The NRL should have a closer look at doing whatever they can to convince an existing Sydney team to relocate to either Perth, Central Coast, or NZ (Wellington).
I read a comment earlier in this thread about them having previously offered an $8M incentive. To me, the carrot needs to be bigger. Here's what i think they should offer.
1) Salary cap concessions for first 4 years: the NRL would want a relocated team to be an immediate onfield success, so an inflated salary cap would allow them to pay overs to attract 2-3 blue chip players.
2) Offer preferred timeslots for 75% of home games in the first 2 years: this would give a relocated club the advantage of scheduling majority of its home games in timeslots of their choosing, i.e. they might opt for family friendly timeslots (eg Sunday 2pm) or one of the FTA slots to maximise exposure for their sponsors.
3) Guaranteed franchise licence for 20 years: conditional on the team remaining in its new location, bit provides security for the team and givws it confidence to invest in long term infrastructure, facilities, development programs, player academies, etc.
4) Guaranteed home and away "heritage" or "derby" fixtures versus 2 rivals of their choice, for the first 8 years: my reasoning is that if, for example, Roosters were to relocate to Perth. They could lock in 2 derby matches vs Rabbitohs every year, with both games to be played at Allianz. This would help keep the traditional supporters happy, and maintain links to the past. Other examples could be NZ Bulldogs v Eels @ Belmore, or Central Coast Sharks v Dragons @ Shark Park.
Separate to all of the above, I also believe that Brisbane / SEQ needs and deserves another team, but not a relocated Sydney team.
MT
