Look at your points from a slightly different POV
The NZ deal won’t be cut by an NZ 2 team but Sky like many other pay TV companies is struggling a bit with the rise in streaming and unlike Foxtel they don’t really have a kayo type equivalent to transition into. Anecdotally many people would walk away if there was a better alternative- there’s a saying that it’s easier to quit smoking than Foxtel, literally had to tell them to f**k off to stop them calling every day for 3 weeks with some ‘exciting new offer’ to try and retain me.
How much higher do you think Sky could go with their bid I doubt they could afford to double it?
League juniors were definitely struggling, can’t speak for Auckland but in the provinces it was pretty dire, When I lived in Hastings I tried to play league as well as Union, at school there wasn’t any school teams in the province, post high school the club scene league team played 2 games in a season due to forfeits, in Wellington both teams shared the same grounds and whilst Firsts in league (the Union team had 6 grades) generally had enough for a team the lower grades essentially would ring in a few of the Union guys when they could find opposition to play. The other 2 provinces I lived in I couldn’t find a league team.
Let’s say that’s turned around, what would be your solution to improve the professionalism particularly in the administration and governance that the game would need to thrive? Do you believe the current juniors are up to standard to compete as NZ 2 as well as the inevitable poaching from the other clubs?
Crowds haven’t followed the usual slump which is fantastic the Game day team deserve credit for creating the game day experience they have achieved and plenty of clubs could take note
Current deal is 32 million pa
Since that was signed the ratings have gone up a lot
a second nz side will be very valuable
No way the tv deal goes down with a second nrl team.
the second team should be worth at least 10 to 20 million pa
rugby league shouldn’t try and copy union systems. Its too costly
cherry pick from those systems for warriors and nz2 elite pathway teams from reserve grade down to under 16
the popularity of the old under20s when the warriors got lots of best talent is a good example
a second nz nrl side means spaces for up to 100 more kiwi rugby league mens and juniors
If nz2 is a success then Wellington and Auckland two should be added
the more nrl teams nz can support the more juniors they can find and support
Raw talent wise kiwis are better. But they grow up playing both codes and arent playing against the best kids from a young age
imagine you are in Sydney you are playing the best each week.
other issues like how poorly the nzrl are run also need to be considered
another is the Aussies neglect of nz happy to take the large tv deals and juniors but not invest a lot back
a kiwi should be on the commission and the name changed to the Anzac league
