Lambretta
First Grade
- Messages
- 8,689
The "hatred" for the Melbourne Storm seems to me to be quite amusing.
As a non Storm fan the reasons appear to quite unlogical even though people give quite in depth responses for their feelings.
In the 1990's Brisbane amassed an amazing team, which looked as much like the Australian national team as anything else. They were truly phenomenal and yet they had advantages over everyone else that the salary cap allowed.
They were able to buy and or retain players well beyond the financial reach of any other club. If the playing field were even or even close to even, Brisbane would not have had this advantage.
Brisbane at that time was far, far cheaper to live in than Sydney, so Brisbane with a $3 million salary cap was equivalent to a Sydney team only having $1.5 million to spend.
Fans of the game somehow see this as normal even though it allowed Brisbane to not only keep the best players that Queensland had on offer, but also to buy in everyone else it needed to supplement their already great side.
They had Juniors, tv coverage, corporate sponsorships etc and could afford to pay their players an income that was the equivalent of being far more than any other club could give them.
Now compare this to the Melbourne Storm.
They were building in a City with no juniors, no television, having to import all their players in which costs MORE per player than if you live in your home down close to your family and mates. All in a City that was equally expensive to live in than Brisbane or most of Sydney and their crime was to pay extra to retain their own players - not to buy anyone elses.
When you consider the disadvantages they had - an increased limit in the salary cap SHOULD have been automatically in place purely to level the playing field.
Many on this site claim they would like to see Rugby League grow in Melbourne, but only if the team has every disadvantage possible and no advantages at all.
Believe this. Had the Melbourne Storm NOT paid their players extra money to retain them (as I personally believe MANY other clubs do anyway) and had they let their best go, they would not have had the success they've had.
Without success, the team would most likely have died a few years back as News wouldnt pay any more for a failed business and league would be dead in Melbourne and fighting against AFL in Sydney and Brisbane alone.
If that's what we want, we should all keep believing that the "cheating" was unfair on the rest of us.
We expect they should be able to survive without television coverage, without a juniors comp, whilst having to pay MORE than every other club to attract players South, without an established supporter base and all without success or a history on which to build it. Luxuries every other club enjoys OVER the Storm.
If that's what we believe we can be guaranteed that league will die in Melbourne and if that's the case we are inviting / begging the AFL to defeat us.
They have a long term objective - we have whingeing, back stabbing and only allow advantages if ours is the only club to enjoy them.
Hooray for us.
As a non Storm fan the reasons appear to quite unlogical even though people give quite in depth responses for their feelings.
In the 1990's Brisbane amassed an amazing team, which looked as much like the Australian national team as anything else. They were truly phenomenal and yet they had advantages over everyone else that the salary cap allowed.
They were able to buy and or retain players well beyond the financial reach of any other club. If the playing field were even or even close to even, Brisbane would not have had this advantage.
Brisbane at that time was far, far cheaper to live in than Sydney, so Brisbane with a $3 million salary cap was equivalent to a Sydney team only having $1.5 million to spend.
Fans of the game somehow see this as normal even though it allowed Brisbane to not only keep the best players that Queensland had on offer, but also to buy in everyone else it needed to supplement their already great side.
They had Juniors, tv coverage, corporate sponsorships etc and could afford to pay their players an income that was the equivalent of being far more than any other club could give them.
Now compare this to the Melbourne Storm.
They were building in a City with no juniors, no television, having to import all their players in which costs MORE per player than if you live in your home down close to your family and mates. All in a City that was equally expensive to live in than Brisbane or most of Sydney and their crime was to pay extra to retain their own players - not to buy anyone elses.
When you consider the disadvantages they had - an increased limit in the salary cap SHOULD have been automatically in place purely to level the playing field.
Many on this site claim they would like to see Rugby League grow in Melbourne, but only if the team has every disadvantage possible and no advantages at all.
Believe this. Had the Melbourne Storm NOT paid their players extra money to retain them (as I personally believe MANY other clubs do anyway) and had they let their best go, they would not have had the success they've had.
Without success, the team would most likely have died a few years back as News wouldnt pay any more for a failed business and league would be dead in Melbourne and fighting against AFL in Sydney and Brisbane alone.
If that's what we want, we should all keep believing that the "cheating" was unfair on the rest of us.
We expect they should be able to survive without television coverage, without a juniors comp, whilst having to pay MORE than every other club to attract players South, without an established supporter base and all without success or a history on which to build it. Luxuries every other club enjoys OVER the Storm.
If that's what we believe we can be guaranteed that league will die in Melbourne and if that's the case we are inviting / begging the AFL to defeat us.
They have a long term objective - we have whingeing, back stabbing and only allow advantages if ours is the only club to enjoy them.
Hooray for us.
