NRL Expansion. Ideas and opinions.

[Peet]

Canberra's population is 403,057 (plus an extra 40k when you add in Queanbeyan), the CC's is 311,843, so no there aren't more people on the CC then in Canberra.

And how you could possibly know which has more "league fans" without having surveyed the entire population of both I don't know, but one thing I do know for sure is that there's more corporate support in Canberra, more sponsorship opportunities in Canberra, and the population in Canberra has much more disposable income, which leads to Canberra being able to support an NRL team while the CC can't even support an A-league team.

Corp support, sure. But there are a lot more Rugby Fans in Canberra than there are in the CC. A-League is apples & oranges. I'm thrilled the Raiders are in our comp, but am still dirty on the Bear's exclusion.

 

[The Great Dane]

Corp support, sure. But there are a lot more Rugby Fans in Canberra than there are in the CC.

What does there being more Rugby Union fans in Canberra than on the CC have to do with anything?
Assuming that there are in fact more RU fans in Canberra, which I think is a safe assumption, but again who knows.

Oh and BTW, the vast majority of those RU fans in Canberra are RL fans as well.

A-League is apples & oranges.

You can say that all you like, but the fact that the CC can't support a team in a competition that costs roughly half as much to support a club as it costs to support an NRL team is a bloody good indicator that they are going to seriously struggle to support an NRL team.

I'm thrilled the Raiders are in our comp, but am still dirty on the Bear's exclusion.

I assume you are from the CC (right?), if so you are literally sitting in the region with the most access to NRL content in the country!

You are an hour or so drive from 10 of the clubs in the competition, that is better access to the product then pretty much anywhere else in the country, and if you want to closely support an NRL club and regularly attend live games there's basically nothing stopping you.

 

[Albert Rosenfeld]

I cannot understand this discussion. There will be no cutting or relocating a Sydney club.

It is obvious that we must expand the number of teams in the NRL. In order to do that intelligently we first need to have a team in Perth and a second Brisbane team. That has to happen by 2022. (Total 18 teams)

After that comes Wellington and Adelaide, no later than 2027. (total 20 teams)

The next stage is PNG and Fiji. (total 22 teams)

Finally we need Christchurch and either a fifth Queensland team or a second Melbourne team (total 24 teams).

Don't ever consider and NRL team from Tonga and Samoa. Those two nations are tiny countries with tiny impoverished populations, unlike Fiji and PNG, Therefore neither Tonga nor Samoa can sustain an NRL team. All of the Tongan and Samoan players in the rugby league internationals are emigrants or the children of emigrants who live in Australia or New Zealand.

 

[Walter sobchak]

The following cities/regions need to be represented in the NRL as standalone clubs by 2030 :-

Wellington
Christchurch
Brisbane2
Perth
Adelaide
Illawarra
Central coast

The end goal being a 2 ten team conference style format which will over the decade increase to 12 teams in each conference.

 

[The Great Dane]

The following cities/regions need to be represented in the NRL as standalone clubs by 2030 :-

Wellington
Christchurch
Brisbane2
Perth
Adelaide
Illawarra
Central coast

The end goal being a 2 ten team conference style format which will over the decade increase to 12 teams in each conference.

LOL. . . You want to add a couple clubs every second year for the next decade!

There's no way that the talent pool or the NRL could support that rate of growth, and all it'd take is for a few to suffer financial trouble (and it's inevitable that at least a few of those would) and the whole thing would come crashing down because the NRL can't afford to bankroll that kind of expansion.

Until there's a better geographical spread of clubs conferences are a pipe dream as well, unless you want to set up a rigged system that severely favours some clubs/conferences over others.

 

[Walter sobchak]

LOL. . . You want to add a couple clubs every second year for the next decade!

There's no way that the talent pool or the NRL could support that rate of growth, and all it'd take is for a few to suffer financial trouble (and it's inevitable that at least a few of those would) and the whole thing would come crashing down because the NRL can't afford to bankroll that kind of expansion.

Until there's a better geographical spread of clubs conferences are a pipe dream as well, unless you want to set up a rigged system that severely favours some clubs/conferences over others.

The NRL could easily expand to 18 teams by 2022 then 20 teams by 2025 which would usher in the 2 conference format.

2030 at the earliest for 12 teams in each conference.

 

[Stallion]

LOL. . . You want to add a couple clubs every second year for the next decade!

There's no way that the talent pool or the NRL could support that rate of growth, and all it'd take is for a few to suffer financial trouble (and it's inevitable that at least a few of those would) and the whole thing would come crashing down because the NRL can't afford to bankroll that kind of expansion.

Until there's a better geographical spread of clubs conferences are a pipe dream as well, unless you want to set up a rigged system that severely favours some clubs/conferences over others.

What a load of crap. That "not enough talent " line is the biggest piece of bullshit of the lot. The players are there and if additional clubs are announced and planned? Guess what! More juniors play-the- game to aspire for the big league. But no ! Some can't see this.

 

[Walter sobchak]

What a load of crap. That "not enough talent " line is the biggest piece of bullshit of the lot. The players are there and if additional clubs are announced and planned? Guess what! More juniors play-the- game to aspire for the big league. But no ! Some can't see this.

There’s more talent today than there ever was 25 years ago when the winfield cup had 20 teams and that’s before you take into account the potential untapped resources of PNG and Fiji.

 

[Bojackhorseman]

The NRL could easily expand to 18 teams by 2022 then 20 teams by 2025 which would usher in the 2 conference format.

2030 at the earliest for 12 teams in each conference.

What a lovely world you must live in. You only have to wish for something and it can happen. These things cost a lot of money and require extensive commitments from a broad range of stakeholders. The afl currently has 9 games and some have dreadful ratings because of scheduling issues. That’s why they have tried to get rid of clubs in Melbourne on so many occasions. Good news is that you have Stallion on side.

 

[Stallion]

There’s more talent today than there ever was 25 years ago when the winfield cup had 20 teams and that’s before you take into account the potential untapped resources of PNG and Fiji.

More clubs equates to more interest/ relevance and juniors! It's only people that are aiming to minimise/cease the genuine growth of this 'vulnerable ' and somewhat concealed code (internationally speaking) that advocate the 'not enough talent' line!

 

[Walter sobchak]

More clubs equates to more interest/ relevance and juniors! It's only people that are aiming to minimise/cease the genuine growth of this 'vulnerable ' and somewhat concealed code (internationally speaking) that advocate the 'not enough talent' line!

Compare and contrast the % of NZ born players pre the warriors entering the ARL/NRL and post .

 

[Walter sobchak]

What a lovely world you must live in. You only have to wish for something and it can happen. These things cost a lot of money and require extensive commitments from a broad range of stakeholders. The afl currently has 9 games and some have dreadful ratings because of scheduling issues. That’s why they have tried to get rid of clubs in Melbourne on so many occasions. Good news is that you have Stallion on side.

Yet the AFL average crowds shits all over the NRL and the TV $$$$$ keep rolling in.

 

[Stallion]

Yet the AFL average crowds shits all over the NRL and the TV $$$$$ keep rolling in.

And that organisation has worked out that additional clubs and not imploding established clubs is the prudent way to grow. It's non sensicle the tear down foundations logic for expansion. Yet some still push that agenda? I haven't got NZ figures. However interestingly , most NZ schools do.not offer rugbyleague so the youngsters play-the game on their weekend. Imagine if rugby-league was played in most NZ schools? The code would be inundated with players and growing interest. But it's not. And that's just one pertinent example of rugby league being constrained/restrained from the freedom to grow and prosper.

 

[Walter sobchak]

And that organisation has worked out that additional clubs and not imploding established clubs is the prudent way to grow. It's non sensicle the year down foundations logic for expansion. Yet some still push that agenda? I haven't got NZ figures. However interestingly , most NZ schools do.not offer rugbyleague so the youngsters play-the game on their weekend. Imagine if rugby-league was played in most NZ schools? The code would be inundated with players and growing interest. But it's not. And that's just one pertinent example of rugby league being constrained/restrained from the freedom to grow and prosper.

More cashed up NRL clubs waving the $$$ under the noses of NZRU schoolboy talent is the way to retaliate .

Fight fire with fire.

 

[Stallion]

More cashed up NRL clubs waving the $$$ under the noses of NZRU schoolboy talent is the way to retaliate .

Fight fire with fire.

Yes. However the unfairness of the established way is not right. This code does battle and does not have the luxury of elite private schools advocating to play it. In NZ it's basically most schools that don't have rugby league. Just as well the code is that good people want to play it on the weekends! Other codes are clearly propped up by establishment means like schools, especially in NZ . It occurs elsewhere all.over the world.

 

[Bojackhorseman]

Yet the AFL average crowds shits all over the NRL and the TV $$$$$ keep rolling in.

The afl crowds have historically always doubled ours and their tv deal is almost identical $ per game to ours. Anything else?

 

[Walter sobchak]

The afl crowds have historically always doubled ours and their tv deal is almost identical $ per game to ours. Anything else?

Nope. That’s pretty much the 2 main areas covered right there, bigger crowds and a more lucrative TV deal.

Time for the NRL and RL in general to aim higher and raise their game. No???

 

[The Great Dane]

The NRL could easily expand to 18 teams by 2022 then 20 teams by 2025 which would usher in the 2 conference format.

2030 at the earliest for 12 teams in each conference.

Sure the NRL could support 4 more teams over the next decade or so, but you are totally off your f**king head if you think the NRL could support 7 expansion clubs in ten years.

You'd totally tank the standards of the competition (and probably the ESL as well) as the growth in the talent pool through traditional means (i.e. developing juniors) definitely wouldn't be able to keep up with the pressure of adding 210 full time professional players over ten years.

If anything went wrong with any of the clubs the NRL wouldn't have the means to prop more than a few up at any one time, which would make it an incredibly risky proposition because if they started to fall over (and it's inevitable that some would struggle financially) then there'd be nobody to catch them as they fall, and you'd risk a repeat of the domino effect we were starting to see in the 90s when the NSWRL grew too big too fast without rationalising the competition first.

On top of all that, at the same time you'd be pushing this massive expansion drive the value of broadcasting rights are almost certainly going to start to drop, which will add an extra layer of risk because of the uncertainty of whether smaller sports leagues, such as the NRL, are going be able to attract similar value contracts through other means, namely streaming.

And because of the geographical spread of the clubs there's no way to do a balanced, and more importantly fair, conference system. You'd inevitably create a system that vastly favours one conference over the others (probably the one with the most Sydney clubs in it), so unless you are willing to accept that sacrifice, which I'm most certainly not, the whole idea is a total non-starter.

Basically, unless you rationalise Sydney in the process of this huge expansion push it's simply feasible to expand by that many clubs that quickly, and the chances of Sydney being rationalised arr slim to none!

 

[Walter sobchak]

Yes. However the unfairness of the established way is not right. This code does battle and does not have the luxury of elite private schools advocating to play it. In NZ it's basically most schools that don't have rugby league. Just as well the code is that good people want to play it on the weekends! Other codes are clearly propped up by establishment means like schools, especially in NZ . It occurs elsewhere all.over the world.

All true but until things change RL must fight fire with fire by poaching union schoolboy talent and by introducing NRL franchises in both wellington and Christchurch.

 

[The Great Dane]

Nope. That’s pretty much the 2 main areas covered right there, bigger crowds and a more lucrative TV deal.

Time for the NRL and RL in general to aim higher and raise their game. No???

Crowds are a false god and their TV deal is only bigger because of politics. Not that the size of TV deals is going to matter to much in the next decade or so anyway!