Enough talent for expansion?

[georgesnmith]

look how good patty richards is doing

even dobson is ok for the knights as a back up half

and in union there is folau, craig wing, kurtley beale etc

then if the NRL could be bothered at developing new markets.

i think we have enough talent for 4 teams but they wont take that risk

Say 20 from Super League
20 from union
whatever from juniors / existing NRL players

 

[Perth Red]

Read the whole sentence not just what you want to read, you are saying expanding to Perth will be opening the area to a new audience and there fore new players, well I haven't seen league take off crazily in Melbourne and WA will be exactly the same, hell Melbourne only produced their first home grown NRL player last season and how long have they been in the competition for ?.
How did the Pirates go against Manly yesterday who had four gun Central Coast players in their squad. 1 draw, 5 losses and theres nobody to pilfer you junior talent. A new Perth side would also weaken existing clubs because you have a weak junior base so you would have to grab and uproot them from somewhere. Definitely not worth the risk.

We've been at it three years with decent jnr programmes. Not bad really! We are also starting way way in front of Melbourne and wit the pirates being part of the warl you won't get the ignoring g of grass roots development like we saw in Victoria for the first decade of the Storm's existence.

We tick all the boxes, bears backed the wrong location. If they'd have shifted to Perth or Brisbane when they lost to the GC there would be a good chance the Bears brand would be back in the NRL by 2018. As is Gosford is not getting a team anytime in the near or distant future.

Dave a Smith knows the game needs to expand.

 

[papabear]

It would be funny if the bears ended up in perth and you guys started cheering for the same side.

 

[Perth Red]

I'd have no problem with that. I really do feel for the Bears, they got shafted with the Northern eagles and got shafted again when the GC got the nod in terms of the NRL at that time should have come out with a long term expansion strategy and supported the Bears to drop the CC and focus on building a partnership with an area where there would be expansion in our lifetimes. Bears and Perth would have been a good fit, Bears jnrs and brand, WA with all the boxes we tick. Fans here who support other NRL teams would probably not be adverse to supporting a brand that is not in the NRL currently unlike a relocation of an existing club. That horse has bolted though and we have developed our own brand now.

 

[oikee]

Once you got the teams in place and if we had the draft system in place then i think it would work fine.
The new expansion teams would be aligned with second tier teams so they would have a comp to send their players to as well as finding local talent outside the draft.
The draft only concentrates on juniors. i think we are all losing sight of that fact. Some players dont mature until 23, 25 or even later.

It also stops clubs from hoarding younger players once the draft is in force.

We will be even further behind if we dont expand, so not having enough talent needs to be overcome, before we expand.
Bringing in the draft, working with the new clubs to line up their junior pathways and feeder clubs all comes before the new expansion team is selected.
Thats it.

 

[BuffaloRules]

The draft.

I wonder why they haven't thought of that before :crazy:

 

[joshreading]

I think that expansion teams should be given an expansion mandate that half their squad be signed from outside NRL - that half of the squad would be salary cap exempt for 3 years. Any player from within the NRL would fall under a figure of half the NRL salary cap at the time. (ie. if the cap is 7mill - 3 1/5 mill would apply to the nrl signed players)This would help alleviate the 'raids' on other clubs. However it would also give them the ability to sign top union players and bring the best of Super League back.

A perth based side for instance would do well to sign a springbok or two, a high profile all black. With the growth in the NRL it is time to turn atleast southern hemisphere union into a player feeder system.

 

[Rodney]

By 2017 there should be a lot more players in league, probably enough to fund 2 expansion teams worth.
The PNG Hunters are pumping out promising young talent, the WA project is just getting of the ground and those S.G. Ball juniors should slot in the NRL somwhere.
Fiji Rugby League (from what i've heard) is growing nicely and gaining traction off of two pretty succesful world cups.
Recently a Candadian signed up for Wentworthville. That's gotta be a posotive sign.
And, of course, the recent flow of promising Super League talent looking for a crack in the NRL.

There are still unaffiliated NSW Cup and Qld Cup sides, the current player pool is nowhere near exhausted.

 

[herbert henry1908]

This is a classic catch22

New teams have the ability to bring more talent into the game if they're in the right location.


For instance a second NZ team could likely bring more talent into the NRL.


Perth has that ability in a medium to long term.




Its a big reason why I'm starting to favour the idea of a second NZ team as a definite for the next expansion.


Ideally we could expand by 3 teams ( NZ, Brisbane & Perth) but perhaps the team that will be the biggest drain on player talent will have to miss out?

 

[CC_Roosters]

With Melbourne starting to produce first graders it does show that true expansion can have an impact in bringing on the grass roots in new areas. I have no doubt a Perth team would galvanise the existing comp and increase playing numbers. Its also about a visible pathway to the elite level, league can be marketed as a kids to kangaroos via the pirates or whatever.

 

[CC_Roosters]

By 2017 there should be a lot more players in league, probably enough to fund 2 expansion teams worth.
The PNG Hunters are pumping out promising young talent, the WA project is just getting of the ground and those S.G. Ball juniors should slot in the NRL somwhere.
Fiji Rugby League (from what i've heard) is growing nicely and gaining traction off of two pretty succesful world cups.
Recently a Candadian signed up for Wentworthville. That's gotta be a posotive sign.
And, of course, the recent flow of promising Super League talent looking for a crack in the NRL.

There are still unaffiliated NSW Cup and Qld Cup sides, the current player pool is nowhere near exhausted.

Didn't even consider that. Png is a massive xfactor for expansion especially with how they are doing in q cup. Numerous places like Canada, usa, east and southern Europe seem to be building nicely in terms of clubs and numbers so who knows where that talent will pop up in future. I think though those players will largely divert to SL for now.

The expansion potential and possibility of multiple nz teams + png + Perth is one reason I think why the nrl will be a conference style league eventually

 

[Cumberland Throw]

Would Perth accept a guaranteed spot in 2017 ??

It's gonna happen around tv rights renewal no sooner

 

[Mr Angry]

Yes, there is.

Watch it happen.

 

[Perth Red]

Would Perth accept a guaranteed spot in 2017 ??

It's gonna happen around tv rights renewal no sooner

Realistically we need two-three seasons to get ready anyway. What we really need is the grassroots investment in the warl now so we can get the kids playing, quality coaches over here and generally work on marketing the game better and building it.

 

[taipan]

These panic merchants crapping on about lack of talent for extra teams,completely overlook the fact,expansion wont happen till at least 2018 start.Thats close to 4 years away.
If we can't develop from here /NZ/pacific Islands another 60 players ,the code needs to give the game away.Even include a couple of Saffas,and who knows what the Yanks could come up with in that time.

 

[oikee]

Agree Taipan, and with most others. We need expansion to grow the game.
As for finding talent. Well the new teams should be allowed to have some concessions for a few years until they have settled in for the long haul.
Let us not forget they might not win a comp for 20 years.
I would be looking at maybe resigning Sam Burgess, and Falou by then come 2018.

Maybe a couple of high profile NRL players, and some English Fijians and Papuan's plus some honest toilers. And maybe a homegrown or three.

If they continue to make the excuse of not having the numbers, talent or support in the new areas, we will always be on the outside looking in while other codes surge ahead.

 

[byrner]

The not enough talent argument is a joke. There are countless numbers of blokes running around in lower grades who could have stepped up if given the opportunity. And thats not even taking into account NZ, PNG, Fiji, SA, USA etc.

 

[newman]

The NRL is a very even competition. It's not the like the Super League where a side like London will be flat out winning a single game this year and regularly gets flogged by 50 or some of the Euro soccer leagues where the bottom teams are patently outclassed. I don't see how adding 2 extra teams would result in that type of competition, but the gulf between top and bottom would marginally increase.

 

[Perth Red]

Maybe short term but within a few years, if expansion is done properly then it shouldn;t make any difference. One thing the NRL needs to wrap its head around is that expansion needs to be just that and not just adding two new clubs to the NRL. i really hope when they do the review at end of year they consider the whole scope of expansion not just if they should add two clubs. They need to look at developing the game in pacific islands, properly funding the affiliated states, linking up the best PNg youth into existing systems, reenergising bush footy, getting the game on main channel natioanlly, having a games on teh road strategy that links clubs to regions without clubs, taking marquee events on the road (internationals for example), how to better support the NZRL to grow the game over there etc etc. Expansion should be much more than if to add two new clubs at the top. if they do all that talent will not be a problem in years to come.

 

[newman]

Maybe short term but within a few years, if expansion is done properly then it shouldn;t make any difference. One thing the NRL needs to wrap its head around is that expansion needs to be just that and not just adding two new clubs to the NRL. i really hope when they do the review at end of year they consider the whole scope of expansion not just if they should add two clubs. They need to look at developing the game in pacific islands, properly funding the affiliated states, linking up the best PNg youth into existing systems, reenergising bush footy, getting the game on main channel natioanlly, having a games on teh road strategy that links clubs to regions without clubs, taking marquee events on the road (internationals for example), how to better support the NZRL to grow the game over there etc etc. Expansion should be much more than if to add two new clubs at the top. if they do all that talent will not be a problem in years to come.

I admire your passion but your emotive approach to this issue lets you down again and again. The NRL doesn't NEED expansion. It doesn't NEED any of the stuff you listed above. Some of it would be nice to have, my word, but you NEED the NRL, not the other way around. It's your emotional, desperate approach that gets so many off side. You want a Perth side, we get it. Truth is; many NRL fans in Sydney who are the ones that are key stakeholders in the game, couldn't give a stuff one way or the other. Keep up the good fight but stop acting like you know what the game needs and doesn't need.