Australian Football Association of North America

Hi Sean,

Thanks for your comments.  Let me explain what is going on here.  It's not MHz fault that you don't see North Melbourne.  The matches which fans vote for determine which of the listed ones are selected and aired.  So, to that end, if not enough fans want to see a North match (assuming one is available) then you won't see it.  Democracy means those who step up decide the winner.  Given the small number of weekly votes, even a handful of North fans might tip the outcome. 

Now, how are the matches for voting chosen?  Simply, those are the ones that Setanta (not MHz or AFANA) choose to air for the round involved.   Setanta does exercise some prerogative in which ones they choose but fundamentally, it is what is available from the Australian networks at the times Setanta has open for live matches.  Unfortunately, the tendency of the AFL to schedule North at the "wrong" times (and I say "wrong" here not in the negative way) means that they don't get picked often.  

AFANA has repeatedly emphasized to Setanta, the AFL, and all the networks that they need to air every AFL club at least a couple times a season regardless of ladder position or other factors.  This insures that fans of that club do get to see them occasionally.   So far this year, 10 of the 16 clubs have appeared on  MHz at least once and one more (so far unaired club) will appear in Round 8 regardless of which of the 3 options are voted in by the fans.

Hope this explains the process a bit better. 

-Rob
AFANA Chairman and Site Admin

Hi Neal,

If you can find pubs that carry Setanta then it's a matter of being proactive.  You need to tell them when the sport is aired (check our schedule pages and adjust for your local time) and ask if them, if you come in, will they put it on at least one TV for you (as long as they have Setanta via DirecTV or DISH they get Aussie rules whether they know it or not!).   And make it worth their while by showing up and buying some of their wares.   After that, you might well be able to get them to tape a match for you here and there, particularly if you bring a friend along.   You can't assume they will understand that it is different than soccer or rugby but does that matter?  Not one iota really.  All you care is that they will put it on when you want to watch.  Save the sales pitch for when it's on the screen and you can get them to take a look.  On our TV pages there are links to the Setanta venue (pub) list.

Yes, the coverage on WYCC is on one of their digital subchannels that carries MHz.  The answer to that is to get a tuner box (the government coupon program is underway so you can get a $40 off card) and hook it up to an analog TV and if necessary, an antenna, and away you go.  That's all there is to it.  (Now if you get cable, you can also call and ask your cable company when they are going to carry all of the digital channels of WYCC...  for what it's worth).

Hi Draz,

We regularly encourage Setanta to air all the AFL clubs a representative number of times and not to show the same clubs over and over.  They are somewhat at the mercy of the Australian networks though.  If the Dockers never appear on Aussie TV in the time slots that Setanta can pick up the games, no one outside Australia will see them either.  It's been a problem for some time that the AFL relegates certain clubs, particularly the Perth clubs to the Sunday games only which hurts their exposure outside Western Australia. 

Thanks for the comments, and we will share them with the AFL.  

From the advance schedules, the Dockers are on the schedules for Rounds 3 and 6.