NRL two conferences

[Perth Red]

Said on nrl360 it was a proposal put forward by Slothfield and Gould. Sounds as good a reason as any to put it in the bin lol. Kent actually made sense for a change when he suggested that it could have a major negative impact on tv audiences with significant drop in Sydney metro numbers for other conference games as would have no relevance to your club or comp.

 

[Pippen94]

Most of the teams will be NSW or qld. Just divide league by that & fill spaces around them

 

[Pippen94]

Said on nrl360 it was a proposal put forward by Slothfield and Gould. Sounds as good a reason as any to put it in the bin lol. Kent actually made sense for a change when he suggested that it could have a major negative impact on tv audiences with significant drop in Sydney metro numbers for other conference games as would have no relevance to your club or comp.

Non Sydney matches don't rate in Sydney anyway

 

[marshall stalin]

Not a total fan of the conference idea, although I could be swayed. I'd actually prefer:

• Perth or NZ2 and Brisbane2 in the next couple of years
• Perth or Adelaide and a Pacific Nations side based out of Fiji or PNG in the next 5-7 years. Latter would have to be subsidised somewhat due to the fact Pacific nation economies are very much developing, but I think there's a massive opportunity there for a high quality side.
• Begin the process of merging QRL, NSWRL, clubs to create a single, sustainable, second tier national comp.
• Once merge process is complete and second tier national comp is stable, aim for a two tier, relegation/promotion-based system within the next 5-10 years.

The relegation/promotion thing is all measures of terrifying and exciting to me, as is an actually open competition (regulated by the salary cap) where performances really matter. Really starts with getting those new teams in and starting the merge process now, I think.

once a team is relegated they will never get back to the top tier - how do you expect to fund a second tier comp - sponsors wont be sponsoring teams in a second tier comp and once the money dries up that club would go into administration and be gone forever. Players will want out as well - have something in their contracts that if the club is relegated they become free agents.

Population , money and interest isn't there for a 2 tier comp.

 

[marshall stalin]

Having not read through all responses, IF there would be a conference system, I think scrapping the proposed new Brisbane and NZ teams, and replace them with teams from Perth and Adelaide if they want to truly go national.

Having all of the Sydney teams in the one conference, and all the other teams in the other conference, is not a sound idea in as far as not having traditional teams having no chance for the "Superbowl". There still has to be that rivally.

I think an easy and uncomplicated solution is drawing team numbers, from 1 to 18. The number drawn from the one single bag will be in "Conference A", then the next team number drawn will go into "Conference B"...and so on untill both conferences are fully drawn.

Every 5 years, have a redraw, or around the time of the next contract negotiations with the various media outlets.. Working out the comp draw would be a standard procedure.

So what happens if all teams drawn for conference A are Sydney teams and all for conference B are non Sydney ones - would there be a re-draw ?

 

[parrawentyfan]

One thing it does do is reinvigorate interest in a fairly stale competition - although you would hope new teams would do that anyway.

As long as it doesn't get too complicated. The conference system killed super rugby.

 

[siv]

One concern raised is lack of interest in the other conference

Keeping the Top 8 as we do today in a combined table means this wont occur

 

[Pippen94]

One concern raised is lack of interest in the other conference

Keeping the Top 8 as we do today in a combined table means this wont occur

Cause ppl in qld will stop caring about their teams??

 

[siv]

Cause ppl in qld will stop caring about their teams??

Well we already know they all prefer their Qld Cup team

 

[Spanner in the works]

once a team is relegated they will never get back to the top tier - how do you expect to fund a second tier comp - sponsors wont be sponsoring teams in a second tier comp and once the money dries up that club would go into administration and be gone forever. Players will want out as well - have something in their contracts that if the club is relegated they become free agents.

Population , money and interest isn't there for a 2 tier comp.

Works in the UK, Spain, etc for the football. The English system has 5 tiers - the EPL at the top - where relegation and promotions happen in a population of 65 million. At least 20 teams in each tier. We would obviously start much smaller, say 20 + 14 - I've not suggested we start with 20 + 24 for instance.

Australia's economy is massive in comparison to even Spain - we have approximately the 12th largest economy in the world - so the money is there. There's also a corporate savings glut globally, and I'd imagine merged teams would enjoy the benefits of larger crowds/home support/merchandise sales. Fairly sure Burleigh and Newtown have sponsors in their respective second tier comps?

Not sure the population thing is much of an argument tbh; we're still in the top 50 even now and I'm talking about a system in place in 15-20 years, not in 5. Actually when combined with GDP, on a per capita basis we're loaded.

Since the EPL came to fruition in the early 90s around 50 teams have been in the comp. Opportunity is there for smaller clubs to get promoted and even win (like Leicester) in an actual open competition. It's now much better regulated with the FFP rules in place, although it still needs improvement - luckily for us we'd be basically starting from scratch. Silly argument to say clubs could never get back when it happens repeatedly. Also think broadcasters would enjoy two comps to fill the airwaves, such as some Tuesday and Wednesday night football - would the solidarity payments that could come out of that help prop up struggling clubs who have been relegated?

Fine, players might have clauses, but again we'd also have a proper cap in place so teams couldn't stack - the NRL would have to register the contract too and they'd no doubt do their due diligence to ensure the competitions integrity isn't destroyed.

Maybe there isn't the support from fans but I think everything else you stated is somewhat debatable tbh. Have you seen some market research not just a few anecdotal posts on some forum or comments from a few friends?

Seems to me be a scoping exercise in terms of competition sizes and time frames more than anything else?

 

[Cumberland Throw]

So an all Sydney GF could never happen again .. ?

 

[kdalymc]

This. Is. Shit.



Like this post.

 

[Perth Red]

Non Sydney matches don't rate in Sydney anyway

incorrect, Sydney metro drops about 30% but the biggest tv metro audiences are when it’s a popular Sydney club v brisbane.

 

[Dogs Of War]

Said on nrl360 it was a proposal put forward by Slothfield and Gould. Sounds as good a reason as any to put it in the bin lol. Kent actually made sense for a change when he suggested that it could have a major negative impact on tv audiences with significant drop in Sydney metro numbers for other conference games as would have no relevance to your club or comp.

Which is why you go with smaller conferences. I know how I watch footy. My team and games that involve the best teams. With smaller conferences you get more of those match ups that matter.

 

[mozza91]

Shit idea. Just kick Manly out and the NRL is perfect.

 

[The Silverdale Phantom]

Which is why you go with smaller conferences. I know how I watch footy. My team and games that involve the best teams. With smaller conferences you get more of those match ups that matter.

But what about those of us who don’t want to see our side get beaten up on tv every week?

This idea is going to cost a lot of money. The league is always crying poor.

 

[bad boy bubby]

Said on nrl360 it was a proposal put forward by Slothfield and Gould. Sounds as good a reason as any to put it in the bin lol. Kent actually made sense for a change when he suggested that it could have a major negative impact on tv audiences with significant drop in Sydney metro numbers for other conference games as would have no relevance to your club or comp.

Kent also said that having two conferences is a way to get more expansion clubs in. You can have 10 or 12 teams per conference.
That would help your conference idea.

 

[Perth Red]

Kent also said that having two conferences is a way to get more expansion clubs in. You can have 10 or 12 teams per conference.
That would help your conference idea.

I think it makes sense if we ever got to twenty teams. Don’t really see much value in it before that, and the whole Sydney conference idea is potentially very damaging.

 

[firechild]

Just think how good we would have been if we could play it in Melbourne?

Seriously though, absolutely it's a disadvantage for non Sydney teams. Flights, unfamiliar training facilities, living in hotels etc. Unlike local teams where you get to go home at night, you don't get a moment out of the week to just relax.

So you're saying that it would be precisely how it is now? Melbourne, NZ, NQ fly out every second week as it is, under this system they'd have to change to flying out every second week. I don't like the idea for a few reasons but as others have mentioned, the travel situation doesn't change much if at all.

 

[Perth Red]

So you're saying that it would be precisely how it is now? Melbourne, NZ, NQ fly out every second week as it is, under this system they'd have to change to flying out every second week. I don't like the idea for a few reasons but as others have mentioned, the travel situation doesn't change much if at all.

not harder for one conference clubs but certainly becomes much easier for the other which will be an unfair advantage in player recruitment and fatigue factor as season wears on to playoffs. Take this season most Sydney clubs have 5 out of nsw games, In a Sydney conference they wouldn’t leave the city. That’s a massive advantage,