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

[Scott Gourley's Lovechild]

Yeah, good luck with that WireMan

 

[Special K]

Another kick the sharks out thread how original!

 

[bobmar28]

But Wollongong couldn't support it's own team, the current situation/position is perfect for the region. In saying this in 20-30 years this may be different with the local growth of the area

If the NRL gets a billion dollar TV contract it would be possible for the club grant to equal the salary cap. If that happens I don't see why the Steelers couldn't be viable.

 

[RedVee]

Cronulla should relocate to Illawarra.

Call them the Illawarra Sharks but they can wear the red shirt of the Steelers.

St George then go there own way and argue with Rabbits, Roosters and Dogs about who has whose juniors, while Illawarra get everywhere south of Sydney, plus some good real estate in Sutherland to pay for it all.

pfft to that.

 

[dangerousdave]

Cronulla should relocate to Illawarra.

Call them the Illawarra Sharks but they can wear the red shirt of the Steelers.

St George then go there own way and argue with Rabbits, Roosters and Dogs about who has whose juniors, while Illawarra get everywhere south of Sydney, plus some good real estate in Sutherland to pay for it all.

f**k wit

 

[deadV]

St george should fold tbh

 

[dangerousdave]

Good one bhp

 

[joshreading]

I think there was serious mistakes allowed by an impotent NRL after the Super League war that has led to a situation where there is clearly problems with the spread of teams in Sydney in the NRL.

Wests and Tigers should not have been able to merge. They merged because they felt less dominated than other possibilities. (eg. Parra/Bulldogs etc) Tigers do okay today but they are a torn club with totally different catchment areas.

Cronulla were willing to merge. It should have happened. Saints and Steelers merging does work in some regards but it has left a virtually unworkable situation where if the Dragons continue to grow they will slowly strangle the Sharks. (which I think is fairly evident)

The NRL should have given clear (informed) directives as to how the division of Sydney could work best. They should not have allowed just any joint ventures.

At the end of the day though, it is what it is. We have a continuing situation which is ultimately unworkable for some areas.

At some point a Club will fall over. What the NRL then does, and the response of the fans to such a situation will be massive. AFL Clubs have looked beyond their borders recognizing that suburban roots cannot sustain them into the future. Some NRL Clubs need to do this as well, even if it is early investment for long term rewards.

 

[H.H]

Don't take offence but league is not a commanding sport in the eastern suburbs of Sydney.

If it was people would make more effort than just turning on the tele.

Now, you're going to try and justify their existence where they are but I would be willing to bet if they played out of Dubbo the crowds would more than a match at games.

More importantly, the Roosters would lose nothing and gain respectability by bringing their name to people who are crying out for a team that already has thousands of supporters in the bush

No offence taken but just trying to do a bit of mythbusting. Please review the below and then come back to me.

http://stats.rleague.com/rl/crowds/2011.html

Cheers

PS - Check any year and compare Rooster crowds among the rest of the comp. I think we had the lowest in 1990 which is about the only time I can see it in the last 30 or so years.

 

[H.H]

The Eastern Suburbs arent generally working class which is the social class Rugby League historically appeals too.

if it weren't for it's few multi-millionaire backers, Roosters wouldve been gone a long time ago.

Takes a bit more than that. And we actually were a mainly working class area for a long time.....in fact for 80 or so of the last 100 years I'd suggest. So you think we should go based on those percentages?

As for the millionaire backer comment, well it takes a bit more than that I'd suggest. You could apply that to Souffs more than Easts as they WOULD be dead without Rusty and Co.....and this is with them supposedly being in that working class demographic.

 

[H.H]

you're being a bit too technical re home ground. i consider it within roosters district too (I would consider everything east from Anzac Pde/Flinders St & north from Alison Rd as Roosters territory) but it's literally a stone's throw from Rabbitohs turf too.

You need to be technical with the locality of the 2 clubs.

I'll take it a step further and disagree with your boundarys. You're cutting out most of Randwick and all of Coogee with the Alison Road boundary.

And this is how the league officially views it as well....which is a friggen travety as they are both obviously "Eastern" Suburbs...this is an old argument and won't ever die I feel.

But if you were to be objective about it, some of the Rooster myths could be put to bed.

 

[carcharias]

 

[bottle]

Carch I have no idea what that is, but it's not a patch on Quigs' development plans.

 

[BunniesMan]

If the NRL gets a billion dollar TV contract it would be possible for the club grant to equal the salary cap. If that happens I don't see why the Steelers couldn't be viable.

So you're saying in about 2015 we'll see a demerge?

 

[Bluebags1908]

I think there was serious mistakes allowed by an impotent NRL after the Super League war that has led to a situation where there is clearly problems with the spread of teams in Sydney in the NRL.

Wests and Tigers should not have been able to merge. They merged because they felt less dominated than other possibilities. (eg. Parra/Bulldogs etc) Tigers do okay today but they are a torn club with totally different catchment areas.

Cronulla were willing to merge. It should have happened. Saints and Steelers merging does work in some regards but it has left a virtually unworkable situation where if the Dragons continue to grow they will slowly strangle the Sharks. (which I think is fairly evident)

The NRL should have given clear (informed) directives as to how the division of Sydney could work best. They should not have allowed just any joint ventures.

At the end of the day though, it is what it is. We have a continuing situation which is ultimately unworkable for some areas.

At some point a Club will fall over. What the NRL then does, and the response of the fans to such a situation will be massive. AFL Clubs have looked beyond their borders recognizing that suburban roots cannot sustain them into the future. Some NRL Clubs need to do this as well, even if it is early investment for long term rewards.

Regarding Wests Tigers - I agree with your comments in relation to the distance between Leichhardt and Campbelltown, but one thing that is often overlooked is that the Wests Magpies historical territory in Sydney prior to their move to Campbelltown was Ashfield/Lidcombe/Strathfield/Concord area (and is now part of Wests Tigers area), which geographically adjoins the Balmain/Leichhardt area.

The Magpies Leagues club in Ashfield would be a 5-10 minute drive to Leichhardt. The Tigers currently train at Concord Oval which is the site of the old St. Luke's Oval which was the Magpies home ground between 1910-1942.

Parramatta Road has Haberfield on the northern side which is Balmain but if you literally cross to the other side of the road it's Ashfield and that's Magpies. So historically they are geographically a good fit although Campbelltown isn't.

 

[DC_fan]

Not sure that geography should have anything to do with what teams should or should not be in the NRL.

 

[joshreading]

Not sure that geography should have anything to do with what teams should or should not be in the NRL.

It does when geography is tightly linked to demography. The Shire's problem geographically is a demographic problem. It has a limited population with a significant minority that support opposition teams. As such it's geography limits it potential growth.

Wests moved to Campbelltown because its geography being sandwiched with other teams had a demographic limitation. If there was a booming area of Sydney that lacked a team you could argue that moving the Sharks there might work, however that is presently not the case.

 

[RedVee]

I think there was serious mistakes allowed by an impotent NRL after the Super League war that has led to a situation where there is clearly problems with the spread of teams in Sydney in the NRL.

Wests and Tigers should not have been able to merge. They merged because they felt less dominated than other possibilities. (eg. Parra/Bulldogs etc) Tigers do okay today but they are a torn club with totally different catchment areas.

Cronulla were willing to merge. It should have happened. Saints and Steelers merging does work in some regards but it has left a virtually unworkable situation where if the Dragons continue to grow they will slowly strangle the Sharks. (which I think is fairly evident)

The NRL should have given clear (informed) directives as to how the division of Sydney could work best. They should not have allowed just any joint ventures.

At the end of the day though, it is what it is. We have a continuing situation which is ultimately unworkable for some areas.

At some point a Club will fall over. What the NRL then does, and the response of the fans to such a situation will be massive. AFL Clubs have looked beyond their borders recognizing that suburban roots cannot sustain them into the future. Some NRL Clubs need to do this as well, even if it is early investment for long term rewards.

I take a slight exception on the bolded part.
Cronulla were willing to merge but only on their terms. Those terms that were so unacceptable that the other 2 partners politely asked them to f*** off; and then formed their own agreement sans Cronulla.

Regarding Wests Tigers - I agree with your comments in relation to the distance between Leichhardt and Campbelltown, but one thing that is often overlooked is that the Wests Magpies historical territory in Sydney prior to their move to Campbelltown was Ashfield/Lidcombe/Strathfield/Concord area (and is now part of Wests Tigers area), which geographically adjoins the Balmain/Leichhardt area.

The Magpies Leagues club in Ashfield would be a 5-10 minute drive to Leichhardt. The Tigers currently train at Concord Oval which is the site of the old St. Luke's Oval which was the Magpies home ground between 1910-1942.

Parramatta Road has Haberfield on the northern side which is Balmain but if you literally cross to the other side of the road it's Ashfield and that's Magpies. So historically they are geographically a good fit although Campbelltown isn't.

Exception here. Wests had to give up their inner west territory when they relocated to Campbelltown.
The Wests junior league area was diced up, some went to Balmain - Five Dock for example, the rest to the Bulldogs - Enfield for example, not sure if Parra picked up anything around granville but I dont think so.
That made the Bulldogs attempt at Liverpool even more obnoxious to old Magpie fans. They were not content on pinching their old territory, they wanted some of the new as well. Bulldogs? Canterbury Cuckoos is more like it.

 

[flamin]

Manly and Cronulla make no sense - since they're both just peninsulas when we have areas like Perth, 2nd Brisbane and 2nd NZ ie millions of people that aren't represented. Though the difference with Manly is that it doesn't have one of the largest clubs completely strangling its borders, actually rather the opposite, with the nearest clubs located a fair distance away in city terms.

 

[mongoose]

Why doesn't the NRL follow the AFL and play all sydney home games out of 2 central stadiums, then it doesn't matter what suburb they are from. The AFL is nowhere near as territorial as the NRL. Correct me if im wrong but isn't every Melbourne AFL team geographically located in inner Melbourne anyway but they obviously get support from way further out.

Play all sydney games out of ANZ stadium and SFS with a couple of exceptions. Dragons can split games between the SFS and Win Stadium and Tigers can split games between Campbelltown and ANZ. WOuld this be viable?