to expand or not to expand

[super_coach]

read in the tele today,that the joint venture is against any new teams in 2006.on the grounds that they merged becauce the nrl told them that their would be a max of 14 teams and that was their only option.
i reckon the league is crying out for a team on the central coast-big growth aera and heaps of you kids playing the game.
but from a tigers point of view i would be worried.
i see that the demand for another 30 players,would send pay packets up,like the super league days.also a few of our good young guns would be pretty hard to keep under the present cap.Any player of any note,would be worth heaps.
i think the only way to go,is to relocate the storms--they could play in melbourne for another 20years and still not make up any ground on the ping pong.
we would all love to see the magpies and the tigers still running around as seperate teams,but they would be both bankrupt now.After a shaky start the joint venture is starting to show some real promise.and the next few years look real good--keep it 15 for now and look at again down the track

 

[innsaneink]

Yes.
While I would like to see a Central Coast team, and I'd like to see a comp with an even no. of teams....the fact remains the players just dont exist, and I dont really wanna be watching something that makes Souths look good for the next four to five years while first grade talent is developed.

 

[brook]

I think the central coast would have the inside running on other clubs in that regard

given both orford and morrison have made no real secret of their desire to return back to the coast if they managed to sign just those two I'd say other players would follow

orf in particular is the sort of player you could build a team around

 

[Weasels Ripped My Flesh]

Im up for a second new zealand team

 

[Magpie Nick]

The NRL meeting today didn't come to anything but another meeting to be held later.

 

[braz]

read in the tele today,that the joint venture is against any new teams in 2006.on the grounds that they merged becauce the nrl told them that their would be a max of 14 teams and that was their only option.
i reckon the league is crying out for a team on the central coast-big growth aera and heaps of you kids playing the game.
but from a tigers point of view i would be worried.
i see that the demand for another 30 players,would send pay packets up,like the super league days.also a few of our good young guns would be pretty hard to keep under the present cap.Any player of any note,would be worth heaps.
i think the only way to go,is to relocate the storms--they could play in melbourne for another 20years and still not make up any ground on the ping pong.
we would all love to see the magpies and the tigers still running around as seperate teams,but they would be both bankrupt now.After a shaky start the joint venture is starting to show some real promise.and the next few years look real good--keep it 15 for now and look at again down the track

steve noyce said the same thing on the footy show on sunday...

so he should too - wests and balmain voted for a merger based on 14 teams, now they are gonna have 16. not really fair on two foundation clubs

 

[HappyTiger]

With NRL funding to be cut if a 16th team is introduced it means less money for us.Add to that the Pokie Tax and its gonna make life alot harder for many clubs.

 

[Swampdonkey]

Relocation is the best way to go.

Two of the Sydney clubs have to move and in the interest of keeping a team in every area of Sydney that has a large rugby league supporter base, i think there are 2 teams that can go both Canterbury and South Sydney. One of them goes to the Central Coast and one goes to the Gold Coast.

You look at the other Sydney sides apart from South Sydney and Canterbury, they each cover a large area of Sydney's rugby league heartland. If WT went then the people of South Western Sydney would have no one to follow, like wise with Penrith and Parramatta who have huge supporter bases. The same goes with all the remaining Sydney clubs, to me a struggling Souths and a troublemaking Bulldogs are the obvious choices.

Then you bring in a 16th team from Wellington. There is alot of talk about not having the player numbers with a 16th team, most of you will notice that in the history of the Warriors they have only ever used a very limited number of Australian players. This is because they have a heap of talent over there in both League and Union, so i don't think that league player numbers will be diminished as the majority of the side will be from New Zealand/Wellington and alot of those players will be ex-union.

 

[Gobbso]

From a Wests Tigers point of view. No. Noyce said it all. Both Balmain and Western Suburbs entered into this Joint-Venture on the basis that there would only be 14 teams in the NRL competition, as all clubs were brain washed with the News Ltd. propaganda. Fair enough Souths deserved to be re-admitted, they fought the good fight and won. Therefore if a 16th Team does get the nod, whoever it might be, this then i guess leaves the door open for Wests Tigers in the shape of Balmain and Western Suburbs, to seek and take legal action.

From a personal point of view, i think the Central Coast does certainly deserve a team. They've got all the right demographics for a successful venture to definitely prosper up there in that region. Supported by Singo and a profitable business plan, with i'm led to believe the 3rd largest junior area in NSW, it can not be neglected. It would also be nice to see the Bears back in the game, which would give those old North Sydney supporters who were lost to the game, a new sense of hope, support fro the game they once loved.

 

[simon says]

I reckon Noyice said what he had to.If he says that its cool he would get his arse kicked.Personally,I would like to see the Bears and the central coast get a start.Great to see the Bears fans get some love.

 

[Balmainia]

I don't think a second NZ team is viable as they will not attract the fans over the duration.

Northern eagles or Norths moved to the central coast and flopped and they were trying to get a central coast junior base though they certainly do have the money behind them

Gold Coast - folded for whatever reason I forget - can u trust that bid?

gold Coast would be my preferred choice, three teams in QLD, that'd be something

there will be no 16th team or the NRL is open to legal action

it also makes me wonder why they ever expanded from 16 to 20 then went to war and came back down to 14, well 15 now

The fact that foundation clubs were forced to merge is a travesty and in my opinion a big black dirty mark the game will never get rid off.

 

[brook]

You look at the other Sydney sides apart from South Sydney and Canterbury, they each cover a large area of Sydney's rugby league heartland.

Cronulla?? They have a tiny strip carved outta saints territory which could easily be given back - easily the most redundant team in the comp

much as I hate the dogs they do control a large area of south-western sydney which is very much league heartland.

(and I gotta say imo the only negative about the c-c bid is that it would involve north sydney who I hate even more than I do parra)

 

[Swampdonkey]

The reason i didn't mention the Sharks is because of the fierce rivalry between the Shire and the other parts of Southern Sydney. It is probably unlikely that the Sharks supporters would continue to follow the game if they moved, whereas the Bulldogs have already in part lost their identity.

I guess the alternative would be to merge the Rabbitohs and the Sharks and play between their two respective grounds in the same way as our boys and St George-Illawarra. This is something that has been discussed before i think??

Then have the Doggies move to the Gold Coast, give the Central Coast Bears a side and give Wellington a side - 16 teams.....

 

[innsaneink]

One less home game each season......more than likely be a 22 round comp...11 home games...no byes....3 homes away...11-3= 8.....at least now Tigers look forward to 5 next year while us maggies get 5 this year...it WT's keep playing home games away it'll be 8 home 14 away/......less grant money for usfrom NRL.....less players for us to build on....it wont happen and it shouldnt happen any time soon.

 

[the spoon]

Im a huge fan of the central coast bears and i think souths should look at the gold coast the problem with the gold coast was they never got a good team to support thanks to the broncos same as whats been happerning to the cowboys. To make matters worse for the gold coast when they made the semis in 96 the following year there players were pinched from other clubs ie sloss to souths and brendan hurst went from star to reserve grade when the roosters took him the next year.

 

[tigger]

I think the game is unable to cope with 15 teams based on current market conditions. A two tier system is the answer.

 

[Gobbso]

But clubs would then face the uncertainty of losing massive amounts of money mate. I think a two tier system where teams get promoted and regulated on form would have solved alot of emotional heart ache, but its quite clear the game would not be able to afford it, as well as the club's being able to survive in a Reserve Grade style competition, which would not receive coverage, this would then lead to such larger financial constraints with Sponsorship and funding agreements potentially pulling out, as they are really not getting the return on their investment they were expecting. Look at Leeds in the English Premier League for instance. They are facing a loss between $40-50 million dollars, just because they will not be playing in the elite competition.

 

[oro]

News to rid the NRL of that basket case Melbourne.

Divert funding to the maintenance of Balmain, Wests and Souths as stand alone clubs in the NRL.

With the proposed 90,000 lot land release in the SW sector over the next 30 years, the case for a stand alone NRL club in that region is persuasive.

No new NRL teams.

 

[Lochie]

I'm with tigger on a two tier system - it would really sort the fans out from the bandwagoners, and I think if the image of the code could be cleaned up and diversified across Australia, then it could work. The problem is, who has the courage to put their balls on the line and make it happen and start really moving things? I like David Gallop, but I dont see him implementing this sort of system. I think financially, if the code was spread nationwide, then there is the chance that it could be endorsed and work.

 

[super_coach]

relegation,2 tier system-been talking about it for forty years---just would not work-great idea,but the second teir could not generate the income.At the moment nrl teams struggle each year to get the sponor dollar needed to compete.If you were in a second tier,it would be that much harder.players would want get out clauses if their teams was relegated and so it goes on--like in the uk --the big would get bigger and the battler would be vanished.but on a lighter note--what would happen if you got relegated on the back of one of horrible haynes ref blunders