How a Country NSW NRL side would work

[parrawentyfan]

Been a bit bored today so thought I'd flesh out some ideas on how such a side would work. There are a few reasons why this could work and how it could be a positive.
1. It already has a jersey, fanbase, history etc. Any such NRL team would probably see the death of the City/Country game, with the Country side becoming an NRL entity in its own right.
2. The huge amount of talent which the CRL provides to the NRL competition. This would go along way to ensuring that teams in country NSW stop dying off, with AFL and union taking over.
3. The fact that if Country NSW (and for that matter Country Qld) ratings figures were counted we would nationally smash the AFL. If a Country NSW team existed, ignoring the regional figures would be seen as even more ridiculous as it is seen now.
4. A CRL team would not have to have one 'home ground'. No one area is big enough to house the team, but a combined Country NSW is more than big enough, especially for a heartland area. Most NRL trials get crowds of between 10,000 and 15,000. This is huge, compared to populations. For example, I went to Parramatta v Cronulla in Parkes (drove from Orange) and the crowd was 11,000+. Parkes population was only 10,000 odd at the time. This would happen for every game if the Draw was spread around regional centres.
Taking into account other teams and populations, I believe an NRL team could get 10-15,000 (20,000 with stadium improvements) to a match each in Orange, Bathurst (v Penrith), Dubbo, Wagga Wagga (v Melbourne), Goulburn (v Canberra), Tamworth, Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour, Lismore (v Gold Coast), Foster (v Newcastle), Nowra (v St G Illawarra) and Grafton. This is factoring in 1 match each per city over 12 rounds. There are probably 5-10 other towns/cities which could be added to this.
5. Concerns would obviously be raised over travel etc. but I don't think this would be a problem. Get a core group of players keen on the idea, and subsidise travel (if the WA Reds can do it then why not) and it would be solved. Keep 2-3 bench spots each game for stars from the local leagues and it would be a hit with locals. Sponsorhip with companies such as REX (Regional Express) or even Qantas or Countrylink would help pay for travel. This would be in addition to the sponsors already associated with CRL and each local division/group. They could possibly be based somewhere Mon-Thurs and travel over the w'end, doing community stuff and playing their fixture.

I know there are many other teams which would be ahead in regards to warranting an NRL licence (such as Wellington, WA, Bris2, Central Cst, Sunshine Cst and Adelaide - even possibly PNG, Christchurch and Hamilton) but Country NSW should not be looked over. Even if it is a long way off. Whether it's warranted or not is a matter of opinion. All I am saying is that if the will of the NRL, CRL and TV Execs was there, I think such a team could work.

 

[TooheysNew]

Keep 2-3 bench spots each game for stars from the local leagues and it would be a hit with locals.

It's not as simple as that to peak local interest.

 

[parrawentyfan]

I understand that. I think a team like this would work without the token locals. Just think it would add a nice touch - Something to get the game in the local papers a bit more etc. Although with 1 game each town a year I don't think the game would need it. I'm not sure about bigger places like Newcastle and the Gong, but in smaller towns (I'm from Orange - 38,000) City/Country night always sees a couple of big pubs full up with people cheering on Country, no matter where the boys r from. Just saying I think it's do-able. Country people would take to their own NRL side and turn out in huge numbers.

 

[TooheysNew]

but in smaller towns (I'm from Orange - 38,000) City/Country night always sees a couple of big pubs full up with people cheering on Country

Maybe it used to. Not to the same extent any more.

We're in the middle of organising a trial match for next season, and we're struggling even with interest in that.

Besides that, Wade Park is in no state to handle NRL matches - even Carrington, one of the best grounds out this way, could not handle it. The transport, accomodation, parking etc are just not feasible at this point.

Sure, they could be, but it would take a lot of money and effort from a lot of different people to get it off the ground - much more than it would for a city area.

 

[parrawentyfan]

You are true in saying that most country NSW venues are not in a condition to house NRL matches. I would also say however, that neither are places such as Leichhardt Oval. I think that if it were only for one day a year these venues could maybe cope with the demand of an NRL match. I understand that many towns/regions have problems hosting City/Country games, but at the end of the day the traffic problems only last a few hours and the nights are successful. Maybe a local derby Group match could be the curtain raiser, possibly getting people to arrive earlier and relieving traffic problems.
I think for a team like this to even be considered venues would need to be up to the standard of somewhere like Apex Oval in Dubbo, with a decent, comfortable grandstand and generous hill. Somewhere like Coffs Harbour's BCU Stadium would also be ok. The others would need some work. Does anyone know how much money/effort went into Apex Oval? This is a scenario which I am thinking could be possible in 30-40 years as opposed to now. My only fear is that by that time Country RL could be in a worse state.
With regards to promoting the game, I think with the full backing of an NRL draw and everything that goes with that - sponsors, headlines, news/sports tonight type stuff, promotion wouldn't be a problem. It would be different to one group/club promoting a trial game in the off season.

 

[parra pete]

The CRL is not open to positive suggestions. They are regarded as Pie In The Sky.
CRL to promote the code :lol: :lol:
If you live in a Group, Division or town away from the Eastern seaboard, forget it, they don't know the game exists...
although they will come on a fact finding mission if the Club happens to fold...

 

[TooheysNew]

Group is just as bad.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

Crowds - not a problem. Interest - not a problem. Players - not a problem.
But decent venues and the money to do it just don't exist.
Most of the places you mentioned don't even have a ground that can hold 10,000 comfortably and few if any have the media and corporate facilities or even lighting to host NRL games.
There is not enough corporate money in the bush to fund it and there probably wouldn't be enough corporate money coming from the city either. Only a lot of NRL funding and/or leagues club money could support a country club and neither are likely, especially when you consider pokie taxes etc.
In theory I'd love to see NRL games played in the bush every second week. It'd be great. But country having its own side is not realistic or even neccessary. Everyone in the bush follows a team already. Getting a few NRL games to the bush would be more realistic, as the NRL supposedly considered doing a couple of years ago, and the fans would love it, whatever clubs were involved. If every club took one home game to the bush that would be 16 games per year (15 if you don't count the Warriors) which is even more than if a country side was in the NRL. It wouldn't solve the venue issue but it would provide bush fans with plenty of top level footy without the massive expense of running a country club. But, first things first, we need to get a proper pre-season country carnival going again. Even that would be enough really to give fans in the bush the chance to see games. Proper NRL games would be just a bonus.

 

[Perth Red]

It's not a new market and therefore would add little more to the current NRL. If bush RL was dying and interest was waning then there may be a reason for it but as East said they don't have the venues or the corporate support so it will never happen.

 

[cumberlandsashes81]

I was under the impression that NSW Country already had 2 and a half teams in the NRL? Newcastle, Illawarra, Canberra... All in NSW CRL areas.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

I was under the impression that NSW Country already had 2 and a half teams in the NRL? Newcastle, Illawarra, Canberra... All in NSW CRL areas.

Provincial NSW (and the ACT) and Country NSW are not the same thing. I don't think anyone in the bush (I'm talking about the real country) feels that any of these clubs are really country clubs. But those clubs do attract some country fans. Then again so does every other club in the comp to some extent.

 

[bazza]

I doubt that a CRL team playing at a different country town in NSW would be practical - however I think in theory and the future teams from different country regions of NSW could compete in the NRL if demographics work in their favour.

I could image teams from the following could all have potential:
a. North Coast - Coffs Harbour/Lismore
b. New England - Tamworth/Armidale
c. Mid North Coast - Port Macquarie/Forster
d. Central West - Bathurst/Orange
e. Riverina - Wagga/Griffith
f. Central Coast

The steps to get these clubs into the NRL would be:
1. Get the clubs/groups/divisions in the area to agree to support the concept of a regional team. This involves getting over any club/town rivalries that all ready exist. This could well be the end point for most ventures
2. Get a team together and enter it into the the JBC/NSWRL/State cup. When the team is in this competition this is when things like junior development, building a supporter base, improving facilities, getting corporate support working out travel issues all come into it
3. Wait till the population in the area grows enough, they have a decent stadium, have decent corporate support, get good results on the field and you have a team ready to play in the NRL

 

[East Coast Tiger]

I doubt that a CRL team playing at a different country town in NSW would be practical - however I think in theory and the future teams from different country regions of NSW could compete in the NRL if demographics work in their favour.

I could image teams from the following could all have potential:
a. North Coast - Coffs Harbour/Lismore
b. New England - Tamworth/Armidale
c. Mid North Coast - Port Macquarie/Forster
d. Central West - Bathurst/Orange
e. Riverina - Wagga/Griffith
f. Central Coast

The steps to get these clubs into the NRL would be:
1. Get the clubs/groups/divisions in the area to agree to support the concept of a regional team. This involves getting over any club/town rivalries that all ready exist. This could well be the end point for most ventures
2. Get a team together and enter it into the the JBC/NSWRL/State cup. When the team is in this competition this is when things like junior development, building a supporter base, improving facilities, getting corporate support working out travel issues all come into it
3. Wait till the population in the area grows enough, they have a decent stadium, have decent corporate support, get good results on the field and you have a team ready to play in the NRL

1. Your six teams are almost representative of six of the 10 divisions, the others being Newcastle, Illawrra, Monara (Canberra) and Southern. Problem is Divisions don't exist anymore, or won't in a couple of weeks, and many of the towns you grouped together are not even in the same region under the new structure. There will be basically no communication between them - not that there would have been much to begin with.
2. Even if the JBC allowed country teams in it wouldn't be practical for them to play in a Sydney based comp, nor are most regions likely to be competitive or financially viable. There is a bit of talk around about a state league like the Qld Cup but I don't think people realise what it would take for such a thing to happen.*
3. Not that it matters much. All of those places, bar the Central Coast, are decades off being able to field a side in the NRL for evey reason under the sun. Population growth, decent stadia, sufficient corporate support, sufficient player strength and depth and all the other infrastructure required are probably 50 years away for most country areas. Even with all the rats leaving the sinking ship of Sydney the only areas likely to reach a population size comparable to places like Newcastle, Wollongong and Canberra would be maybe the North Coast and it is a big area. Most of the population growth will actually be on the CC, Newcastle, Illawarra and Southern Division (as was) areas anyway making the NRL clubs in that area even more viable than any country club.*

*By country teams I don't include the Central Coast. It is propbably capable of fielding an NRL side right now

 

[Nfed]

When I saw that former Sydney Bulls (and Parramatta and Northern Eagles) winger, Epa Navale was playing for Dubbo CYMS, I checked out the rest of their line up and found that they had about 9 players that had played NRL, P/L and JBC. I thought that they could have fitted into JBC.

 

[parrawentyfan]

Thanks for all your comments. There are some good points there. What does the new CRL structure look like? Is there going to be feeder areas to the NRL. If Canberra, Newcastle and StG Illawarra (maybe even Penrith sometimes with the way they are presented) consider themselves Country teams would they take an interest in having a Country NSW / JB Cup team? I know Canberra is going without one next year and definately sees itself as representing Country areas. Maybe a team could be viable in a lower division. The stadiums etc. would then be suitable. I think they would get the best crowds of all NSW Cup / JB Cup teams.

Of course there is alot less money going around in the NSWRL and CRL than in the NRL so it would have to be heavily subsidised somehow. I don't think any club would want to pay for such a team, or would even be able to. Maybe a team could represent the CRL, but be a different team each week, depending on which region it was playing in - thus saving money on player transport. If they made the finals it would be like a rep selection to decide who plays. Who knows how consistent they'd be though.

I just think it is something totally different which could be a great image booster for the game. NRL teams are indeed supported by many people from the country now but many aren't actively involved in any way. They may make a trip down to Sydney once or twice a year if their team is doing well. They very often aren't members or anything like that. I think this may change with Country representation. It could be seen as bringing 'dormant' fans back in to the game. It would also be something the other codes could only dream of. There would be nothing else like it. The closest thing which could happen would be the AFL giving a team to Bendigo and Ballarat to share. But they hate each other and it costs so much more to run one of their teams. We have a distinct advantage.

As I said earlier, I think it would expand the TV market - even in that people will begin to realise that regional figures need to be counted. Thus, there would be an extra million or so viewers right there.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

The new CRL structure involves six regions instead of 10 divisions. So now we have our Group or Cup competitions, each with a rep side, who will then play for one of the six regions and the best will play for Country. Of these six regions one includes Newcastle/Central Coast, one Illawarra and one Canberra so there's only really three proper country regions that don't encompass a city with an NRL club. As far as I know there is no NRL involvement with any of the other regions or even any Groups out in the bush. There was supposed to be a system brought in by the NRL that allocated Groups to certain NRL clubs but nothing came of it.

We can't realy on the NRL clubs to help country areas because they simply won't. They can't even commit to their own lower grade sides, proof of which is Canberra's decision not to play in the PL and the Roosters and others farming off their PL sides to clubs like Newtown. NRL clubs rarely remain affiliated with their QRL clubs for more than couple of years either and don't really do anything for them.

 

[parra pete]

Don't just blame the NRL for not assisting country Clubs..The CRL is doing SFA.
The CRL is the most ineffective body in the game. I can't believe how weak it has become, and with absolute no imagination.
I wonder what is discussed at the Annual Conference these days. In my time on the CRL, with blokes like Clancey Kingston and John O'Toole Mo Wilson, Vic Byrne, David Barnhill, John Marsden, Hitlon Middleton, Bob Millward, Skippy Mayhew, Noel Gale - and even current chairman Warren Kimberley, things got done. Plans were put in place to improve the lot of bush football. Every Group had the chance to put forward suggestions.
Why has the CRL become impotent - rather than important?
Is it run by YES men frightened to challenge the NRL hierarchy?
I would love to know the answer. Why are most suggestions raised written off as 'Pie in the Sky" without even an investigation of possibilities.
The CRL has become a collection agency for insurance premiums and registration fees. The senior management definitely needs a good shake up. (i.e in my opinion.)
A People Power push is needed to help get the plight of the bush through. Maybe even to get a visit by CRL officials to where the game is hurting, and other codes thriving.
Is that the Impossible Dream?

 

[East Coast Tiger]

I don't know what it was like in the old days but the CRL is still pretty much the same people now is it was 10 years ago. Not much changes.

I don't really know what the CRL can do. There are a lot of areas they could improve on but in the end they are hamstrung by the need for NRL funding, lack of ability at every level of the game from clubs right up to the ARL and more problems than any one organisation can deal with.

We probably do need one governing body, at least in NSW, but for all the talk that doesn't seem to be anywhere near happening. Until then the NRL is where all the power, all the money and all the media and public interest is and they have to be more active in promoting and strengthening the game at every level.

 

[KalgoorlieRed]

Get CRL clubs in the Jim Beam Cup to start with!

Bathurst Panthers or Wagga Brothers.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

Get CRL clubs in the Jim Beam Cup to start with!

Bathurst Panthers or Wagga Brothers.

The Entrance, Erina and Shellharbour are already in it. I don't know why any others would want to be though. The JBC gets worse crowds than most CRL games and would cost clubs two or three times more and involve far more travel.