Central Coast opinions thread (The "Coast Conundrum")

[Perth Red]

AwFuL rubs its hands with glee every day they wake to see only one pro RL club in Brissie. You will never see AwFuL kill any of its Melbournian clubs, and there are more of them than the NRL has in Sydney.

Brissie lost its entire competition in 1988 and the game has never recovered. I know people who still don’t have a team to follow because once the BRL went, so did their passion for the game. Even Wayne Bennett said he misses the BRL.

they already have and have tried for a while to shift another one. No one is arguing brisbane needs another nrl club, but you are in a very small minority, which sadly includes our myopic chairman, who can’t see the need to grow the nrl into a national competition. And to suggest the game will be better off long term with 4 clubs in Brisbane and one in Gosford over Perth, Adelaide and nz2 is laughable.

 

[Perth Red]

There are only 2,000 registered players in Victoria. Melbourne has 5 million people. That is shit and you know it. The Storm’s presence in the city has done bugger all to encourage Melbournians to choose a Steeden over a Sherran, and they’ve been the most successful club on the field over the last 22 years in Australian sport. Their inability to get people to play the game makes a mockery of your claim that adding a team into Perth and Adelaide team will lead to more people playing the game.

It sure as hell hasn’t translated into an explosion of kids in Melbourne playing the game, despite the onfield success of their team in the ‘sports capital of the world’, so what makes you think Adelaide and Perth will be any different?

You are being very disingenuous when you say the Storm have never gone bust. That’s only because News Ltd and NRL covered all of their losses during their early years, and there were plenty of them. There’s no way they could have funded themselves for the first 15 years of their existence. When News Ltd signed away their 50% stake in the game it was under the guise the ARLC continue to bail out the Storm each year. When you say stupid shit like that you come across as a troll.

AwFuL spend money on the grassroots. Whenever I say the WARL should focus on doing exactly that you whinge like a bitch about how it’s too expensive to run a team in the Queensland Cup or NSW Cup. AwFuL has a second tier competition that includes teams from NT, Queensland, NSW and ACT. If they can do it then why can’t Perth?

Get your buddies from Melbourne Storm to base their reserves in Perth and enter a team in the Queensland Cup. That way Melbourne will add something to the game for once.

for the umpteenth time it’s not the storms job. It’s the nrl’s. Storm are there to give the game a presence, a job they’ve done admirably in the toughest market for RL in the world outside possibly london. The failure of the nrl to capitalise on this presence through well funded grass roots initiatives is nothing short of disgraceful, but hey I guess it’s just easier to say there’s not enough talent. Kids aren’t playing aussie rules in Sydney because of the swans, they’re playing it because it’s presented on a platter to them by the afl. A lesson nrl, or you, hasn’t yet learnt it seems

can’t speak for Adelaide but by the time the Reds entered the winfield cup we had 10k registered players in Perth. Within 5 years of the reds being cut that was down to 1500. So yes there is evidence that an nrl team with a decent grassroots strategy alongside it can grow participation in an afl city.

wasting $1.5million a year on a nsw cup side will do nothing for the grassroots in Perth, all our best kids will still go to nsw and Qlnd cup sides with direct pathways to nrl clubs. If we had $1.5mill , which we don’t, it would be better spent on DO’s, jnr clubs insurance, kit and coach improvement.

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

they already have and have tried for a while to shift another one. No one is arguing brisbane reds another nrl club, but you are in a very small minority, which sadly includes our myopic chairman, who can’t see the need to grow the nrl into a national competition.

Actually there is no majority that wants a national competition. None of the ARLC Chairman have wanted it. Gallop always spoke about Logan and Ipswich. Smith couldn’t care less about Perth. Greenberg ruled out Perth.

The NRL clubs, QRL and NSWRL have a great deal of control over the ARLC. None of them are keen on expanding the game into Perth and Adelaide. You’ll need to get them on side if you want a team in Perth, not
LU.

News Ltd don’t want a team in Adelaide and Perth. When they won 50% control over the game their first decision was to get rid of Perth. The next year they put a line through Adelaide. They don’t regret their decision.

Ch9. have no desire to expand the game into Perth and Adelaide.

Just accept it, you are part of the minority.

 

[Perth Red]

Actually there is no majority that wants a national competition. None of the ARLC Chairman have wanted it. Gallop always spoke about Logan and Ipswich. Smith couldn’t care less about Perth. Greenberg ruled out Perth.

The NRL clubs, QRL and NSWRL have a great deal of control over the ARLC. None of them are keen on expanding the game into Perth and Adelaide. You’ll need to get them on side if you want a team in Perth, not
LU.

News Ltd don’t want a team in Adelaide and Perth. When they won 50% control over the game their first decision was to get rid of Perth. The next year they put a line through Adelaide. They don’t regret their decision.

Ch9. have no desire to expand the game into Perth and Adelaide.

Just accept it, you are part of the minority.

beattie did “the nrl must expand or it will die”, he then told Todd to get off his arse and look at the viability and options.

we need to make decisions for the good of the game, not at The behest of tv. You think ARL asked 7 and Fox if they could expand? No they expanded then told them it will cost them $50mill for the extra content.

if you don’t think having a strong national metro footprint isn’t part of the reason afl has an annual revenue of $271million more than nrl then you’re deluded

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

for the umpteenth time it’s not the storms job. It’s the nrl’s. Storm are there to give the game a presence, a job they’ve done admirably in the toughest market for RL in the world outside possibly london. The failure of the nrl to capitalise on this presence through well funded grass roots initiatives is nothing short of disgraceful, but hey I guess it’s just easier to say there’s not enough talent. Kids aren’t playing aussie rules in Sydney because of the swans, they’re playing it because it’s presented on a platter to them by the afl. A lesson nrl, or you, hasn’t yet learnt it seems

You want Queensland and NSW to fund development in WA, SA and Mel, but when a Queenslander who has followed the game passionately all of his life says Brissie should have proper representation to reflect its long RL history and passion for the game, you and your expansionist mates more or less say “f___ off, your job as a Queenslander is to play the game, watch the game, fund the game and that’s it, because we’ve decided that you’re not good enough to have your own teams and history”.

You also want to kill clubs in Sydney while telling RL fans in that part of the world that their money should be spent on developing the game in AwFuL wastelands like Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne.

There are clubs in the bush in Queensland and NSW falling over from lack of funding, but you want the ARLC to squander whatever money it has on some useless mission in fumbleball wasteland that probably won’t bear any fruit.

can’t speak for Adelaide but by the time the Reds entered the winfield cup we had 10k registered players in Perth. Within 5 years of the reds being cut that was down to 1500. So yes there is evidence that an nrl team with a decent grassroots strategy alongside it can grow participation in an afl city.

So did the WARL get its 10,500 registered players through AwFuL-style funding from the ARL, or did people play the game because the infrastructure was in place?

You’re not making any sense. One minute you’re saying the Storm aren’t responsible for growing the game in Melbourne. The next you’re saying the axing of the Reds killed participation in Perth.

So what is it, does a team in the top flight grow the game or not?

If the answer is yes, then why haven’t the Storm encouraged more than 2,000 of its 5 million people to pick up a Steeden and sign up for a club?

For all the millions that have been pumped into this shit of a club, they have just 2,000 registered players and produced just 3 local NRL players. That money could have kept God knows how many clubs in the bush alive and kicking.

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

beattie did “the nrl must expand or it will die”, he then told Todd to get off his arse and look at the viability and options.

Peter Beattie is one of the biggest dickheads on Earth. No one takes that idiot seriously.

When he ran the Commonwealth Games it was revealed he put England under ‘Africa’. He probably wouldn’t even be able to locate Perth on a map.

we need to make decisions for the good of the game, not at The behest of tv. You think ARL asked 7 and Fox if they could expand? No they expanded then told them it will cost them $50mill for the extra content.

How did that work out for Ch7 and Foxtel?

Both companies are floundering under debt and tore up their overpriced deal with AwFuL.

Foxtel refuses to commit long term to fumbleball as they don’t see it as value for money. Both codes get the bulk of their broadcast revenue from Foxtel, so this is significant and puts AwFuL in a position of weakness.

if you don’t think having a strong national metro footprint isn’t part of the reason afl has an annual revenue of $271million more than nrl then you’re deluded

It might be part of it, but probably insignificant. Higher attendances to their games would generate a lot of their revenue. The game isn’t pigeonholed as a game played and watched by the working class, so it appeals to more affluent companies. RU is watched by no one but gets big name companies signing up due to the demographic watching it.

Broncos are the most watched team in Australia. If you want your product seen by as many eyeballs as possible, sponsor them.

 

[Perth Red]

Peter Beattie is one of the biggest dickheads on Earth. No one takes that idiot seriously.

When he ran the Commonwealth Games it was revealed he put England under ‘Africa’. He probably wouldn’t even be able to locate Perth on a map.


How did that work out for Ch7 and Foxtel?

Both companies are floundering finder debt and tore up their overpriced deal with AwFuL.

Foxtel refuses to commit long term to fumbleball as they don’t see it as value for money. Both codes get the bulk of their broadcast revenue from Foxtel, so this is significant and puts AwFuL in a position of weakness.

It might be part of it, but probably insignificant. Higher attendances to their games would generate a lot of their revenue. The game isn’t pigeonholed as a game played and watched by the working class, so it appeals to more affluent companies. RU is watched by no one but gets big name companies signing up due to the demographic watching it.

Broncos are the most watched team in Australia. If you want your product seen by as many eyeballs as possible, sponsor them.

Regardless of your opinion of Beattie I once again showed how wrong you are, you said no chairman has shown interest, clearly the last one did.
worked out beautifully for afl, they continue to grow their national footprint and position as Australia’s only national footy code and tv paid for most of it.
You want to make a bet that fox sign an extension with afl? Happy to put up any amount you wish. They’re playing games but they need afl as much as they need nrl. They can’t afford to drop 45% of their sports subscribers. I suspect fox got a very good deal from vlandys and afl won’t give the same good deal so they are digging in.

Afl gets massively more revenue, I suspect by time you add in attendance revenue from SOO and other nrl event games there wouldn’t be a lot of revenue difference from fan attendance. more tv revenue, more sponsorship revenue are the big differences. A big part of that is due to their footprint.
As a national company would you rather sponsor a competition that is in every major capital city or one that’s in 60% of them?
Broncos sponsor/corporate revenue is less than WC Eagles, why do you think that is?

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

Regardless of your opinion of Beattie I once again showed how wrong you are, you said no chairman has shown interest, clearly the last one did.

So why isn’t there a team in Perth if Media Tart Beattie was so keen on it?

Did he mention where he wanted to expand the game?

worked out beautifully for afl, they continue to grow their national footprint and position as Australia’s only national footy code and tv paid for most of it.

You think that soccer doesn’t have a national footprint?

AwFuL couldn’t care less about what the NRL does in Perth. All they care about is what happens in Brissie and Sydney. There was a piece in the paper from one of the fumblers running scared about Brissie 2 and PVL.

You want to make a bet that fox sign an extension with afl? Happy to put up any amount you wish. They’re playing games but they need afl as much as they need nrl. They can’t afford to drop 45% of their sports subscribers. I suspect fox got a very good deal from vlandys and afl won’t give the same good deal so they are digging in.
Afl gets massively revenue, more tv revenue, more sponsorship revenue and more finals attendance revenue. A big part of that is due to their footprint.
As a national company would you rather sponsor a competition that is in every major capital city or one that’s in 60% of them?
Broncos sponsor/corporate revenue is less than WC Eagles, why do you think that is?

You are speculating like usual, so I won’t delve into it. I told you why AwFuL and onionball get high end sponsors. Onionball isn’t national nor is it popular, but like fumbleball, it has friends in high places because of the demographics it appeals to. Putting an NRL team into Perth and Adelaide isn’t going to make high end of society think of RL as a rich man’s game. It will still be perceived as a blue collar game by the big suits.

AwFuL is hardly in Brissie and Sydney from a commercial perspective. The game is buried on the multi channels in those markets because no one watches it. Advertisers would be foolish to throw their money at the Lions and Swans if their aim is to win over the people from those markets. They could get their product seen by more people by running an ad during the 8.30 Friday movie in Brissie and Sydney.

 

[Perth Red]

So why isn’t there a team in Perth if Media Tart Beattie was so keen on it?

Did he mention where he wanted to expand the game?


You think that soccer doesn’t have a national footprint?

AwFuL couldn’t care less about what the NRL does in Perth. All they care about is what happens in Brissie and Sydney. There was a piece in the paper from one of the fumblers running scared about Brissie 2 and PVL.

You are speculating like usual, so I won’t delve into it. I told you why AwFuL and onionball get high end sponsors. Onionball isn’t national nor is it popular, but like fumbleball, it has friends in high places because of the demographics it appeals to. Putting an NRL team into Perth and Adelaide isn’t going to make high end of society think of RL as a rich man’s game. It will still be perceived as a blue collar game by the big suits.

AwFuL is hardly in Brissie and Sydney from a commercial perspective. The game is buried on the multi channels in those markets because no one watches it. Advertisers would be foolish to throw their money at the Lions and Swans if their aim is to win over the people from those markets. They could get their product seen by more people by running an ad during the 8.30 Friday movie in Brissie and Sydney.

He commissioned a full review, the first leader to do so since 1990. Vlandys came in and said it would be Brisbane only before the review was even finished.
Beattie saying “Perth has a lot going for it”
https://thewest.com.au/sport/rugby-...al-rugby-league-eyes-expansion-ng-b881214788z


"The vision of the game is really simple; we have to expand," Beattie said.
"We are in a very competitive environment for entertainment ... You've got to be flexible and have a strategy.
"When you've got that level of competition you need to do that. The game needs to expand or it will die."
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/beattie-says-nrl-must-expand-or-die

FACT is afl has a Much stronger capital city footprint, FACT is afl has massive more revenue, FACT is AFL has a vision as Australia’s national football code.
Meanwhile vlandys wants suburban grounds and Another heartland club only, sigh.

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

He commissioned a full review, the first leader to do so since 1990. Vlandys came in and said it would be Brisbane only before the review was even finished.
Beattie saying “Perth has a lot going for it”
https://thewest.com.au/sport/rugby-...al-rugby-league-eyes-expansion-ng-b881214788z


"The vision of the game is really simple; we have to expand," Beattie said.
"We are in a very competitive environment for entertainment ... You've got to be flexible and have a strategy.
"When you've got that level of competition you need to do that. The game needs to expand or it will die."
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/beattie-says-nrl-must-expand-or-die

FACT is afl has a Much stronger capital city footprint, FACT is afl has massive more revenue, FACT is AFL has a vision as Australia’s national football code.
Meanwhile vlandys wants suburban grounds and Another heartland club only, sigh.

FACT is Beattie is a blowhard.

FACT is Brissie is more important to the game than Perth.

I think Perth will get in at some stage, but there are other areas above it in priority. Strengthening Queensland keeps the game's money drawer, Origin, alive and kicking. Brissie 2 and 3 are a necessary over the next 20 years to help the game stay ahead of the competition. Us Queenslanders are parochial and will not take kindly to seeing another fumbleball state given priority at our expense when we have been the main casualty of the Storm's vile blood sucking machine. You cannot say with a straight face that the Storm are a success when they are behind the Lions, Swans and every Melbournian AwFuL club in all metrics despite being more successful on the field.

I cannot see any advantage to adding Perth. It won't add anfthing to the TV deal. It won't grow the player base to levels that match QRL, NSWRL or CRL. It won't offer the Kangaroos any real advantage over our opponents. The two hour time difference works against it.

NZ2 might add value to the NZ TV rights and give NZ a weekly game. It's just a matter of finding a city or cities big enough to support it. Maybe the South Pacific Cyclones bid could fill the void, drawing the country's Tongan, Samoan and Fijian population together and enticing them to choose RL over RU. It could also be a destination for players from PNG.

PNG has potential too, being the only country that has RL as its national sport and around 10 million people. It is growing and in the same time zone as Brissie and Sydney.

Brissie 3 and 4 create local derbies, which create fever-like atmosphere across the city in the week leading up to the match. The Cowboys vs Broncos rivalry is the biggest in the game these days. Add another 2 or 3 teams to Brissie and you will have 4 to 6 genuine local derbies at Lang Park involving the Broncos, plus games against NQ and GC. The TV ratings for it would be through the roof. AwFuL wouldn't be able to compete against that. Neither could onionball. Players from Briseie will have more opportunities to chase their dream without having to leave home. You keep ignoring its importance, but TV would love the increase in ratings in Brissie and would be willing to pay the game more money. Crowds are never going to be like AwFuL, so we will always be heavily reliant on broadcast revenue. The RLPA will welcome the increase in funding and more options for players from southeast Queensland to live in their home city. Clubs will also welcome thbr extra money. You won't get that from a Perth team.

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

And to suggest the game will be better off long term with 4 clubs in Brisbane and one in Gosford over Perth, Adelaide and nz2 is laughable.

It's laughable to suggest that plonking teams I'm Adelaide and Perth is going to lead to 10s of thousands of kids picking up a Steeden over a Sherran and choosing to watch RL over fumbleball. The Storm have only convinced 2,000 of Melbourne's 5,000,000 people to play the game, and most are probably Queenslanders, New South Welshmen and New Zealanders. That's despite the Storm fielding the most dominate team in Australian sport over the last 22 years in the sports capital of the world. Hundreds of millions of dollars wasted for no result.

Why would they repeat the same mistake in Adelaide and Perth and how would this exercise in insanity benefit the game?

There's been no long term benefit to having the Storm, just a lot of short term pain. Adding Perth and Adelaide would triple it. The ARLC, Ch9 and News Ltd are not as stupid as you think.

How many times have I asked you to state where NZ2 would go, considering only 1 metro area in the country has 1 million people and it already has a team and only averages 18 thousand?

You are the one who said no teams for small cities, which basically rules out all of NZ. Yet you continually dodge this question because you cannot answer it.

I have explained the short and long term benefits behind having 4 Brissie teams and 1 in Gosford. You don't want to know as you're not interested in facts. You're an idealist who won't shut up until everyone bows down to your fanciful demands and funds them with their money.

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

wasting $1.5million a year on a nsw cup side will do nothing for the grassroots in Perth, all our best kids will still go to nsw and Qlnd cup sides with direct pathways to nrl clubs. If we had $1.5mill , which we don’t, it would be better spent on DO’s, jnr clubs insurance, kit and coach improvement.

If the WARL cannot stump up $1.5 million then how on Earth are they going to fund an NRL club?

The ARLC would look at that and say "too risky" should the inevitable happen.

You reckon it will cost up to $30 million a year to run an NRL club.

Can you be sure Tony Sage and Peter Cumins will put that sort of money into a Perth team for the next 20 years?

 

[Perth Red]

Nz2 based in Wellington (pop 500k and growing) but with a brand that also encompasses the South Island with games played down there as well. NZ is one of the biggest player nurseries and the game long term needs to grow interest and opportunity across that country.

There is no such entity as the WARL! No second tier club is able to fund themselves through football operations only. They all are funded through pokies, nrl clubs or the nrl. There isnt enough money generation in our current second tier to self sustain a club.

Beattie might be a drongo but he’s the only leader we’ve had in the last decade to show interest in growing the top tier and the only one whose done anything about it with the commissioning of a viability study.

No ones arguing brisbane isn’t more valuable than perth, or that there should be a Brisbane2 club (though I do think people are being wildly optimistic that they will be a huge success from day one) but the game needs to become a national sport Over the coming decades if it is to ever make up the massive gap that currently exists between us and afl.

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

Nz2 based in Wellington (pop 500k and growing) but with a brand that also encompasses the South Island with games played down there as well. NZ is one of the biggest player nurseries and the game long term needs to grow interest and opportunity across that country.

There is no such entity as the WARL! No second tier club is able to fund themselves through football operations only. They all are funded through pokies, nrl clubs or the nrl. There isnt enough money generation in our current second tier to self sustain a club.

Beattie might be a drongo but he’s the only leader we’ve had in the last decade to show interest in growing the top tier and the only one whose done anything about it with the commissioning of a viability study.

No ones arguing brisbane isn’t more valuable than perth, or that there should be a Brisbane2 club (though I do think people are being wildly optimistic that they will be a huge success from day one) but the game needs to become a national sport Over the coming decades if it is to ever make up the massive gap that currently exists between us and afl.

Cricket is Australia's one and only national sport. Fumbleball is played in the southern states and has a few yuppies in Brissie and Sydney who put Swans and Lions on their Facebook page to fit in with their corporate mates from Melbourne. RL is a QLD and NSW game. In 100 years it will be much the same.

In Pakistan and India there are areas where hockey is more popular than cricket. That's how the world works. It's not monolithic.

Logan has 326,000 people and is RL mad. NZ doesn't care about RL as much as RU, especially outside of Auckland. You are against cities like Logan having a team. For you to advocate basing a team in Wellington proves you are a massive hypocrite and one that cannot be taken seriously.

I suspect you just want to bring down Brissie and Sydney because Australia has been kicking England's arse for 46 years.

Maybe you think 'mighty mighty' England will finally win a major tournament involving Australia if Brissie and Sydney are stripped back?

God knows with you.

 

[Perth Red]

Cricket is Australia's one and only national sport. Fumbleball is played in the southern states and has a few yuppies in Brissie and Sydney who put Swans and Lions on their Facebook page to fit in with their corporate mates from Melbourne. RL is a QLD and NSW game. In 100 years it will be much the same.

.

Keep telling yourself that of it helps you sleep better. Meanwhile AFL continues to pull away and dwarf RL. $271million a year more revenue. Just let that sink in and consider what advantage that gives them.

lol, take it from someone whose been there no where in Pakistan is hockey more popular than cricket! They make AFL fans look like apathetic NRL fans when it comes to fanaticism for cricket. Of course NSW and Qland will always be League (barring some Union style melt down) but you dont have to own an area, just own a share of it on top of the areas you dominate.

I'm against Logan having a team as there is a better option, a city wide appealing Brisbane club, or at the very least half a city appeal. There is no better option in NZ than either Auckland 2, but I think that would damage the Warriors too much, or the Southern Orcas concept based in next biggest city but with a wider regional appeal and reach.

I want to see the game grow and overtake AFL as the countries biggest footy code. It cant do that by consolidation, only by expansion.

re England, not really, sure I would love to see us win an ashes or RLWC before I cark it but when you compare the money gap in both hemispheres I'm staggered we are as close as we are. SL clubs operate on less than half of NRL clubs revenue and jnr funding would be a tenth in UK. If anything Id say Australia are under performers given the advantages they have, bit like the Broncos really.

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

Keep telling yourself that of it helps you sleep better. Meanwhile AFL continues to pull away and dwarf RL. $271million a year more revenue. Just let that sink in and consider what advantage that gives them.

More scoring plays in fumbleball mean more commercial breaks for a game that is played 20 minutes longer than RL. TV networks have stated this works against RL. Putting teams in Perth and Adelaide isn't going to add an extra 20 minutes to each match and increase the amount of advertising breaks for commercials.

What part of this do you not understand?

Fumbleball's memberships and crowds are twice the size of the NRL. They make far more money from gate keepings than the NRL does and are taking a massive hit from COVID-19 because of it. This will hurt them for years to come.

I will note that the biggest crowds and membership bases for fumbleball come from the city that has the most clubs.

lol, take it from someone whose been there no where in Pakistan is hockey more popular than cricket!

I am basing it on what I have heard from other people who have spent a lot of time in Pakistan.

I'm against Logan having a team as there is a better option, a city wide appealing Brisbane club, or at the very least half a city appeal.

Brissie is big enough to have
4 clubs, including one specifically for Logan.

You're not from Brissie and you know nothing about the area, so it's rich for you to tell people from Brissie what we can and cannot have. We will decide what we want, thank you very much.

Brissie needs 4 teams. Brisbane 1 ( Broncos), Brissie 2, Logan and Ipswich would work.

There is no better option in NZ than either Auckland 2, but I think that would damage the Warriors too much, or the Southern Orcas concept based in next biggest city but with a wider regional appeal and reach.

There is no viable bid from NZ but plenty from Brissie. I think that says everything we need to know about where the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th teams should be from.

Does NZ deserve to even have a team in the NRL?

They don't have an Aussie RU team in their national competition, and the ARU could use one, that's for sure. Maybe it's time for Australia to look after itself and tell NZ to stand on their own two feet for once. Let them create their own competition, instead of demanding us Aussies to pay their way and make spots available for them at the expense of areas in Australia.

Why should Australia always bail them out?

What do we get out of it?

I want to see the game grow and overtake AFL as the countries biggest footy code. It cant do that by consolidation, only by expansion.

re England, not really, sure I would love to see us win an ashes or RLWC before I cark it but when you compare the money gap in both hemispheres I'm staggered we are as close as we are. SL clubs operate on less than half of NRL clubs revenue and jnr funding would be a tenth in UK. If anything Id say Australia are under performers given the advantages they have, bit like the Broncos really.

England haven't defeated Australia in a match since 2006.

The media and big businesses will always favour fumbleball due to its ties with the upper-class. Plonking teams in Adelaide and Perth won't change it.

If you think it will, you're deluded. After 22 years of unrivaled success on the field, the Storm are still a failure off it. Only 2,000 people in Victoria play the game for goodness sake. Don't ramble on about a lack of development officers being the reason. If a kid likes a game they will ask mummy and daddy to play it. There are clubs in Victoria. They don't need a development officer to come knocking on their door and guide them to the local club and bribe them with a backpack and McHappy meal from Macca's. Daddy can pick up the Yellow Pages. When I was a kid I would look up the local clubs in the Yellow Pages. It's not hard.

 

[The Great Dane]

re England, not really, sure I would love to see us win an ashes or RLWC before I cark it but when you compare the money gap in both hemispheres I'm staggered we are as close as we are. SL clubs operate on less than half of NRL clubs revenue and jnr funding would be a tenth in UK. If anything Id say Australia are under performers given the advantages they have, bit like the Broncos really.

I think if the NRL actually focused solely on developing Australia and Australian players that suddenly Australia would shoot out ahead again.

In every case (even England really) the other nations have only really started to catch up to Australia once a core group players that represent that country are playing in the NRL. Also if you take out all the players that are really just Australians, Kiwis, and Englishmen wearing different coloured shirts, suddenly a lot of nations teams don't look so hot.

Basically what I'm saying is that the worst thing that could ever happen to international RL would be for the ARLC and NRL to take it seriously, if they did it'd literally kill international RL overnight, but this is an aside.

 

[The Great Dane]

England haven't defeated Australia in a match since 2006.

Actually it's not since 1995.

 

[flippikat]

Does NZ deserve to even have a team in the NRL?

They don't have an Aussie RU team in their national competition, and the ARU could use one, that's for sure. Maybe it's time for Australia to look after itself and tell NZ to stand on their own two feet for once. Let them create their own competition, instead of demanding us Aussies to pay their way and make spots available for them at the expense of areas in Australia.

You're not comparing like with like.

In no way does the money in Mitre 10 Cup (NZ RU Provincial Championship) compare to the money in the NRL. The money is in Super Rugby, and there's FOUR Aussie teams there.

RU had to create Super Rugby in the first place because NZ realised in 1995 that any purely domestic competition would not have the money it needs to resist big offers from Europe/Japan. In fact even with Super Rugby's money, NZ RU *still* needs to maintain a "must play in NZ" rule for All Black eligibility.. just to offer players that one thing that offshore money can't buy!

What's that got to do with League? Well, if Rugby Union - far and away the nation's biggest sport - can't compete in the player market on purely financial terms, then there's no way a domestic NZ RL competition would be able to compete with NRL & Superleague offers.

So you're basically saying that our lot is to be one big set of feeder competitions to the NRL/Superleague, without any team of our own at the table, so locals here in NZ hardly ever see top-shelf RL on these shores.

 

[The Great Dane]

So you're basically saying that our lot is to be one big set of feeder competitions to the NRL/Superleague, without any team of our own at the table, so locals here in NZ hardly ever see top-shelf RL on these shores.

To be fair that is the lot of most comparatively small or poor nations in most sports.

I mean take PNG and the other PI's in RL (or RU for that matter) or most nations, including Australia, in sports like soccer or basketball. Glorified feeder comps is pretty much the best they can hope for.

The only reason it's different with RL in NZ is because the NRL wishes it to be so, that may sound a bit harsh but you can't deny that it's true.