Nrl 2022

[TitanBronco]

With a possible $2 billion TV rights deal in the offing the game needs to look a revitalising the competition and building a larger player base and increasing national footprint. This is a format that is purely for discussion. The NRL should work on


Rugby League Blueprint 2022

NRL Division 1- 20 teams

Teams
1. Auckland
2. Wellington
3. North Qld
4. Central Qld
5. Brisbane
6. Ipswich
7. Gold Coast
8. Newcastle
9. Manly
10. Easts
11. Souths
12. Cronulla
13. St George
14. Wests
15. Canterbury
16. Parramatta
17. Penrith
18. Canberra
19. Melbourne
20. Perth

19 rounds
9 home games + Magic Weekend

Pre-Season
World Club Challenge
Pool A
NRL 1st
SL 2nd
SL 3rd
NRL 4th

Pool B
1st SL
2nd NRL
3rd NRL
4th SL

WCC Games played in double headers

Preseason Challenge
16 teams NRL teams who don’t finish in top 4
4 pools of 4
Pool winners to semi finals

State of Origin
3 games

Pacific Challenge
Fiji
Samoa
Tonga
PNG

NZ Origin
Auckland v Rest

International Post Season
Year 1
NZ Tour of UK and France/Lions Tour

Year 2
4 Nations
Great Britain
Australia
NZ
Oceania

Year 3
Kangaroo Tour/Lions Tour

Year 4
World Cup

Week 1
Nines competition

Week 2
WCC
1st NRL v 4th NRL (Aust)
2nd NRL v 3rd NRL (Aust)
1st SL v 4th SL (UK)
2nd SL v 3rd SL (UK)

Pre Season Cup (PSC) Rnd 1

Week 3
WCC
1st NRL v 2nd SL (Aust)
4th NRL v 3rd SL (Aust)
1st SL v 2nd NRL (UK)
4th SL v 3rd NRL (UK)

PSC Rnd 2

Week 4
WCC
1st NRL v 3rd SL (Aust)
4th NRL v 2nd SL (Aust)
1st SL v 3rd NRL (UK)
4th SL v 2nd NRL (UK)

PSC Rnd 3

Week 5
WCC
Rest Week

PSC Semi Finals

Week 6
WCC Final
Winner Pool A v Winner Pool B (Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, China or Dubai)

PSC Final

Week 7
Rest Week

Week 8-15
NRL Rnd 1-8

Week 16
State of Origin 1
Pacific Challenge
NZ Origin 2

Week 17-18
NRL Rnd 9-10

Week 19
SOO 2
Pac Challenge 2
NZ Origin 2

Week 20-21
NRL Rnd 11-12

Week 22
SOO 3
Pac Challenge 3
NZ Origin 3

Week 23-24
NRL Rnd 13-14

Week 25
Aust v NZ Test
Pac Challenge Final

Week 26
NRL Rnd 15 Magic Weekend

Week 27-30
NRL Rnd 16-19

Week 31-34
NRL Finals

Week 35
Rest Week

Week 36-39
Post Season Internationals


NRL Division 2
1. PNG
2. Fiji
3. Cairns
4. Adelaide
5. Christchurch
6. Central Coast
7. Brisbane 1
8. Brisbane 2
9. Brisbane 3
10. Sydney 1
11. Sydney 2
12. Sydney 3

Home and away competition

NSW Cup and QLD Cup

The winner of the QLD and NSW would play off against the bottom side from NRL 2 from Sydney and Brisbane to secure a place in the NRL 2

Country Cup
NSW and QLD regional areas should be reorganised into 16 groups in each area. All local comps should end on the last weekend in August. Each Grand Final winner goes into a knock out competition with the winner of NSW and QLD playing off on Grand Final Day.

NRL Grand Final Day
Game 1: NSW Country v Qld Country
Game 2: NRL Division 2 Grand Final
Game 3: NRL Grand Final

 

[pennywisealfie]

As long as the Broncos keep getting Friday night games, then I'm cool with it.

 

[alien]

As long as the Broncos keep getting Friday night games, then I'm cool with it.

They won't when there is a second Brisbane club.

 

[alien]

I don't think the NRL will use divisions, but if they did, Division 2 would surely have a Sunshine Coast club.

I am not sure about an Oceania team for the 4 nations. It would make a good team, but players want to play for their nations.

 

[CC_Roosters]

I don't think the NRL will use divisions, but if they did, Division 2 would surely have a Sunshine Coast club.

I am not sure about an Oceania team for the 4 nations. It would make a good team, but players want to play for their nations.

Should be a five nations imo with qualifier from europe and the pacific for each edition

The OP is very close to my thoughts on the future of the nrl and league structure

 

[BuffaloRules]

6 weeks of NRL clubs beating up on SL clubs will get old real quick...

 

[TitanBronco]

6 weeks of NRL clubs beating up on SL clubs will get old real quick...

I really don't think Leeds, Wigan, St Helens and Warrington/Huddersfield would be thrashed that badly. Australian clubs would definitely have the edge but the English game won't improve unless they are exposed to some competition against Australian sides. The increase of NZ players in the NRL and the Warriors has seen the Kiwi national team improve greatly.

 

[TitanBronco]

I don't think the NRL will use divisions, but if they did, Division 2 would surely have a Sunshine Coast club.

I am not sure about an Oceania team for the 4 nations. It would make a good team, but players want to play for their nations.

The Sunshine Coast would have one of the Brisbane slots. That concept is a little messy but there should be another tier below NRL as a pathway for players the NYC is turning away players far too young.

The Oceania team would be like the British and Irish Lions it would come together once every four years. A combined team would have a much better chance of competing against Aust and NZ.

 

[alien]

The Sunshine Coast would have one of the Brisbane slots.

ah ok

 

[alien]

That concept is a little messy but there should be another tier below NRL as a pathway for players the NYC is turning away players far too young.

well in nsw, the nsw cup is basically reserve grade/2nd grade level, ron massey cup is 3rd grade, and the sydney shield is 4th grade

qld has the super intrust qld cup as their 2nd grade, and 1 level below that i think they have a brisbane comp

 

[flippikat]

I like the idea of State of Origin on weekends, with a 4-nation "pacific cup" played on those weekends too. (Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, PNG are the obvious choices but there's scope there for promotion/relegation with the likes of Cook Islands) it gives those games some sort of focus.

The prize for the winner could be a match vs the Kiwis at the end of the season, with profits shared between the NZRL & their opponents.

 

[I Bleed Maroon]

The NRL needs to promote the subculture of Rugby League so that we can form a popular 2nd division competition that is televised on GEM that is actually treated much seriously. If the footy is entertaining to watch, and people get a good chance to get a good look at the next generation of their favorite club, then the people will turn up.

TL;dr yes, they should blatantly copy the concept of college football and the NCAA in the U.S

 

[Perth Red]

a second division will never generate crowds or tv dollars to be sustainable. You'd be lucky to get 1000 people to most games. Financially supporting new regions to develop systems and structures to be able to put a jnr and snr side in NSW cup or Qland cup would be more sustainable and offer the pathway for players to develop. I see the PNG club are financially in strife already as they have to cover all travel costs (sound familiar perth?). Better funding of the VRL,WARL,NTRL, Fiji, PNG etc to get clubs from those areas into a vibrant two league second grade is what is needed. Then fund the NRl clubs to have a reserve grade side outside of those two comps to fulfil the development needs of the elite 20-26 year olds that are not quite at NRL level yet or 30 year old players who can still offer a lot to the 21 year olds learning.

 

[BuffaloRules]

It concerns me that there is an expectation from some here that the NRL has to continually pony up more and more money for junior development both within Australia and beyond.

The athletes putting their bodies on the line each week for our entertainment need to be the main beneficiaries of the increasing money coming into the game.

I think there is some naivety to think that their salaries won't be increasing in line with this increased media money

 

[CC_Roosters]

If the league can get to the point of having 20 teams then i think there should be a split into two divisions of 10 teams with promotion and relegation between the two. That way it gives a natural level for every club with the opportunity to go up and down with form. It also allows a full home and away calender which i think is crucial in building a competition with integrity. Since it gives only 9 home games i would include an NRL knockout cup involving the 16 teams not involved in the WCS, divided into 4 groups of 4 teams playing a round robin tournament into a knockout competition before the NRL season proper.

IMO the 20 teams should be the 16 current clubs plus West Coast, Wellington, 2nd Brisbane side and potentially PNG.

NRL nines NZ leg
NRL nines Australian leg
All stars, NSW city country
NRL cup group stage 3 weeks (WCS running in parrallel)
NRL cup semi finals (bush trials for eliminated teams)
NRL cup final
Mandatory off week
RD 1-9
RD 10 split round
Rep week x 3
RD 10 balance of split
RD 11-18
Semi finals
Grand final
Mandatory off week
World nines
International 6-8 weeks

World club series
Top 4 in both SL and NRL are divided into two pools with a pool played in both hemispheres
Pool A- 1st NRL, 2nd SL, 3rd NRL, 4th SL (hosted in Aus/NZ)
Pool B- 1st SL, 2nd NRL, 3rd SL, 4th NRL (hosted in UK/Fra)

WCS final played in highest remaining seeds home ground.

Single round robin for 3 matches each followed by semi finals across the pools A1 v B2, B1 v A2 and a final. I don't think it matters if its ends up being an NRL faceoff for in the final for a number of years, its about creating an international club competition to generate interest in the code for different reasons. Just look at the rugby and soccer equivalent i don't hear any whinging when the final is an all spanish or french affair indeed fans relish it as seeing a rivalry on the biggest stage.

Below NRL and "NRL2" i would still divide the game along state lines for 2nd tier competition with Queensland forming the backbone of a expanded "northern zone" premier league and NSW the "southern zone" which more or less happens now with the exception of melbourne using the Qcup currently. Same applies for junior pathways which i believe should be U16, U18 and U21 all state based but with a national knockout tournament at each level to determine a national champion.

In my structure rep football takes the form of a 3 week block mid season where origin is played back to back along with the islands and new zealand in their own rep fixtures. e.g
Week 1
NSW v QLD
Tonga V samoa
Fiji V PNG
Auckland V the rest
Week 2
QLD v NSW
Pacific test winners faceoff for trophy
Losers play other nations e.g USA, Cook islands etc...
the rest V Auckland
Week 3
NSW v QLD
Pacific champions v NZ

 

[Perth Red]

It concerns me that there is an expectation from some here that the NRL has to continually pony up more and more money for junior development both within Australia and beyond.

The athletes putting their bodies on the line each week for our entertainment need to be the main beneficiaries of the increasing money coming into the game.

I think there is some naivety to think that their salaries won't be increasing in line with this increased media money

Salary cap will not go up by $50-100mill a year which is what the next tv deal is allegedly going to bring. At most it my rise around $500k a year ie $9mill in total.

 

[BuffaloRules]

Salary cap will not go up by $50-100mill a year which is what the next tv deal is allegedly going to bring. At most it my rise around $500k a year ie $9mill in total.

It will certainly be going up a hell of a lot more than $500k a team during the 5 years of the deal, and there will be more than likely another two teams to be funded...

 

[BuffaloRules]

Some further thoughts on this issue...

AFL salary cap is now over $10 Mil this year times 18 clubs. ( NRL around $7 mil times 16)

The AFL revenue last year was $446 Mil.

The AFL also gives a lot more extra money to their expansion NSW and QLD clubs, as well as the struggling Melbourne clubs like Bulldogs and Nth Melbourne.. we are talking tens of millions a year.

If the NRL TV deal goes up to $1.8 to $2 Bil over 5 years, they will be looking at revenue surpassing the current AFL levels, so I see no reason why the NRL salary cap wont increase accordingly per club to $10 Mil and beyond come 2018

 

[Perth Red]

It will certainly be going up a hell of a lot more than $500k a team during the 5 years of the deal, and there will be more than likely another two teams to be funded...

I said a year! Over 5 years around $45mill. If we get two new clubs add in another $14mill plus a year.

You have to remember a lot of the expansion teams extra funding actually comes from a ticket tax and unequal distribution of club grants in the afl.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/a...-for-2014-season/story-fni5f22o-1226782524366

Current NRL club grant is around $7.6million each. IdeaLy if the game gets over $1.5bill we will see club grants go up to around $10mill and salary cap $500k each year.
18 clubs that's $180mill a year plus storms $4.5mill (if still needed) plus say $2mill for support of a Perth club equals $186.5mill out of an income of around $300mill TV money.

 

[BuffaloRules]

I said a year! Over 5 years around $45mill. If we get two new clubs add in another $14mill plus a year.

You have to remember a lot of the expansion teams extra funding actually comes from a ticket tax and unequal distribution of club grants in the afl.



.

Ithe extra funding is coming out of the overall revenue for the AFL which the NRL will easily surpass come 2018.

You overestimate this "ticket tax"...at a $1 a ticket we aren't talking much in the scheme of things when the Suns and Giants are getting an extra $20 mil per year.