Expansion - Your prefered locations

[Andrew McAwesome]

That's actually for every sporting team in Australia, so you'll have to scroll past all the fumbleball teams unfortunately

 

[Goddo]

Why is it that the Central Coast is reserved for a relocated Sydney side? If i were on the CC and the Sharks moved to the CC, I wouldnt consider them the Central Coast Sharks. They would still be Cronulla playing at Bluetounge.

Expansion areas with no strong link to any NRL club should be reserved for a relocation. The Central Coast has already adopted the Bears, Perth has adopted the Reds. Adelaide, NZ2, QLD4 can be for relocation.

I agree a lot with this, except that the Reds aren't necissarily a great brand. A fresh start in WA might be a better aproach. We should preserve current team brands where possible.

For example: sharkies on the CC wouldn't fit. But in Adelaide, with similar colours to port adelaide, in NZ with same colours as the proposed Orcas (black white and light blue) and a similar marine mascot would work. Play home games in NZ in mostly black jersey, away games in the current home jersey, and 2 games at shark park a year against say Dragons and Rabbitohs.

I think Manly long term won't survive either. They have some big long term problems with Stadium, Leagues club, owners. I think they have their eye long term on the Sunshine Coast and it should be reserved in the mid term for them if need be.

I guess I am sympathetic with the bears, and League definately needs a presence North of the harbour, so IF it unfolds as I have outlined, a North Sydney-Central Coast Bears would be good.

 

[BuffaloRules]

If Manly ever fold then you are giving the whole of Northern Sydney to Union & Gay-FL...

 

[ME SO HORNBY!]

Many people have said they think that the NRL cant support more than 5 Sydney teams in the next ten years. Therefore I think that certain teams need to be relocated rather than bringing in expansion teams.

This is what I think needs to be done even though it would bring about massive opposition:

Sharks relocate to Adelaide as has been mentioned many times. They will probably go broke if something isnt done soon.

Manly relocate to the Sunshine Coast as they already have many juniors coming out of that area as well as a feeder club.

Tigers relocate to Perth. They could pretty much keep their name the "West" or "Western" Tigers.

The two Western Sydney teams Parramatta and Penrith probably need to merge to make just one western sydney team.

The Dragons need to be based soley in Wollongong. Wollongong is still a decent sized city with its own organisations to attract sponsors Sydney teams cant.

That would leave the competition as follows:

4 Sydney teams + 1 Wollongong team (Canterbury, Penrith/Parramatta, Souths, Sydney, St George Illawarra)
2 further NSW teams (Canberra, Newcastle)
4 QLD teams (North Qld, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast)
1 Melbourne team (Storm)
1 Adelaide Team (Sharks)
1 Perth team (Tigers)
1 NZ team (Warriors)

That would leave 15 teams with a chance to expand the competition to 18. I think Central Coast and NZ would be givens and then 1 more expansion team.

Many people will disagree about this post. But i put it to you. Would you rather see teams like Manly, St George, Parramatta, Penrith, Sharks, Souths, Roosters etc relocate or merge, or instead just die all together in a battle of survival of the fittest. I just couldnt imagine the NRL without these teams in some way, shape or form. The AFL bit the bullet and merged Brisbane and Fitzroy and also relocated South Melbourne. im sure there was much opposition at the time but look how successful these two teams have been since. The benefits of the NRL following the AFLs lead will outweigh the negatives IMO.

 

[Goddo]

Do the NRL plan for any new teams in the near future or are we all dreaming

For the next TV deal, very likely to expand to 18 teams.

The NRL have been doing a study on how to grow the TV rights for the past 18 months, including the affect of increasing the number of teams, which seemed to be financially profitable if done right and the locations picked carefully.

I saw a great interview on the net somewhere from the begining of this year with Gallop and another guy talking about the state of the game and their objectives.

They talked a lot about shifting the mentality of fans/clubs to membership driven fan bases/revenue and having the salary cap covered completely by the TV deal, allowing clubs to actually be profitable, and relocating teams in Sydney where needed. I can't remember the date, but they showed a snipit of this years add campaign, so it was probably Febuary.

 

[Goddo]

Many people have said they think that the NRL cant support more than 5 Sydney teams in the next ten years. Therefore I think that certain teams need to be relocated rather than bringing in expansion teams.

This is what I think needs to be done even though it would bring about massive opposition:

Sharks relocate to Adelaide as has been mentioned many times. They will probably go broke if something isnt done soon.

Manly relocate to the Sunshine Coast as they already have many juniors coming out of that area as well as a feeder club.

Tigers relocate to Perth. They could pretty much keep their name the "West" or "Western" Tigers.

The two Western Sydney teams Parramatta and Penrith probably need to merge to make just one western sydney team.

The Dragons need to be based soley in Wollongong. Wollongong is still a decent sized city with its own organisations to attract sponsors Sydney teams cant.

That would leave the competition as follows:

4 Sydney teams + 1 Wollongong team (Canterbury, Penrith/Parramatta, Souths, Sydney, St George Illawarra)
2 further NSW teams (Canberra, Newcastle)
4 QLD teams (North Qld, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast)
1 Melbourne team (Storm)
1 Adelaide Team (Sharks)
1 Perth team (Tigers)
1 NZ team (Warriors)

That would leave 15 teams with a chance to expand the competition to 18. I think Central Coast and NZ would be givens and then 1 more expansion team.

Many people will disagree about this post. But i put it to you. Would you rather see teams like Manly, St George, Parramatta, Penrith, Sharks, Souths, Roosters etc relocate or merge, or instead just die all together in a battle of survival of the fittest. I just couldnt imagine the NRL without these teams in some way, shape or form. The AFL bit the bullet and merged Brisbane and Fitzroy and also relocated South Melbourne. im sure there was much opposition at the time but look how successful these two teams have been since. The benefits of the NRL following the AFLs lead will outweigh the negatives IMO.

I agree with this. People won't like it, but thats the way it is really. As things are, teams need corporate dollars to survive, which are easier to obtain in one team towns. Unless we can get average crowds up and attract bigger corpoarate dollars, this is exactly what will happen to Sydney clubs.

 

[Goddo]

I dont see where a central QLD team could be based, there isn't much between brisbane and townsville. Mackay and Rocky are literally country towns. I would have another team in south east QLD, doesnt matter which district or shire, they will play out of Lang Park as the broncos do.

This is exactly what they thought about North Queensland, that the team would fold in Townsville.

Townsville has more going for it with the port, the army and minerals boom than say Rocky, but it relies on fans travelling from as far as Mount Isa with its crowds, and they do!

I guess a Central QLD team would work in a very similar way.

 

[BuffaloRules]

Why does any expansion thread go to the Mega Sydney teams angle??

Wasn't that wont Super League wanted??

How did that work out?

The Tigers are the best supported team in Sydney ( refer to crowds 2005-2009 ) and have done their part for competition rationalisation....

 

[Goddo]

Yeah.. unfortunately I have to agree with this.

The next QLD team has to be somehow tacked onto the Brisbane metropolitan area and play at Suncorp...

They need a game every week.....

What would it be called though??

Is there any chance that Redcliffe could step up to the NRL??

Didnt they make a song and dance about keeping the name "Dolphins" just in case when the Gold Coast wanted it??

Is there any organised bid team trying to get entry for them into the NRL??

I like Redcliffe Sea Eagles.... has a ring to it

 

[adamkungl]

no more mergers or forced relocations please.

 

[BuffaloRules]

Some Sydney teams will relocate or fold eventually... Your going to have to let nature take its course...

The Salary Cap will need to raise dramatically over the coming years to keep our best players interested in staying in the NRL...

Those teams that cant afford to buy or keep players are going to struggle...

 

[BuffaloRules]

I like Redcliffe Sea Eagles.... has a ring to it

Why did Redcliffe fight to keep the Dolphin name though if they are never going to bid to join the NRL?

 

[ME SO HORNBY!]

no more mergers or forced relocations please.

I understand your view as I dont like mergers and relocations either (I hated it at first when my team merged). But what would you rather? The roosters relocated and still alive wearing the same colours and with the same mascot, or the roosters dead forever?

 

[lturner]

Many people have said they think that the NRL cant support more than 5 Sydney teams in the next ten years. Therefore I think that certain teams need to be relocated rather than bringing in expansion teams.

This is what I think needs to be done even though it would bring about massive opposition:

Sharks relocate to Adelaide as has been mentioned many times. They will probably go broke if something isnt done soon.

Manly relocate to the Sunshine Coast as they already have many juniors coming out of that area as well as a feeder club.

Tigers relocate to Perth. They could pretty much keep their name the "West" or "Western" Tigers.

The two Western Sydney teams Parramatta and Penrith probably need to merge to make just one western sydney team.

The Dragons need to be based soley in Wollongong. Wollongong is still a decent sized city with its own organisations to attract sponsors Sydney teams cant.

That would leave the competition as follows:

4 Sydney teams + 1 Wollongong team (Canterbury, Penrith/Parramatta, Souths, Sydney, St George Illawarra)
2 further NSW teams (Canberra, Newcastle)
4 QLD teams (North Qld, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast)
1 Melbourne team (Storm)
1 Adelaide Team (Sharks)
1 Perth team (Tigers)
1 NZ team (Warriors)

That would leave 15 teams with a chance to expand the competition to 18. I think Central Coast and NZ would be givens and then 1 more expansion team.

Many people will disagree about this post. But i put it to you. Would you rather see teams like Manly, St George, Parramatta, Penrith, Sharks, Souths, Roosters etc relocate or merge, or instead just die all together in a battle of survival of the fittest. I just couldnt imagine the NRL without these teams in some way, shape or form. The AFL bit the bullet and merged Brisbane and Fitzroy and also relocated South Melbourne. im sure there was much opposition at the time but look how successful these two teams have been since. The benefits of the NRL following the AFLs lead will outweigh the negatives IMO.

That's the only part of your idea that makes any sense at all. Woeful.

 

[lturner]

Many people will disagree about this post. But i put it to you. Would you rather see teams like Manly, St George, Parramatta, Penrith, Sharks, Souths, Roosters etc relocate or merge, or instead just die all together in a battle of survival of the fittest. I just couldnt imagine the NRL without these teams in some way, shape or form. The AFL bit the bullet and merged Brisbane and Fitzroy and also relocated South Melbourne. im sure there was much opposition at the time but look how successful these two teams have been since. The benefits of the NRL following the AFLs lead will outweigh the negatives IMO.

This might work if your idea of supporting a team is sitting on the couch with remote in hand mate. The lions and the swans are 2 of the worst supported teams in the AFL. The swans especially have never really got over the stigma of being a failed offcast from Melbourne, and have virtually no genuine support outside of the Melbourne expat community (which is large).

To answer your question, if my club was unable to compete in the NRL due to lack of supporters or sponsorship, I would rather they drop back to state league level.

 

[BuffaloRules]

That's the only part of your idea that makes any sense at all. Woeful.

Oh your being a bit harsh there....

I mean the Tigers get to keep the name "Wests" ( or Western- close enough) even though they will be playing 4,000 km's away...:lol:

 

[jargan83]

2009 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Australian_football_code_crowds#Attendances_by_Team

2008 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Australian_football_code_crowds#Attendances_by_Team

2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Australian_football_code_crowds#Attendances_by_Team

That is awesome, Cheers mate!!

 

[Lockyer4President!]

I like Redcliffe Sea Eagles.... has a ring to it

From one peninsula to another? I doubt it.

The Sunshine Coast is a big and fast growing area, which is why Manly is trying to grow support up there.

 

[Goddo]

From one peninsula to another? I doubt it.

The Sunshine Coast is a big and fast growing area, which is why Manly is trying to grow support up there.

I know, and I suspect that they will end up on the Sunshine Coast in the next 10 years. I am just saying "Redcliffe Sea Eagles" has a nice ring to it. "Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles" sounds terrible, and I am sick of "Coast" names. One is enough.

Better using a place name, or two place names hyphened. Noosa Sea Eagles sounds okay too. Just my opinion.

Manly have the right colours for a QLD side too, and they can have Fatty as their ginger ninja mascot in a bird suit.

 

[ME SO HORNBY!]

This might work if your idea of supporting a team is sitting on the couch with remote in hand mate. The lions and the swans are 2 of the worst supported teams in the AFL. The swans especially have never really got over the stigma of being a failed offcast from Melbourne, and have virtually no genuine support outside of the Melbourne expat community (which is large).

To answer your question, if my club was unable to compete in the NRL due to lack of supporters or sponsorship, I would rather they drop back to state league level.

No mate my idea of supporting a team is supporting them through thick and thin. Ive supported my team through a merger i disagreed with and id support my team if they relocated to Antarctica. Thats what real fans do, they keep on supporting through the highs and lows. St George Illawarra have huge followings in Brisbane and Melbourne. Many of these supporters cant make interstate games so they have to watch on tv with "remote in hand". Does that make them any less of a supporter then myself who goes to every Sydney game? Of course not.