Well in that unlikely scenario I think it’d be City vs Wellington in home/away legs, so those would at least be outside NSW.
Watchalong at the Woolpack Hotel, Parramatta 
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I’d 100% be up for being in the vicinity, but not inside the actual stadium.
Can understand the trepidation around the boycott decision (particularly in light of recent events) but I personally feel like a derby final only strengthens the message.
Let’s not fall into the trap of victim blaming here- despite the horrendous nature of the decision at no point during the initial protests and resolution did anyone say “we’ll boycott until it’s overturned”. Against massive public pressure, we opted for discussion, and giving the benefit of the doubt to the APL to meet outcomes they agreed on, in person and in writing, to hopefully change the landscape of supporters in Australian football so we couldn’t collectively be duped by a decision like this again. We were patient, rational, and to some in here, too kind on them at that stage.
Over 3 months on, there had been ZERO communication from the APL to the supporter groups regarding the targets (many of which meant for completion by this weekend). Zero collaboration of ideas around the committee like agreed, zero updates on “affordable packaging”, zero updates on the independent chair for the board. We reached out to them in this timeframe, asking for them to stand behind the targets and publicly affirm them. Instead, they sighted a KEEPUP article and an interview op that were not as strong as we’d hoped. It’s entirely THEIR FAULT anyone is even faced with this choice at all- we’ve given them so many chances to turn this around.
If we only boycott when the stars align and make it convenient for us then may as well fuck it off entirely. There’s meant to be sacrifice- that’s what makes action have impact. It’s meant to be tough. We shouldn’t have to do it, and had the APL simply delivered what they agreed (or even just communicated in a semi professional manner), it wouldn’t be up to us. But if we collectively backed down now, we have no right to complain or advocate for any sort of fan consultation in the future. No right to demand anything from them again- why bother? They’d know no one will have the courage to follow through with any action.
Fair enough if you don’t want to personally boycott, no one is forcing you to stay away, we’ve only asked very kindly that you leave the active area empty as a gesture of mutual respect for the message. Everyone is going to have their own individual choice and opinion, but for the Cove as a collective, imo there is no alternative action we could take given the total failure of the APL and FA to treat fans with any sort of respect. We accept being a doormat for years to come doing anything else
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Only if you’re completely oblivious to the point of and need for the boycott.
Appreciate the explanation and gives a clear understanding of the thought process. Happy to agree to disagree though. The timing feels a bit off though.
It was announced it at a time when we were looking far less likely to make finals and if so against a completely different opposition. And its turned into a complete own goal and yet another instance of bureaucracy getting in the way of the game- both in terns of a major event that a full house would do far more for the game and for the players to be essentially abandoned in a finals derby. Obviously the cove going back on it now would be worse but still a bit distraught at the move.
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wait, so you’re saying the boycott was a good idea when it didn’t affect us? I mean the finals decision was universally seen as a bad decision and against the fan’s wishes. A boycott is meant to hurt them. If you just decide to cancel it, because it’s convenient to do so, then fuck it, may as well let them do whatever they want
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Grow up mate. Im more than entitled to voice an opinion on here that goes against the groupthink and discuss it as (as is what a forum is for) I am doing with other posters on here in a mature conversation. No justification in giving me the same derision you’d give to a troll poster when I’m one of the most frequent posters on here and a genuine fan.
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My point is doesnt make a whole lot of sense to boycott now (and announce at a time when we were unlikely to make the finals or scrape into 6th and play someone). We’ve got to also consider ourselves in this and its vindicative to just focus on hurting them if its going to hurt us too.
The decision of this all stems back to the decision to host the final in Sydney but now we’re boycotting a major finals game as a stand against the finals and in doing so boycotting a game that’d be hosted in Sydney anyway. Seems a bit nonsensical.
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Yeah look, to give a bit more rationale about the timing, we wanted to make it clear regardless of the draw we got what our intentions would be. Obviously drawing say an Adelaide away and say “oh boycott” has little to no impact, let alone missing the finals altogether. Given the way the team was performing, it was potentially our only chance to use the bullet we had against the APL and hopefully inspire other ends in more promising positions to take action. Hopefully now, being a derby, as tough as it is, the action has more significance given the occasion.
They’re all in a tough spot, and I lay no judgement or blame on any decisions they make around this. I always just think to myself, at the end of the day if the FA had just veto’d the decision like it’s constitutionally meant to, or the APL hadn’t made the decision, or beyond even that they’d just communicated and tried to deliver what they promised to the groups no one would be in such awful positions right now. It’s their total incompetence, not supporters, that continues to deliver more and more own goals for the code.
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Bingo.
And not boycotting the women’s GF when it has unfairly been given to Sydney helps the stand against the APL how exactly?
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Again appreciate you spelling things out clearly. At least can understand and appreciate the reasoning even if I’m unlikely to be convinced.
The way I’m viewing it too is that the Sydney decision is locked in, any attempts to get out of it are going to put the game into even more trouble and now boycotting such a big game is going to do even more financial damage (and that without considering the club itself and players). I fully agree on the Sydney decision being terrible and that if they needed to go with it, it was handled terribly and also with the governance issues relating to the ignoring of the fans. Still feel like in punching back like this now we’re following through and hitting ourself. Going at it alone also has bit of a look of self importance (and Im not at all lobbying this at anyone involved in the decision but more saying a united front on this between the other clubs and maybe for say the last 2 rounds of the season as a thought would have been a considerably stronger message as the Cove going alone is far easier to be brushed off as self importance)
So agree on the main points but not the approach.
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Looking at the OP and it doesn’t look like the Cove is protesting because the decision isn’t being overturned (because it’s a contract and people understand that), but rather due to the total lack of response on a number of different items. I think that’s pretty reasonable and grown up, unlike people calling for the contact to be torn up.
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With the women’s, we talked to the people who pretty much provide the support at those games all season about how they wanted to approach it. They felt like the women’s final was collateral damage and given the state it’s currently in (no FTA games, limited sponsorship) and freebies, wanted to go and be there for the team. Not being an expert in any of this at all (same as the younger group down front now) and not being a regular at their games, I don’t think we have the right to tell those select few who know more than us and have been there all year what they can and can’t do. I won’t be there personally along with a lot of the “men’s” active group, we haven’t pushed the game publicly at all on our channels we just wanted to leave it open for those who deserve a choice
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Yeah I get that. Probably not worded greatly in the sentence of mine you quote though. But the Sydney decision is still pertinent to the discussion because thats the origin of a lot of it.
My point in that sentence was the Sydney decision still needs to be considered because its the original of a lot of it and its a decision that was made for financial reasons, we’re now making a decision with ramifications to hit that bottom line more and risks the undesired effect of actually creating an environment that incentivises more decisions like that.
And your reply does make a point that this is a governance issue (and theres some separation between governance and football issues). The cove approach is hurting the football side more than the governance.
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But that’s the only approach the Cove has? Unless you’re suggesting they buy the club? Anything that hurts the football side also hurts the governance side at the end of the day
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Fair explanation, but I do think it hurts the boycott with the lack of a unified approach of men and women’s league. But that’s not really The Coves fault.
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In light of some of the opposition to The Cove’s statement, just wanted to say that I support the position and appreciate the way the statement and your responses have been worded.
Not an easy decision to make, and you’re never going to please everyone.
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I would rather the Cove and other supporter groups turned up in big numbers but unfurled a shit ton of protest banners to get their point across.
Their position will be to hard to ignore and not fuck over the League financially and let’s face it, that Is why we are in this position in the first place. Not because the ruling body thinks it’s a good idea to move all the GF’s to Sydney. They needed the money.
edit - Just a disclaimer, I don’t sit in the Cove so take my point with a grain of salt, just my opinion from the outside
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Yeah, holding a banner to for 30 seconds before getting man handled out of the stadium by security will really show them.
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