Central Coast Franchise...just around the corner?

[melon....]

With the success of the Central Coast based Rugby League club "the Entrance" in the Jim Beam Cup, is this indicative of the strength, commitment and talent of the junior base there to post genuine claims for a possible Central Coast based NRL franchise in the near future?

I think the level and depth of talent on the Coast is second to none. And historically the area has always been "grass roots" Rugby League territory.

So I guess the answer to the above questions is yes, the Central Coast does have the foundations for an entry into the NRL. The question still remains..at what cost?

Finances are going to be the big issue. Sponsorship may be attracted easily to the area providing the right management and business heads form the basis of the football club and its franchise. Which brings me to ask, do you start from scratch, or do you relocate a "struggling" Sydney based club and base the foundations on experienced heads.

What would be the concensus, especially from a sponsor’s point of view if say South Sydney were relocated as the Central Coast NRL franchise? The handling of the South Sydney football club has been highlighted in the media and the Rugby League community as less than successful since their return to the NRL competition 2 seasons ago. Instability in this club’s management and dealings with a high turnaround of management staff and players in their short return history will detract potential investors. Would you want to pour a couple of million dollars into a club thats not managerially sound? Souths have taken the necessary steps to correct their management culture but this obviously takes time to perfect and for the results to shine through.

Of course the upside is, with Souths junior base, the player pool is solid and will compliment the Central Coast player pool and such a formation can only be a step in the right direction in forming a strong, talented club. For Souths to be considered as the club to relocate and form the Central Coast franchise, the change in managerial culture will need happen sooner than later. The club’s culture must be re-invented in a short time frame, whilst the "irons are hot" if such a franchise is going to be born and survive in this current NRL structure.

The other alternative is to resurrect a defunct club like North Sydney. Placed precariously in Sydney’s Rugby Union heartland on the North Shore, the resurrection and relocation to a Rugby League strong area would be a viable option, again with the dollars backing the proposal.

The Central Coast has NRL standard facilities with its centre piece being the Gosford Stadium. Its a true Rugby League Ground. It can hold a good crowd and its outlook and configuration will ensure a great Rugby League atmosphere.

The merger between Manly and North Sydney into the now defunct Northern Eagles seemed doomed to fail. Two traditional rivals, both sharing a junior base on the North Shore, and both vying for North Shore based business sponsors ensured it was always going to be a rocky marriage.

So the Central Coast franchise has come full circle again. Yes we did have a Central Coast based team until this season, but I believe it was formed for the wrong reasons. And with the Rugby League followers on the Coast screaming for a home team, the NRL has to learn from past experiences and provide the right solution for the future of the game, and for the fans.

 

[Special K]

The reason why the NE didn't work was because they had no reason to be there. They booted all the Norths "stars" and let local boys like Orford, Stringer etc go. Now if they NE let Menzies and some other manly players that had a strong connection with the area(Jason Taylor used to go to schools before they opened to talk to the kids and help with their goal kicking) and they tried to play games at Manly then they would have got worse crowds then their 7000 they get now. It was never going to work.

The Rugby World Cup game is sold out or so I'm told and while League is by far the biggest sport in school and the area, Union is growing fast. They are "Stealing" players from jnr league clubs, going to schools and they are trying to get in on the Coast.

The Coast does need a team and it would get good crowds(see the NE at the start and the trials played here this year)...

 

[Tupac Shakur]

Central Coast should enter the comp! Down here there are alot of great junior talent, we produced the likes of Matt Orford, Mark O'Meley, Glenn Morrison, Ryan O'Hara, John Carlaw and some young junior talent like Brett Kearney, Ryan Tandy..

We have heaps down here!!!!!!!

 

[Alan Shore]

I think another SE QLD team is needed first.

 

[dimitri]

the last thing we need is another nsw team


sure a relocated team there would be great


but definitely not before

gold coast or wellington

 

[Aries]

Central Coast should enter the comp! Down here there are alot of great junior talent, we produced the likes of Matt Orford, Mark O'Meley, Glenn Morrison, Ryan O'Hara, John Carlaw and some young junior talent like Brett Kearney, Ryan Tandy..

We have heaps down here!!!!!!!

Mate, your "UP there" not "down here"... for the Sydney based comp

Sounds like another "brainwashed" and flooded with "NEWCASTLE" 2HD/Newcastle Herald/NBN, listener/reader/watcher to me... ;-)

Resist the media, resist the media, resist the media... The footy doesn't only exist in Newcastle and there are other teams BUT Newcastle. I know it's hard, but I have managed to get through it... :lol: :lol:

 

[iggy plop]

Tooooooo many NSW teams. Sorry Central Coast, but relocation of a sydney club is your only chance.

 

[t-ba]

The Pokie Tax will kill a few NSW teams. The 'Bears' bid has the support of Singo and NS Leagues, a Club that won't be as heavily hit due to their property portfolio and interests in Queensland. Thus, they'll probably swoop in after a few Sydney Clubs die, ask for a license and get one. The Clubs on the central coast will have other things, like staying solvent, to deal with...

 

[Bengal]

Good ole Expansion!

Why don’t we all put our heads together and come up with some ideas we can use to rank which team should be included first.

Let’s come up with a list of criteria, and then rank those criteria.

Finally we’ll apply it to all the teams that wish to enter the competition and hopefully we’ll all have a good idea as to which team merits inclusion first.

Criteria I’ve thought of ranked in order of importance (IMO):

1) Money the team in question must not run at a loss, meaning they’d better have truckloads!

2) Support there needs to be genuine support for basing a team in that town

3) Beating the Enemy which to me means establishing a League profile in an area before our competition does. Could also mean meeting the challenge of our competitors head-on.

4) Player Opportunities i.e. more openings for current and future players and also the likelihood of less players heading to the UK or Europe.

5) Population i.e. taking advantage of, or better utilizing a population size.

6) Destabilization i.e. there is every chance that powerhouse teams like Brisbane or the Warriors could dominate the competition in years to come. To a certain extent Brisbane already has, but with the success of the Warriors of late, they have more potential to dominate League than the Broncos ever had. Another team in NZ or Brisbane will bring these teams back to the pack.

7) Current player base.

Well there’s a start.

There must be plenty of other ideas out there all with different rankings.

It would be cool to see what we could come up with!

 

[Parra_Eels]

i still think gold coast first (go the chargers) but i like the idea of ressurecting the bears to go to gosford. they were my 2nd favourite team but "rationalisation" kicked them out. you don't see the afl expel carlton or collingwood for it.

 

[dimitri]

i think a central coast team has to be the bears

but the fact is there are way too many rl teams in nsw

you would never see the afl bring in yet another team from vic

so why would rl

 

[Big Bunny]

i think a central coast team has to be the bears

but the fact is there are way too many rl teams in nsw

you would never see the afl bring in yet another team from vic

so why would rl

Because Vicitoria only has one major city (two if you include Geelong). The AFL has very limited scope for future expansion. Perhaps Canberra, 2nd Sydney and Brisbane-old Coast for the time being. In the distant future just maybe they will try NZ.

In rugby league we are lagging, but in the long run we will come out in front as we still have areas like: Gold Coast, Central Coast, Southern NZ, Perth and Adelaide to look at. That is on top of the development work we have already done in major provincial cities like Townsville, Newcastle and Wollongong.. cities that the AFL will take a good number of years to even think about moving into. The future path of AFL expansion is one that is going to be a lot harder than what the NRL will face.

 

[Stevo_G]

it has to be qld first we need another team

 

[Mark Rudd]

Almost guarantee that the AFL will have a 2nd team in Brisbane before the NRL.

A sad but true fact.

 

[In-goal]

I think that for the CC they must have a relocated club as there are too many NSW teams, the 16th team should come from SE QLD.

 

[joshreading]

I HIGHLY doubt the AFL will get a second side in Qld in the nearfuture for a start the Brisbane Lions DON'T want it.

The coach rightly stated that their is more chance of another Victorian side surviving then another Qld Side. (they have the recent experience of North melbourne trying Sydney after 'incredible'success of AFL in Sydney)

I agree though that QLD NEEDS ANOTHER SIDE NOW!!!

I feel for CC BUT there are priorities. The Pokie Tax I think ironically maybe the NATIONAL Rugby league's saviour ultimately.

 

[joshreading]

AFL is stuck in a funny predicament. They need to get teams out of Melbourne and they know it BUT there is no where to move where they will be better supported.

For instance North Melbourne Kangaroos have been rumoured to go everywhere including Canberra, however they average 25 thousand in Melbourne and would be lucky to get half of that in Canberra.

 

[Tidus_Raider]

I think relocation is the only way to go about it. There are way too many NSW teams and for all the dominance RL has over AFL in QLD all we have to show for it is the cowboys.The question is though who relocates? It's easy to say the rabbitohs but they've vowed there future is at Redfern.

 

[joshreading]

I think it will never be easy but I think the Tigers are one of the best candidates, not just because of their unusual position but I think the successful transition of the Tigers say to Brisbane is far more likely then anyone accepting the Rabbitohs.

This will hurt the Maggies fans but you should have really merged with the Bulldogs or gone to WA. Liverpool from everytime I go their seems to becoming Bulldogs territory anyway. Support for the Wests Tigers seems to be very lax.

East Coast Tigers for me - the NRL should encourage a sort of Sydney Tigers Ticket then.

 

[t-ba]

I feel for CC BUT there are priorities. The Pokie Tax I think ironically maybe the NATIONAL Rugby league's saviour ultimately.

I have a strong feeling that predicition might come true. It wasn't all roses and lollipops for the VFL when they tried to expand. Such a catastrophic event might bring the impetus for change.