NRL Expansion Focus

[madunit]

Quick poll.

The suggestion that the NRL will expand the number of clubs in 2015 also sparks a number of positions.

So which do you think the NRL should focus on?

Competing with AFL - have teams in AFL Heartland and try and take some of their support away
Strengtheing the NRL product locally - have teams in NRL strongholds to try and get more cash for the game quickly.
Strengthening the game internationally - have teams from outside Australia in the NRL which would improve the game in other countries.

 

[El Diablo]

what about none of the above?

strengthen it nationally

 

[madunit]

Personally, given the NRL's complete lack of interest in helping the international game, I think they are in a prime position to rectify that here.

They should have a PNG team first and foremost.

WA should be the second team.

 

[madunit]

what about none of the above?

strengthen it nationally

Considering the teams that are being considered/putting bids forward, it appears to me they fit into the above three categories.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

Um, all of the above. But strengthening the game internationally would do more than anything else. It would indirectly help the game locally, nationally and beat the AFL all in one. Having said that the first new team given the nod should be Perth, followed by Brisbane II. But they should commit to a PNG side by 2020.

 

[El Diablo]

Considering the teams that are being considered/putting bids forward, it appears to me they fit into the above three categories.

if they put new teams in Brisbane and WA i don't see what that has to do with AFL

 

[adamkungl]

The AFL is irrelevant. We shouldn't put a team in WA because it's AFL heartland, we should do it because there are enough people in WA who want an NRL team.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

The AFL is not irrelevent. It's not as relevent as some people suggest. But's it's not irrelevent. Of all the criteria or factors to be considered it is one of the least important, but it's still something to be considered.

 

[adamkungl]

Doing anything as a reaction to the AFL is the wrong reason to do it. We shouldn't need them as an excuse to renew our focus on Western Sydney for example, and the fear mongering suggesting we do is only giving them extra publicity.

Ignore the AFL, concentrate on making our game the best it can be.

 

[Beowulf]

As any military strategist will tell you, fortify your home bases before you go adventuring into enemy territory.

 

[Perth Red]

Ideally strengthen the game nationally and internationally. If the game had the money and the leadership I would love to see the next 4 expansions be: Perth, Wellington, PNG and Brisbane. Some big challenges in it and I don;t think the game is anywhere near strong enough to do it so for now I would take perth and Brisbane as positive expansion.

 

[Perth Red]

As any military strategist will tell you, fortify your home bases before you go adventuring into enemy territory.

Mao Zedong opined that "the only real defense is active defense", meaning defense for the purpose of counter-attacking and taking the offensive.[1] Often success rests on destroying the enemy's ability to attack. In reference to fighting terrorists, Matthew Levitt opines, "It’s important to pre-emptively strike at those who intend to do us harm."[2] The principle is echoed in the writings of Machiavelli and Sun Tzu.[3]

from Wiki

 

[eozsmiles]

With enough money then the game can expand wherever and whenever it wants. So the most important thing is to strengthen the product.

 

[Karl]

They need to build the game nationally - which is what I figured the poll meant by "locally". Getting stronger in Australia, in all cities, will challenge the AFL, but you do it as a RESULT of the improvements you make to League, not as a specific goal of those changes.

That needs to be the priority, but appropriate resources should be dedicated to strengthening beach-heads overseas. I would look to low hanging fruit there, where there isn't too much existing competition from Rugby Union. Singapore for example - there's about 9000 registered Rugby players there already, in 13 Clubs. They play the Sevens as well so they have a more free flowing and faster variant. They will get games for the 2019 Rugby World Cup being hosted by Japan.

I'd look to where it already has a foothold and some momentum - like France and Europe, UK, New Zealand, PNG/Pacific Islands, USA. I mean, that's a lot of places to develop.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

As any military strategist will tell you, fortify your home bases before you go adventuring into enemy territory.

Subtle.

So another Brisbane team it is...

The reason AFL needs to be considered is because if we fight them on their own turf, even if its not the only reason to do so, it will might force them to rethink their own expansive activities in places like western Sydney. Their threats are forcing our hand, so why wouldn't it work when the boot is on the other foot?

 

[Perth Red]

Subtle.

So another Brisbane team it is...

The reason AFL needs to be considered is because if we fight them on their own turf, even if its not the only reason to do so, it will might force them to rethink their own expansive activities in places like western Sydney. Their threats are forcing our hand, so why wouldn't it work when the boot is on the other foot?

Primarily because they know we don not have the money or desire/belief to make a serious challenge to them in their heartlands. If they thought for a minute that the NRL was going to pump the same amount of $'s and efort into Perth or melbourne or Adelaide as theAFL have done in Sydney and Brisbane/GC then they would be very worried. As it is they know that we will be half arsed in it and expect any new club to be given no favours or extra funding to actually massively develop the game at grass roots, schools etc.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

Disagree. Teams in fumbler territory will draw some kind of defensive response from them. RL people generally don't believe AFL is a threat in western Sydney yet all the NRL ever does these days is promote the game there, so even a supposedly minor threat is getting a reaction. They've been attacking us in our territory for a while and all we've done is respond. Attacking them in their own backyard will at very least shift some resources back to their own heartlands and away from ours. It's not a major reason for expanding to AFL areas but it's not completely irrelevent either.

 

[Perth Red]

Problem is to mount a serious attack takes a squillion $'s and I doubt very much the game will spend it, even when it has it, on expansion states. You only have to see how apathetic the NRL has been in developing the game in Victoria compared to what the AFL has spent in NSW to see that they don't see it a priority. They haven't even fought to get it on FTA!

 

[docbrown]

Next Four Teams:

Perth (increasing national profile)
Central Coast (fixing North Sydney and giving a city that has waited 30 years a team)
Brisbane (to capitalise on an underdeveloped heartland area and ensure League is dominant in SE QLD)
Wellington/Christchurch (increasing international profile)

 

[Dragon_Taylor6]

Yeah I can't see them ever spending large amounts of money in AFL states, but I do think th IC will be more proactive in getting the game on FTA.