Brisbane Jets

[The Great Dane]

3 teams would probably be enough for Brisbane over the next 30 years. One in the south and one in the north. When Ipswich has 500k or more it can be considered, but until then it's too small. Moreton Bay Region is growing and is almost the size of Gold Coast. A team there in a 20k to 25k stadium would provide a great atmosphere for games played on a Thursday or Friday night. The NRL isn't going to average 20k to games any time soon, so we might as well build stadiums that cater to the market, rather than putting up a massive ground that is 1/4 full most of the time.

The NRL will never average 20k if we keep pushing a suburban model, hence why Brisbane's second club needs to truly represent the metro area, and why Brisbane probably shouldn't get a third club anytime in the foreseeable future.

In other words piss off with these antiquated ideas of tiny clubs playing in front of 10k people in shitbox stadiums. We have enough of those holding the game back as it is, and we certainly don't need to poison the Brisbane market the way the Sydney market has been.
There is a place for suburban clubs, playing out of local parks, in front of small audiences, but it's not in the national competition.

Also who misses out so Brisbane can have number 3? Is it one of the markets without representation, or does Sydney give up a club, because there's no way you can justify Brisbane having 3 clubs and Sydney 9 while Perth, Adelaide, Christchurch, etc, go without.

 

[The Great Dane]

not to be pedantic but all they have said is what they won’t be called, Redcliffe. It makes sense to be called brisbane or south queensland dolphins but their heart is clearly Redcliffe and their bid based around their representing Moreton bay. Will all the areas within 30kms of Suncorp adopt a pseudo Redcliffe side with some rivalry if you follow a qlnd cup,side? They've said they will play some games at Redcliffe and maybe Sunshine Coast after all.

Nope, hence why they shouldn't even be considered unless they rebrand the NRL side.

If they run out as the Dolphins in red and white they'll alienate the majority of the potential fan base for a second Brisbane club.

The Jets are in a similar position as well.

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

The NRL will never average 20k if we keep pushing a suburban model, hence why Brisbane's second club needs to truly represent the metro area, and why Brisbane probably shouldn't get a third club anytime in the foreseeable future.

In other words piss off with these antiquated ideas of tiny clubs playing in front of 10k people in shitbox stadiums. We have enough of those holding the game back as it is, and we certainly don't need to poison the Brisbane market the way the Sydney market has been.
There is a place for suburban clubs, playing out of local parks, in front of small audiences, but it's not in the national competition.

Also who misses out so Brisbane can have number 3? Is it one of the markets without representation, or does Sydney give up a club, because there's no way you can justify Brisbane having 3 clubs and Sydney 9 while Perth, Adelaide, Christchurch, etc, go without.

Adelaide is decades away from being a viable option. Same probably goes for Christchurch.

Three teams in Brisbane by 2050 would average more than 10k. A team in Adelaide could average no more than 10k.

And since you're against tiny teams, why should Canberra have one if you believe Adelaide is so important?

The 5 city metro ratings don't even take in Canberra. The Raiders draw miserable ratings in those markets.

Will the Raiders ever average 20k or more playing in a small regional city, with a shit stadium in a cold climate and the Brumbies RU club competing for fans and sponsors?

The Cowboys and Knights might as they have state of the art stadiums and no competition from RU.

There's no Canberra in the NBL, A-League, AFL, Sheffield Shield or Big Bash.

How many rugby club competitions average 20k?

The NRL has the highest average in the world at club level for either rugby code. There's no guarantee it will ever average 20k, regardless of whether teams are added to Adelaide, Christchurch and Perth while Brisbane is limited to just 2 and Sydney is rationalised. The game is better to watch on TV and with every game being played in a unique time slot, there's more incentive to get Kayo/Foxtel and watch all 8 games live and ad free than going to the stadium.

Adelaide doesn't even have a bid or a grassroots base of any note, so any talk of putting a team there is delusional. Brisbane has 3 bids and Perth has 1, so I can see Brisbane having 2 or 3 teams by 2050 and Perth having at least 1. That leaves the option for NZ 2, but the NRL doesn't want more than 17 or 18 teams from all reports in the media, so we'll be lucky to get Brisbane 2 and Perth. Adelaide and NZ 2 may very well rely on Sydney clubs relocating, but that's unlikely.

 

[Perth Red]

Adelaide is decades away from being a viable option. Same probably goes for Christchurch.

Three teams in Brisbane by 2050 would average more than 10k. A team in Adelaide could average no more than 10k.

And since you're against tiny teams, why should Canberra have one if you believe Adelaide is so important?

The 5 city metro ratings don't even take in Canberra. The Raiders draw miserable ratings in those markets.

Will the Raiders ever average 20k or more playing in a small regional city, with a shit stadium in a cold climate and the Brumbies RU club competing for fans and sponsors?

The Cowboys and Knights might as they have state of the art stadiums and no competition from RU.

There's no Canberra in the NBL, A-League, AFL, Sheffield Shield or Big Bash.

How many rugby club competitions average 20k?

The NRL has the highest average in the world at club level for either rugby code. There's no guarantee it will ever average 20k, regardless of whether teams are added to Adelaide, Christchurch and Perth while Brisbane is limited to just 2 and Sydney is rationalised. The game is better to watch on TV and with every game being played in a unique time slot, there's more incentive to get Kayo/Foxtel and watch all 8 games live and ad free than going to the stadium.

Adelaide doesn't even have a bid or a grassroots base of any note, so any talk of putting a team there is delusional. Brisbane has 3 bids and Perth has 1, so I can see Brisbane having 2 or 3 teams by 2050 and Perth having at least 1. That leaves the option for NZ 2, but the NRL doesn't want more than 17 or 18 teams from all reports in the media, so we'll be lucky to get Brisbane 2 and Perth. Adelaide and NZ 2 may very well rely on Sydney clubs relocating, but that's unlikely.

Nrl has some very unique advantages compared to “rugby” comps in rest of world ie number one code in two major population regions, number of clubs in spitting distance of each other meaning away fan boost to crowd number, no real competition in its heartlands unlike rugby comps around the world that has to contend with soccer being a behemoth competitor, state of the art stadiums for most clubs, weather pretty good for most games compared to England or France in winter etc. Given all those advantages the fact the avg is only 15k and has hardly changed in 2 decades despite population growth is pretty mediocre and clubs are missing out on massive revenue by not growing crowds.

 

[The Great Dane]

Adelaide is decades away from being a viable option. Same probably goes for Christchurch.

People said the same thing about the Storm, the Swans, the Brisbane Lions, etc, etc, and how did that turn out.

Here's the reality, just like the aforementioned teams, Adelaide will never be a viable option unless you make it a viable option. So you can either wait around forever while nothing changes and the sport stagnates, or you can get in and do the work of actually growing the game, by forcibly cutting out a share of the market in places like Adelaide and reaping the rewards for generations to come.

Three teams in Brisbane by 2050 would average more than 10k. A team in Adelaide could average no more than 10k.

That's an assumption, and a bad one at that.

They'd also need to be averaging significantly more than 10k to be sustainable businesses, and unless there's massive change it's unrealistic to expect that you could have three clubs in Brisbane averaging 25-30k each. Especially not with the ever increasing competition in the sports market in Brisbane.

And since you're against tiny teams, why should Canberra have one if you believe Adelaide is so important?

I'm not against "tiny" teams, I'm against unnecessary tiny teams. There's a massive difference.

There's a place for smaller regional clubs, they bring benefits other than money and rating, like variety, juniors that are hard to engage without them, and direct engagement with demographics you just don't get in the larger cities. They are especially good if they support themselves, like the Raiders.

But when it comes to metro markets there's no rational reason why you'd intentionally choose to allow tiny teams in at the expense of what could be huge team, it's just dumb.

How many rugby club competitions average 20k?

Why should we celebrate being biggest fish in the puddle?.

What we should be doing is aspiring to get bigger, that means coming into competition with the bigger fish.

The game is better to watch on TV and with every game being played in a unique time slot, there's more incentive to get Kayo/Foxtel and watch all 8 games live and ad free than going to the stadium.

You effectively said it yourself, RL is only better to watch on tv because we've created incentives to make that the case.

Now we have to question if being a "TV game" is in our bests interests, and I'd argue that it's pretty obvious from looking at (e.g.) the AFL club's revenue compared to ours that it's not. TV should be for those whom can't get a ticket.

Adelaide doesn't even have a bid or a grassroots base of any note, so any talk of putting a team there is delusional. Brisbane has 3 bids and Perth has 1, so I can see Brisbane having 2 or 3 teams by 2050 and Perth having at least 1. That leaves the option for NZ 2, but the NRL doesn't want more than 17 or 18 teams from all reports in the media, so we'll be lucky to get Brisbane 2 and Perth. Adelaide and NZ 2 may very well rely on Sydney clubs relocating, but that's unlikely.

Bids aren't the be all and end all, more teams are formed without a bidding process than you'd realise, and there'll never be a grassroots there unless we plant the seeds.

Also just because the NRL will most likely make a certain decision, that doesn't mean it's the right one. In fact given their history of bad governance it's almost certainly the wrong thing to do.

I'll give up on the NRL's future as a competitive commercial product if it puts a bunch of suburban clubs in Brisbane or regional towns like the CC and CQ get teams before the other major metro markets.
At that point it'll be destine to spend the rest of it's days huffing it's own farts while it slowly fades away into obscurity.

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

Nrl has some very unique advantages compared to “rugby” comps in rest of world ie number one code in two major population regions, number of clubs in spitting distance of each other meaning away fan boost to crowd number, no real competition in its heartlands unlike rugby comps around the world that has to contend with soccer being a behemoth competitor, state of the art stadiums for most clubs, weather pretty good for most games compared to England or France in winter etc. Given all those advantages the fact the avg is only 15k and has hardly changed in 2 decades despite population growth is pretty mediocre and clubs are missing out on massive revenue by not growing crowds.

RU is a major competitor in Australia. Maybe not as a spectator sport, but definitely at the grassroots and commercial sector. Villanova College forbids its students from playing RL in Term 3 UNLESS they played RU or soccer in Term 2. This sort of crap goes on in most of Brisbane's most prestigious schools, and is aimed at denying children the right to play RL.

As AIC Rugby League, AIC Basketball and AIC Tennis are all played on Saturdays, students must only choose one of these sports to play in Term 3. Those who wish to play AIC Rugby League must play AIC Rugby Union or AIC Football in Term 2 as a prerequisite.

AIC Rugby League trials will begin with coaches assessing players during the AIC Rugby Union season during training and on game day. Extra trial sessions will be put in place to accommodate the AIC Football players after the rugby and football season which will of course be more specific to Rugby League. We believe AIC Rugby League will be a very popular option within the Villanova College community.

In preparation of the season ahead, Villanova College has already met with Easts Rugby League Club. Our aim is to further our partnership with Easts and develop our AIC Rugby League program to a very high standard which will develop our students and attract those to our College community who play league at high level.

AIC Rugby League » Villanova College (vnc.qld.edu.au)
​

I worry about the future of RL participation in Brisbane if something isn't done to correct this. A second and even a third team in Brisbane will suck so much oxygen up from the local media it'll make kids want to play RL as it's the cool sport in town, regardless of the posh schools telling them they must play soccer or RU.

Easts Leagues Club and their home ground is across the road from Villanova, so there's a real opportunity for the ARLC to make the school an RL powerhouse.

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

People said the same thing about the Storm, the Swans, the Brisbane Lions, etc, etc, and how did that turn out.

Here's the reality, just like the aforementioned teams, Adelaide will never be a viable option unless you make it a viable option. So you can either wait around forever while nothing changes and the sport stagnates, or you can get in and do the work of actually growing the game, by forcibly cutting out a share of the market in places like Adelaide and reaping the rewards for generations to come.

That's an assumption, and a bad one at that.

They'd also need to be averaging significantly more than 10k to be sustainable businesses, and unless there's massive change it's unrealistic to expect that you could have three clubs in Brisbane averaging 25-30k each. Especially not with the ever increasing competition in the sports market in Brisbane.

I'm not against "tiny" teams, I'm against unnecessary tiny teams. There's a massive difference.

There's a place for smaller regional clubs, they bring benefits other than money and rating, like variety, juniors that are hard to engage without them, and direct engagement with demographics you just don't get in the larger cities. They are especially good if they support themselves, like the Raiders.

But when it comes to metro markets there's no rational reason why you'd intentionally choose to allow tiny teams in at the expense of what could be huge team, it's just dumb.

Why should we celebrate being biggest fish in the puddle?.

What we should be doing is aspiring to get bigger, that means coming into competition with the bigger fish.

You effectively said it yourself, RL is only better to watch on tv because we've created incentives to make that the case.

Now we have to question if being a "TV game" is in our bests interests, and I'd argue that it's pretty obvious from looking at (e.g.) the AFL club's revenue compared to ours that it's not. TV should be for those whom can't get a ticket.

Bids aren't the be all and end all, more teams are formed without a bidding process than you'd realise, and there'll never be a grassroots there unless we plant the seeds.

Also just because the NRL will most likely make a certain decision, that doesn't mean it's the right one. In fact given their history of bad governance it's almost certainly the wrong thing to do.

I'll give up on the NRL's future as a competitive commercial product if it puts a bunch of suburban clubs in Brisbane or regional towns like the CC and CQ get teams before the other major metro markets.
At that point it'll be destine to spend the rest of it's days huffing it's own farts while it slowly fades away into obscurity.

I know I sound like a broken record when I talk about this, but I think we must remember that Storm and Adelaide aren't in a like for like situation. The Storm were fortunate to have News Ltd and the ARLC back the club to the tune of $100m over 20 years, and were able to assemble a competitive team from day 1 by virtue of taking players from 3 clubs that were made defunct just months earlier. That situation will not repeat itself for Adelaide.

News Ltd is struggling and never had any ambition of putting a team in Adelaide. They could have made Perth a power house in half the time and at a fraction of the cost than it took to crack the Melbourne market, but they chose Melbourne due to its population.

Perth is comparable to Brisbane in size and its parochialism for its teams, so it's fair to assume it will be ahead of Adelaide in the pecking order for an NRL team. There are commercial opportunities to be gained from having a team in Perth that Adelaide is not yet in a position to provide. I'm not writing Adelaide off in the future, but I think the work that needs to be done is so great and the ambition to do it isn't there, so it's at least 20 years away from being a realistic possibility. In the mean time I hope we put a team in Australia's 4th largest city and start growing the game in Adelaide from the bottom up. I'd go as far as to take Magic Round and the NRL 9's to Adelaide each year after a team is placed in Perth, that way every major city will have access to mainstream RL.

Money should be spent by the ARLC on fielding Perth and Adelaide teams in the Queensland Cup. Semi-pro players might be tempted to relocate to Adelaide and Perth for business opportunities, setting themselves up well for life after football. It'll provide more opportunities for Papuans, Fijians and New Caledonians.

Broadcasters do have too much power over our game, but I don't know if there's much we can do to change it. Our revenue mostly comes from broadcast rights because our crowds and membership numbers aren't strong enough.

We'll have to agree to disagree about 3 teams in Brisbane being too many. Brisbane's urban sprawl is increasing and its road network isn't able to cope with the population boom, so at some stage we will need to look at building boutique stadiums in the outer areas of Greater Brisbane. There is genuine tribalism in Greater Brisbane, and if it's tapped into it could create 3 really strong rivalries that add much needed revenue to the game's coffers. Firehawks can take in south-eastern Brisbane, Logan and Redlands, with Dolphins taking in the outer northern suburbs of Brisbane and Moreton Bay Region. Broncos can then focus on the inner north-western suburbs of Brisbane and Ipswich.

 

[Brothers Old Boy]

I think Firehawks are the best bid. They will be able to draw on a strong catchment from the eastern suburbs of Brisbane through to the southern suburbs of Logan. In an ideal world they would work with Wynnum Manly and tap into Redlands. It's within distance of Lang Park, but ideally it would have a stadium closer to home.

At some stage there will need to be boutique stadiums built in southern Brisbane/Logan and Moreton Bay to accommodate 3 teams. Logan is the jewel in the crown as it lies in between Ipswich, Redlands, Gold Coast and Brisbane and is easy to access.

Not everyone can get to Lang Park, so putting a second team there and hoping for massive crowds is unrealistic as it will eat into the Broncos catchment and ignore the people who can't get to the games. Not everyone can afford to live in the snobby and overcrowded inner suburbs of Brisbane and most RL fans live on the outskirts. For now it would be best for the Broncos to serve the northern and western suburbs of Brisbane, plus the diehard fans from Ipswich who can catch the train.

There needs to be a team in the south-east, and Firehawks are the only bid from this area. They could use a redeveloped QEII Stadium at Nathan, which could be on the cards if the 2032 Olympics bid is successful, or work on building a stadium in the northern suburbs of Logan.

Yes, North/West v South/East rivalry covers all regions of the compass. Therefore by virtue of their location, the Firehawks may just have the upper hand.

 

[Pippen94]

Yes, North/West v South/East rivalry covers all regions of the compass. Therefore by virtue of their location, the Firehawks may just have the upper hand.

Big end of town vs big end of town

 

[The Axe of Druss]

RU is a major competitor in Australia. Maybe not as a spectator sport, but definitely at the grassroots and commercial sector. Villanova College forbids its students from playing RL in Term 3 UNLESS they played RU or soccer in Term 2. This sort of crap goes on in most of Brisbane's most prestigious schools, and is aimed at denying children the right to play RL.

As AIC Rugby League, AIC Basketball and AIC Tennis are all played on Saturdays, students must only choose one of these sports to play in Term 3. Those who wish to play AIC Rugby League must play AIC Rugby Union or AIC Football in Term 2 as a prerequisite.

AIC Rugby League trials will begin with coaches assessing players during the AIC Rugby Union season during training and on game day. Extra trial sessions will be put in place to accommodate the AIC Football players after the rugby and football season which will of course be more specific to Rugby League. We believe AIC Rugby League will be a very popular option within the Villanova College community.

In preparation of the season ahead, Villanova College has already met with Easts Rugby League Club. Our aim is to further our partnership with Easts and develop our AIC Rugby League program to a very high standard which will develop our students and attract those to our College community who play league at high level.

AIC Rugby League » Villanova College (vnc.qld.edu.au)
​

I worry about the future of RL participation in Brisbane if something isn't done to correct this. A second and even a third team in Brisbane will suck so much oxygen up from the local media it'll make kids want to play RL as it's the cool sport in town, regardless of the posh schools telling them they must play soccer or RU.

Easts Leagues Club and their home ground is across the road from Villanova, so there's a real opportunity for the ARLC to make the school an RL powerhouse.

Thats a bit of hyperbole dont you think? The majority of Qlds RL talent comes from the public school system, not the top end private schools

 

[Jamberoo]

I know I sound like a broken record when I talk about this, but I think we must remember that Storm and Adelaide aren't in a like for like situation. The Storm were fortunate to have News Ltd and the ARLC back the club to the tune of $100m over 20 years, and were able to assemble a competitive team from day 1 by virtue of taking players from 3 clubs that were made defunct just months earlier. That situation will not repeat itself for Adelaide.

News Ltd is struggling and never had any ambition of putting a team in Adelaide. They could have made Perth a power house in half the time and at a fraction of the cost than it took to crack the Melbourne market, but they chose Melbourne due to its population.

Perth is comparable to Brisbane in size and its parochialism for its teams, so it's fair to assume it will be ahead of Adelaide in the pecking order for an NRL team. There are commercial opportunities to be gained from having a team in Perth that Adelaide is not yet in a position to provide. I'm not writing Adelaide off in the future, but I think the work that needs to be done is so great and the ambition to do it isn't there, so it's at least 20 years away from being a realistic possibility. In the mean time I hope we put a team in Australia's 4th largest city and start growing the game in Adelaide from the bottom up. I'd go as far as to take Magic Round and the NRL 9's to Adelaide each year after a team is placed in Perth, that way every major city will have access to mainstream RL.

Money should be spent by the ARLC on fielding Perth and Adelaide teams in the Queensland Cup. Semi-pro players might be tempted to relocate to Adelaide and Perth for business opportunities, setting themselves up well for life after football. It'll provide more opportunities for Papuans, Fijians and New Caledonians.

Broadcasters do have too much power over our game, but I don't know if there's much we can do to change it. Our revenue mostly comes from broadcast rights because our crowds and membership numbers aren't strong enough.

We'll have to agree to disagree about 3 teams in Brisbane being too many. Brisbane's urban sprawl is increasing and its road network isn't able to cope with the population boom, so at some stage we will need to look at building boutique stadiums in the outer areas of Greater Brisbane. There is genuine tribalism in Greater Brisbane, and if it's tapped into it could create 3 really strong rivalries that add much needed revenue to the game's coffers. Firehawks can take in south-eastern Brisbane, Logan and Redlands, with Dolphins taking in the outer northern suburbs of Brisbane and Moreton Bay Region. Broncos can then focus on the inner north-western suburbs of Brisbane and Ipswich.

Forget Adelaide. Melbourne has 4 x population and a much higher proportion of NSW & NZ ex-pats who make up much of the Storm support. And to try to start a second tier RL club there would be a financial disaster. Only viable way to keep some interest in the game there is NRL games and the occasional SOO. Perth has more interest in the game and is only challenging due to distance and time zone. Perhaps not worth the ROI.
Brisbane 2 is a no brainer, but the NRL is stuck with all Sydney clubs, so if they want an even number of clubs, Brisbane 3 will be required.
If this was the AFL expanding, they would not be encouraging any bids as such. They would simply work out the long term plan for the number of Brisbane clubs and set up Brisbane 2 themselves on that basis. I.e. Direct all the local clubs in the north and east of the city that there will be a club representing that area and invite them to be part of it, and the same for the south and west clubs down the track.
This is how Fremantle entered in 1994, they set up the club as a new entity, but using the colours of Sth Freo and East Freo and divided the WAFL clubs with half acting as feeder clubs to Freo and half aligned with West Coast. This got a good number of fans on board from day 1.
Entertaining competing bids means that passionate and cashed up RL people are working against each other.
in other words, somehow they need to get Redcliffe and Firehawks to combine their bids. East Coast Dolphins as someone suggested. Not a joint venture but a member based club with two in the board from Easts and Redcliffe and one from Sunshine Coast, Norths and Wynnum-Manly, plus a couple of NRL appointed independents.

 

[MugaB]

Forget Adelaide. Melbourne has 4 x population and a much higher proportion of NSW & NZ ex-pats who make up much of the Storm support. And to try to start a second tier RL club there would be a financial disaster. Only viable way to keep some interest in the game there is NRL games and the occasional SOO. Perth has more interest in the game and is only challenging due to distance and time zone. Perhaps not worth the ROI.
Brisbane 2 is a no brainer, but the NRL is stuck with all Sydney clubs, so if they want an even number of clubs, Brisbane 3 will be required.
If this was the AFL expanding, they would not be encouraging any bids as such. They would simply work out the long term plan for the number of Brisbane clubs and set up Brisbane 2 themselves on that basis. I.e. Direct all the local clubs in the north and east of the city that there will be a club representing that area and invite them to be part of it, and the same for the south and west clubs down the track.
This is how Fremantle entered in 1994, they set up the club as a new entity, but using the colours of Sth Freo and East Freo and divided the WAFL clubs with half acting as feeder clubs to Freo and half aligned with West Coast. This got a good number of fans on board from day 1.
Entertaining competing bids means that passionate and cashed up RL people are working against each other.
in other words, somehow they need to get Redcliffe and Firehawks to combine their bids. East Coast Dolphins as someone suggested. Not a joint venture but a member based club with two in the board from Easts and Redcliffe and one from Sunshine Coast, Norths and Wynnum-Manly, plus a couple of NRL appointed independents.

Yep EAST COAST conglomerate!! would easily dwarf any other bid out there when you have dolphins and easts combined


P.s. that someone was me

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

Thats a bit of hyperbole dont you think? The majority of Qlds RL talent comes from the public school system, not the top end private schools

Snobs send their kids to snobby schools. People from the middle class no longer want their kids to go to a State school. We need to get our game played by as many kids as possible. We cannot afford to lose the rich brats to AwFuL and RU.

Forget Adelaide. Melbourne has 4 x population and a much higher proportion of NSW & NZ ex-pats who make up much of the Storm support. And to try to start a second tier RL club there would be a financial disaster. Only viable way to keep some interest in the game there is NRL games and the occasional SOO. Perth has more interest in the game and is only challenging due to distance and time zone. Perhaps not worth the ROI.
Brisbane 2 is a no brainer, but the NRL is stuck with all Sydney clubs, so if they want an even number of clubs, Brisbane 3 will be required.
If this was the AFL expanding, they would not be encouraging any bids as such. They would simply work out the long term plan for the number of Brisbane clubs and set up Brisbane 2 themselves on that basis. I.e. Direct all the local clubs in the north and east of the city that there will be a club representing that area and invite them to be part of it, and the same for the south and west clubs down the track.
This is how Fremantle entered in 1994, they set up the club as a new entity, but using the colours of Sth Freo and East Freo and divided the WAFL clubs with half acting as feeder clubs to Freo and half aligned with West Coast. This got a good number of fans on board from day 1.
Entertaining competing bids means that passionate and cashed up RL people are working against each other.
in other words, somehow they need to get Redcliffe and Firehawks to combine their bids. East Coast Dolphins as someone suggested. Not a joint venture but a member based club with two in the board from Easts and Redcliffe and one from Sunshine Coast, Norths and Wynnum-Manly, plus a couple of NRL appointed independents.

I like this idea.

 

[Vee]

The frontrunner for NRL expansion has revealed its blueprint. Two Maroon stars are front and centre

• February 24, 2021 9:27am
• GEORGE CLARKE

The man leading the bid for the Brisbane Jets to enter the NRL in 2023 has revealed his blueprint for how – if successful – his side would look.

A decision on the three existing bids is expected later this year with the 17th NRL team expected to be good to go for Round 1 2023. The two other options are the Redcliffe Dolphins and the Brisbane Firehawks.

Nick Livermore is the bid lead for the Jets franchise after his previous venture – the Brisbane Bombers – and the Western Corridor side amalgamated earlier this month.

Here he takes foxsports.com.au through how the Jets want to establish themselves and their blueprint to take the NRL by storm.

THE TALENT

Livermore has made no bones about it. He wants to sign the very best Queenslanders.

Storm duo Harry Grant and Cameron Munster were part of the Maroon’s against-odds Origin victory and are on high on the Jets’ shopping list.

Taking inspiration from how the Broncos and Titans entered the competition, Livermore says the Jets would go shopping for top-shelf talent. .

“As a young guy when the Broncos came in there was Wally Lewis, Gene Miles and Allan Langer competing against the best guys from Sydney,” he told foxsports.com.au.

“I think we can emulate that with a Cameron Munster or Harry Grant. Ultimately more rugby league heroes in Brisbane will attract fans.

“That’s what the success of the Broncos has been built on with (Darren) Lockyer, (Steve) Renouf, (Kevin) Walters, (Glen) Lazarus.

“People wanted to see icons play week in week out and we want to do the same.

“When the Titans came in 2005 they signed Scott Prince at halfback, Preston Campbell at fullback and Luke Bailey in the engine room. They spent a lot of money on marquee players. “Then they got guys like Anthony Laffranchi, Mat Rogers, Mark Minichiello and Ash Harrison. They had their work station and by year four they were a game from the grand final, people seem to forget that about the Titans.

“Absolutely I’d love a Josh Papalii, but he’s very happy in Canberra. Junior Paulo is one of the nicest blokes I’ve ever met.”

Grant comes off contract in 2022, with a mutual option in place between him and the Storm.

Munster, however, is not a free agent until the 2024 season – one year after the successful franchise would enter the NRL.

Livermore, however, does not expect dispensation to be able to land superstar signings.

“I think it would help,” he says. “But to expect that in the competitive environment with the other 16 clubs I’m not holding my breath. You will attract the players anyway with the right coach so you don’t need any dispensations like that. I wouldn’t say no, but I couldn’t see that coming into effect.”

THE COACH

Speaking of the coach and the Jets have been ambitious. Like the on-field talent, they want the best of the best.

Craig Bellamy and Wayne Bennett are the two top targets.

“I come back to culture, you need men who act with integrity and treat people with respect,” Livermore said.
“You want great players but if you can get great people around them, then that culture will continually perform.

“Look at the Storm with how few off-field discretions they have had over the last 20 years compared to other clubs – the culture is strong with guys like Craig Bellamy and (football manager) Frank Ponissi. They don’t put up with garbage. It’s about having someone who can lead a good culture.”

THE MERGER

Before they’ve even started the Jets are already a merger. How rugby league.

The link with the Ipswich club and the city-based Bombers, Livermore argues gives the best of both worlds.

“We looked at the link with Toowoomba and South Logan and between those two places we had Ipswich,” Livermore explains.

“So we said: ‘what’s going to be the best for the game?’ We started the conversation about 18 months ago and we’re still working through some nuances. But ultimately we’re keen to represent the entire south east corner of Queensland together. In terms of the fanbase, there’s more than enough to go around.

“Home would be somewhere in between the two places. You need to be accessible to the media. That’s what the Broncos have done great because they’re at Red Hill. You need radio, TV and print to be easy to get there. Springfield is about as far out of the city I’d like to go. There are a number of factors at play.

“We need a city presence because this is the biggest market between Sydney and Singapore. We want to capture the entire Logan area, moving west to Ipswich and Toowoomba and through the Lockyer Valley which is a really untapped area.

“The Dolphins have just done a partnership with the Warriors, the Storm are linked with the Sunshine Coast Falcons and the Broncos have their clubs, so it’s about maximising the footprint. We’ve identified that is one of the fastest growing regions in the country.”

THE DOLLARS

Livermore says the club won’t be relying on money from licensed clubs to underwrite the football side of the business.

Nor will it be supported by one sole benefactor. The Jets don’t have a Nathan Tinkler, Clive Palmer or Tony Sage, for example.

“We don’t want to rely on people gambling to back up our clubs. I think it can be quite a depressing form of entertainment,” he adds.

“I think we want to move beyond that. It’s quite a narrow view. You’ve got to structure yourself around your digital and commercial partnerships along with private equity.

“It’s also with things like government and television partnerships, corporate hospitality, merchandising, membership, you suddenly have seven or eight silos running to generate revenue. For us it’s about private equity. There’s two investors who are seven-figure investors who I won’t name, but we don’t want one person who underwrites the whole bid. We have commercial guarantees in place over the next five years.”

https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nr...t/news-story/11cd94a9e714ac4e0ad714dbfc10303c

 

[titoelcolombiano]

Long term plan for QLD (2050):

North QLD Cowboys
Redcliffe Dolphins
Brisbane Broncos
Ipswich Jets
Gold Coast Titans

This is a good mix of regions and should do QLD forever at NRL level from then.

 

[flippikat]

Long term plan for QLD (2050):

North QLD Cowboys
Redcliffe Dolphins
Brisbane Broncos
Ipswich Jets
Gold Coast Titans

This is a good mix of regions and should do QLD forever at NRL level from then.

2050? I think this could well be in place by the mid 2030s.. even by the end of THIS decade if the NRL really focus.

 

[Perth Red]

Refreshing to hear their business model doesn't rely on pokies.

 

[The Great Dane]

Long term plan for QLD (2050):

North QLD Cowboys
Redcliffe Dolphins
Brisbane Broncos
Ipswich Jets
Gold Coast Titans

This is a good mix of regions and should do QLD forever at NRL level from then.

2050? I think this could well be in place by the mid 2030s.. even by the end of THIS decade if the NRL really focus.

Yeah let's screw Brisbane by oversaturating it with tiny suburban clubs like we screwed Sydney. What could go wrong right!?

People want to know why the sport isn't as big as it could/should be, or why it's not as big as the AFL, well you reap what you sow.

 

[Brutus the Bulldog]

Someone really needs to get in contact with someone in the “Bombers” half of the Jets bid and convince them that orange and blue is horrendous and should definitely NOT be used.

I really hope they stick with the green and white, as others have mentioned.

 

[The Great Dane]

Someone really needs to get in contact with someone in the “Bombers” half of the Jets bid and convince them that orange and blue is horrendous and should definitely NOT be used.

I really hope they stick with the green and white, as others have mentioned.

The problem isn't that blue and orange don't work, it's that the NRL doesn't need any more blue teams.

There're plenty of orange and blue teams around the world that have more recognisable brands than any of the NRL teams. Take the New York Mets, Edmonton Oilers, or Chicago Bears, for example, nobody in their right mind would say they have bad brands or that their colours don't work.