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

[AlwaysGreen]

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

Correct. Nothing that hasn't been discussed 600 million billion times.

 

[H.H]

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.

I assume you're referring to the Tigers and Roosters?

 

[H.H]

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

And Souffs can? At least we haven't abandoned our heartland to play at Homebush.

 

[Talanexor]

Cowboys are a pretty unique case in the NRL. Yes, Townsville has a small population compared to other regional teams like Auckland, Canberra and Newcastle. However, Cowboys fans drive from as far away as Mackay, Cairns and Mt Isa. Geographically, it's huge.

The problem of course is that it's far more expensive for fans to attend home games. Some fans drive 4 hours to the game, then stay the night in Townsville before driving another 4 hours back home the following day.

Despite this, we've had consistently great crowds throughout our whole existence, even when we were playing shit on the field, which is most of the time.

But before this thread turns into another "we need to axe some teams in Sydney, as long as it's not my team" thread, why not consider where we actually want to expand the game to in the future?

Another NZ team would be great. Not sure if NZ could support more than 2 though. A PNG team would also be great, but it's a long shot - I can't see too many non-locals playing for them.

A team in Adelaide is also a must for mine. Could potentially also put another team in Victoria - maybe Geelong?

After that, I think the only way to expand would be to work on improving the international game.

 

[CowboyFuriousFury]

The Cowboys despite playing bad and earning 3 wooden spoon in there first 5 years hold there own compare to Sydney crowds, and I'm certain next year it be the same case again as the Cowboys will outdraw majority of the Sydney teams once again.

If the Cowboys were a Sydney team hypothetically they would have no support due to the bandwagon and fickle nature of the Sydney sporting market where the Cowboys supporter have managed to be extremely loyal through the rough beginnings and hopefully gets rewarded with a home final this year and more final appearance to come..I hope.

 

[RedVee]

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

Liverpool is covered.
Wests Magpies JRL takes in Liverpool based teams. Therefore, West Tigers.
Parramatta (used to?) cover all the way down through Cabramatta & Mount Pritchard.
Canterbury covers out to the edge of Liverpool, I think the Georges River used to be the border. Canterbury attempting to take over the Liverpool area was a cuckoo style attack on the Magpies nest.

 

[Bluebags1908]

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

Liverpool is Wests Tigers territory, not Bulldogs.

 

[firechild]

It's funny, Liverpool should very much be Tigers (Magpies) territory but I've lived in the area for about a year and I'm yet to see a Tigers jersey at Liverpool station, though I've seen many dozens of Bulldogs jerseys there. Perhaps it's just because the dogs get lots of Friday night games at Homebush and this combined with the train situation favours them over Wests.

 

[Moffo]

I'm not bagging off the cowboys or their crowds, I just think that from a demographics perspective, there are a few regions I would pick in front of Townsville

 

[Bluebags1908]

It's funny, Liverpool should very much be Tigers (Magpies) territory but I've lived in the area for about a year and I'm yet to see a Tigers jersey at Liverpool station, though I've seen many dozens of Bulldogs jerseys there. Perhaps it's just because the dogs get lots of Friday night games at Homebush and this combined with the train situation favours them over Wests.

Probably because Bullbogs are right on the border with Tigers in Liverpoool area. I think it's divided by the Georges River.

 

[firechild]

North Queensland has a very strong rugby league history and they deserve their spot as much, if not more than anyone else.

 

[Ausguy]

move cronulla to adelaide...

 

[smithie]

If the Cowboys get their new stadium, their existence is secure. The proposed location is close to the train station and Townville CBD.

 

[oval]

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...

Sorry amigo but this would not work. Manly supporters are mainly from the Northern Beaches and not the North Shore - despite being next to one another these two areas are quite distinct and different, with the national park acting as the natural border. I reckon the crowds would be smaller than they get now - you'd lose some of the softer Northern Beaches folk who don't wanna battle the traffic to Chatswood, without making up for this loss with new North Shore people (who'd rather watch the Waratahs or the Swans anyway before pootling home in their volvos for a cup of tea, a panadol and a good lie down).

I think cutting ANY team from the NRL would be a mistake which would do nothing but piss people off and drive people away from the game (as happened with Bears fans). Some teams may be bigger and better than others, but they all have their niche and their history, particularly the older Sydney clubs. Yes, in a perfect world you could reimagine Sydney into four quadrants, but it just ain't gonna happen. None of the remaining Sydney clubs are suitable for merger for reasons of rivalry and culture, and it's these passionate inter-club rivalries and histories which fuel the NRL in Sydney.

Carn the mighty Sea Eagles!!

 

[Tom Shines]

It's funny, Liverpool should very much be Tigers (Magpies) territory but I've lived in the area for about a year and I'm yet to see a Tigers jersey at Liverpool station, though I've seen many dozens of Bulldogs jerseys there. Perhaps it's just because the dogs get lots of Friday night games at Homebush and this combined with the train situation favours them over Wests.

Which is the point I was kind of making. Having lived in the area for most of my life, there was really no rhyme or reason as to why people supported the club they do.

It's in a black hole between three clubs -- the Bulldogs seems to end at the Georges River in the Bankstown area, Fairfield to the north is the limit of Eels territory, but neither is it close enough to Campbelltown to call the Tigers home.

 

[RufusRex]

Sharks makes no sense .. its only sharks fans and dragons haters that cant see it ...

 

[RufusRex]

Liverpool was heavily tied to the doggies with the Oasis development ... that would have been fantastic for league if it had go off the ground ... may have spelled the end of the tigers though ...

 

[Goddo]

But before this thread turns into another "we need to axe some teams in Sydney, as long as it's not my team" thread, why not consider where we actually want to expand the game to in the future?

Another NZ team would be great. Not sure if NZ could support more than 2 though. A PNG team would also be great, but it's a long shot - I can't see too many non-locals playing for them.

A team in Adelaide is also a must for mine. Could potentially also put another team in Victoria - maybe Geelong?

After that, I think the only way to expand would be to work on improving the international game.

Thats an interesting point. There will be a point, maybe at a 22 or 24 team NRL, that growth of the top tier comp is as good as it will get, and that for "RL" to grow, it will be beyond the NRL and our shores.

 

[BunniesMan]

Sorry amigo but this would not work. Manly supporters are mainly from the Northern Beaches and not the North Shore - despite being next to one another these two areas are quite distinct and different, with the national park acting as the natural border. I reckon the crowds would be smaller than they get now - you'd lose some of the softer Northern Beaches folk who don't wanna battle the traffic to Chatswood, without making up for this loss with new North Shore people (who'd rather watch the Waratahs or the Swans anyway before pootling home in their volvos for a cup of tea, a panadol and a good lie down).

I think cutting ANY team from the NRL would be a mistake which would do nothing but piss people off and drive people away from the game (as happened with Bears fans). Some teams may be bigger and better than others, but they all have their niche and their history, particularly the older Sydney clubs. Yes, in a perfect world you could reimagine Sydney into four quadrants, but it just ain't gonna happen. None of the remaining Sydney clubs are suitable for merger for reasons of rivalry and culture, and it's these passionate inter-club rivalries and histories which fuel the NRL in Sydney.

Carn the mighty Sea Eagles!!

Bogan nuffies from west of Parra have no f**ken idea that there is a difference between the LNS (North Sydney area) and the Northern Beaches (Manly area). They lump the entire area into one and think they should all follow Manly. They think it's the same thing because they couldn't afford to live in either place so they presume it's all the same.

People that live in Bears territory do not like Manly. You bogans out there need to understand this.

 

[BunniesMan]

Sharks makes no sense .. its only sharks fans and dragons haters that cant see it ...

I'm a Dragons hater and I see it.

The Sharks were brought in for no reason but to try and artificially limit the Dragons during their historic era of dominance.

The streak did end but it had nothing to do with the Sharks. It was the greatest team to ever play together (the 67-71 Souths team) that put an end to it.