Ok reading up about this bid, they are building their own 15k stadium in tarneit but wont be ready for atleast the first 2 seasons.
So... they will play their first 2 seasons at kardinia park ( a fucking afl ground ) in geelong. I beleive its roughly 50 minutes drive from their home base in tarneit....
Already expecting alot from fans they do not yet have. Maybe im missing something
Tarneit is so far out it's barely in Melbourne, (One suburb North of Werribee, traditionally treated as a distinct city.) This has obvious disadvantages of being hard to get to, but this is lessened by it being on a new train line in Melbourne with relatively few stops and frequent service, and the future planned outer city loop.
It also makes it easier to attract a more parochial local fan than just Big City Team Number 3. Also they supposedly have a fairly secure plan for a stadium, apparently a big problem with other bids, that can be built without having to worry about uppity locals complaining, because there are none in the immediate vicinity yet.
For me the biggest problem isn't the location, It's that they essentially have to launch the team twice. Once in Geelong, and once again when/if the stadium is built. 2 years is a lot of time for baggage to be accrued.
Also, Kardinia Park may not be ideal, but its facilities are modern and it is extremely cheap to use. New stadiums in Australia have shown in the last few years to be anything but cheap. So I suspect there is a huge risk that if the club does get a faithful following initially, they may be priced out at the permanent home.
Overall, I suspect the main criteria for selection was Worst-Case scenario, and these two bids are probably the only two whose worst-case after 5 years didn't end with "Doesn't exist anymore"