18th club, whose next?

[Colk]

AFL is still looking at expanding into Tasmania as far as I know.

Meh I wouldn’t worrying about that if I were the NRL. Tasmania’s population would be about the same as Canberra or Newcastle over a much larger land mass. I’d be more worried if they put another side in SEQ. It would be pretty gutsy but they might try.

 

[AdelaideSharky]

That to me says, yes to a relocated team, as long as it's not a current one... its why i think the bears could make a fist of it... as far as licences go, 20 is a great rounded number, but it doesn't have to be if they are all viable, as long as they all are producing talent, and competetive at NRL level, (which won't always be the case as there will always be a bottom 4) then the number can reach 22... it won't happen tho

As I also said the other day Adelaide Bears sounds ridiculous the only bears we have are the two giant pandas from China at Adelaide Zoo.

If it was Newtown, Adelaide Jets would work as we have the RAAF base at Edinburgh.

 

[MugaB]

As I also said the other day Adelaide Bears sounds ridiculous the only bears we have are the two giant pandas from China at Adelaide Zoo.

If it was Newtown, Adelaide Jets would work as we have the RAAF base at Edinburgh.

Yes well balmain doesn't have any tigers, closest one is in Taronga, and i'm fairly sure that their aren't any Vikings sailing around the Molonglo river

 

[AdelaideSharky]

Meh I wouldn’t worrying about that if I were the NRL. Tasmania’s population would be about the same as Canberra or Newcastle over a much larger land mass. I’d be more worried if they put another side in SEQ. It would be pretty gutsy but they might try.

I think the AFL is the least of our worries.

Soccer's the main threat if they finally get their shit together.

 

[AdelaideSharky]

Yes well balmain doesn't have any tigers, closest one is in Taronga, and i'm fairly sure that their aren't any Vikings sailing around the Molonglo river

Wasn't Balmain called that because of their orange & black jerseys?

Still mystified as to why Canberra went for the Raiders name.

 

[MugaB]

I think the AFL is the least of our worries.

Soccer's the main threat if they finally get their shit together.

...Please, if anything soccer woud be a boost for league, share the same sized grounds, they get all the kids that aren't tough enough to play NRL, win/win

 

[titoelcolombiano]

AFL is still looking at expanding into Tasmania as far as I know.

Yes, which is going to be shaky at best in terms of finances, won't increase the average attendance of the league and won't really bring any new TV eyeballs to the game. They have covered all the big markets they have access to and we have so much more room to grow and the upside of future growth in NZ.

 

[Perth Red]

Yes, which is going to be shaky at best in terms of finances, won't increase the average attendance of the league and won't really bring any new TV eyeballs to the game. They have covered all the big markets they have access to and we have so much more room to grow and the upside of future growth in NZ.

Potential only has value if you realize it.

 

[Colk]

I think the AFL is the least of our worries.

Soccer's the main threat if they finally get their shit together.

I don’t think soccer is as big a threat as you think. They have and they will always have the most kids playing from a junior perspective but the national competition is never going to be huge simply because if you are going to follow football or soccer why would you follow the national competition when you could follow any competition from Europe and the standard will be immeasurably better

 

[The Great Dane]

Meh I wouldn’t worrying about that if I were the NRL. Tasmania’s population would be about the same as Canberra or Newcastle over a much larger land mass. I’d be more worried if they put another side in SEQ. It would be pretty gutsy but they might try.

If they go to team 19 then 20 will inevitably follow, and they could really have an impact with team 20 if they are willing. At the moment their only realistic options in Australia for a 20th team are Perth, Adelaide, or Canberra. The talk you here of a 'Northern Australia' NT/Cairns team is pie in the sky BS, Newcastle simply isn't ready to support an AFL team, and they won't risk the impact that more teams in SEQ or Sydney would have on the Lions, Suns, and GWS yet.

Of those realistic options odds are that they'll choose Perth because it's the safest option and they'll probably want to avoid the costs of having to financially support another club, however if they are willing to take on the extra financial burden and add Canberra it'll really shake the football market up.

Lets put it this way; if Canberra got an AFL team it'd be as big as the Raiders, if not bigger, from day one...

 

[The Great Dane]

Wasn't Balmain called that because of their orange & black jerseys?

Still mystified as to why Canberra went for the Raiders name.

The answer is that they didn't choose the name.

The NSWRL hired a marketing company to come up with the 82 expansion clubs names and logos which the Raiders and Steelers were obliged to use. They were also obliged to cover that fact up, and did so until very recently.

Supposedly the logic behind the Raiders was that they were the first team from outside of NSW and thus were foreign raiders coming to pillage Sydney of all it's silverware. Of course the truth probably is that the Oakland Raiders (and Pittsburgh Steelers for that matter) were successful and popular at the time and the marketing company was, lets say influenced, by that.

The "raider" on the logo wasn't specifically meant to be a Viking either, it was just a generic raider that the Viking/Scandinavian theme grew out of because of the horned helmet, which Vikings didn't actually wear anyway but that's neither here nor there.

And BTW, just because there's a beach in Cronulla doesn't mean that the place is famous for sharks...

 

[AdelaideSharky]

The answer is that they didn't choose the name.

The NSWRL hired a marketing company to come up with the 82 expansion clubs names and logos which the Raiders and Steelers were obliged to use. They were also obliged to cover that fact up, and did so until very recently.

Supposedly the logic behind the Raiders was that they were the first team from outside of NSW and thus were foreign raiders coming to pillage Sydney of all it's silverware. Of course the truth probably is that the Oakland Raiders (and Pittsburgh Steelers for that matter) were successful and popular at the time and the marketing company was, lets say influenced, by that.

The "raider" on the logo wasn't specifically meant to be a Viking either, it was just a generic raider that the Viking/Scandinavian theme grew out of because of the horned helmet, which Vikings didn't actually wear anyway but that's neither here nor there.

And BTW, just because there's a beach in Cronulla doesn't mean that the place is famous for sharks...

No need to get all defensive, mate.

Illawarra I knew the reasons for the Steelers name had nothing to do with Pittsburgh it was due to the local steelworks which earned Wollongong the nickname of Steel City.

Cronulla almost became the Lions but our inaugural coach in Dragons legend Ken Kearney suggested Sharks due to the proximity to the sea.

 

[The Great Dane]

I don’t think soccer is as big a threat as you think. They have and they will always have the most kids playing from a junior perspective but the national competition is never going to be huge simply because if you are going to follow football or soccer why would you follow the national competition when you could follow any competition from Europe and the standard will be immeasurably better

The national competition doesn't have to be big for it to impact local sports. International competition is still competition, and still has an impact on the local market.

Besides, Basketball is the sport you have to watch the most. It's growth in the last decade has been unbelievable, it's only gaining momentum, and it's been recorded in other nations to really benefit from an urbanising population, which Australia's is.

Yes it went through a boom period in the 90s that wasn't sustainable, but that was built on a cult of personality which is inherently unstable, where's now it's growth is built on growing interest in the sport it's self.

 

[The Great Dane]

No need to get all defensive, mate.

I'm not getting defensive.

Illawarra I knew the reasons for the Steelers name had nothing to do with Pittsburgh it was due to the local steelworks which earned Wollongong the nickname of Steel City.

That was the post hoc story they came up with to justify it, the truth is that the same marketing company that came up with Raiders name came up with the Steelers. Newcastle was always Steel City in Australia, the steelworks in Port Kembla was just a convenient excuse to make the Steelers brand fit.

And before you bring it up; the competition they ran to choose the brand was rigged. They'd already decided the name but wanted to make it look like it was picked by the community, the same thing happened in Canberra.

 

[MugaB]

No need to get all defensive, mate.

Illawarra I knew the reasons for the Steelers name had nothing to do with Pittsburgh it was due to the local steelworks which earned Wollongong the nickname of Steel City.

Cronulla almost became the Lions but our inaugural coach in Dragons legend Ken Kearney suggested Sharks due to the proximity to the sea.

There was a competition running for the mascot for the steelers, the guy that suggested it was a Pittsburgh steelers fan

 

[The Great Dane]

There was a competition running for the mascot for the steelers, the guy that suggested it was a Pittsburgh steelers fan

See I knew it would be brought up. That competition was rigged.

The book is about the Raiders so the Steelers case is barely mentioned, but you can read about it in Absolutely Bleeding Green: The Raiders story by David Headon.

Though I dislike how it glosses over some of more negative episodes in Raiders history, it's a good book and well worth the read for any RL fan.

 

[MugaB]

See I knew it would be brought up. That competition was rigged.

The book is about the Raiders so the Steelers case is barely mentioned, but you can read about it in Absolutely Bleeding Green: The Raiders story by David Headon.

Though I dislike how it glosses over some of more negative episodes in Raiders history, it's a good book and well worth the read for any RL fan.

Does it mention the lime green couch being inspiration for the raiders colours

 

[The Great Dane]

Does it mention the lime green couch being inspiration for the raiders colours

Yes.

They had to pick a shade of green that wouldn't clash with the Rabbitohs green, and they were in John McIntyre's office where he kept a lime green couch when he pointed at it and said something to the effect of 'how about that green'.

 

[MugaB]

Yes.

They had to pick a shade of green that wouldn't clash with the Rabbitohs green, and they were in John McIntyre's office where he kept a lime green couch when he pointed at it and said something to the effect of 'how about that green'.

Good coz that was an excellent myth, that i thought was about to get debunked, now not a myth either

 

[ReddFelon]

Steelers were definitely influenced by the NFL. The original logo had a bloke wearing an American football helmet and shoulder pads.