NRL clubs don't want Bears in their backyard
Greg Prichard
December 1, 2010
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...t-bears-in-their-backyard-20101130-18fga.html
THE bid by the Central Coast Bears for admittance to the NRL is lacking crucial support from existing clubs.
Sources have told the Herald that at the two-day annual conference of NRL club chief executives and chairmen in Byron Bay, which finished yesterday, there was a majority belief that expanding in other areas would better suit the competition.
The addition of a club from Perth and another from Queensland - either central Queensland or west of Brisbane - emerged as the preferences in discussion. But while the consensus was that expansion was a positive for the game at the appropriate time, that may not be 2013, as has been widely expected - and there may not be any additions to the 16-team premiership before 2015.
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The new free-to-air and pay television deals are scheduled to be in place in time for the start of the 2013 season, and existing clubs are keen to use the anticipated increase in funds to try to boost their own profitability before the financial pie is cut into thinner slices.
The power of the clubs is increasing as the founding of an independent commission to run the game nears completion. The clubs are more likely to join forces on major issues, as demonstrated by the push from NSW clubs to install their representatives in key positions at the NSWRL this Friday.
The commission will be responsible for making big decisions in the future, but the clubs will still have a major influence on the direction the game takes - particularly when they stick together.
Perth has support from the clubs as an area for expansion for three reasons: because the time difference between there and the eastern states would allow it to fit in nicely with live television programming; nib Stadium is already available as a venue and the economy there is seen to be booming.
It is understood there are influential figures in Perth who would be prepared to get behind a bid there.
A fourth Queensland team would increase the number of Queensland derbies that could be staged - another plus for television. NRL chief executive David Gallop was in Rockhampton last week to meet the central Queensland bid team.
Gallop refused to discuss the pros and cons of expansion bids when contacted by the Herald last night, but said that ''while we discussed the 18-team scenario, it's clear we need to have more profitability in our [existing] clubs before we expand''.
Referring to potential new clubs, Gallop added: ''Not only would they need to have viable business plans for themselves, but they would have to show they could add something to the overall health of the game.''
The club chairmen and chief executives yesterday decided that from next season, games in week one of the finals series that included a Sydney team as the higher-ranking side would not be played at that team's home ground, but at either Sydney Football Stadium or ANZ Stadium.
Clubs have been reluctant to switch such games from their home grounds in the past, but there has been a change in attitude that now sees the maximisation of revenue as a priority ahead of home ground advantage. Huge attendances at games played at ANZ Stadium during later stages of the finals in the past two seasons has had an influence there.
Gallop described that decision as a positive example of the need for the game to continue to make important decisions ahead of the independent commission being operative, and not just tread water in the meantime.
