Divided rugby league fell 25 years ago – but united has it conquered? by Steve Mascord.

[Wb1234]

I don't really want to get into this argument but feel the need to point out what a load of crap your statement above is. I'm ex- Sydney but have lived in the Gold Coast and Brisbane since 2002 and can confirm there is huge support for Sydney teams up here, walk down any street or go to any building site and ask around who supports who and you'll find more Sydney team supporters than Broncos and Cowboy fans. So many footy fans up here hate the Broncos, it's quite amazing. Go to a Titans vs Dragons game at Carrara Stadium and the Dragons fans easily outnumber the insipid Tits crowd.
Sydney clubs irrlelvant ? Imagine a comp without them and what have you got - the Qld teams plus Newi, Canberra and Melbourne - how exciting that would be, how short lived, Fox would go broke in a season.
How did this all start ? With the Qldrs begging to join the NSW comp and play against the big boys down south and even with a virtual state side in the Broncos and coached by arguably the best coach in the world at the time you still had limited success. Then you gave us the Titans (you want to talk "irrelevant", Ladies and Gentlemen I give you the Gold Coast Titans) and the Cowboys, (who I quite like, personally) who haven't set the world on fire but at least represent a much greater portion of Qld than the Brisbane city-centric Broncs. One more thing, the Broncos are one of the most hated teams in the comp, even in Brissie but more so on the Gold Coast and regions and I reckon the whole of Toowoomba, to a man would be happy if they never existed.
I follow the local teams up here, just so I can go to games (I rarely go to Broncos games) and it's a great comp up here and everyone loves their footy but I also know the same supporters are happy to sit down and watch Parra vs Penrith and Manly vs Dragons, I've sat right next to them, in pubs and peoples homes and rarely if ever heard the kind of crap you're spouting. Some good natured state rivalry but no-one wanting to see any Sydney clubs disappear.
For myself I'm happy with the NRL expansion plan so far and welcome with open arms the Dolphins and wish them all the best. I can see them becoming the most popular club in South East Qld in no time, like, by about round 4 I reckon.

You know when reading a post when people are spot on and your post was that

I wish people would stop responding to that gronk

 

[mongoose]

You've made it abundantly clear you don't give a f**k about the death of the BRL and Brisbane's under-representation at the highest level since 1987.

You're also on record saying Brisbane should only have two teams but believe Sydney should have nine. Your stance on this subject is hypocritical and the only way a person could espouse such obvious cognitive dissonance is if they hate Brisbane. You also admitted that Brisbane is the main rival for North Queenslanders. Your hatred extends beyond the Broncos and includes the Greater Brisbane area.

I think if anyone was starting a National League comp from scratch today you wouldn't have 9 teams in Sydney and 2 in Brisbane but not sure what you expect the NRL to do? The comp grew out of the existing Sydney competition. It is what it is.... If TV said - "hey you really need to cull some Sydney teams they are not adding any worth to the competition" then the NRL might put in place some measures but TV doesn't want that.

I do think Brisbane 2 has come far too late and Perth should already have a team. I don't quite understand why this has been so slow coming... I think League in this country is too Origin focussed and as long as that remains a massive cash cow then growth into new markets will be pushed aside.

 

[Wb1234]

I think if anyone was starting a National League comp from scratch today you wouldn't have 9 teams in Sydney and 2 in Brisbane but not sure what you expect the NRL to do? The comp grew out of the existing Sydney competition. It is what it is.... If TV said - "hey you really need to cull some Sydney teams they are not adding any worth to the competition" then the NRL might put in place some measures but TV doesn't want that.

I do think Brisbane 2 has come far too late and Perth should already have a team. I don't quite understand why this has been so slow coming... I think League in this country is too Origin focussed and as long as that remains a massive cash cow then growth into new markets will be pushed aside.

What they should’ve done in the 80s was merge the brl and nswrl then added teams to that

 

[Phil McGrawhan]

I don't really want to get into this argument but feel the need to point out what a load of crap your statement above is. I'm ex- Sydney but have lived in the Gold Coast and Brisbane since 2002 and can confirm there is huge support for Sydney teams up here, walk down any street or go to any building site and ask around who supports who and you'll find more Sydney team supporters than Broncos and Cowboy fans. So many footy fans up here hate the Broncos, it's quite amazing. Go to a Titans vs Dragons game at Carrara Stadium and the Dragons fans easily outnumber the insipid Tits crowd.
Sydney clubs irrlelvant ? Imagine a comp without them and what have you got - the Qld teams plus Newi, Canberra and Melbourne - how exciting that would be, how short lived, Fox would go broke in a season.
How did this all start ? With the Qldrs begging to join the NSW comp and play against the big boys down south and even with a virtual state side in the Broncos and coached by arguably the best coach in the world at the time you still had limited success. Then you gave us the Titans (you want to talk "irrelevant", Ladies and Gentlemen I give you the Gold Coast Titans) and the Cowboys, (who I quite like, personally) who haven't set the world on fire but at least represent a much greater portion of Qld than the Brisbane city-centric Broncs. One more thing, the Broncos are one of the most hated teams in the comp, even in Brissie but more so on the Gold Coast and regions and I reckon the whole of Toowoomba, to a man would be happy if they never existed.
I follow the local teams up here, just so I can go to games (I rarely go to Broncos games) and it's a great comp up here and everyone loves their footy but I also know the same supporters are happy to sit down and watch Parra vs Penrith and Manly vs Dragons, I've sat right next to them, in pubs and peoples homes and rarely if ever heard the kind of crap you're spouting. Some good natured state rivalry but no-one wanting to see any Sydney clubs disappear.
For myself I'm happy with the NRL expansion plan so far and welcome with open arms the Dolphins and wish them all the best. I can see them becoming the most popular club in South East Qld in no time, like, by about round 4 I reckon.

Mate ..you’re just don’t get it .
you’ve lived here for 20 yrs now so technically you’re a QLDer.
& as we have been told on here by the resident fruit loop ..the Broncos should be your second team .
So put aside the hate & embrace them …follow them .
cheer them on .
Why..because they’re not from Syd .
Even though Mr Fruit loop‘s name on here says he wants to get rid of the donkeys …he also has them as a 2nd team & thinks all QLDErs should so the same .

no I’m not making this up .
this is how twisted & contorted his mind is with hate for SYD.

as to your point about the broncos being hated …100% spot on .
I used to work in an Abbatoir (Darling Downs )& we had a footy tippin comp .
Out of about 40 people on our floor there were about 30 RL fans .
there were 3 ..just 3 Bronco fans .
plenty of Dragons
plenty of long suffering Parra fans
plenty of Dogs fans
a few rabbitohs
a few Cows
one lonely Manly fan
& prob one for each of the others

the one common denominator was the hate for the Broncos
No one had them as a 2nd team
they were despised .
& rightly so .

 

[Wb1234]

The good thing is the dolphins really could be a massive club based on the broncos hate

a genuine brisbane derby would be massive for rugby league

 

[Pippen94]

I think if anyone was starting a National League comp from scratch today you wouldn't have 9 teams in Sydney and 2 in Brisbane but not sure what you expect the NRL to do? The comp grew out of the existing Sydney competition. It is what it is.... If TV said - "hey you really need to cull some Sydney teams they are not adding any worth to the competition" then the NRL might put in place some measures but TV doesn't want that.

I do think Brisbane 2 has come far too late and Perth should already have a team. I don't quite understand why this has been so slow coming... I think League in this country is too Origin focussed and as long as that remains a massive cash cow then growth into new markets will be pushed aside.

Aleague put third team in Sydney & Melbourne before second team in Perth, Adelaide & Brisbane. Still no team in Canberra or Gold Coast.

 

[Pippen94]

The good thing is the dolphins really could be a massive club based on the broncos hate

a genuine brisbane derby would be massive for rugby league

Don't you know derby's don't exist?!

 

[Pippen94]

What they should’ve done in the 80s was merge the brl and nswrl then added teams to that

League with mainly Sydney & Brisbane teams would be powerhouse

 

[Pneuma]

I think if anyone was starting a National League comp from scratch today you wouldn't have 9 teams in Sydney and 2 in Brisbane but not sure what you expect the NRL to do? The comp grew out of the existing Sydney competition. It is what it is.... If TV said - "hey you really need to cull some Sydney teams they are not adding any worth to the competition" then the NRL might put in place some measures but TV doesn't want that.

I do think Brisbane 2 has come far too late and Perth should already have a team. I don't quite understand why this has been so slow coming... I think League in this country is too Origin focussed and as long as that remains a massive cash cow then growth into new markets will be pushed aside.

Good post. It’s just a historical fact that we dominated one part of Australia and the other mob dominated the other. They’ll get to 20 teams with coverage of 6 states and maybe one territory but half their teams will be based in one city (effectively). With Perth, NZ 2 and another Brisbane side we’ll cover 4 States, a territory and a second country but with significant player streams from across the whole South Pacific as well as Europe. Just under half our teams will be based in one city.
our mate complaining about the number of Sydney teams in the NRL is pointless.

 

[Canard]

You've made it abundantly clear you don't give a f**k about the death of the BRL and Brisbane's under-representation at the highest level since 1987.

You're also on record saying Brisbane should only have two teams but believe Sydney should have nine. Your stance on this subject is hypocritical and the only way a person could espouse such obvious cognitive dissonance is if they hate Brisbane. You also admitted that Brisbane is the main rival for North Queenslanders. Your hatred extends beyond the Broncos and includes the Greater Brisbane area.

.

 

[siv]

Good post. It’s just a historical fact that we dominated one part of Australia and the other mob dominated the other. They’ll get to 20 teams with coverage of 6 states and maybe one territory but half their teams will be based in one city (effectively). With Perth, NZ 2 and another Brisbane side we’ll cover 4 States, a territory and a second country but with significant player streams from across the whole South Pacific as well as Europe. Just under half our teams will be based in one city.
our mate complaining about the number of Sydney teams in the NRL is pointless.

Across the same physical area in Europe for soccer they have over 20 competitions

Thats why 1 comp being the only RL solution doesnt make sense

 

[Pippen94]

Across the same physical area in Europe for soccer they have over 20 competitions

Thats why 1 comp being the only RL solution doesnt make sense

What's the respective population of those two areas?!

 

[siv]

What's the respective population of those two areas?!

Its 10 fold

But using that factor you still would have 2 to 4 major comps

 

[Pippen94]

Its 10 fold

But using that factor you still would have 2 to 4 major comps

..& how many countries?!

 

[Pneuma]

I

..& how many countries?!

It’s interesting over there as most big comps in larger countries have 20 teams with massive differentials in average attendance up to 800%. But they also have strongly attended lower divisions (which we don’t). The nrl competition has a better level playing field than we might think at times and its administrators are more competent than we realise. Next three years will be interesting.

 

[Pippen94]

I

It’s interesting over there as most big comps in larger countries have 20 teams with massive differentials in average attendance up to 800%. But they also have strongly attended lower divisions (which we don’t). The nrl competition has a better level playing field than we might think at times and its administrators are more competent than we realise. Next three years will be interesting.

Overseas players in aleague always tweet that fans here are obsessed by crowd numbers for some reason.

 

[siv]

..& how many countries?!

There are 44 European nations

 

[Pippen94]

There are 44 European nations

How many countries between LA & NYC?! How many football leagues they got?!

 

[The Mad Hatter]

NRL still has massive potential of a Perth, Adelaide and NZ2 team. There’s thoughts of a PNG and Pacifica team. Plus a Sydney team or two, could conceivably relocate to a Wollongong or Central Coast full time. A fully national footprint will do the game wonders imho.

 

[Pneuma]

Overseas players in aleague always tweet that fans here are obsessed by crowd numbers for some reason.

Because we are. Even comps like the EPL have extreme differences in crowd numbers for clubs 75000 at the top end 10000 at the bottom end. It’s just an accepted fact. Yet here it’s cannon fodder for local posters to whinge endlessly about the fact we have Clubs in the NRL with smaller followings and resources. It’s the way it is everywhere. If anything, our comp is one of the most evened out in the world. Should be proud of it.