So where to from here?

[alien]

Yeah I can see the rep angle and the importance of giving the game a profile outside of Auckland just isn't sinking in on this one.

I said the Warriors could work as a team repping all of NZ. You disagree. So we'll have to agree to disagree on that.

Put it another way - why is the CC, with its Canberra sized population and high unemployment, - a greater priority than?

Because they are a foundation club and shouldn't have been kicked out in the first place. They were willing to relocate to the Central Coast, and I believe they should be let back in.

Thinking outside the box, I wouldn't mind seeing an American club, based in Hawaii - maybe called American Anacondas. Aloha Stadium in Honolulu is a 50,000 seat stadium and having an American club in the NRL could open up a massive market in the United States.

 

[RoosTah]

I said the Warriors could work as a team repping all of NZ. You disagree. So we'll have to agree to disagree on that.



Because they are a foundation club and shouldn't have been kicked out in the first place. They were willing to relocate to the Central Coast, and I believe they should be let back in.

Thinking outside the box, I wouldn't mind seeing an American club, based in Hawaii - maybe called American Anacondas. Aloha Stadium in Honolulu is a 50,000 seat stadium and having an American club in the NRL could open up a massive market in the United States.

Hawaii isn't a terrible idea - 1.4 million people, so not huge but in the ballpark with Adelaide and as you say it gives the game exposure in the USA.
Still though, I reckon that's one for development 20 years down the track

 

[Hello, I'm The Doctor]

Hawaii isn't a terrible idea - 1.4 million people, so not huge but in the ballpark with Adelaide and as you say it gives the game exposure in the USA.
Still though, I reckon that's one for development 20 years down the track

I dont know if teams would be all that excited about the prospect of flying 10 hours each way for that...

And thats just the Aussie teams. Imagine the f*ckery of being on the Hawaiian side doing that flight about once a week.

Nah, we'll see a team in Asia before Hawaii

 

[siv]

They are doing well, but we need to make the game a genuine and feasible sport of choice for people over there who's Super Rugby side isn't doing well or don't like aspects of Union. We'll never topple Union - but we could be a much bigger number 2 football code in NZ than we currently are.

Let's not forget that NZ is a country with 4.5 million people AND it is our biggest representative rival, so it's a much larger and more important market than South Australia and WA.

If we make the kiwis really care about the game there and they're consistently beating us, then the Trans Tasman rivalry could rival origin - then we'll have 2 series where every game rates 4 million+ a match

We should.more concerned with establishing a viable 8 to 10 team NZRL National League

Rather than trying to add more foreign teams into a Australian competition that doesnt have capacity to hold them or the funds to fly teams internationally

I would rather see the ARLC focus on establishing the NRL brand in SA WA NT and TAS

The NZRL APRLF and RLIF can sort out other markets

Dont shrink domestic competitions grow them

 

[jim_57]

I dont know if teams would be all that excited about the prospect of flying 10 hours each way for that...

And thats just the Aussie teams. Imagine the f*ckery of being on the Hawaiian side doing that flight about once a week.

Nah, we'll see a team in Asia before Hawaii

I definitely think Hawaii should be a big part of any NRL "Pacific Strategy", not sure I would go to the lengths of an NRL team anytime soon though. Maybe a few games with links to a pro club to open to open up professional pathways.

Any such team though could easily just play in blocks like the Toronto Wolfpack will be doing next season.

 

[RoosTah]

We should.more concerned with establishing a viable 8 to 10 team NZRL National League

Rather than trying to add more foreign teams into a Australian competition that doesnt have capacity to hold them or the funds to fly teams internationally

I would rather see the ARLC focus on establishing the NRL brand in SA WA NT and TAS

The NZRL APRLF and RLIF can sort out other markets

Dont shrink domestic competitions grow them

There is a viable competition in NZ - one the Christchurch Bulls have been very successful in of late. It needs to improve but ultimately it will always fall victim to the NRC syndrome; people will ignore it because there's a more elite club competition with NZ representation.

Perth is a huge priority, but I think NZ are only marginally behind them in all honesty

 

[BuderusIsaBeast]

There is a viable competition in NZ - one the Christchurch Bulls have been very successful in of late. It needs to improve but ultimately it will always fall victim to the NRC syndrome; people will ignore it because there's a more elite club competition with NZ representation.

Perth is a huge priority, but I think NZ are only marginally behind them in all honesty

I have to agree with this Perth and New Zealand goves us two new time zones and new markets. I think brisbane 2 also remians a problem untill they decide what direction there going to go with it, Bomber, Ipswich, Brothers etc.

When people talk about NZ 2 they often seem to go for Wellington however I belive Christcurch would be a far better fit. On the south island, there fans seem for respnsvie to our sport and I prefer there stadium to the dump that is westpac stadium

 

[CowboyFuriousFury]

If the NRL had courage and kept with Perth/Adelaide the code wouldn't of being in this predicament in the first place, culling those two teams set the code back 20 years. It be like the AFL cutting the Lions/Swans at there lowest totally insular, backwards thinking to please the 'heartland'.

 

[T-Boon]

When people talk about NZ 2 they often seem to go for Wellington however I belive Christcurch would be a far better fit. On the south island, there fans seem for respnsvie to our sport and I prefer there stadium to the dump that is westpac stadium

Interesting. If they went Christchurch I would be more likely to travel over and watch my team play them. Fly in and drive around the South Island for a week. For some reason Auckland has never been a place I want to visit.