New Zealand 2 will deal a massive blow to NZ rugby

[SpaceMonkey]

Where would a Wellington team play? Is there a decent stadium to use?
I cant see Christchurch being big enough to host an NRL club despite the lovely stadium they are building, and the idea of a nomadic team moving around two islands seems fanciful at best.

Wellington and Christchurch are effectively almost identical in size. Both have 450-500k population within easy access of the stadiums.

The Waikato region has a similar population but it’s a bit more spread out (still probably 400k within 50km of Hamilton though), but it’s also adjacent to Auckland so would cannibalise Warriors crowds.

After that you’ve got a big drop off to places with <200k population bases.

 

[Perth Red]

Wellington and Christchurch are effectively almost identical in size. Both have 450-500k population within easy access of the stadiums.

The Waikato region has a similar population but it’s a bit more spread out (still probably 400k within 50km of Hamilton though), but it’s also adjacent to Auckland so would cannibalise Warriors crowds.

After that you’ve got a big drop off to places with <200k population bases.

Does Wellington have a stronger business/corporate environment than Christchurch? I know Crusaders have been by far the best union club on the field, whose the strongest off the field?

I think thats the big issue for NZ2. If it was a RL city of 500k then we know it can work (but can also fail). Where RL is a distant second sport is a city of 500k big enough to sustain an NRL club? If Perth had a population of 500k and was the AFL mad city it is would we still think Perth was a good option? The whole premise of NZ2 seems to be, lots of NZ kids make it in the NRL so a second NZ team will work, I'm not convinced.

 

[Wb1234]

Wellington and Christchurch are effectively almost identical in size. Both have 450-500k population within easy access of the stadiums.

The Waikato region has a similar population but it’s a bit more spread out (still probably 400k within 50km of Hamilton though), but it’s also adjacent to Auckland so would cannibalise Warriors crowds.

After that you’ve got a big drop off to places with <200k population bases.

Warriors have the whole of Auckland they don’t need to worry about anywhere else

there was even a proposal for a second Auckland nrl side

 

[Wb1234]

A second team in NZ could work. Although I wouldn’t split it all over the place as some are suggesting.

I would probably go with a South Island team and play the majority of games in Christchurch with maybe one or two in Dunedin.

Not sure about Wellington whilst the other option of an Auckland side would probably impact the Warriors

When I looked at the population centres it’s mostly the north island

so as much as I prefer it being based on christchurch a team based in in Wellington but I would still give ch at least four home games

 

[Wb1234]

No he didn't, there's good converts to discuss, you don't need to pretend he was.

A league forward with bad hands played centre in a union World Cup

anyway is a team based in Wellington and playing games in Hamilton Dunedin and ch a good idea or should it only be based on the southern island and ignore Wellington and Hamilton

or Wellington and Hamilton only and ignoring the South Island

 

[Te Kaha]

When I looked at the population centres it’s mostly the north island

so as much as I prefer it being based on christchurch a team based in in Wellington but I would still give ch at least four home games

You want a second NZ side but you want to set it up to fail? You're just plain crazy

 

[Perth Red]

You want a second NZ side but you want to set it up to fail? You're just plain crazy

If multi city teams were a successful model we would see numerous similar clubs around the world. There isnt.
Only two I can think of are GWS and Dragons, GWS only do it because the ACT govt pays them a motza to and Dragons two cities are close enough together that its possible to travel between them easily depending on where games are, but they still have one of the lowest membership and crowd avgs in the comp.

Its like they think this magical model that no one else in the world is using is somehow going to be a success in NZ, without any real justification of why it would be a success.

 

[Gobsmacked]

This is delightful!
Future All black just got pinched by the Roosters!

NRL, The Mole news 2023, Roosters poach Joseph Suaalii clone Tavita Henare-Schuster from New Zealand rugby

amp.nine.com.au

 

[Te Kaha]

This is delightful!
Future All black just got pinched by the Roosters!

NRL, The Mole news 2023, Roosters poach Joseph Suaalii clone Tavita Henare-Schuster from New Zealand rugby

amp.nine.com.au

The old "Future All Black" claim. Always a good one around contract signing time.

 

[Te Kaha]

If multi city teams were a successful model we would see numerous similar clubs around the world. There isnt.
Only two I can think of are GWS and Dragons, GWS only do it because the ACT govt pays them a motza to and Dragons two cities are close enough together that its possible to travel between them easily depending on where games are, but they still have one of the lowest membership and crowd avgs in the comp.

Its like they think this magical model that no one else in the world is using is somehow going to be a success in NZ, without any real justification of why it would be a success.

The guy is an idiot. There isn't enough resource to field a second team successfully at the moment, and he wants to hamstring it to begin with????

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

My issue with Wellington is its limitation on holding Friday night games. If there's only a few nights of the year that a team can play at the Cake Tin in this time slot then it does nothing to alleviate the dreaded "pub game" that limits attendances in Australia.

 

[Wb1234]

This is delightful!
Future All black just got pinched by the Roosters!

NRL, The Mole news 2023, Roosters poach Joseph Suaalii clone Tavita Henare-Schuster from New Zealand rugby

amp.nine.com.au

This is the way

with the rising salary cap the nrl should target more nz super rugby talent

well done chooks!

 

[Te Kaha]

This is the way

with the rising salary cap the nrl should target more nz super rugby talent

well done chooks!

I'm sure they will be able to sign more players not offered a full contract. Funny how 3 under 20s were signed on full time contracts to the 'Canes this year.... and he wasn't offered a contract.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Does Wellington have a stronger business/corporate environment than Christchurch? I know Crusaders have been by far the best union club on the field, whose the strongest off the field?

Yes, largely on account of it being the capital. There are a number of national corporate headquarters there. That said Christchurch is still the commercial centre of the south island and the country's second largest air gateway after Auckland.

I think thats the big issue for NZ2. If it was a RL city of 500k then we know it can work (but can also fail). Where RL is a distant second sport is a city of 500k big enough to sustain an NRL club? If Perth had a population of 500k and was the AFL mad city it is would we still think Perth was a good option? The whole premise of NZ2 seems to be, lots of NZ kids make it in the NRL so a second NZ team will work, I'm not convinced.

Yeah, basically. You've got one fairly large city of 1.5M then a big drop-off to 500K approx regional centres. Although plenty of other countries are similar in that respect.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

You want a second NZ side but you want to set it up to fail? You're just plain crazy

I don't think moving 4 games or so would massively hamstring a team. You'd need to reduce season pass prices accordingly, but you could probably pick that up with 4 game passes for the second venue.

 

[Te Kaha]

I don't think moving 4 games or so would massively hamstring a team. You'd need to reduce season pass prices accordingly, but you could probably pick that up with 4 game passes for the second venue.

He isn't talking about just four games, its half the home games across four or five other venues. None of which allow the players to be home on game day for rest or recuperation. it adds fifty percent to the transport and accommodation costs of a team. Its not like these other cities can be a quick drive home to.

 

[Pippen94]

The old "Future All Black" claim. Always a good one around contract signing time.

Why are you so angry?! Probably why ur not a moderator anymore

 

[Te Kaha]

Why are you so angry?! Probably why ur not a moderator anymore

Who is angry??? Not I, and the removal of the moderator badge stops the whining from certain posters.

 

[Perth Red]

I don't think moving 4 games or so would massively hamstring a team. You'd need to reduce season pass prices accordingly, but you could probably pick that up with 4 game passes for the second venue.

Why is no one else doing it then? And when I say no one, I mean literally no one in the world other than GWS, because they get paid massively to do so, and Dragons which was due to a weird merger scenario.

 

[Wb1234]

Why are you so angry?! Probably why ur not a moderator anymore

Wait I didn’t know that

now I can block him