The Eagles should absolutely be helped to expand into Northern Sydney and absolutely should re-brand to encompass all of North Sydney (basically what I was suggesting in the piece you quoted), but to add the Bears into the equation where they are less then 2 hours away up the coast would severely threaten any hopes we might have of making Manly sustainable and strong for the future as it would open up the opportunity for the Bears to push themselves as a legitimate option as a (or the) team that represents North Sydney and start to push themselves south back down to North Sydney when the opportunity presents it's self.
I disagree with that and so does basic game theory.
Bears rekindle their fanbase in North Sydney.
Means more people talking about rugby league in North Sydney.
Means more rugby league fans in North Sydney.
Means more non-Bears supporters in North Sydney.
Means more non-Bears rugby league fans for the Sea Eagles to convert in North Sydney.
The Bears fans regain a % of their old support in North Sydney, a bigger % on the Central Coast and a small % of new rugby league fans in Sydney.
The Sea Eagles rebrand to gain a bigger % of fans in North Sydney than what they currently have in the Northern Beaches. The Sea Eagles don't need (and won't be able to) convert every rugby league fan in North Sydney to their brand they just need to convert a significant %.
team into an already overcrowded market thus creating more competition between the clubs in Sydney for sponsorship, the corporate dollar, etc etc
The Bears don't need Sydney for their sponsorship, there's enough corporate support on the Central Coast - businesses that at the moment aren't sponsoring NRL teams.
There's just one more problem with what you've said and that's that the Bears will never ever willingly give up their juniors in North Sydney or whatever hold they still have in grassroots of North Sydney, and forcing them to do so would be easier said then done.
It should be a condition of their re-entry. Give up North Sydney to Manly and be set up on the Central Coast or never have a team in the NRL.
The Central Coast by itself will not sustain a team. It is smaller than the Illawarra area
It can and it's actually bigger than the Illawarra, it's the 9th largest urban area in Australia.
If we take the 3 teams - Bears, Knights & Sea Eagles this is how their territory would compare -
Rest of Sydney
Melbourne
Brisbane
Perth
Adelaide
North Sydney & Northern Beaches - Sea Eagles
Gold Coast
Newcastle/Hunter -
Knights
Canberra
Central Coast - Bears
Sunshine Coast
Wollongong
Hobart
Geelong
Townsville - Cowboys
Cairns
The Bears would be a heritage team with a nationwide existing support base set up in a rugby league heartland soon to hit half a million people.
If our game can't get that to work, then our game is f**ked.
I for one don't buy that though, we can do better and the Central Coast Bears would be one of 20 teams that allows the NRL to have more teams in more places spread across Australia & New Zealand than any other sporting code.
The RL fanbase in North Sydney has been reluctant to jump on board with Manly as the club largely doesn't represent them in anyway, particularly the history of their club and what it stands for (and it's relation to the Bears) are sticking points. Though changing the name from Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles to North Sydney/Shore Sea Eagles would not completely fix that problem it would go a long way to fixing that problem.
IMO While the club carries the name Manly People in Northern Sydney will be unwilling to support it because of the history between the two areas (particularly when it comes to RL) and to say that Manly represents North Sydney as a whole is untrue but to say that the North Sydney/Shore represents Manly would be a fact.
Engaging the whole of the North Sydney market is more important then keeping the fans in Manly-Warringah happy I'm afraid.
I agree with that 100%. If they re-brand they'll keep the vast majority of their existing supporters (minus a handful of morons) and make themselves identifiable with their new target market.
People from the Northern Beaches don't view themselves as being part of the North Shore, as they're two separate regions, and while it's true that Manly is a part of Northern Sydney, North Sydney doesn't work as a name either as it's a suburb of the North Shore and was used as the name of the Bears. Dropping Warringah from the club's name in favour of North Shore wouldn't anger many, if any, Manly fans, and having equal representation for the NS and NB in the club's name while maintaining the 'Manly' brand would be the ideal solution.
I believe the Sydney Roosters example previously stated is a valid one. If they were still the Eastern Suburbs Roosters they'd be in a far more precarious position. They've gained fans because of expanding their appeal.
Keeping in mind we're not talking about merging or axing the club, merely a re-brand.
At the time the Eastern Suburbs changed their name there was an outcry of passionate fans. A small minority whinged and abandoned the club but they were replaced with more fans.
The problem with the Manly-North Shore Sea Eagles is that like Warringah the North Shore will be easily dropped at most opportunities.
A North Sydney Sea Eagles 20 years from now will replicate what the Roosters have done.
And if it riles up all the Central Coast Bears supporters, all the better for the game as a whole.
