Crushers were financially unviable.
Chargers had money in the bank.
Illawarra Steelers had no money and couldn't survive as a 50% partner of the St George Illawarra Dragons. News Ltd offered the Steelers a spot in Super League that would have guaranteed their survival, but they were too stupid to take it and sacked Graham Murray for negotiating with them.
St George Dragons, North Sydney Bears and South Sydney Rabbitohs were struggling to tread water.
Auckland Warriors, Adelaide Rams and Western Reds were in a perilous position.
Balmain Tigers and Western Suburbs Magpies Tigers were in deep trouble.
If we let natural attrition sort out the layout of the land then we would have ended up with the following teams by 2002.
QUEENSLAND
Brisbane Broncos
Gold Coast Chargers
North Queensland Cowboys
NEW SOUTH WALES
Canterbury Bulldogs
Cronulla Sharks
Manly Sea Eagles
Newcastle Knights
Parramatta Eels
Penrith Panthers
Sydney Roosters
OTHER
Canberra Raiders
HEARTLAND TEAMS CUT
Balmain Tigers
Hunter Mariners
Illawarra Steelers
North Sydney Bears
South Sydney Rabbitohs
South Queensland Crushers
St George Dragons
Western Suburbs Magpies
We would have had 11 teams, with one team representing northern Sydney, one representing southern Sydney and one representing the CBD/eastern Sydney. Another three from western Sydney and one from Newcastle.
Adelaide Rams, Auckland Warriors and Western Reds would have needed to be supported until they became sustainable to run a 14 team competition. Over time there could have been expansion into Melbourne and Brisbane 2 for a 16 team league.
Ideally you would rebrand some clubs for marketing.
Adelaide Rams
Auckland Warriors
Brisbane Broncos
Canberra Raiders
Gold Coast Chargers
Newcastle Knights
North Queensland Cowboys
North Sydney Sea Eagles
Parramatta Eels
Penrith Panthers
Perth Reds
South Sydney Sharks
Sydney Roosters
Western Sydney Bulldogs
Add Moreton Bay Dolphins and Melbourne Storm.
Yep, you construct a good scenario where we get to 14 teams.
The positives: Perth, Adelaide, Gold Coast & Auckland kept, Sydney is rationalized to 6 top tier clubs, and scope for Melbourne & Brisbane 2 to be added for a still manageable 16 team competition.
The negatives - no teams in the Illawarra, nor on the Central Coast (but hey.. maybe scope there for a few games per year, and NSW Cup teams of their own?), Broncos get a period of monopoly over their city until the competition expands again, loss of great brands like Tigers & Rabbitohs (could they be saved by relocation/merger ala Brisbane Lions in AFL?)
I actually think the way forward for SE-Qld in this scenario would be the Chargers to rebrand to Dolphins (with Redcliffe as feeder club, keeping jade & purple as colors), and Brisbane Tigers as an expansion team alongside the Storm when the competition goes to 16 teams.
Big positives for a Chargers rebrand are that the Dolphin brand is brilliantly marketable, and it means there's not two clubs with a lightening-bolt motif in their branding when the Storm are added later.
As well as that, a Brisbane Lions-style merge/relocation would see the Perth Magpies & South Australia Rabbitohs take the place of Reds & Rams in the competition.
