source: http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/...ders-consider-joint-nsw-cup-side/1982324.aspx
Dragons, Raiders consider joint NSW Cup side
It won't eventuate anyway, but some offseason reading..............
TIM BARROW
29 Oct, 2010 01:00 AM
Joint venture club St George Illawarra could take the extraordinary step of forming a partnership with NRL rivals Canberra to field a team in the NSW Cup next year.
The Mercury can reveal that club boss Peter Doust and Canberra chief executive Don Furner have held talks with NSWRL general manager Geoff Carr about several options including a combined Dragons-Raiders team.
The NSW Cup is already set to include a Melbourne-Cronulla alliance in 2011 in a bid to cut costs for the NRL clubs.
The high-level discussions come after the collapse of a deal that would have seen Carlton League powerhouse Wests taking over from Shellharbour as St George Illawarra's feeder team.
However, the NSWRL and the reigning premiers are still hopeful of Wests backing the team if they can find a way of easing the financial burden of more than $500,000 to run a NSW Cup team.
"They [the Dragons] are clearly of the view they need to be in the competition in some capacity," Carr told the Mercury yesterday. "The issue with the clubs is finance. We've continued discussions with the Dragons; we're hopeful of it working.
"We appreciate the Dragons want a team, but there's additional expense involved to have a team in your own right.
"I'm not going to go any further into what the options are, but we will need to work through it logically and come up with some kind of solution."
While the Dragons officials are optimistic about fielding a team to include their players who are overlooked for the NRL team, there will be major consequences for Canberra.
The Raiders are linked with Queensland Cup club Souths Logan and there are grave fears the Magpies would fold if the NRL club left for the NSW Cup.
But the NSWRL has threatened that Canberra's SG Ball and Harold Matthews teams might not be invited back into the under-age competitions next year if the Raiders refuse to switch to the NSW Cup.
There are also major concerns about who would coach a combined Dragons-Raiders team, because both clubs would want the NSW Cup team's playing style to mirror that of their NRL outfits.
Steelers and Dragons legend Paul McGregor was lined up to coach a NSW Cup team backed by Wests, but has instead signed to again lead the Devils' Carlton League premiership defence after he was left in limbo when the deal collapsed.
Dragons, Raiders consider joint NSW Cup side
It won't eventuate anyway, but some offseason reading..............
TIM BARROW
29 Oct, 2010 01:00 AM
Joint venture club St George Illawarra could take the extraordinary step of forming a partnership with NRL rivals Canberra to field a team in the NSW Cup next year.
The Mercury can reveal that club boss Peter Doust and Canberra chief executive Don Furner have held talks with NSWRL general manager Geoff Carr about several options including a combined Dragons-Raiders team.
The NSW Cup is already set to include a Melbourne-Cronulla alliance in 2011 in a bid to cut costs for the NRL clubs.
The high-level discussions come after the collapse of a deal that would have seen Carlton League powerhouse Wests taking over from Shellharbour as St George Illawarra's feeder team.
However, the NSWRL and the reigning premiers are still hopeful of Wests backing the team if they can find a way of easing the financial burden of more than $500,000 to run a NSW Cup team.
"They [the Dragons] are clearly of the view they need to be in the competition in some capacity," Carr told the Mercury yesterday. "The issue with the clubs is finance. We've continued discussions with the Dragons; we're hopeful of it working.
"We appreciate the Dragons want a team, but there's additional expense involved to have a team in your own right.
"I'm not going to go any further into what the options are, but we will need to work through it logically and come up with some kind of solution."
While the Dragons officials are optimistic about fielding a team to include their players who are overlooked for the NRL team, there will be major consequences for Canberra.
The Raiders are linked with Queensland Cup club Souths Logan and there are grave fears the Magpies would fold if the NRL club left for the NSW Cup.
But the NSWRL has threatened that Canberra's SG Ball and Harold Matthews teams might not be invited back into the under-age competitions next year if the Raiders refuse to switch to the NSW Cup.
There are also major concerns about who would coach a combined Dragons-Raiders team, because both clubs would want the NSW Cup team's playing style to mirror that of their NRL outfits.
Steelers and Dragons legend Paul McGregor was lined up to coach a NSW Cup team backed by Wests, but has instead signed to again lead the Devils' Carlton League premiership defence after he was left in limbo when the deal collapsed.
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