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http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,27509375-5018866,00.html
Gary Freeman tells NRL CEO David Gallop to relocate Sharks to Perth
By Christopher Boyd
foxsports.com.au
August 05, 2010
Fox Sports rugby league commentator Gary Freeman has challenged NRL chief executive David Gallop to make a "hard decision" by forcing a Sydney club to relocate to Perth.
"The NRL have got to make a hard decision and say 'we're gonna go to Perth, there's going to be an expansion there', or 'we're gonna go to Adelaide' or 'we'll go the Central Coast'," Freeman declared face to face with Gallop on Fox Sports program NRL on Fox.
"Someone has to move out of Sydney; that's not a job for me; it's a job for you.
When Gallop retorted "who are you going to send?" Freeman, a former New Zealand international captain, continued: "Let's pick the Sharks. I know they might not like it but ... the Perth Sharks - what's wrong with that?
"The other codes have done it to two of their sides - why can't we?"
A hesitant Gallop described the idea of relocating an existing Sydney team - several of which are struggling financially to stay afloat - as "hard work", fearing a backlash from fans who want to identify with a new club built from the ground up.
"Making a move like that with one of your existing teams is going to be hard work," he said.
"You can't do these things in a half-baked way. You need your team living, breathing, part of the community so the local people feel like there is a real connection."
The NRL has been reluctant to speculate on when expansion is likely to happen, with clubs-in-waiting arguing that an expanded competition in 2013 would make for a more attractive television rights package, with the current deal up at the end of 2012.
However Gallop conceded Freeman had made some valid points in looking to take the game back to a state in which the AFL and Super 14 are currently solidified.
"The Western Australian economy is booming at the moment ... great for TV timeslots, the ability to run a game live back into the east coast," Gallop said.
"When we had teams in Perth and Adelaide before, they were victims of the circumstances of the game generally; we had too many teams, there was a limited amount of money.
"One of the things that I've said in Adelaide and in Perth recently, is 'it wasn't just about your team being a failure, it was about what was generally happening in the game at the time.
"Perth has got a lot going for it. I think in about 12 months' time we'll be in a position to look at expansion seriously. Perth are going to be one of the contenders."
But Gallop, who fielded several questions on the program from fans about the possibility of teams in Perth, the Central Coast and Adelaide, said the league had to consider whether to move into previously trialled areas or look for new pastures.
"There is a question that will come up in a year's time. Do you go into your heartland with a new team and shore it up, or do you take a strategic view and go to a new area to grow a new market," Gallop said.
"I would have thought try to do both. Let's look at two teams; and let's look at perhaps one in the heartland.
"We know how strong the game is in Queensland. That area out to the west of Brisbane, the people in Rockhampton are very keen. You've got the Central Coast, you've got Perth - it's a tough decision.
"There is a balance between fishing where the fish are or going out into new waters and seeing if you can attract fish."
Gary Freeman tells NRL CEO David Gallop to relocate Sharks to Perth
By Christopher Boyd
foxsports.com.au
August 05, 2010
Fox Sports rugby league commentator Gary Freeman has challenged NRL chief executive David Gallop to make a "hard decision" by forcing a Sydney club to relocate to Perth.
"The NRL have got to make a hard decision and say 'we're gonna go to Perth, there's going to be an expansion there', or 'we're gonna go to Adelaide' or 'we'll go the Central Coast'," Freeman declared face to face with Gallop on Fox Sports program NRL on Fox.
"Someone has to move out of Sydney; that's not a job for me; it's a job for you.
When Gallop retorted "who are you going to send?" Freeman, a former New Zealand international captain, continued: "Let's pick the Sharks. I know they might not like it but ... the Perth Sharks - what's wrong with that?
"The other codes have done it to two of their sides - why can't we?"
A hesitant Gallop described the idea of relocating an existing Sydney team - several of which are struggling financially to stay afloat - as "hard work", fearing a backlash from fans who want to identify with a new club built from the ground up.
"Making a move like that with one of your existing teams is going to be hard work," he said.
"You can't do these things in a half-baked way. You need your team living, breathing, part of the community so the local people feel like there is a real connection."
The NRL has been reluctant to speculate on when expansion is likely to happen, with clubs-in-waiting arguing that an expanded competition in 2013 would make for a more attractive television rights package, with the current deal up at the end of 2012.
However Gallop conceded Freeman had made some valid points in looking to take the game back to a state in which the AFL and Super 14 are currently solidified.
"The Western Australian economy is booming at the moment ... great for TV timeslots, the ability to run a game live back into the east coast," Gallop said.
"When we had teams in Perth and Adelaide before, they were victims of the circumstances of the game generally; we had too many teams, there was a limited amount of money.
"One of the things that I've said in Adelaide and in Perth recently, is 'it wasn't just about your team being a failure, it was about what was generally happening in the game at the time.
"Perth has got a lot going for it. I think in about 12 months' time we'll be in a position to look at expansion seriously. Perth are going to be one of the contenders."
But Gallop, who fielded several questions on the program from fans about the possibility of teams in Perth, the Central Coast and Adelaide, said the league had to consider whether to move into previously trialled areas or look for new pastures.
"There is a question that will come up in a year's time. Do you go into your heartland with a new team and shore it up, or do you take a strategic view and go to a new area to grow a new market," Gallop said.
"I would have thought try to do both. Let's look at two teams; and let's look at perhaps one in the heartland.
"We know how strong the game is in Queensland. That area out to the west of Brisbane, the people in Rockhampton are very keen. You've got the Central Coast, you've got Perth - it's a tough decision.
"There is a balance between fishing where the fish are or going out into new waters and seeing if you can attract fish."
