David Gallop: I'll fight to save all Sydney clubs
By Steve Mascord | August 01, 2008 12:00am
Standing up for Sydney ... David Gallop. / The Daily Telegraph
NRL chief executive David Gallop last night responded to calls for Sydney clubs to be culled by making a shock offer to prop them up financially.
As Sonny Bill Williams' defection to rugby union continued to prompt calls for a return to Perth, Adelaide and other expansion areas, Gallop made a landmark statement when quizzed by The Daily Telegraph.
There may be long-standing incentives on offer for clubs to relocate - but the NRL is also willing to consider helping them stay put.
"We're not in the situation that the AFL in Melbourne is in, where clubs are actually getting financial assistance," he said. "But if it gets to that point we'll have to consider that to maintain our saturation coverage across the city."
Asked if he thought the NRL would be needed to bail out cash-strapped Sydney clubs, Gallop said: "Not at the moment."
While Gallop has previously offered up to $11 million to clubs which relocate, there has never before been any indication the NRL would help teams remain in Sydney.
Expansionists have come out of the woodwork since Williams boarded a plane to Toulon on Saturday, saying the only way the game can maximise its television and sponsorship revenue is by going everywhere from previously abandoned WA and South Australia to Coffs Harbour, Darwin, Port Moresby, Ipswich, Wellington and the Sunshine Coast.
Roosters coach Brad Fittler yesterday joined the likes of CEOs Michael Searle, Brian Waldron and Bruno Cullen in calling for further expansion and/or relocation - at the expense of traditional teams.
But in a hard-hitting interview, Gallop declared Perth and Adelaide will not be ready for the new TV contract in 2013.
"I'm not a fan of the idea that cutting teams in Sydney is the answer," he said.
"People are quick to say 'Let's cut clubs' but they're not so quick to say which ones. Culling Sydney teams ignores the huge advantage we get with saturation in the most competitive market in the country.
"Apart from the pain it causes for fans, it leaves holes for other codes to fill. Look at the north shore since the Bears left the comp.
"Does the game really want places like Cronulla or Penrith or Campbelltown or Manly to have no rugby league team?
"I don't think Perth and Adelaide will be ready, there won't be the interest . . . by then."
Gallop said his stand was based partly on the geographical differences between Sydney and Melbourne.
"We've got quite isolated communities in some of the places that I just named," he said. "Manly is an example of a community that is actually reasonably isolated. There are people who drive over the Spit Bridge on Friday night and have no intention of going back until Monday morning.
"There's a good chance if there's no team playing out of Brookvale, those people are not going to the footy.
"Penrith the same, Cronulla the same. In Melbourne, people tend to travel into the city to the grounds with relative ease."
He repeated early comments that "the Central Coast is the obvious next target".
"The simple fact is that Coffs Harbour and the Sunshine Coast don't have the facility or the community to support a football club that needs to be turning over at least $12 million a year," he said in response to Fittler's comments.
"We certainly want to do some work to research growth areas and look at where our best returns will come from.
"We've already started that project."
