League future pinned to membership drive
by: Margie McDonald
From: The Australian
October 29, 2012 12:00AM
SETTING ambitious membership targets for the 16 NRL clubs is one of the focuses of the five-year strategic plan to be announced today which covers the life of the new billion-dollar television rights deal.
ARL Commission chairman John Grant and interim NRL chief executive Shane Mattiske will reveal their vision for the sport in eight key areas now that the game knows how much money it has to spend.
Keeping club memberships moving in an upwards direction is one of those areas.
Last season saw many clubs set membership records. Brisbane and South Sydney became the first two clubs to pass 20,000, while Wests Tigers reached 10,000 for the first time.
NRL memberships now number more than 200,000 but the commission wants that to double by 2015.
The plan is also to grow the numbers of registered juniors to 700,000 nationwide by 2017 from today's 600,000.
Grant and Mattiske will also discuss plans to take more matches to regional Australia.
The Broncos already conduct functions and coaching clinics in country areas -- predominantly in mining towns. Two of the club's major sponsors are in the mining sector.
While executives of the league and the Nine Network have no immediate plans for a 17th NRL club, Grant is expected to talk about expansion in more detail than has been given.
Two bid teams, from Brisbane and Ipswich, are trying to bring a third club to southeast Queensland, while there are moves for teams to be based in central Queensland, the NSW central coast, Perth and a second team in New Zealand (Wellington).
Despite some commentators predicting the future progress of the salary cap would be laid out, along with the new State of Origin eligibility rules, these two items will not be on the agenda today.
All clubs have been told to set their negotiations next year around a $5m salary cap.
The venues for Origin games over the next five years will also not be revealed today, sparking further debate about whether Queensland or NSW will lose the alternating two-game home advantage that's been used for the majority of past series.
But the commission wants to grow the NRL brand more internationally.
Another step might be to take Origin league's showcase item to venues other than Brisbane and Sydney.
Already another drawcard game, the Indigenous-NRL All Stars in early February, has been shifted from Skilled Park on the Gold Coast to Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium.
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