Loyalty?

Hi guys.

Cairns is 4 hours north of Townsville, so there's a bunch of Cowboys supporters, as you'd expect.

What I was surprised at is the number of TURNCOATS, who supported the Broncos, but changed allegiances when the Cows entered the fray.

Now, I can understand (maybe), if a new franchise opens up in your home town you can jump ship, but given the rivalry that exists between Cairns and Townsville, I'm at a loss to understand why. And these aren't kids - they're adults when the Cowboys entered the league.

Still - the wider question is simply: "Is it OK to change a horse in mid stream?".

Anyone jumped ship?

Firstly, Archer and I were discussing the Townsville/Cairns rivalry the other day and Random (who lives in Townsville) didn't realise there was one.  Now he is a young bloke at 24 and if you reverse that number you get my age   .  So maybe the rivalry isn't as strong as it used to be, but back in the 80's/90's we hated Cairns, and Cairns hated us!

With your question dasher, it's one I find really interesting as well.

I started supporting the Tigers when I was about 10, which was mid 80's.  Growing up in NQ most NSWRL teams were pretty much evenly supported. Maybe a bit of bias towards Parra and the Dogs who were travelling well at the time.  When the Broncos came in there was a huge shift towards them and fair enough.  When the Cows came in there was a huge shift to them as well, also understandable.

But what I couldn't understand was that whenever I got asked who I supported more often than not I got "why don't you support your home town?"  Because I'm fucking loyal!!!  That is no sleight on those who changed teams to Brisbane or NQ because it was a new state/hometown.  But the irony is I've copped it for not being loyal when I've technically been more loyal than those supporters!

Anyway, absolutely no problem personally with those who change allegiance when a new team springs up in their town.  Would never do it myself though.  I don't think changing your team for the sake of it is acceptable though; in fact I think it is deadset poor form.

I think thats the only time you can change which team you support

If you live in an area and a new team starts up there, or if you grew up in an area and a new team starts there.

I am sure you will always have a soft spot for the original team tho

I think you should change team whenever you want to.

You could move, your team could move, or your favourite player might switch. Maybe some girl you have a crush on comes from there

Doesn't matter why. Ultimately you support a sporting team to provide enjoyment for yourself. If you can get more enjoyment by switching then go for it. Staying loyal just so that other people (a lot of them probably random strangers) don't call you a turncoat is the bad idea to me. Fuck what othe people think, just support whatever team, or teams, you want to.


A large part of the enjoyment of following a team comes from the years of prior experiences watching them which is why very few people over the age of 10 end up switching. But for those that do, why do you care that they now support a bunch of men who wear a different coloured shirt when they run around a field chasing a ball.

It's funny how people can be loyal to a football team more strongly than a 'life partner'. Just an observation not judgement.

I was an Eels fan as a kid. Lived in Dundas for a couple of years. When the Broncos came in I sort of supported both for a while but I remember Parra bought in a heap of players like Jim Dymock they lost me completely . Super league may have had an impact as well. Hard to avoid the Broncs living in Brisbane, they've brought me a lot of joy over the years. Non supporters won't understand but I've always felt they have a good culture in the club and played the game in the right spirit.

I agree with the Cow. If you enjoy cheering on a team for what ever reason go for it.

Yeah all good points.

When I was young, I played for a team called the Sharks - so naturally I went for Cronulla. I never watched league on tv much till I was about 15, then the first game I went to live was Knights v Melboune that year and I decided to support the knights because they were the closest team to home (I grew up on the mid north coast).

Having Johns and co prob helped me follow them too.

But yes, you get enjoyment and a sense of fulfillment from following a team for years and years through the hard times and then you are rewarded by the good times. Good comment @pain I know some blokes who would NEVER support another footy team yet cheat on their Mrs' all the time

Pieman wrote:I think thats the only time you can change which team you support

If you live in an area and a new team starts up there, or if you grew up in an area and a new team starts there.

I am sure you will always have a soft spot for the original team tho

This. In terms of the original question of Cairns vs Townsville, I guess it comes down to what you call "local". Given their isolation from the rest of the comp, I'd say Cairns is close enough to be deemed local, especially since it's the NQ Cowboys, not the Townsville Cowboys.

I sort of agree with they guys saying changing teams is okay. I don't mind that except that the people who do are usually the sort of guys to brag how their team is better than everyone else's. No shit. That's why you changed teams. There aren't many people jumping on the Knights bandwagon lately. Melbourne supporters are particularly bad for this, which is worse given the jumped on a bandwagon created by systematic rorting.

Being from Central Queensland and the effort that's being put in to try and get a team in the comp, i've had to think about this kind of thing myself in the last year or so - maybe if i was a child, a team representing my home town would be enough to switch allegiance, but at this stage after 27 years of life riding the rugby league rollercoaster, the Broncos are my team. Don't get me wrong, were CQ to get in, i'd be buying memberships and merch etc. to support the club, but come the CQ vs Broncos fixtures, i'd be wearing maroon and gold. i wouldn't begrudge people who made the switch though, if thats where their heart lies...

That said, i have two people in my family who support the Storm despite never being in Melbourne for longer than a holiday, one of whom starting watching the year after one of the Storms premierships and one of them a league tragic who followed the comp well before the Storm appeared, which does raise some questions marks for me.

Hard to say, if Perth got a team I would support them and Newcastle, when they versed each other I would still support Newcastle. It's the team I grew up supporting, I think what makes those moments of joy truly amazing is going through the hard times as a supporter. Like when NSW won origin in 2014, that was one of the greatest nights of my life because for years I'd had to watch QLD beat us year after year. You can celebrate a win as a fair weather fan but you're not truly getting the experience of what a breakthrough win means to someone who was gone through the hard times.

At the same time when you follow a sport it's hard not to be drawn to who's winning at the time. When I started watching the EPL I was drawn to Manchester City by they're style of play and they ended up winning the league. How I'm a die hard fan but that's in my nature. I've got a mate that follows whoevers winning, when he's talking about wins no one gives a shit because he's a glory hunter. You need to have some form of emotional investment into a team or you're not truly going to enjoy the wins.

The absolute worst sort of person is someone from NSW supporting QLD and vice versa, through I dont know any people from QLD who support NSW.

So that tells you, if a team is successful they get more support.

Pieman wrote:The absolute worst sort of person is someone from NSW supporting QLD and vice versa, through I dont know any people from QLD who support NSW.

So that tells you, if a team is successful they get more support.

I know someone that switched allegiance from. NSW to QLD, I refuse to talk to them about anything Origin because they don't understand the passion.

I know about 10 blokes who just go for QLD even though they are from NSW and have never lived in QLD. It's amazing.

Sound like top blokes.

Pieman wrote:I know about 10 blokes who just go for QLD even though they are from NSW and have never lived in QLD. It's amazing.

When I was 13 in 1989 my parents went overseas for 2 months so I lived with my brother at Kempsey. There was a kid in my class like that. At origin time one of the teachers said "Since when have you been going for QLD?" His reply was "Since I heard of Wally Lewis".

A lot of indigenous guys I know go for QLD even though they are form NSW

Pieman wrote:A lot of indigenous guys I know go for QLD even though they are form NSW

Because NSW is racist. Ask Choc.

Pain wrote:

Pieman wrote:A lot of indigenous guys I know go for QLD even though they are form NSW

Because NSW is racist.  Ask Choc.

Ask Tahu...

Dip wrote:

When I was 13 in 1989 my parents went overseas for 2 months so I lived with my brother at Kempsey. There was a kid in my class like that. At origin time one of the teachers said "Since when have you been going for QLD?"  His reply was "Since I heard of Wally Lewis".

Was the kid's name Greg by any chance?

dasherhalo wrote:

Still - the wider question is simply: "Is it OK to change a horse in mid stream?".

Anyone jumped ship?

I was born in Brisbane but have lived on the Goldy for probably 90% of my life, with the odd stints in Bris here and there.

When the Broncos entered the comp it was about the time I started actually going for a team. Before that I would probably watch more of the QRL, so I've never really supported any other team.
So despite being a fairly staunch Gold Coast local, when the Titans entered the comp, the thought of jumping ship just never even crossed my mind.

I couldn't actually understand or fathom how blokes I knew that supported the Broncos could suddenly say they were going for the Titans now.

Then the Suns entered the AFL comp.

I was originally a Bears supporter through very dark days of being continually pumped at Carrara stadium, then a Lions supporter through the best of times; and I basically thought my passion for the Lions was as strong as the Broncos....but the Suns have now pretty much won me over.

I'd still say I'm a Lions man but it's honestly pretty close to even support and I can at least now fathom how blokes are able to change teams.
I don't think it's a loyalty thing anymore, more a case of the new team putting forth a better case for supporting them.

Interesting take, OSM!