So are you saying a SE-QLD Club on the Sunshine coast or Morton Bay and a Wellington, New Zealand Club are also the better candidates than existing stadiums of Brisbane City and Auckland to share a team, not saying y ou have to pick one, but surely theres a preference on a suncorp rival club, or a more regional SEqld option etcSE-QLD
Perth
Adelaide
NZ-South
They are the only realistic options - and in Perth and Adelaide's cases, absolutely necessary.
There are different approaches that might work for QLD and NZ so I'll refrain from nominating a specific one.
So are you saying a SE-QLD Club on the Sunshine coast or Morton Bay and a Wellington, New Zealand Club are also the better candidates than existing stadiums of Brisbane City and Auckland to share a team, not saying y ou have to pick one, but surely theres a preference on a suncorp rival club, or a more regional SEqld option etc
Reviving the SQ crushers idea, but basically the Suncorp rival, (brisbane rival) and a South Island Nz team based in Christchurch, i like the whole North Vs South island ideaSE Qld could be Sunshine Coast, Redcliffe, Ipswich, Easts, a combined QRL merger team, a standalone new club, etc.
My preferred option is a new club called South Queensland, perhaps with some QCup clubs holding a minority financial stake. Any club has to play the lions share of its games out of Lang Park. Forget about suburban stuff.
New Zealand, I could see either full time out of the new stadium in Christchurch (significantly larger population than Wellington) or some split with Wellington. Not interested in another Auckland (or Hamilton) idea.
North Island Warriors and South Island Orcas/Cyclones could work.Reviving the SQ crushers idea, but basically the Suncorp rival, (brisbane rival) and a South Island Nz team based in Christchurch, i like the whole North Vs South island idea
New Zealand, I could see either full time out of the new stadium in Christchurch (significantly larger population than Wellington) or some split with Wellington. Not interested in another Auckland (or Hamilton) idea.
it's tricky comparing the population of Christchurch vs Wellington.
If you strictly count "Wellington City", then Christchurch comes out on top.. but if you add in the neighbouring cities of Porirua, (Lower) Hutt City and Upper Hutt City then Greater Wellington - the region - has more people... and all well within an hours drive or commuter train.
However, as much as it pains me to say this - Wellington pales compared to Christchurch when it comes to sporting prowess & sporting culture. We just don't produce great sporting dynasties, apart from the Wellington Saints basketball team. As a Wellington sports fan, you learn from a young age that success is fleeting. We're an art city more than a sport city.
Not so in Christchurch - especially under their provincial 'Canterbury' guise. They're formidable in pretty much anything, their fans expect their sides to dominate other teams, and they have a rivalry with Auckland that verges on Origin intensity. That, coupled with the far better stadium they have in the pipeline really puts them in pole position IMO.
it's tricky comparing the population of Christchurch vs Wellington.
If you strictly count "Wellington City", then Christchurch comes out on top.. but if you add in the neighbouring cities of Porirua, (Lower) Hutt City and Upper Hutt City then Greater Wellington - the region - has more people... and all well within an hours drive or commuter train.
However, as much as it pains me to say this - Wellington pales compared to Christchurch when it comes to sporting prowess & sporting culture. We just don't produce great sporting dynasties, apart from the Wellington Saints basketball team. As a Wellington sports fan, you learn from a young age that success is fleeting. We're an art city more than a sport city.
Not so in Christchurch - especially under their provincial 'Canterbury' guise. They're formidable in pretty much anything, their fans expect their sides to dominate other teams, and they have a rivalry with Auckland that verges on Origin intensity. That, coupled with the far better stadium they have in the pipeline really puts them in pole position IMO.
Wellington seems like a city run by Uni students... Really cool little city though, great food.
The 16 clubs will probably oppose any attempt to introduce a 17th and 18th team. Each new team is a competitor eating into the game's limited resources.Thought Dunedin was the city run by uni students.
Think new Oz sides need preference over a 2nd NZ side.
What about shifting Manly to Gosford?Brisbane 2
Perth
NZ 2
Central Coast Bears
It's time to reclaim the North Shore. Any suggestions of binning off Manly too are ludicrous, hasn't anything been learnt about killing off/merging clubs over the past 25 years?
What about shifting Manly to Gosford?
Brookvale Oval is a shithole and the Sea Eagles draw shit ratings on TV and mediocre crowds. They are easily the weakest club in Sydney.
If they relocate to Gosford they will still have the Sea Eagles brand and be within driving distance for their small fanbase. Branching out to Gosford will draw new fans to the club. Gosford is a quality stadium.
Perfect, although it wouldn't be "back to the oval" for Easts, I don't think they need to pander to norths and wear a norths jersey either, it's not the Roosters heritage.I think that makes a lot of sense.
If the Sea Eagles base their operations in Gosford with most home games there (maybe one home game at Brookvale) and the Roosters get on with strengthening their link with Norths, then we have a pretty good coverage of that region between the bridge & Newcastle.
Central Coast Sea-Eagles: Gosford for home games with 1 "Back to Brookvale" match per year.
East Coast Roosters ("Easts"): New SFS for home games & 1 or 2 "Return to the Oval" matches per year.. maybe 1 trial & 1 regular season game.. wearing heritage Norths jerseys?
Imagine a Roosters v Sea Eagles game at North Sydney Oval, with Roosters in heritage Norths gear, Sea Eagles in their heritage jerseys!
Perfect, although it wouldn't be "back to the oval" for Easts, I don't think they need to pander to norths and wear a norths jersey either, it's not the Roosters heritage.
Take over the area and make it their own, over time north sydney will become their own heritage by their own right - as the years since they were dropped continue to tick over "bears fans" become more and more irrelevent
Just like the perth reds? Glass housesBears still play RL, if the community were so desperate to see them, NS oval would be full every bears game.
Newtown jets in 2004, where was the relevance there? 1983 was their last top tier appearanceFair point, and to put it into perspective it's been over 20 years now since the Bears existed as a stand-alone NRL level club.
I don't seem to remember any big desire in the RL community to bring back the Newtown Jets around 2004 - which is roughly the same time since they were excluded from the top tier.. but there seems to be a difference with the Bears. From an outside perspective here in New Zealand, it's very tangible that the Sydney RL community feel that absence quite acutely. The idea I was thinking of is a permanent feeder arrangement - almost a joint venture, in a way - where the Roosters honor their foundation brother-club with annual Norths-themed games.
It might work.. for a start, there's not animosity between Norths & the Roosters like the feud that sunk the Northern Eagles. The demographics seem to fit too.
Newtown jets in 2004, where was the relevance there? 1983 was their last top tier appearance