Hahaha
I'm hopeful that bringing back the Bears as a powerful team will mean the relocation of a struggling Sydney team. We could kill three birds with one stone (bringing back an old club/fans, expanding to the CC and expanding somewhere else outside NSW).
The Central Coast is probably the only place left that would accept a relocated Sydney team - the only other two were Campbelltown (who gladly accepted the Jets and then the Magpies) and the Illawarrra, who I feel would have accepted the Dragons, but got the Steelers in first, and eventually the Dragons.
Other areas outside NSW would just whinge. And apart from a second Brisbane side, nowhere really stands out as a place to move that would actually save a club. Perth and especially Adelaide would need lots of $ poured in - a struggling club ironically would less afford this scenario then a current one. Besides, Cronulla are the only ones who have given interstate relocation serious thought. Souths have fiddled with the CC, as well as western Sydney (with ANZ) but their fanbase is so decentralised that there is no one area with a glut of fans unlike, say, Penrith or Manly. The Dogs and Dragons have been mobile with their home grounds, and Saints have fallen back on Kogarah and Wollongong where they started. Canterbury at ANZ is close to their territory anyway.
The CC have had a number of teams play home games, but the Northern Eagles stank of Manly - a team that polarises, while Souths also smelled of a Norths takeover that would just not work - and usually lost anyway. Easts and others have taken home games against the Knights there, so I guess Knights fans have resulted in the area.
Still, no one put into that area like Norths, and the coasties know it (see Timmah as an example - mad Doggies fan to the death but realises Norths moral claims to the area). Plus, Norths have never really gone away - the dream has not died - and they have always been the team most likely to call Gosford home.
I have no doubts. I look at how well the Dockers, Force and to an earlier degree Glory have done since the demise of the Reds and shake my head in disbelief at the shortsightedness of our game.
My urgency for the game in WA is the Force coming in. We are in great danger of losing our jnr players that we have worked so hard to grow over the last few years now WARU have the $'s, profile and career structure to entice them to RU.
I am surprised there has been no official bid team from Wellington. Given before they were so desperate they were considering joining the ESL I would have thought they would have resurrected the Orcas bid?
Spot on - as soon as Yawnion got in there whatever could be salvaged from the Reds was in danger. The problem with Yawnion is they have a Super League style funding - ie reliant on the ARL for main funding, player contracts and leadership. If the ARL suffer hard times (ie now), regardless of what the WA economy is doing, the Farce will suffer with it.
A string Reds push into the NRL would be a more exciting prospect for potential backers than the Force - not because of the dubious "national comp" advertising claims, but because the NRL is a bigger stage in Australia than SANZAR. 3 FTA games per round as opposed to none. The highest rating Poxtel programs as opposed to fillers for special interest groups. A season from March to October with support from the biggest sporting event in the country (Origin) and a month of high rating international footy (Quad series). Yes, Yawnion has a Tri nations test v Springbocks, but League could easily have a test v GB there, and I think an Origin would be on the cards too - surely Perth could match or better Melbourne's Origin crowds.
The big hurdle is finding someone with the guts and nouse to sew it all together.
