Expansion looming in A-League - The Contrast with the NRL

[titoelcolombiano]

There is no one answer. Damage has been dine in Sydney and surrounds. Fix it!

You are right, there is no one answer but I've proposed at least five answers:

• Norths stop gold digging existing NRL bids and look after North Sydney
• Manly, look after all areas of North Sydney that the Bears don't cover
• NRL do something to market the game to the people of the area, make it a focus and make it happen like AFL and RU do (both of which don't have top flight representation in the area)
• Move Roosters to CC and Dragons to Illawarra full-time so that the iconic clubs still exist in the NRL but give more room in Sydney for the remaining clubs to grow into superpowers of Australian sport
• Add Perth and eventually Adelaide to the NRL

 

[The Great Dane]

I get the new clubs in big cities with populations of over 1 million, but i would put a club in Tasmania for 2 reasons. 1, the aFL is never going to put a club there and 2 it gives the island there very own football (soccer) club to follow.

I don't necessarily disagree, I'd add a club in Canberra too cause they'd have the city to themselves over the summer and the sport has a relatively huge fan-base here, but it's the FFA you've got to convince not me.

All they are going to do by going down the route they are headed is split their fan-bases in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane further and further the more clubs they add to the cities, but they don't see that.

 

[Stallion]

You are right, there is no one answer but I've proposed at least five answers:

• Norths stop gold digging existing NRL bids and look after North Sydney
• Manly, look after all areas of North Sydney that the Bears don't cover
• NRL do something to market the game to the people of the area, make it a focus and make it happen like AFL and RU do (both of which don't have top flight representation in the area)
• Move Roosters to CC and Dragons to Illawarra full-time so that the iconic clubs still exist in the NRL but give more room in Sydney for the remaining clubs to grow into superpowers of Australian sport
• Add Perth and eventually Adelaide to the NRL

Unfortunately sounds good but will.not work. A code like rugby league requires cultural significance. A top flight representation is culturally significant. Codes like AFL have enjoyed a "protest vote " due to rugby league's abandonment of this influential and important area with significant historical attachment to a once proud football community. You dilute top flight clubs in Sydney, you dilute the game and its localness along with cultural relevance which is an asset and advantage on other waiting codes for another mistake from the NRL.

 

[titoelcolombiano]

Unfortunately sounds good but will.not work. A code like rugby league requires cultural significance. A top flight representation is culturally significant. Codes like AFL have enjoyed a "protest vote " due to rugby league's abandonment of this influential and important area with significant historical attachment to a once proud football community. You dilute top flight clubs in Sydney, you dilute the game and its localness along with cultural relevance which is an asset and advantage on other waiting codes for another mistake from the NRL.

Ok, so shall we add North Sydney back in and cut a team? The NRL have made it clear they will not expand beyond 16 teams so how do we grow the game?

Should Perth, Brisbane 2, Adelaide and NZ 2 join SuperLeague? Maybe all non-Sydney clubs could join Superleague and Sydney can have a team in every suburb.

Why are other sports able to grow their footprint in just about every major city in Australia with in most cases two or less teams?

• RU was going quite well (off the field at least) in Perth with one team before shooting itself in the foot
• AFL does very well in Perth, Adelaide and is slowly moving forward in Sydney with only two teams in each city
• NRL is slowly moving forward in Melbourne with one team and Perth is slowly moving forward in Perth with no NRL team

By the logic you are presenting all of these cases should be going backwards. North and East Sydney just need a bit of errort applied to them by the NRL instead of being lazy and just giving up.

 

[Stallion]

Ok, so shall we add North Sydney back in and cut a team? The NRL have made it clear they will not expand beyond 16 teams so how do we grow the game?

Should Perth, Brisbane 2, Adelaide and NZ 2 join SuperLeague? Maybe all non-Sydney clubs could join Superleague and Sydney can have a team in every suburb.

Why are other sports able to grow their footprint in just about every major city in Australia with in most cases two or less teams?

• RU was going quite well (off the field at least) in Perth with one team before shooting itself in the foot
• AFL does very well in Perth, Adelaide and is slowly moving forward in Sydney with only two teams in each city
• NRL is slowly moving forward in Melbourne with one team and Perth is slowly moving forward in Perth with no NRL team

By the logic you are presenting all of these cases should be going backwards. North and East Sydney just need a bit of errort applied to them by the NRL instead of being lazy and just giving up.

And I'll confirm that the NRL intends to add two more clubs to the competition for a start. Let's get that furfy clear! They will be expansion clubs. So maintaining some semblance of rugby league strength in Sydney is not a barrier to expansion growth! Getting sick of the implosion/dilution crap/chatter!
My logic respects both history and simple mathematics. The population of Sydney and the games historical/cultural significance , especially in a geographically difficult area to travel in, points to at least ten teams covering and consolidating the three regions included as the "Sydney footprint." Their is a strong case for a reclamation and consolidation in North Sydney and the Central Coast region with the Central Coast Bears. It's a worthy solution not a dilution as preferred by others. You go and build a culture of 100 plus years with generational and external support. Try it!? It will take you 100 years!

 

[Vee]

If it was such a remarkable fall why the bears ejected in the first place?

They were double-crossed by the ARL/NRL. Promised that regional clubs would not be subject to criteria for survival as city clubs, they elected to move to Gosford. Building delays held them up and then the ARL moved the goalposts.

 

[Pommy]

They were double-crossed by the ARL/NRL. Promised that regional clubs would not be subject to criteria for survival as city clubs, they elected to move to Gosford. Building delays held them up and then the ARL moved the goalposts.

But how well were they doing to feel need to move to Gosford in the first place?

 

[Stallion]

But how well were they doing to feel need to move to Gosford in the first place?

News ltd "appointed " an administrator during the final few years of the BEARS in the top flight. This administrator amongst a host of questionable calls decided to stage a Bears home game at Suncorp stadium in Brisbane. That gives you an idea of how competent and caring News ltd thoughts for the Bears were! This club was a well orchestrated hatchet job by the all conquering and destroying News ltd influence within rugby league.

 

[The Great Dane]

But how well were they doing to feel need to move to Gosford in the first place?

They were going reasonably well for the time, it's just rationalisation was coming and the ARL said that the only certain way to dodge the rationalisation bullet was to relocate, so they started relocating in the hopes that they'd dodge it.

Honestly the decision was definitely helped a long by the fact that Manly was the only other club in the North Sydney area and Arko (the chairman of the ARL) was an ex-Manly player and secretary of the club that lead them through their golden age, if one of the two North Sydney clubs was going to be kicked out it was going to be Norths, so the Bears hedged their bets and started the process of moving up the road to the CC.

 

[RL The greatest game]

I don't necessarily disagree, I'd add a club in Canberra too cause they'd have the city to themselves over the summer and the sport has a relatively huge fan-base here, but it's the FFA you've got to convince not me.

All they are going to do by going down the route they are headed is split their fan-bases in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane further and further the more clubs they add to the cities, but they don't see that.

I certainly wouldn't put anymore A League teams in Sydney, Melbourne, or Brisbane.
Along with Tasmania i would seriously think about putting a club in Darwin.
2 new A League clubs in 2 new areas.

 

[Vee]

But how well were they doing to feel need to move to Gosford in the first place?

As well as anyone. IIRC they were regular finalists and had North Sydney Leagues Club behind them. Memory a bit faded now but I think they saw their future in the new area as a new market in a custom built stadium while retaining their links with NS.

 

[The Great Dane]

I certainly wouldn't put anymore A League teams in Sydney, Melbourne, or Brisbane.
Along with Tasmania i would seriously think about putting a club in Darwin.
2 new A League clubs in 2 new areas.

There is no way that Darwin could support even an A-league club on their own, the corporate support simply isn't there and they don't have a support base big enough to make up the difference, let alone the population to support a support base of the size that they'd need to make up the difference.

Add to that the A-leagues season runs though the wet season and summer, and the conditions that the players would be expected to to play in up their would be ridiculous (and were one of the main things that screwed the Northern Fury over), and any club in the NT simply isn't feasible especially when compared to other places that are bidding.

 

[Perth Red]

News ltd "appointed " an administrator during the final few years of the BEARS in the top flight. This administrator amongst a host of questionable calls decided to stage a Bears home game at Suncorp stadium in Brisbane. That gives you an idea of how competent and caring News ltd thoughts for the Bears were! This club was a well orchestrated hatchet job by the all conquering and destroying News ltd influence within rugby league.

Melbourne hosts a home game in Brisbane, seems to work well for them. And if they needed an administrator appointing that would suggest they were already screwed?

 

[Stallion]

Melbourne hosts a home game in Brisbane, seems to work well for them. And if they needed an administrator appointing that would suggest they were already screwed?

Got to look at the origins and make up of the club. The Storm have strong links with the Sunshine Coast and other Qld clubs/areas. North Sydney Bears had & has no such ties. Very different .

 

[titoelcolombiano]

And I'll confirm that the NRL intends to add two more clubs to the competition for a start. Let's get that furfy clear! They will be expansion clubs. So maintaining some semblance of rugby league strength in Sydney is not a barrier to expansion growth! Getting sick of the implosion/dilution crap/chatter!
My logic respects both history and simple mathematics. The population of Sydney and the games historical/cultural significance , especially in a geographically difficult area to travel in, points to at least ten teams covering and consolidating the three regions included as the "Sydney footprint." Their is a strong case for a reclamation and consolidation in North Sydney and the Central Coast region with the Central Coast Bears. It's a worthy solution not a dilution as preferred by others. You go and build a culture of 100 plus years with generational and external support. Try it!? It will take you 100 years!

For the record, I would like the NRL to have 18 teams but they seem reluctant to move beyond 16. They seem to think the player pool is an issue amongst other reasons. I don't agree with them, I would love us to go to 18 teams - you and I at least agree on that point.

 

[johnny plath]

Got to look at the origins and make up of the club. The Storm have strong links with the Sunshine Coast and other Qld clubs/areas. North Sydney Bears had & has no such ties. Very different .

norths actually had quite a queensland connection at that time. Numerous qld players including Billy Moore, Gary Larson, Ben Ikin, Brett Dallas, Tony Rea, Darren Fritz, all playing in that era, and not long before them Marty Bella, Brett and Ian French, Gavin Jones, Les Kiss, Peter Jackson. They also had a developent pathway with Wests Juniors in Brisbane around 96/97. Also, storm aren't supported in Queensland because of their affiliation with Sunshine Coast, its the other way aound - they affiliated with Sunshine Coast because they are supported in Queensland, and Sunny Coast presented an opportunity.

 

[Stallion]

For the record, I would like the NRL to have 18 teams but they seem reluctant to move beyond 16. They seem to think the player pool is an issue amongst other reasons. I don't agree with them, I would love us to go to 18 teams - you and I at least agree on that point.

The new people involved will take this competition to 18 teams for the next tv agreement. Thats the message I'm seeing.

 

[Jamberoo]

Soccer in Australia is like basketball. Just because everyone plays it as kids, does not mean we follow or play as adults. We simply don’t. Soccer crowds and viewership have crashed. The sport here is about to implode and might follow the pattern of basketball - upward trend, then expansion, then collapse. Repeat then repeat again.
Here in Melbourne the introduction of Heart/City was the start of the decline for Victory. Before that, Victory were as big as a few AFL clubs and more than twice as big as Storm. Storm will overtake them soon as the biggest non AFL club outside of NSW/Qld. Perhaps they already have.
More clubs in big cities won’t work. They are heading in the wrong direction.
When you look at what is happening in soccer and union, RL is doing OK.

 

[Dakink]

I certainly wouldn't put anymore A League teams in Sydney, Melbourne, or Brisbane.
Along with Tasmania i would seriously think about putting a club in Darwin.
2 new A League clubs in 2 new areas.

Darwin is a pipe dream.... There is no way that the city could support an A-League team. ITs AFL....daylight....League.....Rest.

 

[Pommy]

MacArthur and western Melbourne confirmed. The A League are even worse than the NRL at explansion.