Usain Bolt’s lure to the A-League stokes memories of how the AFL was misguided on signing rugby champions as it expanded north
WHAT happens when sports sign up stars from other fields? There is instant attention, but no long-term certainty of success.
BEWARE the gimmick.
If in Port Adelaide’s darkest hours - 2012 when the tarps were being mothballed at Football Park - new club president David Koch had used his basketball contacts to lure basketball great (and former Dockers No. 1 ticketholder) Luc Longley to Alberton, would have this “marketing” move saved the Power?
Not if Luc could not live up to the precedent created by basketball-football code hopper Dean Brogan, still the only man to win both NBL and AFL titles.
At the same time as Port Adelaide realised its future was delivering to its traditional fans what matters most - a meaningful connection to their club and a fully-funded football program to be competitive on the field - the AFL was foolishly playing the gimmick card with expansion.
As Olympic champion sprinter Usain Bolt considers an offer to trial with A-League national soccer franchise Central Coast Mariners, it is worth reflecting on the AFL’s multimillion-dollar gamble with rugby league stars as Australian football grew its presence north of the Murray.
First it was Karmichael Hunt at Gold Coast. This has to be considered a total failure. He played 44 AFL games for the Suns after leaving the NRL Brisbane Broncos at the end of 2009.
He cost millions - and will not be remembered at Gold Coast for his after-the-siren goal that gave the Suns victory against Richmond at Cairns in 2012. Internally, there were many at Gold Coast who lamented what Hunt brought to the Suns from rugby league - a bad culture (as noted with the drug charges that followed him in his return to rugby) rather than fans who would code-hop themselves to Australian football.
“An ill-advised, ill-fated experiment,” says Australian Football Hall of Fame Legend Leigh Matthews.
Israel Folau lasted just two seasons with Greater Western Sydney as he went from the NRL (Melbourne Storm and Brisbane Broncos) to the AFL (Giants on a four-year, $6 million deal) and to rugby (Waratahs) in a quick sequence of code-hopping.
“With one signature,” says Folau as he reflects on the Giants move, “I went from the top of the NRL to the bottom of the AFL.” And to the top of the deposits record at his local bank.
His legacy at the Giants? None.
The AFL did not win any promotional battle with Hunt and Folau, just as the Power would not have made any long-term gain from any gimmick - such as putting Longley in a Port Adelaide jumper - had it strayed from rebuilding its football program in 2013.
Bolt at the Mariners is an international-grabbing headline, just as Hunt and Folau were for the AFL on a national canvas. Hunt and Folau did nothing for establishing the credibility and viability of Australian football in rugby territories.
Bolt - if he cannot make a difference on the pitch - does nothing for Australian soccer’s image at a time when the Football Federation of Australia is faced with some critical decisions on the Socceroos, the development programs of national teams and the long-term structure of the A-League.
“Bolt joins Mariners” is a nice headline. But beware of gimmicks.
michelangelo.rucci@news.com.au