Expansion voting.

[flippikat]

That's why I said all aspects. I cannot see Ipswich as a valid option at this point. Their bid (or lack of it) is nothing short of laughable. 2 years is not a long time to get a franchise ready to go in the NRL. Gold Coast Titans is no different to the CC scenario you paint (except for AFL's presence), afterall they had the Broncos and 100% of league fans would have supported an existing club.

I honestly believe that the CC/WA Reds is a done deal. Wether that is the best option for our game, well only time will tell.

The commission really needs to put some certainty in place for all concerned.

Not just confirming the successful bids by the middle of this year, but also revealing the timeframe for the NEXT phase of expansion. (2018?)

That will give the unsuccessful bids something new to aim for, and I'd also expect new bids to surface.

Bonus if the NRL works out a pathway for bidding teams to play in state leagues & age grade competitions to get their organization up to speed.

We need to look BEYOND this current round of expansion

 

[_Johnsy]

The commission really needs to put some certainty in place for all concerned.

Not just confirming the successful bids by the middle of this year, but also revealing the timeframe for the NEXT phase of expansion. (2018?)

That will give the unsuccessful bids something new to aim for, and I'd also expect new bids to surface.

Bonus if the NRL works out a pathway for bidding teams to play in state leagues & age grade competitions to get their organization up to speed.

We need to look BEYOND this current round of expansion

Excellent post.

 

[flippikat]

Excellent post.

It's shortsightedness that got us here in the first place - whether it be not biting the bullet & rationalising Sydney in the 90s, the long-lasting monopoly status that the Broncos have enjoyed in Brisbane, or the culling of expansion clubs in the SL/ARL peace settlement. (or almost every other decision)

Short bloody sightedness.

If I have ONE WISH for the commission, it's that there's at least a 10-year roadmap of where the game wants to be.

 

[_Johnsy]

It's shortsightedness that got us here in the first place - whether it be not biting the bullet & rationalising Sydney in the 90s, the long-lasting monopoly status that the Broncos have enjoyed in Brisbane, or the culling of expansion clubs in the SL/ARL peace settlement. (or almost every other decision)

Short bloody sightedness.

If I have ONE WISH for the commission, it's that there's at least a 10-year roadmap of where the game wants to be.

Our game has reeked of hap hazard planning for the last 30 years. The IC must give us a clear direction of where we are going.

 

[Perth Red]

.

WA Reds – Official site http://www.waredsrugbyleague.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=122&Itemid=215

Plenty of corporate support. Memberships available to purchase. They already have a feeder teams playing in SG Ball. The WA RL competition seems to be thriving. I have to say not as much information available. Unable to find stadium info (upgrade needed etc)

http://www.foxsports.com.au/league/...join-competition/story-e6frf3ou-1225973369004

One huge advantage is WA Reds have received a unanimous endorsement from the 16 NRL clubs to join the competition in 2013.


.

Couple of other links around stadium upgrade and other endorsements:

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/mp/7898894/govt-to-take-control-of-nib-stadium/

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...gaining-momentum/story-e6frexnr-1225883418217

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/sport/a/-/other/7686890/league-legend-sailor-backs-perths-nrl-push/

http://www.foxsports.com.au/league/...nts-perth-in-nrl/story-e6frf3vc-1111118848007

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-sport/perths-got-a-lot-going-for-it-nrl-boss-20100630-zkoy.html

Basically it seems: the NRL wants us, the fans want us, the other clubs want us, the State Govt wants us, the WARL want in. Just need some big businesses to confirm the rumours and we are set.

 

[_Johnsy]

Cheers

Surely there are enough companies in mining mad WA that would love to get on board. Would certainly help their bid.

 

[Perth Red]

Cheers

Surely there are enough companies in mining mad WA that would love to get on board. Would certainly help their bid.

yeh I am sure there is. Woodside are sponsoring the Dockers quite heavily and I know mining companies are desperate to attract workers to WA so anything that gets them in front of where they can attract workers from ie NSW and Q'land has to be very attractive. I have heard some rumours about a few "big" companies showing an initial interest if we get in but probably they won't committ at this early stage as they won't want to be linked to a failed bid I wouldn't imagine. The Reds bid team have set a mark of an initial income of $15million so I presume they are putting the pieces in place to show the NRL how that will be achieved.

 

[Perth Red]

The commission really needs to put some certainty in place for all concerned.

Not just confirming the successful bids by the middle of this year, but also revealing the timeframe for the NEXT phase of expansion. (2018?)

That will give the unsuccessful bids something new to aim for, and I'd also expect new bids to surface.

Bonus if the NRL works out a pathway for bidding teams to play in state leagues & age grade competitions to get their organization up to speed.

We need to look BEYOND this current round of expansion

I agree, it was hugely disappointing to see the Wellington bid disappear after they failed to get in, the NRL should have worked closely with them to keep building.

Of course to do this the NRL would need a strategic plan fo where it wanted to be over the next 10 years. Nothing to me suggests they have anything like this so don't really know what, who, when or why they will expand the game.

 

[jim_57]

That's why I said all aspects. I cannot see Ipswich as a valid option at this point. Their bid (or lack of it) is nothing short of laughable. 2 years is not a long time to get a franchise ready to go in the NRL. Gold Coast Titans is no different to the CC scenario you paint (except for AFL's presence), afterall they had the Broncos and 100% of league fans would have supported an existing club.

I honestly believe that the CC/WA Reds is a done deal. Wether that is the best option for our game, well only time will tell.

Who's to say they are just keeping most of it amongst themselves for now? I think this could very well be the case.

 

[_Johnsy]

Who's to say they are just keeping most of it amongst themselves for now? I think this could very well be the case.

Based on what, your blind faith of anything QLD. Have you actually sat down and thought about what is needed to even begin to submit a successful NRL bid ?Itake because a few league loving people from anywhere in QLD say "yeah we want to have a team in the NRL" that's good enough for you?

I don't see any benefits from not gaining pubic input/support/prospective financial members of the NRL club. Community support is essential ( remember the Titans bid was community driven, & the NRL acknowledged this was a major factor in the Titans gaining admission).

It really makes sense to keep everything under wraps. Especially considering the decision will be made much earlier than the start date of March 2013 a total of 26 months away.

FMD, really ?:crazy::crazy::crazy:

 

[dgsfan]

Reds & QLD 2013!

 

[_Johnsy]

Reds & QLD 2013!

Hedging your bets, or is QLD putting a composite side in, how will they stay under the cap ?

 

[Dragon Slayer]

He agrees to anything that is pro ipswich. If you put together every post that he was quoted or referred to with remarks along the line of "great post" and the like, you will see contradictions. He doesn't have an argument or an opinion as to why Ipswich deserves a team more, he'd rather just argue with anybody and everybody else's arguments despite those arguments having contradictions when put together.



For the fifth time:

The AFL's GWS team is targeting North Sydney hills district right up to the Central Coast for juniors as there is not enough juniors in Western Sydney let alone The greater western Sydney to support a team.

When are people going to learn that the GWS team is not locations in the area determined only by the AFL as "Greater Western Sydney".

GWS will fail.

Definately not worried about the AFL threat.

The Swans go ok with support when they are winning and they are supported by the type of people who will support AFL.

I can't see GWS getting the following they need.

They will die.

 

[BDGS]

GWS will fail.

Definately not worried about the AFL threat.

The Swans go ok with support when they are winning and they are supported by the type of people who will support AFL.

I can't see GWS getting the following they need.

They will die.

I agree, but lets kill them off quicker.

With Bears they will last 5 years, without Bears they will last a 10-15 years.

 

[Perth Red]

GWS will fail.

Definately not worried about the AFL threat.

The Swans go ok with support when they are winning and they are supported by the type of people who will support AFL.

I can't see GWS getting the following they need.

They will die.

I think you underestimate the AFL's committment and financial ability to keep them going. They see this as a long term investment to get a bigger viewership in Sydney and eventually alot more $'s and media profile from it. If the AFL was the NRL I'd agree, but they've got atrack record of being willing to spend to make things happen.

 

[Lockyer4President!]

I think you underestimate the AFL's committment and financial ability to keep them going. They see this as a long term investment to get a bigger viewership in Sydney and eventually alot more $'s and media profile from it. If the AFL was the NRL I'd agree, but they've got atrack record of being willing to spend to make things happen.

We'll see how they're travelling in 10 years time I guess.

If the Suns and Giants are still losing tens of millions each season with nothing to show for it then I can't imagine the AFL teams/fans being too happy, especially the poorer heartland teams.

Granted, most AFL fans are sheep and accept AFL PR releases as gospel but even so there must be a limit.

 

[jim_57]

Based on what, your blind faith of anything QLD. Have you actually sat down and thought about what is needed to even begin to submit a successful NRL bid ?Itake because a few league loving people from anywhere in QLD say "yeah we want to have a team in the NRL" that's good enough for you?

I don't see any benefits from not gaining pubic input/support/prospective financial members of the NRL club. Community support is essential ( remember the Titans bid was community driven, & the NRL acknowledged this was a major factor in the Titans gaining admission).

It really makes sense to keep everything under wraps. Especially considering the decision will be made much earlier than the start date of March 2013 a total of 26 months away.

FMD, really ?:crazy::crazy::crazy:

Based on the fact they don't have to release every intimate detail of their bid to anyone but the NRL. Their first goal should be to get a bid running that's worthy or a serious consideration which they should be doing right now, alot can happen in 26 months or even 18 which is a better estimate as to when a push for members/support would more likely come. The community push can start before the bid is denied or accepted but I don't see it as necessary to be pushing for members this far out, everyone who wants to be a part of it has 18months, more than enough. Sure corporate backing and such should all be well advanced by now but who's to say it isn't?

I'm not pushing QLD for the sake of QLD, sh!t I live in CQ but know there's no chance of it happening anytime soon because there are many more viable options (Perth, Brisbane 2, CC, NZ 2).

All this is pretty much irrelevant though because it's all guess work, nobody but the Jet's bid team knows all the ins and outs, it could be a complete shambles or it could be the makings of an undeniable bid. At the end of the day they don't have to convince people on a forum, they have to convince the NRL and honestly don't beleive there's any reason they COULDn't submit a worthy bid leading into a sucessful team in the time they have.

 

[Perth Red]

We'll see how they're travelling in 10 years time I guess.

If the Suns and Giants are still losing tens of millions each season with nothing to show for it then I can't imagine the AFL teams/fans being too happy, especially the poorer heartland teams.

Granted, most AFL fans are sheep and accept AFL PR releases as gospel but even so there must be a limit.

True but the advantage they have is in the amount of income they get. They can give the clubs 90% of TV income and still have enough other income to afford to splash tens of millions of $'s on expansion areas. Reality is there is only 2 or 3 AFL clubs struggling and they are being well looked after so can;t see too much to be annoyed about for vast majority of fans.

 

[flippikat]

GWS will fail.

Definately not worried about the AFL threat.

The Swans go ok with support when they are winning and they are supported by the type of people who will support AFL.

I can't see GWS getting the following they need.

They will die.

AFL are quickly running out of expansion options.

After GWS and Gold Coast, where else could they expand?

All they have left are low-population areas that follow their game (Eg Tasmania, rural Victoria, Northern Territory) or places that need a lot of work getting the following they need to sustain a team (hello GWS & Gold Coast Suns)

Their game means sweet FA to people in New Zealand - that's a market of 4 million and growing.

Rugby League's strength is that there are MANY long-term expansion options, from frontiers with decent populations like Perth and Adelaide right through to places with an established RL history such as SE Queensland and PNG..

There's also a third category. places with a stronger Rugby Union culture than Rugby League. RL has always had a lower profile in NZ, but the Warriors have lifted it, and a second team will do even more, given the local derby it creates. The two biggest candidates would have to be Wellington and Christchurch.. And if you really want to create a rivalry, Auckland v Christchurch is as big as it gets in NZ sport.

Here in New Zealand, the real competition to the NRL is Super Rugby.. And look at the geographical spread of that! AFL will never match that, but Rugby League might (In NZ and Australia anyway.. South Africa would need work, but not TOTALLY impossible)

 

[Quidgybo]

We'll see how they're travelling in 10 years time I guess.

If the Suns and Giants are still losing tens of millions each season with nothing to show for it then I can't imagine the AFL teams/fans being too happy, especially the poorer heartland teams.

If the AFL sink $100 million into propping up GWS in the name of expanding their base then they're hardly likely to walk away from that investment after 10 years to save small niche clubs that are dying a natural death in Melbourne.

The more likely result is the Fitzroy/Bears strategy. Keep propping up the expansion team until one of the niche clubs go under and then merge the two as a way to boost the expansion club's playing list and Melbourne following.

Be in no doubt, the AFL will still be solidly funding a second Sydney team in 10 years from now with zero sign of that support being withdrawn. The team may not still be called the GWS Giants or play in black and orange but it'll at least be the direct decendant of that club.

A second AFL team in Sydney is a long term reality we're going to have to get used to dealing with. Planning on the basis that it's a short term annoyance that'll be gone in five or ten years is dangerously self delusional.

Leigh.