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If ppl here got their way..

Iamback

Coach
Messages
16,974
only in lineage. it has no real resemblance to the NSWRL comp anymore and nor should it. The only similarity is that there are loads of traditional Sydney clubs in it. As GROTD points out numerous times lol it was only by fluke of timing of pokie dens that it happened the way it did. Ideally they'd have merged the two comps and had a 12 team comp with 6 BRL & 6 NSW clubs in it initially, but that boat sailed a very long time ago. Then added the likes of Canberra, NQ, Melbourne NZ1&2, Perth, Adelaide and GC.

I dont agree with him though, there is lots of interest in Sydney clubs around the country and a 20/22 team comp with 10 Sydney clubs in it will hopefully be where we land in decades to come. I personally tend to tune in to watch Souths, Tigers and Dragons most weeks. Dont know why I am attracted to following their games but for some reason I do where as I rarely watch Manly, dogs, cronulla, eels or roosters unless they are playing Storm or the above. Eels I'm watching more of their home games as the stadium and crowd adds to the viewing imo.

Origin too came from NSWRL being the superior comp and the QLDers coming to play here.

If you were doing a comp from scratch a few teams you wouldn't have in but the tradition gets people in.

As long as the Sydney teams keep taking over regions then the clubs will grow.

As for the numbers. Depends if PNG and the Pacific become viable
 
Messages
12,404
This again, pokies ruined BRL,
well sorry, the QLD govt is slow... who's fault is that? Its not the NSWRL fault, it took 40 plus years for qld to legallise gambling, gotta stop using that as an excuse, for BRL going tits up.... QRL is exactly want you want the NRL to be, a core of brl teams, and a host of regional and Png... they've now expanded to include toowoomba again... that's great... seriously stop the whinging about players chasing money in the 80s/90s, nswrl was obviously ahead of the curve in comparison to the other states, everyone is self centred, and looking out for no.1.... the only real folk here talking expansion are the ones looking to see "as-is" plus more.... not rationalization

Sydney RL fans champion "survival of the fittest" when talking about the NSWRL clubs using gaming machine revenue to bankrupt BRL clubs who were not privy to this revenue stream, or the culling of Reds and Rams, but are quick to adopt the "history and tradition" fallacy to justify bailing out broke Sydney clubs and prioritising their survival over true expansion. The Gold Coast Chargers were cut after making a profit while broke-arse Sydney clubs that had no money were kept around for another year or two, all based on the "history and tradition" fallacy that one-eyed Sydneysiders use to justify their schizophrenic stance on the game.

Sydney does not have enough rugby league fans to support nine clubs. No matter which metric you use to measure a club's viability, most Sydney clubs are in dire straights.

How many Sydney clubs have more than 10k parochial fans who will turn up to see their side play an interstate team?

It's gotten so bad for Sydney teams that they're taking games against interstate teams to regional centres in Queensland and NSW, plus Darwin, just to avoid making a loss. The Sydney teams are not supported in these areas, so they're relying on the interstate clubs to draw fans to these games. Potential sponsors look at the lack of support in Sydney and are reluctant to get on board as they know their brand will only reach a small audience. If it wasn't for gaming machines, the Winfield era and Foxtel over the last 25 years then many more Sydney clubs would have died decades ago.

.....Well BRL teams bought our best ipswich players, since they had more money from pokies.... please.... players getting paid pittance back before 95, whilst belting each other for weekend sport, and working fulltime... everyone moves to Canberra if wayne promises a wage, to play RL

Before 1956 it was more common for players from the BRL to sign with a regional Queensland club than to head to Sydney. The Ipswich and Toowoomba competitions were arguably stronger than the BRL in the 1910s and 1920s.
 
Messages
12,404
Origin too came from NSWRL being the superior comp and the QLDers coming to play here.

If you were doing a comp from scratch a few teams you wouldn't have in but the tradition gets people in.

As long as the Sydney teams keep taking over regions then the clubs will grow.

As for the numbers. Depends if PNG and the Pacific become viable
The NSWRFL and Sydney media were against State of Origin and labelled it the "non-event of the century". They even said Queenslanders were "stupid" for wanting it and predicted it would die after one game. It will go down in history as the dumbest prediction and most narrow-minded viewpoint espoused by a sporting body and media. Without State of Origin our game wouldn't be the behemoth of Australian sport that it's become and we can thank visionaries from Queensland, such as Jack Reardon, for creating the only event we have that is the envy of all our rivals.

The bulk of the players that formed the nucleus of the Queensland SOO side that truly dominated the 80s were based in the BRL in the early 80s. The greatest ever player, Wally Lewis, didn't even play in the NSWRL until the backend of his career, yet he routinely dominated NSW while plying his trade in the BRL for Valleys and Wynnum Manly.

I do see the irony in SOO being more relevant to Australians than the NRL GF. It proves that the NSWRL never had any drawing power outside of Sydney and gives us a glimpse of how much stronger our game could be in Adelaide and Perth if we gave them teams of their own. Just like none of us RL fans care to see Carlton play a game of fumbleball against Essendon, neither does anyone outside of NSW care to see Cronulla vs Penrith.
 
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Messages
12,404
It would be worth more. Not every Sydney team rates
Super League was broadcast on Foxtel, Ch9 and the ABC. ARL was paid nothing by Kerry Packer's Optus Vision pay TV rights between 1995 and 1997. Kerry Packer purchased a weekly Super League game, which shows how much faith he had in the Sydney-centric ARL in 1997. That's right, Packer paid more for one weekly Super League game than all of the ARL games he had on Optus Vision between 1995 an 1997!
 

siv

First Grade
Messages
6,546
add in Dolphins, Firehawks and Jets plus Newcastle, Perth, Melbourne, Canberra, Auckland, Christchurch, PNG and 4 Sydney clubs and you've got yourself a good 18 team comp!
You wont need those 4 Sydneys clubs and Newcastle - as the song goes "There not in Queensland"
 

siv

First Grade
Messages
6,546
Sydney RL fans champion "survival of the fittest" when talking about the NSWRL clubs using gaming machine revenue to bankrupt BRL clubs who were not privy to this revenue stream, or the culling of Reds and Rams, but are quick to adopt the "history and tradition" fallacy to justify bailing out broke Sydney clubs and prioritising their survival over true expansion. The Gold Coast Chargers were cut after making a profit while broke-arse Sydney clubs that had no money were kept around for another year or two, all based on the "history and tradition" fallacy that one-eyed Sydneysiders use to justify their schizophrenic stance on the game.

Sydney does not have enough rugby league fans to support nine clubs. No matter which metric you use to measure a club's viability, most Sydney clubs are in dire straights.

How many Sydney clubs have more than 10k parochial fans who will turn up to see their side play an interstate team?

It's gotten so bad for Sydney teams that they're taking games against interstate teams to regional centres in Queensland and NSW, plus Darwin, just to avoid making a loss. The Sydney teams are not supported in these areas, so they're relying on the interstate clubs to draw fans to these games. Potential sponsors look at the lack of support in Sydney and are reluctant to get on board as they know their brand will only reach a small audience. If it wasn't for gaming machines, the Winfield era and Foxtel over the last 25 years then many more Sydney clubs would have died decades ago.



Before 1956 it was more common for players from the BRL to sign with a regional Queensland club than to head to Sydney. The Ipswich and Toowoomba competitions were arguably stronger than the BRL in the 1910s and 1920s.
You cant change the past so get over it

And by the way SOO was proposed as far back as 1920

Players were moving to Sydney well before poker machines came in
 
Messages
12,404
You cant change the past so get over it

And by the way SOO was proposed as far back as 1920

Players were moving to Sydney well before poker machines came in
And players from Sydney were moving to the BRL, so what's your point?

Back then a BRL player was more likely to go play in regional Queensland or England for money.

If we cannot change the past then why all the talk on here about bringing the Bears back?

I see people trying to sabotage expansion in Perth and Adelaide with claims that any team there should be the Bears.
 

Colk

First Grade
Messages
6,330
You cant change the past so get over it

And by the way SOO was proposed as far back as 1920

Players were moving to Sydney well before poker machines came in

You are the one talking endlessly about the NSWRL on these pages, even suggesting that we bring back the Bears. You should heed your own advice

You do realise that the game can only continue to grow and prosper by taking the game outside of NSW (especially) and even QLD
 

Perth Red

Post Whore
Messages
65,405
Sure. Ppl losing teams would still be fans.
Half of Sydney and regional NSW wouldn't lose their teams. And other big cities would get teams. Fans will be flocking to it. More people from regional NSW and Qlnd plus Brisbane watch NRL on FTA than do in Sydney.
 

Colk

First Grade
Messages
6,330
Sure. Ppl losing teams would still be fans.

By that logic, the death of North Sydney, Western Suburbs, Balmain should have lead to reduced TV earnings or meant less overall supporters. It hasn’t

In any case, this is a Clayton’s argument. No Sydney team is going to die but if you want the game to grow and you think the product is good (which it is unquestionably) then give the product to new fans.
 

Pippen94

First Grade
Messages
5,858
Half of Sydney and regional NSW wouldn't lose their teams. And other big cities would get teams. Fans will be flocking to it. More people from regional NSW and Qlnd plus Brisbane watch NRL on FTA than do in Sydney.

Well that's not true cause teams like South's, parra, saints have fans all over country, but losing 50% of fans in Sydney would f sport because that's where most come from
 

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