18th club, whose next?

[titoelcolombiano]

I can't claim to have come up with this - someone else on this board made the initial observation, and the point has stuck with me.

The thing is, all progressive administrators in the past have made the cardinal error of speaking like a progressive.

This just alienates a conservative core of the RL community, and just about guarantees you'll be white-anted out of power before actually achieving anything.

V'Landys realizes that a top administrator's role is akin to a political role - and in politics you have to be able to TAKE PEOPLE WITH YOU.

That means speaking in a language they can relate to, and making compromises that gives them something they can celebrate too. (Eg reviving the Bears to further the case for Perth)

Yep it was Steve Mascord on The Chasing Kangaroos podcast. Never thought of it that wat til I heard him say that

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

Those two bastards are the reason this competition is as popular as it is,you wouldn't be crying foul on every topic, if the NRL (nswrl) didn't exist

State of Origin gave rugby league a national profile in the 1980s. NSWRL rode on the back of Origin.

 

[Centy Coast]

No he’s saying if norths had so much money why did the jv collapse

Sorry Donkey, no Norths were just as broke as Manly, the amount of money Norths were in debt though initially went towards building Bluetongue Stadium, which they were hoping to make back from gate takings, but as the Stadium wasn’t finished due to bad weather and a mistake with materials in the roof the Bears played games everywhere from QLD to various grounds in Sydney as North Sydney Oval was already booked by Norths rugby union.

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

Good question, and to be honest I have no specific details on that.

I imagine going from 17 to 18 teams (+1 game per weekend) will earn a bit more TV money from Sky - but that 18th team could be from anywhere to get that. As would the jump from 18 to 20.

A new team in Christchurch might not bring new subscribers - especially from Christchurch where there's a huge Crusaders fanbase that already have Sky), but bringing existing subscribers over to watch those games is attractive for advertisers.

The free-to-air situation is interesting over here, and is worth an overview.

Sky have the Pay TV AND the FTA rights in NZ - so they usually simulcast ONE of the Friday night games live on their "Sky Open" FTA channel (usually the early one I think - but this week it's the sole Friday game kicking off at 10pm NZT).. then a Saturday game with kickoff delayed by an hour.

As for the other 2 FTA players - I think neither TV3 (owned by Discovery) & TVNZ (Government owned) have the money or the will to outbid Sky for FTA rights.. and IMO even unlikely to "buy games from Sky".. why?
Well, just need to look at recent developments in the industry.


TV3
A few months ago Discovery made the decision to close TV3's newsroom entirely to save money, as the plummeting economy slams advertising spend.
Their news operation (branded as "Newshub") ended last Friday - Breakfast show, midday news bulletin, Newshub at 6pm (hour-long flagship news), and the late news show all GONE, journalists & crew all let go.

Luckily for some, newspaper conglomerate/website Stuff (formerly the NZ branch of Fairfax newspapers before it got sold to CEO Sinead Boucher for $1 in a "peppercorn sale") stepped in.
Now Stuff are making a bare-bones 6pm news hour (half hour on weekends) under the "Three News" banner using some of the laid-off newshub staff.

TL: DR - if they're axing the NEWSROOM, no way are Discovery opening their wallets for big-money sports rights!


TVNZ (State-owned Enterprise, operates as a Government owned company, advertising and all)
Oh gees... well TVNZ's advertising money is shrinking too.. so THEY have cut back shows too - no midday news, no late news, no "Fair Go" (consumer affairs show), soap-opera Shortland Street being cut back from 5 days to 3 days per week.. and a fair number of redundancies there t'boot.

We have a conservative (National/ACT/NZ First) coalition Government too, and any hint of "unnecessary spending" by Government entities is closely examined & if it doesn't "vibe" with their values - and especially those of their economically dry donors - it's cut before lunchtime.



There's been talk in the past that NZ First may try to introduce anti-syphoning legislation because it plays well into their "make NZ great like it was 50 years ago" ethos, but they've never really pushed the issue - and frankly I think they'd be pushing uphill to get that past their coalition partners.

Our best hope for competition to Sky is a disruptor - likely some online streaming service to outbid Sky to get the rights.. but our TOTAL market here is too small to really make that work with "NZ Only" - just look at Spark Sport.


Maybe the real ideal situation is for a huge online streamer to buy NZ and Australian rights outbidding Sky & Fox, and maybe play a game or two free-to-air through whatever delivery channel.

I'd like to see Prime Video buy the rights. They are the best value streaming service and have deep pockets.

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

Honestly, I'd be inclined to make the following decision in late September:

Perth Bears to debut in 2027

Christchurch to debut in 2028. (whatever bid they choose)

Brisbane Easts-owned team to debut in 2031 (which would have given the Dolphins 8 seasons 2023-2030 to "bed in" their support before another Brisbane team is added)

Don't worry about PNG for the NRL at this stage. Give them a 2nd team playing out of Lae in Queensland Cup for a cross-island rivalry at state-league level.

Lae is a great location for a 2nd Queensland Cup team. PNGRFL is able to produce Queensland Cup players. It's not yet in a position to produce NRL players.

 

[Wb1234]

Sorry Donkey, no Norths were just as broke as Manly, the amount of money Norths were in debt though initially went towards building Bluetongue Stadium, which they were hoping to make back from gate takings, but as the Stadium wasn’t finished due to bad weather and a mistake with materials in the roof the Bears played games everywhere from QLD to various grounds in Sydney as North Sydney Oval was already booked by Norths rugby union.

Manly spent like 25 million on the Arko stand and also fighting the super league war sent them broke

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

Manly spent like 25 million on the Arko stand and also fighting the super league war sent them broke

The spastics should have built a stand along the eastern sideline. If they did that then the ground wouldn't be such a dump.

 

[Wb1234]

The spastics should have built a stand along the eastern sideline. If they did that then the ground wouldn't be such a dump.

Yeh back then 30 million got got you whole central coast stadium built for comparison

 

[Reflector]

If they're so great then why did they make the Cowboys and Reds cover the travel and accommodation expenses for Sydney clubs?

Whenever you're confronted with this fact you either ignore it or pretend it never happened.

If they're so great why did they provide special privileges to the Knight's in 1988?

Broncos weren't given the same privileges.

If they're so great then why did they antagonise the Broncos by bringing in the Giants after agreeing to not set up additional teams in SEQ?

If they're so great then why did eight clubs sign with News Ltd?

If they're so great then why did they walk away in 1997 so News Ltd could throw the "loyal" Chargers, Crushers, Tigers, Magpies, Stelers, Dragons, Bears, Sea Eagles and Rabbitohs under the bus?

If they're so great then why did the idiots gift the pay TV rights to Packer for free?

Weren't you arguing a while back that nobody on the GC would support the Giants because they were a NSW team?

 

[titoelcolombiano]

The world is upside down. PR has stopped complaining about Vlandys because Perth are odds on to get a team and GROTD has started complaining about him because Easts Tigers aren't next

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

Weren't you arguing a while back that nobody on the GC would support the Giants because they were a NSW team?

Few people supported the Gold Coast Tweed Giants. The NSWRL got around their agreement with the Broncos by basing the club in Tweed Heads.

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

Yeh back then 30 million got got you whole central coast stadium built for comparison

It's ridiculous how much everything costs these days. I'd hate to see how much things cost in 2032.

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

The world is upside down. PR has stopped complaining about Vlandys because Perth are odds on to get a team and GROTD has started complaining about him because Easts Tigers aren't next

I've reluctantly accepted that the Brisbane Tigers are highly unlikely to get the 18th licence, despite having the best bid by a country mile.

I'm warming to the prospect of a standalone Perth bid acquiring the 18th licence.

 

[The Great Dane]

I can't claim to have come up with this - someone else on this board made the initial observation, and the point has stuck with me.

The thing is, all progressive administrators in the past have made the cardinal error of speaking like a progressive.

This just alienates a conservative core of the RL community, and just about guarantees you'll be white-anted out of power before actually achieving anything.

V'Landys realizes that a top administrator's role is akin to a political role - and in politics you have to be able to TAKE PEOPLE WITH YOU.

That means speaking in a language they can relate to, and making compromises that gives them something they can celebrate too. (Eg reviving the Bears to further the case for Perth)

You're drawing an extremely long bow if you're trying to suggest that PVL is "progressive".

The guy's a dyed in the wool establishment "conservative" and all his decisions are informed by running in those Racing NSW and Sydney RL circles. His idea of expansion, for example, is to "expand" to Brisbane (the most RL dominated city on the planet) and to only consider new markets if they'll accept being possessed by the undying spirits of irrelevant entities from Sydney.

I hope he sticks around to see everything he's done come down around him like Arko and Quayle did. I doubt it'll happen though, known enough blokes like him to believe otherwise. An old school sleazy bloke like him will be smoking cigars and sleeping with the secretary in his new cushy job at the first sign of trouble, meanwhile the poor bastard who replaces him will be left to clean up the mess and cop the blame.

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

You're drawing an extremely long bow if you're trying to suggest that PVL is "progressive".

The guy's a dyed in the wool establishment "conservative" and all his decisions are informed by running in those Racing NSW and Sydney RL circles. His idea of expansion, for example, is to "expand" to Brisbane (the most RL dominated city on the planet) and to only consider new markets if they'll accept being possessed by the undying spirits of irrelevant entities from Sydney.

I hope he sticks around to see everything he's done come down around him like Arko and Quayle did. I doubt it'll happen though, known enough blokes like him to believe otherwise. An old school sleazy bloke like him will be smoking cigars and sleeping with the secretary in his new cushy job at the first sign of trouble, meanwhile the poor bastard who replaces him will be left to clean up the mess and cop the blame.

You've summed him up perfectly.

V'landys is causing more harm than good by forcing the Bears on Perth.

I'll admit to being skeptical of the Perth standalone bid and WA Gov when it was first announced. However, they've done everything right so far and should be given the chance to present their case. It's obvious to everyone that the power brokers and fans in Perth don't want to be paired with the Bears.

V'landys needs to accept it and move on. The Sydney media need to accept it and move on. The Bears need to accept it and move on.

Another thing the ARLC need to knock off is the cringeworthy virtue signalling. Politics and football don't mix. I don't want to be told by the ARLC to "vote yes" at a racist referendum. I don't want to be told to celebrate "pride" and "diversity". I don't want to be told to give money to some bullshit charity every second or third round. I just want to watch the football.

 

[Pippen94]

You're drawing an extremely long bow if you're trying to suggest that PVL is "progressive".

The guy's a dyed in the wool establishment "conservative" and all his decisions are informed by running in those Racing NSW and Sydney RL circles. His idea of expansion, for example, is to "expand" to Brisbane (the most RL dominated city on the planet) and to only consider new markets if they'll accept being possessed by the undying spirits of irrelevant entities from Sydney.

I hope he sticks around to see everything he's done come down around him like Arko and Quayle did. I doubt it'll happen though, known enough blokes like him to believe otherwise. An old school sleazy bloke like him will be smoking cigars and sleeping with the secretary in his new cushy job at the first sign of trouble, meanwhile the poor bastard who replaces him will be left to clean up the mess and cop the blame.

Viva Las Vegas..

 

[Wb1234]

You're drawing an extremely long bow if you're trying to suggest that PVL is "progressive".

The guy's a dyed in the wool establishment "conservative" and all his decisions are informed by running in those Racing NSW and Sydney RL circles. His idea of expansion, for example, is to "expand" to Brisbane (the most RL dominated city on the planet) and to only consider new markets if they'll accept being possessed by the undying spirits of irrelevant entities from Sydney.

I hope he sticks around to see everything he's done come down around him like Arko and Quayle did. I doubt it'll happen though, known enough blokes like him to believe otherwise. An old school sleazy bloke like him will be smoking cigars and sleeping with the secretary in his new cushy job at the first sign of trouble, meanwhile the poor bastard who replaces him will be left to clean up the mess and cop the blame.

The dolphins was a mistake

 

[Pippen94]

The dolphins was a mistake

Lol, some people are talking down the game to make case for their favourite bid. If game was in bad state that they claim then expansion should be off table!!

 

[Vlad59]

You're drawing an extremely long bow if you're trying to suggest that PVL is "progressive".

The guy's a dyed in the wool establishment "conservative" and all his decisions are informed by running in those Racing NSW and Sydney RL circles. His idea of expansion, for example, is to "expand" to Brisbane (the most RL dominated city on the planet) and to only consider new markets if they'll accept being possessed by the undying spirits of irrelevant entities from Sydney.

I hope he sticks around to see everything he's done come down around him like Arko and Quayle did. I doubt it'll happen though, known enough blokes like him to believe otherwise. An old school sleazy bloke like him will be smoking cigars and sleeping with the secretary in his new cushy job at the first sign of trouble, meanwhile the poor bastard who replaces him will be left to clean up the mess and cop the blame.

Mr Happy strikes again!

 

[Vlad59]

You've summed him up perfectly.

V'landys is causing more harm than good by forcing the Bears on Perth.

I'll admit to being skeptical of the Perth standalone bid and WA Gov when it was first announced. However, they've done everything right so far and should be given the chance to present their case. It's obvious to everyone that the power brokers and fans in Perth don't want to be paired with the Bears.

V'landys needs to accept it and move on. The Sydney media need to accept it and move on. The Bears need to accept it and move on.

Another thing the ARLC need to knock off is the cringeworthy virtue signalling. Politics and football don't mix. I don't want to be told by the ARLC to "vote yes" at a racist referendum. I don't want to be told to celebrate "pride" and "diversity". I don't want to be told to give money to some bullshit charity every second or third round. I just want to watch the football.

Potato