John Halbert calls for Sturt to merge with the AFC

John Halbert has had a pretty frank discussion on the fact that he would like to see Sturt amalgamate with the Adelaide Crows to be the Reserves Team for the Crows and to get in now whilst they have some position to retain some of the things about the club, although he said he would be prepared to negotiate around what emblems and names and so on are used.

Thoughts?

http://m.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/afl/sturt-great-john-halbert-says-its-time-to-merge/story-e6freckc-1226590531283

the beginning of the end of our great competition i fear, if it turns out how i think it will, i'll end up watching the Plympton Bulldogs every week, sad for Sturt, sad for the competition as a whole, if this was Glenelg i would rather close the doors rather than be taken over (in any form) as then it wouldn't be Glenelg as i know it & it sadly wont be Sturt as we all know it...................................the way this is playing out i'd suggest in 10 years or less the 'competitions' older players would be 23........................................................ps, i hate to say but this was predicted several weeks ago by many

we need that knight with big pockets to come to the fore

I suppose the question I would ask is if Halbert is prepared to look at an amalgamation with the AFC, why he does not make similar noises about an amalgamation with another SANFL club? Whilst I might give MickyJ and the others a ribbing from time to time when South are losing to WWT and its the only come back I can think of, the fact still remains that both clubs kept the larger portion of their heritage and identity and went on to win x no of Finals and Grand Finals. So why Halbert would not be examining such an idea is something only he knows I suspect.

Ben W wrote:I suppose the question I would ask is if Halbert is prepared to look at an amalgamation with the AFC, why he does not make similar noises about an amalgamation with another SANFL club? Whilst I might give MickyJ and the others a ribbing from time to time when South are losing to WWT and its the only come back I can think of, the fact still remains that both clubs kept the larger portion of their heritage and identity and went on to win x no of Finals and Grand Finals. So why Halbert would not be examining such an idea is something only he knows I suspect.

wasn't it the joint Sturt/Norwood merger to join the AFL when Port were given the nod ? (not that we all didn't know already)....they wear Norwood jumpers at home games at Norwood & Sturt jumpers at away games, as for finals whichever jumper doesn't clash with the opposition

ps, am i cynical with the fact that a Sturt great makes the call ?

I understand from someone centrally involved with Sturt, that Halbert's comments have gone down quote, "like a lead balloon" within the inner sanctum.

Secondly, I am not necessarily sure that the words "merge" were used. Remember this is a M Rucci article. There are thoughts that Halbert's intention was like the 2 WAFL clubs, with the Crows players being aligned to Sturt.

As for my opinion, which version is the truth doesn't matter. I can't handle either scenario.

Halbert doesn't want his club to die, but if his plan takes on life, it will be like the life of a vampire. A half life in body maybe, but no soul. Certainly not the Sturt I would continue supporting.

And the effect on the SANFL? Well I don't know that we want this do we?
For under this scenario you could be sure the same would happen with the Magpies. At least in their case it is their original club.

But surely the other 7 clubs wouldn't support it.

Anyway, this is just one member of one club.
One swallow a summer does not maketh. Isn't that the saying?

The more I have looked over this the more confused and then suspicious I have become.

First off, I generally don't read M Rucci Articles for obvious reasons. Yet this time they do quote Halbert.

The fact is that irrespective of how angry a section of people may feel about this, John Halbert is no fool, nor is he rash and impulsive. He is very much the opposite of those things. He is Double Blue through and through and is not backwards in trying to get the best outcome for the club. I said before that Sturt needed someone to stand up and lead the campaign, Halbert clearly is an ideal candidate yet this direction is much different to what I had in mind.

In now a good time to talk about Halberts former career at the AFC? - more confusing of the issue in my mind, to go the suspicious route in my mind, would Halbert not be the perfect go between, between the AFC and the SFC to come to some type of arrangement?

Would John Halbert really come out and say these things he is quoted as saying f the board were dead against those things being said and totally opposed to it? He is their club patron and an involved member of the club. Would he really open himself up really to being tarred and feathered out of the club by such statements?

Then to close, what is the feeling in the board room at Sturt really over this? Yes I know you said "like a lead balloon". But is that really the case across all the members of the board or just some? Would Halbert make statements like that with some support to put it out there in the public view from individuals on the board as they push through the current situation?

My worry is the AFC reserves looking exactly like Sturt for a time, then situations arising like the Brisbane Bears redesigning the Fitzroy logo out of the jumper and so on and it being whiteanted away over the passage of time? Would not future decisions be made by the members of the club, a number of whom barrack for sides other than Sturt?

Will the club be coming out with a statement tomorrow and will the Advertiser publish it with the same Matt Benson picture used for last ten times?

If you said Sturt need someone to stand up and start the campaign at Sturt ,I assume you meant their survival and stand alone and not anything else. Ben, you do like a bit of rumour and innuendo and you sem to have a livelyy imigination when it comes to Sturt.

I can't see this happening. Wouuld the Crows and SANFL clubs be happy to inherit the 2 million debt . No one seems to want to think about that.

Lets just get Sturt to survive and forget the other stuff like Crows , mergers or Mt Barker options. It's getting funny listening to the same old lines though.

I don't know Ben to most of that.

But I think given who said the 'lead balloon' comment, it is closer to the board than the members. Who knows what the consensus of members and supporters is. I suspect a bit divided and unsure. Halbert stood up and floated this at the AGM and I guess Rucci has picked up on it from there.

Halbert commands respect, so people will probalby listen. I do not know if his motivations come from discussion with higher placed people. He is better connected that most, so perhaps he can gain the attention of the sanfl, AFC and Sturt people to get this proposal advanced.

As for a club statement, who knows. You would probably expect it. Matt Benson has not been silent in recent times.

Here's a hypothetical.

Imagine a Sturt-Port grand final in the SANFL between the two AFL reserves sides.

How would that stack up against the most recent GF appearances of 1965,1966,1967,1968,1976 and 1998?

But would the Crows and Power let all their players play a Grand final?
In recent times anyone with even a slight injury concern has been an out. Others have been sit fit to rest the sanfl finals.

The possibility could eventuate that both sides end up fielding reserves / U18 stacked sides.

So I speculate on the question of just how important a premiership would be to these clubs.

Am I right in thinking that this would need the ok from all other SANFL clubs to be given the go ahead, I know this is one mans thoughts (Halbert) but if it ever happened that any AFL club was to join the SANFL I would be up the road watching Golden Grove ,never to be involved with or watching SANFL again.

I don't want any infiltration from any AFL club fullstop.

Yes I think it would need to be ok'd by clubs.
If it happened I would be up the road with you.
...... except Golden Grove is quite a long way up the road for me!

testy wrote:
Am I right in thinking that this would need the ok from all other SANFL clubs to be given the go ahead, I know this is one mans thoughts (Halbert) but if it ever happened that any AFL club was to join the SANFL I would be up the road watching Golden Grove ,never to be involved with or watching SANFL again.

I don't want any infiltration from any AFL club fullstop.

sadly your last statement has already occured (the mini draft, with every team playing AFL listed players)

Well Chambo, if it ever did happen perhaps we could meet halfway and reminisce about our years following the SANFL

bayman wrote:

testy wrote:
Am I right in thinking that this would need the ok from all other SANFL clubs to be given the go ahead, I know this is one mans thoughts (Halbert) but if it ever happened that any AFL club was to join the SANFL I would be up the road watching Golden Grove ,never to be involved with or watching SANFL again.

I don't want any infiltration from any AFL club fullstop.

sadly your last statement has already occured (the mini draft, with every team playing AFL listed players)

That I can handle and if they took out those players it would not bother me but I'm talking about a full team.

testy wrote:
Well Chambo, if it ever did happen perhaps we could meet halfway and reminisce about our years following the SANFL

That would place us somewhere about Kilburn I reckon!

Really hope Sturt pull themselves out of this.

Any SANFL club I would hate to see go under as I seriously think my interest would die a slow death.

With 8 teams it makes the SANFL comp a bit of a joke IMO.

Just hate to see the AWFUL (AFL) win this battle!!!

Southee wrote:Really hope Sturt pull themselves out of this.

Any SANFL club I would hate to see go under as I seriously think my interest would die a slow death.

With 8 teams it makes the SANFL comp a bit of a joke IMO.

Just hate to see the AWFUL (AFL) win this battle!!!

This is what I hope happens Southie, I am sick to death of it all and I will stand by what me and my wife will do should the invasion take place, never to be heard again on these type of sites with any intrusion by any AFL club, FULLSTOP.

http://vimeo.com/61489727

Are the SFC going to release a statement on this? Seems to have gone very quiet from them, especially if the board are in fact opposed to what Halbert is saying?

Ben W wrote:Are the SFC going to release a statement on this? Seems to have gone very quiet from them, especially if the board are in fact opposed to what Halbert is saying?

everyone i know at Sturt tell me all they know is what they read in the paper & what was said at the AGM

Matt Benson's words in the interview were that the Board has not discussed the matter of any arrangement with the Crows.

He doesn't mix his words, so I guess you have to take it on face value.

Whether there are any behinds the scenes activities going on with individuals, who the hell knows?