18th club, whose next?

[Perth Red]

Yeh but a Perth team is competing with those two afl juggernauts. Super rugby clubs have pretty poor finances especially after the collapse of the competition

and nz2 won’t be playing games in just one city.

You dont think the crusaders are just as big in Christchurch, relatively speaking?

yeh, nah. not convinced a club can be multi-city based. can only think of one and that’s the dragons and they’ve hardly been successful splitting across two cities.

 

[Fangs]

Perth Perth Perth.

Dream for the broadcasters with the time zone difference. WA and getting NZ back give the broadcasters plenty of options.

AEST

12.00pm NZ v Brisbane
2.00pm Manly v Cronulla
4.00pm Penrith v Canberra
6.00pm Canterbury v Souffs
8.00pm Reds v Dolphins

10 hours of RUGBY LEAGUE MADNESS!

Forget Super Saturdays. Bring on Spesh Sundays.

 

[General Stripes]

Stunned they haven't already announced Perth as team 18.

TV would love it because of time zone, and footy wise they, as a state, are the 3rd biggest junior base for League in the country.

Was ridiculous that the Reds and Rams were thrown out. But that we, 20+ years later, haven't gone back to Perth is a sad sad indictment on the NRL board.

 

[Perth Red]

It’s taken 20 years to get another team in brisbane which is the biggest no brainer of all time! Probably be another 20 before we get perth back. RL is not noted for its administration nous!

 

[flippikat]

Stunned they haven't already announced Perth as team 18.

TV would love it because of time zone, and footy wise they, as a state, are the 3rd biggest junior base for League in the country.

Was ridiculous that the Reds and Rams were thrown out. But that we, 20+ years later, haven't gone back to Perth is a sad sad indictment on the NRL board.

There's an Origin game scheduled for Perth this year. Great opportunity for the NRL to announce Perth as team 18.

 

[Perth Red]

There's an Origin game scheduled for Perth this year. Great opportunity for the NRL to announce Perth as team 18.

we said that three years ago, and again 5 years ago and again ten years ago lol arlc/nrl couldnt even be bothered to send a director/ceo to this years launch In perth!

 

[flippikat]

we said that three years ago, and again 5 years ago and again ten years ago lol arlc/nrl couldnt even be bothered to send a director/ceo to this years launch In perth!

Fair points - and I probably sound like a broken record saying "perfect opportunity.." again, but it doesn't make it any less true.

The long tease that's being played on the people of Perth has to stop - just get on and DO IT ALREADY!

 

[Colk]

have the clubs voted this?

is there any confirmation that sky will pay that much?

This idea that NRL has to take on AFL in WA is stupid. A lot of Rugby League fans have this dumb idea that if you can't be the number 1 sport in a region then its not worth doing.

This times x 1000

 

[Colk]

I noticed that Danny Weidler (who is a fairly prominent newspaper journalist) was having a go at the NRL for taking big games to Perth - based on the view that the NRL has no shown no interest in putting an expansion team there.

 

[Perth Red]

I noticed that Danny Weidler (who is a fairly prominent newspaper journalist) was having a go at the NRL for taking big games to Perth - based on the view that the NRL has no shown no interest in putting an expansion team there.

Then he is an idiot who doesn’t understand why the nrl brings games here. It’s only because the WA Govt pays them millions of $’s for them. No other reason.

 

[Colk]

Then he is an idiot who doesn’t understand why the nrl brings games here. It’s only because the WA Govt pays them millions of $’s for them. No other reason.

He is a terrible journalist. He is essentially ignoring all the media about the 18th side. The only teams that I have seen mentioned are NZ 2 and Perth and maybe Brisbane.

 

[marshall stalin]

PNG as the 18th Team as it's the only Country in the World where Rugby League is the National Sport.

 

[Colk]

PNG as the 18th Team as it's the only Country in the World where Rugby League is the National Sport.

It is like some people on here don’t understand basic economics.

It is a third world country with massive violence and security issues. So there’s that firstly.

Secondly, the average weekly earnings is significantly less than what somebody would earn on unemployment benefits here (average weekly earnings is $50 AUD). Pray do tell how could anybody actively support a side when they can barely survive? Could you go and watch your Roosters play if you’re earning $50 a week?

 

[marshall stalin]

It is like some people on here don’t understand basic economics.

It is a third world country with massive violence and security issues. So there’s that firstly.

Secondly, the average weekly earnings is significantly less than what somebody would earn on unemployment benefits here (average weekly earnings is $50 AUD). Pray do tell how could anybody actively support a side when they can barely survive? Could you go and watch your Roosters play if you’re earning $50 a week?

In the QLD cup they were playing the PNG Hunters in Port Moresby prior to Covid

 

[Perth Red]

In the QLD cup they were playing the PNG Hunters in Port Moresby prior to Covid

You do know that the png hunters are funded by the Australian govt not by their fans don’t you?

 

[Colk]

In the QLD cup they were playing the PNG Hunters in Port Moresby prior to Covid

Sure the QLD Cup is one thing but the NRL is completely another.

Again if you earn $50 a week (that’s the average by the way so that would indicate that there are a lot of people earning less than that) how are you supporting a side.

This is the point: a market only has value when people in that market can consume the main product or have disposable income for advertisers which then means advertising potential.

For example Perth has potential value because it is very wealthy and there are a lot of people from the east coast living there. So there is advertising potential - west coast advertisers can market to the east coast and vice versa. People have disposable income to consume things. Similar to NZ 2 - there is a potential market there that can consume a product or advertise to.

PNG doesn’t have any value because the average person doesn’t have any money. Nobody has money to actively support a club so they can be profitable, no Australian advertiser is going to sell anything to them because people don’t have any money and no PNG company is going to be able to sell anything to us. There is absolutely zero commercial value. Another thing, who is forking out for this - Foxtel/Nine? Are there any PNG broadcasters willing to give the NRL $30 million p.a to make it worthwhile for the NRL

 

[Colk]

You do know that the png hunters are funded by the Australian govt not by their fans don’t you?

Exactly. They would have to underwrite an NRL side every year for the foreseeable future.

Maybe one day, if they go through an economic transformation like China or India but I don’t see it on the horizon

 

[marshall stalin]

Exactly. They would have to underwrite an NRL side every year for the foreseeable future.

Maybe one day, if they go through an economic transformation like China or India but I don’t see it on the horizon

It's about expanding the game though

PM of Papua New Guinea says his country wants an NRL team by 2025

Papua New Guinea blows NRL expansion debate wide open with heavyweight support

www.foxsports.com.au

Meanwhile, the newspaper The National reported that the Australian High Commissioner in PNG, said his government shared the same goal to see a PNG team join the NRL.

High Commissioner Jon Philp said he had been discussing the aspiration with Marape, adding that the PNG-Australian partnership would help push for it.

PNG seeks rugby league team in NRL by 2025

PNG's prime minister says he wants a PNG team in Australia's National Rugby League by 2025.

www.rnz.co.nz

 

[Colk]

It's about expanding the game though

PM of Papua New Guinea says his country wants an NRL team by 2025

Papua New Guinea blows NRL expansion debate wide open with heavyweight support

www.foxsports.com.au

So? What’s the point?

I could put a side in Ballarat and call it expansion but that wouldn’t make it a good decision would it? It would be a bad decision because simply there is not enough people with enough money to support a side. In the case of the Ballarat example there’s not enough people in the area; in the case of PNG there are a lot of people but the vast majority are very poor. It’s the same result.

If they are going to expand it should be based on the following:

1. Is the area sound economically?
2. Does it have the right infrastructure?
3. Are there enough potential supporters and moreover can they go and watch a game, but memberships etc.
4. Does it have commercial value - are people/companies in the area going to invest in it? Will TV increase funding to subsidise the new side? Is there advertising potential?
5. Is it going to detract from other clubs supporter bases?

Realistically at this point in time, the only tick in PNG’s favour is number five. Again if they transform their society and economy, then they are a realistic option but until then they are not.

If I picked Perth, Adelaide, NZ 2 even possibly Brisbane 3/NZ 3 (in ten years or so), it’s possible/probable that they can tick all of those objectives. At least three of those options are also genuine expansion options.

 

[siv]

Covid showed everyone the impact of having too many borders

Relocating teams has come at a huge cost

They will go with the safe option

CC Bears