Peter V'landys - New NRL/ARLC Chairman

[The Great Dane]

Raiders are rich

they don’t even need football club revenue to be higher with their leagues club and property assets

It doesn't matter how rich they are, they can't play in a city without a suitable venue, and we're rapidly approaching the point where Bruce becomes so outdated and dilapidated that it's just totally unsuitable for the NRL.

Besides, the Raiders could be significantly richer and more successful if they were operating in a city with a more cooperative local political establishment and if they had access to a venue that allowed them to capitalise on a larger fanbase and corporate market. So at the moment Canberra isn't really the place to be for an NRL side if the goal is getting as rich as possible.

The Brumbies are the really crazy ones. They should have looked for better options years ago.

 

[The Great Dane]

Look those who keep advocating or suggesting relocations of Sydney teams to elsewhere constantly overlook the one issue, namely the respective clubs' finances. For most Sydney based NRL teams, its financial bed rock is its leagues club. They tend to underwrite the operations of the football club. In fact some of them have it that the directors of the leagues club control the football club, or some have it that the football club appoints some of the directors of the leagues club.

As such, if you moved the football club out of the city of that leagues club, you start undermining the club, as eventually, you will get people advocating for the leagues club to sever its financial ties to the rugby league club. I suspect people would, in the longer term, resent money being spent on an organisation nowhere near them.

Hence teams like the Tigers (Wests Ashfield), Bulldogs (Canterbury Leagues), Eels (Parramatta Leagues), Penrith (Panthers Leagues), Roosters (Easts Leagues) would be committing financial hari kiri if its links to its leagues club was severed. You can say "oh but they will earn new corporate support, new fans" etc etc, but that will take quite some time to grow to replace a revenue stream, and also an asset bedrock that the leagues club provides for those clubs.

Most members of a club's leagues club couldn't care less about the football club. They're there for the pokies, grog, and reasonably cheap food, not because of any loyalty to the sports club.

There's literally no reason why a leagues club can't be owned by or affiliated with a professional team on the other side of the country either, and at most clubs there's little that the members of the club can do to stop it either.

It happens pretty regularly actually. The Raiders own leagues clubs in Queensland and the Panthers own leagues clubs outside Sydney for example.

 

[Wb1234]

It doesn't matter how rich they are, they can't play in a city without a suitable venue, and we're rapidly approaching the point where Bruce becomes so outdated and dilapidated that it's just totally unsuitable for the NRL.

Besides, the Raiders could be significantly richer and more successful if they were operating in a city with a more cooperative local political establishment and if they had access to a venue that allowed them to capitalise on a larger fanbase and corporate market. So at the moment Canberra isn't really the place to be for an NRL side if the goal is getting as rich as possible.

The Brumbies are the really crazy ones. They should have looked for better options years ago.

Raiders can’t move out of camberra and you know that

you’re point is fine Canberra badly needs a new stadium

 

[The Great Dane]

Raiders can’t move out of camberra and you know that

you’re point is fine Canberra badly needs a new stadium

Literally nothing could stop them leaving Canberra after their stadium lease deal, partnership agreement with the government, and other relevant contracts, run out.

They'd simply choose not to renew them, sign deals with new partners in another city, then relocate the club. The Government and people could protest, maybe even try to take them to court, but there'd be little to nothing they could do to actually stop them.

The only other hurdle they might face is if the NRL has veto power over a relocation, but if there's anything American sport has taught me it's that there're always loopholes and ways around those things, and that they'll give up sooner or later anyway if you're persistent enough.

 

[Vibing]

Literally nothing could stop them leaving Canberra after their stadium lease deal, partnership agreement with the government, and other relevant contracts, run out.

They'd simply choose not to renew them, sign deals with new partners in another city, then relocate the club. The Government and people could protest, maybe even try to take them to court, but there'd be little to nothing they could do to actually stop them.

The only other hurdle they might face is if the NRL has veto power over a relocation, but if there's anything American sport has taught me it's that there're always loopholes and ways around those things, and that they'll give up sooner or later anyway if you're persistent enough.

Pie in the sky if anyone thinks the Raiders are moving anywhere , for any reason.
They are on the frontline in the battle against the fumbling game from Vicderpia in sthn NSW , strategically located.

 

[The Great Dane]

Pie in the sky if anyone thinks the Raiders are moving anywhere , for any reason.
They are on the frontline in the battle against the fumbling game from Vicderpia in sthn NSW , strategically located.

I never said that I think they'll actually relocate, in fact I said exactly the opposite. The fact that it'll never happen doesn't mean that it isn't a good idea to at least explore the option hypothetically.

It also doesn't matter how strategic of a location that Canberra is if there's no suitable stadium here, and we're getting to that point. The NRL has done f**k all to help get a new stadium over the line for such a strategically important location as well... They don't even seem to remember that the Raiders exist most of the time, and take Canberra for granted.

 

[Vibing]

I never said that I think they'll actually relocate, in fact I said exactly the opposite. The fact that it'll never happen doesn't mean that it isn't a good idea to at least explore the option hypothetically.

It also doesn't matter how strategic of a location that Canberra is if there's no suitable stadium here, and we're getting to that point. The NRL has done f**k all to help get a new stadium over the line for such a strategically important location as well... They don't even seem to remember that the Raiders exist most of the time, and take Canberra for granted.

Yep
I think Abdo & PVL need to get off their arses & make this a priority.

 

[Wb1234]

Literally nothing could stop them leaving Canberra after their stadium lease deal, partnership agreement with the government, and other relevant contracts, run out.

They'd simply choose not to renew them, sign deals with new partners in another city, then relocate the club. The Government and people could protest, maybe even try to take them to court, but there'd be little to nothing they could do to actually stop them.

The only other hurdle they might face is if the NRL has veto power over a relocation, but if there's anything American sport has taught me it's that there're always loopholes and ways around those things, and that they'll give up sooner or later anyway if you're persistent enough.

Arlc won’t allow it

 

[Wb1234]

Yep
I think Abdo & PVL need to get off their arses & make this a priority.

Yep

it goes back to Greenberg and then not allowing prelim finals there

from lack of fta games to an average stadium the raiders (warriors too) are the most neglected nrl sides

 

[Captain Apollo]

Most members of a club's leagues club couldn't care less about the football club. They're there for the pokies, grog, and reasonably cheap food, not because of any loyalty to the sports club.

There's literally no reason why a leagues club can't be owned by or affiliated with a professional team on the other side of the country either, and at most clubs there's little that the members of the club can do to stop it either.

It happens pretty regularly actually. The Raiders own leagues clubs in Queensland and the Panthers own leagues clubs outside Sydney for example.

I know that. However those leagues clubs are not the financial bed rocks of the Raiders nor the Panthers now are they? The principal leagues club is, and as you said with the majority of those members unlikely to care about the rugby league team.

Thus if you relocated, say the Roosters to Adelaide, how long do you think it would be before the members of Easts Leagues looked at changing things because they could not see why the leagues club should be spending millions of dollars on a team inter-state that brings it no tangible benefit when that money could be funnelled into improving the leagues' club's facility for members instead?

 

[The Great Dane]

Arlc won’t allow it

They could delay it, but realistically there'd be little they could do to actually stop it.

It'd be especially hard to prevent considering that Canberra won't have an NRL standard stadium in the very near future.

 

[Wb1234]

They could delay it, but realistically there'd be little they could do to actually stop it.

It'd be especially hard to prevent considering that Canberra won't have an NRL standard stadium in the very near future.

It’s a Canberra team

if they want to give the license back to the arlc they would just start another Canberra team

your ruining a good point about the stadium by exaggerating

Canberra needs a new stadium everyone agrees on that

the onus is on the arlc to make it happen

 

[Vibing]

Yep

it goes back to Greenberg and then not allowing prelim finals there

from lack of fta games to an average stadium the raiders (warriors too) are the most neglected nrl sides

Agreed
both those clubs do a lot for our sport in the code wars , its time to recognise this & make sure what ever can be done to assist them is done

 

[The Great Dane]

I know that. However those leagues clubs are not the financial bed rocks of the Raiders nor the Panthers now are they? The principal leagues club is, and as you said with the majority of those members unlikely to care about the rugby league team.

Thus if you relocated, say the Roosters to Adelaide, how long do you think it would be before the members of Easts Leagues looked at changing things because they could not see why the leagues club should be spending millions of dollars on a team inter-state that brings it no tangible benefit when that money could be funnelled into improving the leagues' club's facility for members instead?

The vast majority would probably never look to change things at all, as most leagues clubs members don't care about the sports club.

Furthermore, they'd be protesting the club spending money on the Roosters at the moment if they were truly concerned about the leagues club wasting money on pro-teams that bring no tangible benefits to them at the expense of improving the leagues club.

I don't know about the members rights at Easts in particular, but at most major leagues clubs these days the members don't actually have any real power to enforce change anyway. So other than boycotting the club en masse, which is unlikely to achieve their goal anyway, there'd be very little they could do to change the situation even if they did disapprove of it.

 

[The Great Dane]

It’s a Canberra team

if they want to give the license back to the arlc they would just start another Canberra team

your ruining a good point about the stadium by exaggerating

Canberra needs a new stadium everyone agrees on that

the onus is on the arlc to make it happen

I'm not exaggerating anything. It's entirely possible that Canberra could be without an NRL standard stadium within the next 10-20 years, and that would force the Raiders to seek other options.

The ACT government and Sports Commission allowed the AIS Arena to fall into such a state of disrepair that it has had to be closed indefinitely due to public safety concerns, and the Capitals were forced to explore other options as a result. Unlike the Capitals the Raiders wouldn't have any feasible temporary home grounds in Canberra or Queanbeyan, and would be forced to relocate at least temporarily, unless they were willing to play games out of Manuka Oval (which would be a disaster) or sub-10k venues.

I also never suggested that they'd hand their license back. I suggested that they look into relocating the club, and those are two very different things.

It'd also be very hard for the NRL to 'just start another Canberra team' if there wasn't an NRL standard stadium in Canberra.

However in the grand-scheme of things that would still be a win-win if things were to play out that way, i.e. the Raiders were to relocate because of a lack of facilities, their relocation put a rocket up the NRL and ACT government leading to a new stadium being built, and the NRL launched a new side in Canberra to replace the Raiders. I think there's literally no chance of that scenario ever actually playing out though.

 

[The Great Dane]

Yep

it goes back to Greenberg and then not allowing prelim finals there

from lack of fta games to an average stadium the raiders (warriors too) are the most neglected nrl sides

What exactly is Greenberg's fault?

 

[Wb1234]

What exactly is Greenberg's fault?

Canberra Raiders seek rule change to allow NRL grand final qualifiers to be played in Canberra

Raiders want to take finals home

www.foxsports.com.au

 

[Wb1234]

I'm not exaggerating anything. It's entirely possible that Canberra could be without an NRL standard stadium within the next 10-20 years, and that would force the Raiders to seek other options.

The ACT government and Sports Commission allowed the AIS Arena to fall into such a state of disrepair that it has had to be closed indefinitely due to public safety concerns, and the Capitals were forced to explore other options as a result. Unlike the Capitals the Raiders wouldn't have any feasible temporary home grounds in Canberra or Queanbeyan, and would be forced to relocate at least temporarily, unless they were willing to play games out of Manuka Oval (which would be a disaster) or sub-10k venues.

I also never suggested that they'd hand their license back. I suggested that they look into relocating the club, and those are two very different things.

It'd also be very hard for the NRL to 'just start another Canberra team' if there wasn't an NRL standard stadium in Canberra.

However in the grand-scheme of things that would still be a win-win if things were to play out that way, i.e. the Raiders were to relocate because of a lack of facilities, their relocation put a rocket up the NRL and ACT government leading to a new stadium being built, and the NRL launched a new side in Canberra to replace the Raiders. I think there's literally no chance of that scenario ever actually playing out though.

No chance nrl gives up Canberra now and let’s afl encroachment continue into the areas

raiders stopped the fumblers at Wagga Wagga

plus there’s catchet we have a team in the capital and afl doesn’t

 

[The Great Dane]

Canberra Raiders seek rule change to allow NRL grand final qualifiers to be played in Canberra

Raiders want to take finals home

www.foxsports.com.au

Greenberg allowing the Raiders to play prelims at Bruce made the debate about a new stadium in Canberra worse, not better.

If he had stood his ground and placed the onus on the ACT government to provide and maintain facilities suitable to host prelims, it would have brought the state of Bruce into focus for a lot of people, and would have forced a serious discussion about a replacement stadium in Canberra that is up to standard to host major events such as prelims.

Unfortunately, by backing down he allowed the government, and other people opposed to a new stadium, to dodge that debate.

No chance nrl gives up Canberra now and let’s afl encroachment continue into the areas

raiders stopped the fumblers at Wagga Wagga

plus there’s catchet we have a team in the capital and afl doesn’t

Arguably aside from a short period in the 90s the AFL has always held roughly 50% of the market in Canberra, so I don't know what "encroachment" you're talking about. The same is more or less true of Wagga and that part of the Riverina, and the Raiders playing a game a season there has done absolutely nothing to stop local RL's slow death in that region.

It's also only a matter of time before the AFL places a team in Canberra. It could be announced in the next few years, or might not happen for decades, but it'll happen sooner or later. If they were to launch one tomorrow it'd be roughly as big as the Raiders, if not bigger.

 

[Wb1234]

Greenberg allowing the Raiders to play prelims at Bruce made the debate about a new stadium in Canberra worse, not better.

If he had stood his ground and placed the onus on the ACT government to provide and maintain facilities suitable to host prelims, it would have brought the state of Bruce into focus for a lot of people, and would have forced a serious discussion about a replacement stadium in Canberra that is up to standard to host major events such as prelims.

Unfortunately, by backing down he allowed the government, and other people opposed to a new stadium, to dodge that debate.

Arguably aside from a short period in the 90s the AFL has always held roughly 50% of the market in Canberra, so I don't know what "encroachment" you're talking about. The same is more or less true of Wagga and that part of the Riverina, and the Raiders playing a game a season there has done absolutely nothing to stop the local RL's slow death in that region.

It's also only a matter of time before the AFL places a team in Canberra. It could be announced in the next few years, or might not happen for decades, but it'll happen sooner or later. If they were to launch one tomorrow it'd be roughly as big as the Raiders, if not bigger.

So afl is going to put a team in there and you think the arlc is going to allow the raiders just to surrender the market ?

As much chance as the Americans surrendering Guantanamo

your take on Greenberg is interesting to say the least