Where BRL clubs ever considered for the nswrl expansion?

[CC_Roosters]

Always wondered whether the stronger Brisbane clubs where ever considered to join the nswrl rather than sole Broncos team to represent Brisbane? In my mind back in the day 3-4 Brisbane/SEQ clubs with strong tribal divisions would have been a better set up as the league evolved into the ARL and NRL.

As a side point it could have allowed natural selection to take hold to the point where both cities where rationalised into a national 2 divisions with promotion and relegation.

 

[docbrown]

Always wondered whether the stronger Brisbane clubs where ever considered to join the nswrl rather than sole Broncos team to represent Brisbane?

From what I recall I think the QRL rejected the first proposal from the NSWRL before the Broncos bid was formed. I don't think it was ever a case of QRL teams being accepted into the NSWRL rather that the QRL would've been charged to create a new single club identity to represent the entire league.

As a side point it could have allowed natural selection to take hold to the point where both cities where rationalised into a national 2 divisions with promotion and relegation.

Well it's a case of failed opportunities but if people from the NSWRL & QRL could have come together in the 70s before the pokie machine unbalance truly set in then we might've seen something along those lines. But no one was really thinking nationally back then.

Instead we got to the 80s and the NSWRL was just moreso thinking similar to the Victorian Fumble League that it could just expand and become the defacto national league at the expense of the QLD comp.

 

[CC_Roosters]

From what I recall I think the QRL rejected the first proposal from the NSWRL before the Broncos bid was formed. I don't think it was ever a case of QRL teams being accepted into the NSWRL rather that the QRL would've been charged to create a new single club identity to represent the entire league.

Seems to have been a very short sighted process. Should have been short term pain for long term gain, rather than vice versa as was done.

Definitely looks like an opportunity lost to me. One idea might have been 2 divisions of 10, playing each team H&A for 18 games + finals. 2nd Div GF on the Saturday, 1st Div on the Sunday. Then Steady expansion through the 90's; teams- NQ, Auckland, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide in that order

 

[Red&BlackBear]

IMO the 4 QLD clubs should have been Redcliffe Dolphins, Ipswich Jets, Norths Devils and Souths Magpies but under a different brand so it didnt collide with Western Suburbs. Norths could've used Lang Park, Souths QSAC, Redcliffe and Ipswich couldve gotten smaller 20k stadiums.

 

[flippikat]

IMO the 4 QLD clubs should have been Redcliffe Dolphins, Ipswich Jets, Norths Devils and Souths Magpies but under a different brand so it didnt collide with Western Suburbs. Norths could've used Lang Park, Souths QSAC, Redcliffe and Ipswich couldve gotten smaller 20k stadiums.

Sounds good. (Though Brisbane Souths or Western Suburbs would have had to choose a different mascot. South Brisbane Seagulls, anyone?)

If 4 Brisbane clubs were added in the 1970s, the ARL competition would've had a 16 team comp with those teams alongside the 12 Sydney clubs of the day.

Then if natural attrition took place among the Sydney clubs, spots would open up for Newcastle, Canberra etc. in the 1980s (either from mergers, relocations or clubs going broke) while still keeping a 16-team competition.

Then the next step would be expanding to Auckland & North Queensland to get an 18 team competition in the mid 1990s, then Melbourne & Perth for teams 19 & 20 a few years after that.

 

[docbrown]

Seems to have been a very short sighted process. Should have been short term pain for long term gain, rather than vice versa as was done.

Yep it's all just hypotheticals now. The NSWRL were also looking at expansion to the Central Coast in the 70s too ;-)

I don't think that we've got is that shabby though. I mean we're represented in more cities than the AFL with fewer teams. If you look at the markets we control across Australia and New Zealand if we were to introduce the 5 new teams (Brisbane2, Central Coast, Adelaide, Perth, Wellington-Christchurch combined bid) -

Sydney ? 8 NRL teams, 2 AFL teams, 2 AL teams, 1 SR team ? approx 4,600,000
Melbourne ? 1 NRL team, 9 AFL teams, 2 AL teams, 1 SR team
Brisbane ? 2NRL teams, 1 AFL team, 1 AL team, 1 SR team
Perth ? 1 NRL team, 2 AFL teams, 1 AL team, 1 SR team
Auckland ? 1 NRL team, 0 AFL teams, 0 AL teams, 1 SR team ? approx 1,400,000

Adelaide ? 1 NRL team, 2 AFL teams, 1 AL team, 0 SR teams ? approx 1,250,000
Gold Coast ? 1 NRL team, 1 AFL team, 0 AL teams, 0 SR teams
Newcastle ? 1 NRL team, 0 AFL teams, 1 AL team, 0 SR teams
Canberra ? 1 NRL team, 0.5 AFL teams, 0 AL teams, 1 SR team
Wellington ? 0.5 NRL teams, 0 AFL teams, 1 AL team, 1 SR team ? approx 395,000

Christchurch ? 0.5 NRL teams, 0 AFL teams, 0 AL teams, 1 SR team ? approx 375,000
Central Coast ? 1 NRL team, 0 AFL teams, 1 AL team, 0 SR teams
Wollongong ? 0.5 NRL teams, 0 AFL teams, 0 AL teams, 0 SR teams
Townsville & Cairns ? 1 NRL teams, 0 AFL teams, 0 AL teams, 0 SR teams
Sunshine Coast ? 0 NRL teams, 0 AFL teams, 0 AL teams, 0 SR teams ? approx 240,000

There's a few other markets but they get smaller in size -

Hobart ? 0 NRL teams, 0 AFL teams, 0 AL teams, 0 SR teams ? approx 215,000
Hamilton - 0 NRL teams, 0 AFL teams, 0 AL teams, 1 SR teams
Geelong - 0 NRL teams, 1 AFL team, 0 AL teams, 0 SR teams
Darwin - 0 NRL teams, 0 AFL teams, 0 AL teams, 0 SR teams
Dunedin - 0 NRL teams, 0 AFL teams, 0 AL teams, 1 SR teams ? approx 115,000



I'd argue that the NRL would dominate those 9 markets in bold out of the Top 15 and be the second biggest code in the other 7 (Melbourne, Perth, Auckland, Adelaide, Wellington, Christchurch).

AFL/A-League/Super Rugby couldn't even dream of having that kind of a template.

That's why the NRL has the potential to be the biggest sport across Australia & New Zealand.

 

[flippikat]

Indeed - the NRL in 10-15 years time could have both a great Australian reach & a reasonable 2 or 3 club representation in New Zealand

Already we have some regional centres like Canberra, Townsville & Newcastle covered-off that the AFL can only dream of.

As far as dots on the map, the only major markets they have over Rugby League are Perth & Adelaide.

Perth is pretty much there for the taking in the next expansion, and with a development plan in place Adelaide could be achievable within 10 years.

 

[gyallop]

I think we need to remember the 70s was a different world , people rarely flew, TV was still regional and the Brisbane clubs had big supporter bases. What people knew of the game in Sydney they read about or saw Saturday arvo on a B&W tele . People and the game had a regional focus .Then the game could not have afforded a national competition.
Virgin gets that space flight going within the next 20 years as they say and UK and USA become "closer" than Melbourne is now..what then?

 

[Diesel]

In hindsight of the ARL was able to combine the NSW and QRL's together to form a comp we wouldn't need to be talking about rationasation and mergers and new teams as we are now as we'd have 4 Brisbane and 8 or so Sydney plus most other expansion areas we have now or want to have.

However the Virgin Spaceflight was supposed to make Sydney to London in 4 hours from memory, 50 years from now the Broncos could have an away trip to the ESL and the New York before playing Wifan at home.

 

[flippikat]

In hindsight of the ARL was able to combine the NSW and QRL's together to form a comp we wouldn't need to be talking about rationasation and mergers and new teams as we are now as we'd have 4 Brisbane and 8 or so Sydney plus most other expansion areas we have now or want to have.

At the very least, we'd have Brisbane and Sydney well sorted for top-level representation by the 1980s.

The only unresolved markets would be other reasonable-sized cities in the RL heartland, and that's easily enough done in the 1980s/90s.

We'd have been well into NON-heartland expansion by 2013.