18th club, whose next?

[flippikat]

It wouldn't surprise me if the NRL wants the second New Zealand team engaging both Christchurch and Wellington, to effect ensure saturation of the New Zealand market. That's why I'd prefer them to be called the New Zealand (Keas). They could still play 8 or 9 Christchurch games, 3-4 Wellington games and a couple of Wellington away games (other NRL teams taking home games on the road).

No matter where you live in New Zealand there'll be a team to engage with. Instead of New Zealand 2 being little brother to the Warriors, they could be as supported as them. And they'd still end up playing more games in Christchurch and Wellington than the Crusaders and Hurricanes.

As an NRL fan in the Wellington region, I think I could be swayed by this so long as...

A) Marketing & Branding is not centered on Christchurch/Canterbury/South Island. "New Zealand" would be OK, as I suppose would a location-less identifier such as "The Dolphins" use.

I think it's safe to assume that Christchurch/Canterbury province's traditional red & black are a no-go given the likelihood of the Perth Bears being one of the next 3 teams, but if they wanna reach out to the rest of NZ then Kea (an exclusively South Island bird) might not be the go.

B) Guaranteed minimum Wellington games. Whether that's 1, 2 or even 3 per year we need reliable fixtures here to get buy-in, especially since the Warriors already have a fanbase here. No more coming and going (as the Warriors have historically done).

 

[AlwaysGreen]

What old mate Tiktok doesn't get is that the Perth-bears linkup solves the bears problem by throwing them a very small bone. Just imagine a very annoying prick hounding you for twenty years. You tell that annoying prick we'll give you the bears name and you end their annoying antics.

However the team named the bears is 6000 kms away and the annoying prick has nothing to do with it.

It's a win win for V'landys. Surely annoying pricks like the swans fan can see that this isn't a win for the bears at all.

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

It’s better than the status quo of the Bears going between partner club to partner club, but the benefits going forward into the future are questionable. It’s a shot in the arm for the nostalgic Sydney Bears fans now, but in 30-40 years time when the bulk of them are gone, you’re left with the North Sydney district feeding into Perth and the Bears possibly still playing home games in Sydney. Surely they’d drop them when the base is gone, but they may press on with them for some reason.

Why will kids being born today on the North Shore who don’t have any family connection to the Bears support the Perth Bears going forward? How will that North Shore to Perth feeder scenario make sense in the future? Why will these future North Shore kids want to support a WA team?

It's a stupid proposal concocted by a man from Wollongong who thinks the world begins and ends in Sydney.

Of the three ideas he has pushed forward, the only one that has a strong chance of being successful is Christchurch.

At one stage he was talking up Melbourne 2. The Storm CEO told him it wouldn't work.

The game hasn't learnt much from the 1995 expanaion debacle.

 

[reanimate]

Bears fans have kids bro

they will be a far bigger club than manly

like a vampire you have waited 30 years to try go get access to their junior base and failed

all those kids will be playing for the bears and the good ones will go to Perth

Some of those kids are adults now, they’ve grown up without them. Sure, you’ll get a few converts amongst kids of Bears fans, but there’s been an over two decade gap since they were last a first grade team. The boat’s been missed with those kids.

There’s a lot of supporters of the game who don’t play it- why are those future North Shore kids who don’t play RL themselves going to support the WA Bears? Ie if they’ve got no family Bears connections, they’re not playing the game themselves etc, why would they support the WA Bears?

 

[Wb1234]

Some of those kids are adults now, they’ve grown up without them. Sure, you’ll get a few converts amongst kids of Bears fans, but there’s been an over two decade gap since they were last a first grade team. The boat’s been missed with those kids.

There’s a lot of supporters of the game who don’t play it- why are those future North Shore kids who don’t play RL themselves going to support the WA Bears? Ie if they’ve got no family Bears connections, they’re not playing the game themselves etc, why would they support the WA Bears?

Foundation club

they have generational support

 

[Steel Saints]

It's a stupid proposal concocted by a man from Wollongong who thinks the world begins and ends in Sydney.

Of the three ideas he has pushed forward, the only one that has a strong chance of being successful is Christchurch.

At one stage he was talking up Melbourne 2. The Storm CEO told him it wouldn't work.

The game hasn't learnt much from the 1995 expanaion debacle.

With the '95 expansion, they brought in four teams, Warriors, Cowboys, Crushers and Reds. Too many at the same time. At least with the recent expansion, the NRL only admitted one team, which was the Dolphins. So there is a reason to suggest that the NRL did learn something from the past.

The problem we have currently is that the favourite for team 18 has alot of question marks. I am not writing off PNG. But I am curious to see how a PNG club in the NRL could work, on and off the field.

 

[Wb1234]

With the '95 expansion, they brought in four teams, Warriors, Cowboys, Crushers and Reds. Too many at the same time. At least with the recent expansion, the NRL only admitted one team, which was the Dolphins. So there is a reason to suggest that the NRL did learn something from the past.

The problem we have currently is that the favourite for team 18 has alot of question marks. I am not writing off PNG. But I am curious to see how a PNG club in the NRL could work, on and off the field.

PNG with 600 million behind them is a way better bid than when Auckland or north nth qld were admitted

 

[docbrown]

As an NRL fan in the Wellington region, I think I could be swayed by this so long as...

A) Marketing & Branding is not centered on Christchurch/Canterbury/South Island. "New Zealand" would be OK, as I suppose would a location-less identifier such as "The Dolphins" use.

I think it's safe to assume that Christchurch/Canterbury province's traditional red & black are a no-go given the likelihood of the Perth Bears being one of the next 3 teams, but if they wanna reach out to the rest of NZ then Kea (an exclusively South Island bird) might not be the go.

B) Guaranteed minimum Wellington games. Whether that's 1, 2 or even 3 per year we need reliable fixtures here to get buy-in, especially since the Warriors already have a fanbase here. No more coming and going (as the Warriors have historically done).

I think New Zealand as the moniker is the logical choice to spread the brand's appeal. It's likely that there will be 2 teams for several decades, there's no reason why they can't both just be New Zealand. I mean we've seen that people in Christchurch and Wellington will back the Warriors who are ostensibly an Auckland team, so you can find a brand that can be serve both parochial and generic functions. I agree that would mean dropping both the South Island and Keas aspects.

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

With the '95 expansion, they brought in four teams, Warriors, Cowboys, Crushers and Reds. Too many at the same time. At least with the recent expansion, the NRL only admitted one team, which was the Dolphins. So there is a reason to suggest that the NRL did learn something from the past.

The problem we have currently is that the favourite for team 18 has alot of question marks. As a fan, i am not writing off PNG. But I am curious to see how a PNG club in the NRL could work, on and off the field.

The answer is it cannot work. No one will want to play for a team that's based in Port Moresby unless they're paid massive overs or have no where else to go. I suspect players will choose the Super League over Port Moresby.

The club will sit at the bottom of the ladder for eternity with local players who aren't up to scratch. Broadcasters won't want to screen the club's games in a prime time slot because few people are interested in watching a one-sided game.

The club will generate two-fifths of f**k revenue from game day. The cost of hiring security guards to fire blanks and tear gas at penniless villagers trying to enter NFS for free will probably be greater than the amount they make from ticketing.

Ratings for this team in Australia will be so abysmal that the broadcasters won't want to pay anything for them. V'landys will have the clubs baying for his head when it's revealed to them that this club won't be bringing extra money into the game from the broadcasters.

Don't be surprised if Dutton is elected and cans this idea. If he does then V'landys will have to fund the deal himself and risk being voted out by the clubs or drop it altogether. He really hasn't thought this through.

 

[flippikat]

I think New Zealand as the moniker is the logical choice to spread the brand's appeal. It's likely that there will be 2 teams for several decades, there's no reason why they can't both just be New Zealand. I mean we've seen that people in Christchurch and Wellington will back the Warriors who are ostensibly an Auckland team, so you can find a brand that can be serve both parochial and generic functions. I agree that would mean dropping both the South Island and Keas aspects.

As far as which team (Warriors or some Christchurch-based new expansion team) pulls more Wellington support, I honestly think it could come down to something as simple as which one takes more games to Wellington.

The move by the Warriors to turn their back on us & start taking a game a year to Christchurch strikes me as a cynical ploy to get into that market before an (inevitable?) expansion team lands there.. and Warriors fans here in the capital are a bit peeved about that.

 

[flippikat]

The answer is it cannot work. No one will want to play for a team that's based in Port Moresby unless they're paid massive overs or have no where else to go. I suspect players will choose the Super League over Port Moresby.

The club will sit at the bottom of the ladder for eternity with local players who aren't up to scratch. Broadcasters won't want to screen the club's games in a prime time slot because few people are interested in watching a one-sided game.

The club will generate two-fifths of f**k revenue from game day. The cost of hiring security guards to fire blanks and tear gas at penniless villagers trying to enter NFS for free will probably be greater than the amount they make from ticketing.

Ratings for this team in Australia will be so abysmal that the broadcasters won't want to pay anything for them. V'landys will have the clubs baying for his head when it's revealed to them that this club won't be bringing extra money into the game from the broadcasters.

Don't be surprised if Dutton is elected and cans this idea. If he does then V'landys will have to fund the deal himself and risk being voted out by the clubs or drop it altogether. He really hasn't thought this through.

Still, if (when?) The PNG team collapses/has funding pulled, the license will likely go to a new Brisbane team as a quick & lucrative face-saving measure.. so I guess you'd be kinda OK with that long run outcome, yeah?

 

[shewi6]

PNG with 600 million behind them is a way better bid than when Auckland or north nth qld were admitted

What an obvious and simple statement to make.
The whole ARL probably operated on less than 60M a year in '95.

The fact it is going to take an extra 60M a year to even give this bid a hope of being sustainable isn't actually the strength you are promoting it as.
Good for the bid if they can get it yes, but for the NRL not so much to have such a weak team admitted with no guaranteed future or viability.

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

Still, if (when?) The PNG team collapses/has funding pulled, the license will likely go to a new Brisbane team as a quick & lucrative face-saving measure.. so I guess you'd be kinda OK with that long run outcome, yeah?

That's my take on how things will eventually play out when the PNG idea goes bust. That's if it's given the go ahead at all.

For now I'm more excited about the commercial opportunities for the South Island Kea in SEQ. There's a very large continent of New Zealanders living in Logan and Ipswich. Investing in the bars around the cities and turning them into Leagues Clubs would be a great money earner. I'd rather see people playing the pokies and having a feed at a Kea@Logan Leagues Club than the Lions@Springwood Social Club.

There's so many talented juniors in Logan for this club to bring under its wing. Everyone wins.

 

[Wb1234]

What an obvious and simple statement to make.
The whole ARL probably operated on less than 60M a year in '95.

The fact it is going to take an extra 60M a year to even give this bid a hope of being sustainable isn't actually the strength you are promoting it as.
Good for the bid if they can get it yes, but for the NRL not so much to have such a weak team admitted with no guaranteed future or viability.

nth qld was weak when it was admitted

Perth not much better

indeed Perth are only getting a second chance because the bears will fund them

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

What an obvious and simple statement to make.
The whole ARL probably operated on less than 60M a year in '95.

The fact it is going to take an extra 60M a year to even give this bid a hope of being sustainable isn't actually the strength you are promoting it as.
Good for the bid if they can get it yes, but for the NRL not so much to have such a weak team admitted with no guaranteed future or viability.

The broadcast rights in 1995 were $10pa. Clubs received a $500k annual grant. Salary cap was set at $1.8m.

$1.8m x 20 = $36m

Football club expenditure was low back then.

I know the Cowboys had to spend $800k per annum flying teams to and from Townsville wnd providing them with accommodation. Sydney clubs spent f**k all on travel and were still broke.

 

[Centy Coast]

Lol wb tiktok pretending that he has inside knowledge.

Great to see expansion. Let's hope it doesn't go arse up, especially PNG.

For the perth Frankenstein I would be having ironclad agreements that the bears don't try and do something stupid like demand more games. Even 2 is too many. PS, i can't believe they think that bears logo is iconic. I do have a question for the beats fans: if red and black is so special why did the bears add white in the nineties?

I hate the white, to many teams have white in their jerseys imo, red and black all day, replace the white with some yellow for the WA people, but definately red & black, the Perth Reds were red & black in the Super League 97 competition.

 

[Centy Coast]

NSW Cup: Bears win again over Penrith 22-16, Bears 12-0 (halftime), Bears led 20-6 at one stage.
Bears still in equal first with the Raiders who hold top position on points differential, who defeated last placed Western Suburbs Magpies 22-20.

 

[Centy Coast]

PNG with 600 million behind them is a way better bid than when Auckland or north nth qld were admitted

I don’t think so, I know people who have worked over in PNG and when I discuss the possibility of a NRL team playing out of there, they just shake there heads and say that the NRL will be like pushing a full wheel barrow of shit up hill.

 

[Foreign Legion]

I don’t think so, I know people who have worked over in PNG and when I discuss the possibility of a NRL team playing out of there, they just shake there heads and say that the NRL will be like pushing a full wheel barrow of shit up hill.

Well it's better then tipping it over on your misses... so it's not all that bad.

 

[Wb1234]

I don’t think so, I know people who have worked over in PNG and when I discuss the possibility of a NRL team playing out of there, they just shake there heads and say that the NRL will be like pushing a full wheel barrow of shit up hill.

You and Leisell jones have been busy