Geographically, which teams in the NRL don't make sense?

[BunniesMan]

It's an ugly topic, but when you look at geographies and demographics, a number of NRL teams are poorly placed. These include:

Sharks - with the dragons entrenched in southern sydney and their partnership with Illawarra, it makes little sense to have a team in between

Dogs - again, with the dragons nearby, borders with the rabbits and within shooting distance of parramatta catchments, probably an example of poor placement

Rabbits/roosters/tigers - depending on where you agree they are based, they are very close too each other

Cowboys - not a large population and are strategically weak when it comes to rivalries and attracting away fans to games

I'm not suggesting that these clubs should be booted, but it's interesting when you consider some of the larger Australian geographies that are not covered (second Brisbane team and perth) by the NRL at the moment

Cheers,
Moffo

I obviously disagree with the Rabbits/Roosters/Tigers. Firstly the Tigers have Campbelltown as well. Secondly Souths obviously have enough territory considering how many juniors we regularly debut. Thirdly you just couldn't have The Eastern Suburbs be represented by the same team as the southern suburbs. It would be like the same footy team representeing Israel and Palestine.

They're way way way too different to be able to be represented by the same team.

And considering two of the three clubs you mentioned in this group are "big clubs" I don't really agree.

My own list of weird teams would be:
Sharks
Cowboys
Panthers

The Sharks are an island enclave surrounded by a sea of red V.

This year is proving my point about the Cowboys. Going good and still getting shit crowds. I don't know why we gave such an outpost like that its own team before we ever really covered the far more populous SE part of the state. And it's not like the area is going to go to Union/AFL anytime soon....

As for Panthers, this may be a controversial one but I don't see the need for a Penrith team. The Eels/Tigers/Bulldogs do a good job of each having a section of western sydney. I know the Penrith area, it has a shitload of league fans but so many of them support other teams, which is the reason for their smallish crowds/members.

Ideally we'd have Sydney covered by relocating the two 1967 clubs and returning the Bears.

This way every region of Sydney has its own team. IMO 8 is the perfect amount of teams, considering Bears and Dragons would be half outside of Sydney.

This is what would happen if I ran the NRL.

 

[juro]

Everyone seems to agree that Brookvale is a dump. So what if Manly were to move to somewhere like Chatswood? That would make it a lot easier for the rest of Sydney to get to games...

 

[firechild]

This year is proving my point about the Cowboys. Going good and still getting shit crowds. I don't know why we gave such an outpost like that its own team before we ever really covered the far more populous SE part of the state. And it's not like the area is going to go to Union/AFL anytime soon....

Don't forget that around the time the Cowboys came into the comp there was fairly big expansion in QLD happening. Gold Coast had existed since 1988. The South QLD Crushers were introduced at the same time. If we were left with Boncos, Crushers, Cowboys and Gold Coast (Giants, Seagulls, Chargers or Titans) then that would be a moot point. The reason that besides Brisbane, NQ was the only one that survived is really unimportant, the fact is they survived and deserve their position in the league.

 

[Canard]

This year is proving my point about the Cowboys. Going good and still getting shit crowds. I don't know why we gave such an outpost like that its own team before we ever really covered the far more populous SE part of the state. And it's not like the area is going to go to Union/AFL anytime soon....

Take out this year, and the Cowboys have had average crowds (and total crowds) generally in the top 3 or 4 of the entire NRL since 1995.

Two Cowboys games have been the highest rated programmes on PAY TV this year.

But lets get rid of them.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

My cowboys thoughts are largely centered around the demographics. It's questionable whether there is the depth in population. Even now, a substantial amount of cows fans come from outside of Townsville. If I had to pick between a team in Townsville or Perth (or 2nd Brisbane team) it wouldn't be a hard decision

The Cowboys represent North Queensland, not just Townsville. Ie pretty much everywhere north of Mackay and inland to Mt Isa.

 

[beave]

Showing your age Bunniesman......... How long u followed league for??? NQ has had great crowds since they came into the comp even when we were going shit, but people up here are doing it tough and cant afford to go as frequentley as they did in the past.......... Not everyone still lives on their mummy and daddys tit.

 

[dangerousdave]

Easts don't make sense geographically...they can't even decide where they're from

 

[madunit]

8 times in the Cowboys 17 year existence, has Sydney clubs crowd averages been higher than the Cowboys.

Their poorest crowds have been 2009 and 2010, where they have/are ranked 11th for average crowds. And aside from 2002 (9th) and 2003 (7th), the remaining 13 seasons have seen them ranked in the top 5 clubs for highest crowd average.

Having a go at them for poor crowds etc is just moronic.

 

[bazza]

If there's one thing we could learn from the AFL is that geographical boundaries are fairly meaningless- I've recently moved to Melbourne and was very surprised by the fact that about half of all the AFL sides "represent" inner melbourne suburbs, but they all get better crowds than even the most popular Sydney NRL teams.

If the NSWRL had not gone for expansion in the 40's and 60's we could have had a situation in Sydney something like:

Norths - covering north shore and northern beaches
Wests - covering Parramatta and west
Canterbury - covering from Canterbury and SW to Campbelltown
Saints - south of the Cooks river to Sutherland
Balmain - Inner west and northwest
Souths/Easts - inner city

 

[Ron's_Mate]

Can't understand these people who continually say 'merge the Roosters and Souths'

Do we all forget the infighting that went on during the dismal existence of the Northern Eagles - that was over a 60-70 year old fued.

The Roosters and Souths have a century of angst towards one another. It will not work.

I'd like to see it happen, just for the LOLs. Imagine BiggestHalfwitPearce & Bunniesman supporting the same team.

 

[Tom Shines]

There are still areas of Sydney that aren't covered by teams (Liverpool, Hills District to name a couple).

 

[carcharias]

um
st george and Illawarra.

nowhere near each other...nice long drive though for the fans to attend 50% of their home games.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

There are still areas of Sydney that aren't covered by teams (Liverpool, Hills District to name a couple).

Liverpool is Dogs territory, the Hills District would be covered by the Eels.

 

[POPEYE]

The teams that won't lose more supporters than they would gain are the ones that should relocate to benefit the long term future of the game.

Roosters have no-one to lose and would add even more than they have country wide if they moved to an area crying out for a team.

Sharks would do themselves a big favour by moving while they've got the chance. Their logo is attractive to young people.

Leave the Dogs to the proposed new Islamic island state and let Wests have everything further southwest than Campbelltown

The Eels and Panthers could combine but there is probably enough dirt for both

The Seagles should jump the river and drink at Gosford and Manly

To remain in only a token area will leave a team at the mercy of the new multi million dollar teams that will not abide sharing

 

[HowHigh]

Merge or axe one of Bulldogs and Eels
Merge or axe one of Rabbitohs and Roosters
Relocate the Sharks

I don't mind having them all in the comp, but answering the question that's what I'd do.

 

[docbrown]

Every Sydney club needs to look outside it's local region and expand to become teams that are recognised on a National basis.

If you want to be myopic, you could say the Wests Tigers are enclosed into tiny centres - but if you actually look harder you will see that the merger has actually helped spread the brand into their non-heartlands. People opt to become 'Tigers' fans rather than just Balmain or Wests fans but at the same time they maintain that original base.

On the other hand some teams that haven't merged - like Canterbury Bulldogs for example - have managed to leverage their traditional support base by having a dominating presence within their sphere of influence. But they have also done well by promoting that brand on a national level to create an association with people outside their heartland.

So as I've said - Sydney teams need to look at their brand promotion. By creating not only city-wide but national support, they ensure their longevity. Clubs that fail to do this will always be second or third tier clubs.

Mergers should not be undertaken with traditional rivals nor should they be undertaken by two strong opposing brands. You need to marry a location with a mascot and create something bigger than the original individual entities.

 

[AlwaysGreen]

The teams that won't lose more supporters than they would gain are the ones that should relocate to benefit the long term future of the game.

Roosters have no-one to lose and would add even more than they have country wide if they moved to an area crying out for a team.

Sharks would do themselves a big favour by moving while they've got the chance. Their logo is attractive to young people.

Leave the Dogs to the proposed new Islamic island state and let Wests have everything further southwest than Campbelltown

The Eels and Panthers could combine but there is probably enough dirt for both

The Seagles should jump the river and drink at Gosford and Manly

To remain in only a token area will leave a team at the mercy of the new multi million dollar teams that will not abide sharing

Thanks for your imput Pauline.

 

[POPEYE]

Yes, exactly. In this day and age where supporters of all clubs are everywhere it matters not where the home base is

 

[POPEYE]

Thanks for your imput Pauline.

What are you doing in this thread . . . nothing for you here

 

[HowHigh]

Yes, exactly. In this day and age where supporters of all clubs are everywhere it matters not where the home base is

It is nice to have a realistic chance of making the home games though.