This is exactly the attitude I'm talking about. It's all about the aggrandisement of Brisbane, Queensland's RL legacy, or whatever it is you think you are representing/protecting, at the expense of what is in the interest of the sport as a whole.
The fundamental difference between people like you and me is that you put the interests of your club over those of the game as a whole. You'd kill the sport as a commercial product if you thought it'd suit your club, where I'd murder the Raiders in a heartbeat if I truly believed it was in RL's interests going forward.
Your nonsense narrative about the Raiders is comedy gold BTW.
If you care so much for the good of the game then you'll advocate for the Raiders to relocate to Adelaide, yeah?
Canberra is not one of the five metro areas and they draw shit ratings in Brisbane and Sydney because ACT is a separate territory in the middle of no where. Adelaide is one of the 5 metro areas.
I know what you and The Goose will say.
"Cowboys and Titans are also regional".
Yes, Cowboys and Titans are regional clubs, but the former draws a lot of support in Brisbane. The latter is included in the Brisbane OzTam ratings. Both clubs matter to rugby league fans in Brisbane and draw good ratings for Ch9. Raiders don't mean anything to anyone from Brisbane and Sydney. The only person in Brisbane who follows them is some wanker from Canberra who won't live down there because he reckons it's a shitty boring city. He also thinks the ARU and ARLC have conspired with one another to not have an NRL team in Perth, so forgive me for thinking he's a nutcase. If a Raiders fan won't live in Canberra, what chance does the club have of enticing marquee players from interstate to sign with them?
What part of my alleged narrative is wrong?
Canberra were a basketcase until they poached Meninga, Belcher, Bennett, the Walters brothers and plenty of other Queenslanders from the BRL. Their last premiership was Mal Meninga's final rugby league game in 1994.
What has Canberra won since the BRL died in 1997?
Ch9 won't touch them with a 10 foot pole because they're worthless to the commercial sector. The Raiders Group has bought up God knows how many sporting clubs in SEQ to offset their poor returns from football operations. They're a classic example of a club that provides nothing and relies heavily on Queensland and NSW for survival, yet their fans want to dictate how the game is run in Brisbane and Sydney.
Yeah just like Fox demanding Western United and Macarthur Bulls lol. That was such a big oof that the APL are trying to rush through another round of expansion to right the wrong.
The broadcasters first priority is their own businesses, and their interests and the NRL and RL's interests don't always align. In fact very rarely, if ever, do the broadcasters interests completely align with the league's.
I don't disagree with what you're saying here. It doesn't change the fact our game is practically governed by the broadcasters because that's where it sources the bulk of its income. Officials who've tried to stand up to te broadcastera have been knifed in the back by the clubs and RLPA because all they care about is the money on offer from Ch9 and Foxtel. Based on those parameters we're highly unlikely to see the game head in the direction that you and The Goose want it to go.
