ARLC CEO Smith charts a course to take league to No.1

[whall15]

This guy is fantastic.

 

[Diesel]

Well Phil put together a good article, it far better with quotes then making stuff up as he normally does.

Expansion is a good thing, I'm interested if the more than one comp means 2 conferences, and it looks like some heat is going to be out on certain Sydney teams to perform

 

[East Coast Tiger]

He comes across pretty well. I don't think anyone really gives a f**k if he said Benji instead of Benny, except twats at the DT.

He says f**k a lot when not on camera etc and it's funny that it creeps into his interviews.

But overall he's saying the right things. What worries me is that the ARLC are the ones making the decisions, not Smith. He can say what he likes but if the other idiots decide to ban the shoulder charge or something ridiculous like that the CEO's opinion counts for nothing. So when he says "the fans are everything" it doesn't mean they will listen to fans even if he wants them to. It means they want all the fans they can get but they are to be seen and not heard. That's why we also have an evening GF and no expansion.

 

[Brutus]

I like David Smith.

Great choice as CEO so far.

 

[Delboy]

If you get the chance to speak to someone in the NRL, you will find out how he is regarded, in a nutshell - very highly

He has been to junior rep matches and is getting an enormous amount done behind the scenes,all without fanfare. He appears to be head and shoulders above Gallop

 

[Phil McGrawhan]

If you get the chance to speak to someone in the NRL, you will find out how he is regarded, in a nutshell - very highly

He has been to junior rep matches and is getting an enormous amount done behind the scenes,all without fanfare. He appears to be head and shoulders above Gallop

So does this

 

[El Diablo]

If you get the chance to speak to someone in the NRL, you will find out how he is regarded, in a nutshell - very highly

He has been to junior rep matches and is getting an enormous amount done behind the scenes,all without fanfare. He appears to be head and shoulders above Gallop

 

[Knownothing]

I like David Smith.

Great choice as CEO so far.

Pretty good for a Welsh rah rah.

 

[Diesel]

I think RL in Australia dodged the bullet when the AFL #2 guy said no.

It's looking like we have finally got a CEO that RL deserves

 

[Perth Red]

Pirates is such a shit name.

Going by the kids at todays SG Ball game they would disagree with you!Plenty of Pirates merchandise flying off the shelves and kids really getting into the whole Pirates thing.

 

[Sydney Knight]

The bottom kid looks super pumped for the photo

 

[DC_fan]

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...ose-early-gaffes/story-e6frexnr-1226587976976

Is nine teams too many for Sydney and one team not enough for Brisbane?

Nine teams in Sydney is a lot. You need to look at the concentration in terms of demographics and growth. We'll know what the right spread is. NSW is crucial for us to have a strong presence. You have to look at all options. An obvious spot is Brisbane. There's a lot of lobbying around that.

Can we read in to this that he believes that nine teams playing out of Sydney is too many?

I just might think more of him if he does.

 

[LeagueXIII]

No, nine teams is fine.

I can see down the track 20 or 22 clubs from Australia and OS split into conferences.
Killing off or moving clubs out of Sydney does not GROW the game.

Do all the old Norths fans follow Manly or are they lost to the sport?

 

[DC_fan]

No, nine teams is fine.

I can see down the track 20 or 22 clubs from Australia and OS split into conferences.
Killing off or moving clubs out of Sydney does not GROW the game.

Do all the old Norths fans follow Manly or are they lost to the sport?

All the old Norths fans are either dead or close to it. Do you think the game has lost anything by not having the Bears or the Jets in the competition? I don't think it has. People move on. They either find another team to follow or sadly are lost to the game. But the next generation of supporters come a long and replace them.

I dont see the game being able to support 22 teams here in Australia. I just don't see us having the playing numbers to give us a quality competition.

In my opinion 16, maybe 18 at a real stretch is the limit for the number of teams. Yes we should have a team playing out of Perth. I am not sure about Adelaide though. We should forget about Darwin and Hobart. Those cities just don't have the population to warrant teams.

 

[Ronnie Dobbs]

The pressure is on Sydney clubs. The game has moved past its suburban roots and people will get over it. The game will move forward.

We're already moving towards American style professionalism. Trade windows & team relocations will be realities over the next decade. If the call for expansion is based on demand and not marketing, then there will be natural attrition.

I'm fine with that. It forces clubs to be better or perish.

 

[Phil McGrawhan]

The pressure is on Sydney clubs. The game has moved past its suburban roots and people will get over it. The game will move forward.

We're already moving towards American style professionalism. Trade windows & team relocations will be realities over the next decade. If the call for expansion is based on demand and not marketing, then there will be natural attrition.

I'm fine with that. It forces clubs to be better or perish.

Bingo .Culling clubs or forced re-locations is not an option.You alienate too many people.
But i think with smart no nonsense business people running the game then clubs will have targets to reach,& if a club does go under it will be their own fault.
You attract the members/fans/sponsors etc with good club management then you will be fine.
You sit back & hope for an extra handout because you were not pro active then you will sink.

 

[Ronnie Dobbs]

Bingo .Culling clubs or forced re-locations is not an option.You alienate too many people.
But i think with smart no nonsense business people running the game then clubs will have targets to reach,& if a club does go under it will be their own fault.
You attract the members/fans/sponsors etc with good club management then you will be fine.
You sit back & hope for an extra handout because you were not pro active then you will sink.

I agree. The game has moved past that with this administration. Clubs will be supported to perform, rather than supported for not performing.

Its a brave new world and thats the entire point of the IC.

The game is now being looked after before self interest of the clubs. There will be pain, but only in the short term as clubs really no longer have the power base. The great thing with the guys now in charge is that, being business people, they understand leverage and how to use it to gain outcomes that deliver the outcomes they want.

I like it. I like it a lot.

 

[LeagueXIII]

All the old Norths fans are either dead or close to it. Do you think the game has lost anything by not having the Bears or the Jets in the competition? I don't think it has. People move on. They either find another team to follow or sadly are lost to the game. But the next generation of supporters come a long and replace them.

I dont see the game being able to support 22 teams here in Australia. I just don't see us having the playing numbers to give us a quality competition.

In my opinion 16, maybe 18 at a real stretch is the limit for the number of teams. Yes we should have a team playing out of Perth. I am not sure about Adelaide though. We should forget about Darwin and Hobart. Those cities just don't have the population to warrant teams.

Nonsense.

I think the game gains a whole lot by supporting it's traditions and also advancing expansion. Tradition is the bedrock of any sport, without it we would e something like Super15.

Sydney clubs are not the problem, poor administration and management within the game has always been the biggest thing holding it back. Thankfully this looks to be changing.

Take Souths, would it have been a good thing for them to have died, of course not yet back in 2000 there were plenty of people saying they are dead.

Australia wouldn't support 22 teams I also mentioned overseas teams. Why in say 15-20 years couldn't we have this many clubs? If it is because we don't have enough players instead of accepting this do something to change it so there are enough players. Why not start with academies and link ups in schools and universities throughout Australia, PNG, NZ and the Pacific? Start now and who knows where the game can be in 20 years.

I can see the game being set up with conference like the US, this would be great for TV and cover the whole region and of any sports league has the potential to do it in the Oceania region.

22 Clubs -

Qld - 5

NSW - 11

ACT - 1

Vic - 1

WA - 1

NZ - 2


22nd team could come from SA, Pac Islands, or PNG.

Conferences allows the game to expand without having to cull clubs.

 

[Clarke]

If you get the chance to speak to someone in the NRL, you will find out how he is regarded, in a nutshell - very highly

He has been to junior rep matches and is getting an enormous amount done behind the scenes,all without fanfare. He appears to be head and shoulders above Gallop

100% true. Didn't need the swipe at Gallop though imo, things are so differently structured now that the toles these two had in our game are very different.

I think RL in Australia dodged the bullet when the AFL #2 guy said no.

It's looking like we have finally got a CEO that RL deserves

100% agree

Going by the kids at todays SG Ball game they would disagree with you!Plenty of Pirates merchandise flying off the shelves and kids really getting into the whole Pirates thing.

And that's what it's all about for the new clubs aswell!

All the old Norths fans are either dead or close to it. Do you think the game has lost anything by not having the Bears or the Jets in the competition? I don't think it has. People move on. They either find another team to follow or sadly are lost to the game. But the next generation of supporters come a long and replace them.

Re: bold

Bahahaha, how long ago do you think North Sydney played in the competition mate? All those original Cowboys suporters of only 18 years ago must be dead or close to it by now as well.

Huge contender for most ignorant post ever on this site.

Re: rest

The administration wants to grow the game, having fans "sadly leave our game" to be replaced by "new fans" as you say is not growing or expanding the game. It's redistribution of the game. But you're point stands when applied to individual fans, they are replaceable, even you. If you don't like the way thinks are, leave the game. We won't miss you.

The pressure is on Sydney clubs. The game has moved past its suburban roots and people will get over it. The game will move forward.

We're already moving towards American style professionalism. Trade windows & team relocations will be realities over the next decade. If the call for expansion is based on demand and not marketing, then there will be natural attrition.

I'm fine with that. It forces clubs to be better or perish.

As a lifetime fan of the game whose live completely revolves around Rugby League, I would be most to the game forever if this happens.

Yes, I'm aware if the irony in this post.

 

[Billythekid]

I dont see the game being able to support 22 teams here in Australia. I just don't see us having the playing numbers to give us a quality competition.

Why do you think that exactly? At least 1 of those 22 teams is going to come from NZ which is still an untapped resource in terms of producing juniors. We are also just starting to pick up players from the likes of Fiji and PNG. PNG in particular is a big deal, RL is the number one game there and the country has a bigger population than NZ. It really has the potential to change the game.

Besides that at least one of those teams will be from Perth which again will hopefully bring more juniors into the game. Hopefully Melbourne will start producing some top grade talent as well soon.

We're also in a position now where we shouldn't be losing so many players to the ESL and if anything the trend is reversing.

I think we will have plenty of players to support a 20 team comp at least. There are plenty of avenues we can look into to increase playing numbers.