get on with it or choose another career and stay out 'til 3 am every night picking up chicks and taking them back into your inner city apartment...which is close to where you want to go to dinner/meet your mates for coffee/train as a professional sportsman and earn a very good living.

I cannot recall ANY individual player from ANY AFL club or VFL club or any state league or national league in ANY sport complain or make negative comments about their home training base - let alone the captain of a team

I've got a feeling that this will be very high on the agenda at their next "Leading Teams" Meeting !!

Lol I hope this post wasn't serious...

If leading teams are working on these - well it's a waste of money.

[samuraisaint]

maybe it's just me, but I think I would prefer the players not to be too consumed by the boozy, sleazing on to all the chicks, and gambling lifestyle that many are advocating on this site. Isn't the proximity to all this cr@p the reason why we are struggling for sponsorship and membership now? Is it too much to expect people earning an almighty salary with excellent fringe benefits to contain themselves a bit? The rock n roll lifestyle is really pretentious and I for one want the club to let premierships do the talking for once.