NRL Expansion Priorities

[byrner]

There is plenty of untaped talent. The more you expand the more people play the game.

In the short term, all places which want a NRL should have to put a side in the NSW or QLD cup. If they can be successful and financially viable in that comp then they can have a chance in the NRL.

 

[Perth Red]

Given NRL clubs can't afford to run reserve grade teams how do you expect expansion bids to raise $2milla year to fund a team in those comps?

 

[docbrown]

@ doc Brown.
I am curious what you have against the Brisbane Bombers?
The Brothers bid seem to have no public profile and seem to be years behind the bombers bid which IMO have a solid case to be one of the 2017/2018 expansion teams with Perth.

I'm not saying the Brothers bid is up to scratch either, all of the bids from Brisbane have their issues. I think you're kidding yourself about the Bombers being 'years ahead'...

Regarding the Bombers from the start they appeared to be a splinter faction of disgruntled ex-Broncos staffers and supporters. From the way they pretended to gauge public interest and then announced a pre market tested generic shortlist (have friends who did the polling) to the final Bombers moniker they seem determined to be a clone of the Broncos. There's nothing wrong with good market research btw it's just the way they went about it.

Not just that but their focus isn't in the south-west and any new team intending to quickly catch up to the Broncos to be their equals (not just a an inferior copy) needs to be engaging that large strong growth market first and foremost. On the plus side they've got the corporate structure and they're playing at Lang Park.

What the Brothers group can offer is pre-existing statewide branding and support whose genuine heritage value could be the key to developing a QRL Brothers heritage vs Corporate Broncos rivalry. Even before the Brothers announced their intention to bid people were commenting that was the key ingredient to making the second Brisbane team the equal of the Broncos as it's a common trait of rugby league fans in Brisbane that don't support the Broncos. Again though the Brothers need to get their financial plan together.

 

[The Great Dane]

I'm not saying the Brothers bid is up to scratch either, all of the bids from Brisbane have their issues. I think you're kidding yourself about the Bombers being 'years ahead'...

Regarding the Bombers from the start they appeared to be a splinter faction of disgruntled ex-Broncos staffers and supporters. From the way they pretended to gauge public interest and then announced a pre market tested generic shortlist (have friends who did the polling) to the final Bombers moniker they seem determined to be a clone of the Broncos. There's nothing wrong with good market research btw it's just the way they went about it.

Not just that but their focus isn't in the south-west and any new team intending to quickly catch up to the Broncos to be their equals (not just a an inferior copy) needs to be engaging that large strong growth market first and foremost. On the plus side they've got the corporate structure and they're playing at Lang Park.

What the Brothers group can offer is pre-existing statewide branding and support whose genuine heritage value could be the key to developing a QRL Brothers heritage vs Corporate Broncos rivalry. Even before the Brothers announced their intention to bid people were commenting that was the key ingredient to making the second Brisbane team the equal of the Broncos as it's a common trait of rugby league fans in Brisbane that don't support the Broncos. Again though the Brothers need to get their financial plan together.

Yeah the Bombers just come off as the Broncos 2.0 and that is not what RL fans in Brisbane want or need, but I'm not so sure that the Brothers are the perfect fit for Brisbane either.

In my opinion the NRL can only afford to give 2 more licenses to Queensland before they start to give them licenses at the expense of other areas, which is something we really need to avoid. IMO another full time team in Brisbane and another team to cater to as many of the other untapped regions of Queensland as possible is the way the NRL should look to go about it.

The biggest thing the Brothers have going for them is their ability to tap into so many markets and cater for multiple areas all at the same time, but that massive pro comes with the con of not being able focus on Brisbane which in my opinion makes them not a good fit for the next Brisbane team that the NRL so desperately needs.

So my suggestion is this, why not leave Brisbane for now as there really aren't any options that meet our needs and the last thing we need is a team in Brisbane that doesn't serve any of the purposes we need it to, but (if they can get their bid in order) give the Brothers a license with the conditions that they can't be based in Brisbane but can play a certain amount of games in Brisbane until a second Brisbane team is ready at which point they must pull out of Brisbane almost all together. This would give all the areas of Queensland that the Brothers can tape into a team to call their own, the Brothers time to forge a strong fan base in Brisbane, eventually give the NRL effectively 3 teams with (hopefully) strong fan bases in Brisbane and give Nine a second team playing out of Brisbane for the time being while the NRL looks to push along another team is Brisbane.

As for the second team in Brisbane if the NRL were to play their cards right they'd have it based in South Brisbane and carrying the moniker of another very popular BRL/QRL team that the Brothers weren't very fond of back in the day, this would create multiple rivalries in Brisbane with the Tradition vs the Corporation of the Brother/Bris2 vs Broncos and the old BRL/QRL rivalry of the Brothers vs Bris2.

 

[paulmac]

The logical name for the second Brisbane side is the Crushers.A club killed by the corporate greed of the Broncos,it should be a members based club with all money made going back into RL.They averaged 21,000 in their debut year,if not for the whole super league clusterf**k then I reckon they would probably be bigger than the Broncos by now.

 

[Perth Red]

Given the Broncos are the most successful and biggest modern day NRL club I also struggle to see the problem of someone replicating them!

Clearly Perth and brisbane2 are in next. Another ten years we can debate the merits of the next two potentials.

 

[hardbaby]

Perth is a priority. Then a second QLD side (probably based in Brisbane). Wellington and Central Coast are miles behind and PNG is ludicrous. I don't think Adelaide will cut it at this point in time although I do think a team would go well long term.

The issue is expansion vs relocation. There are too many Sydney teams. That's a sad truth but they are foundation/long term clubs and you don't really want to death ride a club. The player pool just isn't up there so we can't just expand. It won't work. In the short term relocation is the best bet.

The only club that has no future is Cronulla. They can crap on as much as they want about their "development" but it is small fry against their weak financial base and their ability to grown the supporter base is almost non-existant. Fundamentally they just won't cut it and are destined to be near last most years so what's the point. They are the perfect team to relocate. As for the rest, it's just too difficult to say but I believe we probably do need to lose two Sydney teams - Cronulla + one.

 

[hardbaby]

Given the Broncos are the most successful and biggest modern day NRL club I also struggle to see the problem of someone replicating them!

Clearly Perth and brisbane2 are in next. Another ten years we can debate the merits of the next two potentials.

I wouldn't replicate the Broncos but your town is big enough for a second club. Re Perth and Brisbane...agree 100%. As for the time frame...agree 100%.

We don't need to have teams in all states. We just need to have a bloody good comp with very loyal supporters and should focus on our strengths. Over time, it will grow but let's not get arrogant and greedy..

 

[taipan]

Perth is a priority. Then a second QLD side (probably based in Brisbane). Wellington and Central Coast are miles behind and PNG is ludicrous. I don't think Adelaide will cut it at this point in time although I do think a team would go well long term.

The issue is expansion vs relocation. There are too many Sydney teams. That's a sad truth but they are foundation/long term clubs and you don't really want to death ride a club. The player pool just isn't up there so we can't just expand. It won't work. In the short term relocation is the best bet.

The only club that has no future is Cronulla. They can crap on as much as they want about their "development" but it is small fry against their weak financial base and their ability to grown the supporter base is almost non-existant. Fundamentally they just won't cut it and are destined to be near last most years so what's the point. They are the perfect team to relocate. As for the rest, it's just too difficult to say but I believe we probably do need to lose two Sydney teams - Cronulla + one.

"It is small fry against their financial base" LOL commented by someone without a clue.The development is $300m right next door.The club will be receiving over 5-6 years $40m their profit share.They own the ground and have not had to go to the NRL for assistance to pay rents like a club or two I know.In fact it was the former Bronco CEO Bruno Cullen who came to the sharks early last year,who stated after looking at all the financials,this club has the potential to be in the top 3 or 4.The football club benefits.It is the financials that are keeping the sharks going through the ASADA dramas.
David Smith has also alluded to the fact.

Now let's turn to the matter of growth.
Greenhills housing 4-500 homes some near completion.
Further planned development near Kurnell to house 3,000 people
The units next door to the club in toto 600 plus units.Number of people you fill it in.
Site of Kirrawee clay pit,massive unit development.
Menai land available up to 5,000 homes.
Shire council into high density housing throughout.
No room for membership or crowd growth,surely you jest.

 

[bobmar28]

It may not be the sharks but two or three Sydney teams have to go. Mergers would be the best way imo.
That would leave sydney with 6 teams which is still way too many but better than 9.

 

[taipan]

It may not be the sharks but two or three Sydney teams have to go. Mergers would be the best way imo.
That would leave sydney with 6 teams which is still way too many but better than 9.

Every time there has been a merger or removal of a club,fans involved pack their bags in a lot of cases and give the code a miss,or even as has happened go to AFL or S15 Tahs eg the Bears and I know of people with mergers that gave up on the game completely.
If no one has learnt the lesson of the SL debacle,then they are living on another planet.

 

[Baron Vo Mandor]

With the growth of our comp, we have the ability to draw our players from a far, far wider base than corruptionball. E.g. the clubs who begin to scout and recruit regularly from places like South Africa, more of the Pacific Islands, even maybe countries like Serbia even further down the track (there are some big men to be found there), will likely have such moves pay off in a huge way. We also have the ability to pillage Union here for any half-decent players they may have, same goes for Union in NZ.

Everybody seems to think places like Fiji are full of Uates and such.

Quite simply they aren't or we'd see a lot more players from their in the NRL.

I've actually noticed a bit of a drop in Islanders in the NRL the last couple of season, big, strong and fast isn't all it takes to be an NRL player.

For the cost of scouring an entire country the rewards are no way close to great enough.

I'd much rather have 12 teams and 6 cracker matches each week then 10 matches with 8 hidings every week which is exactly what we'd be seeing.

Quite simply we don't have Europe or Americas population or budgets and people wanting our code to be like soccer or gridiron is a joke.

 

[Perth Red]

Every time there has been a merger or removal of a club,fans involved pack their bags in a lot of cases and give the code a miss,or even as has happened go to AFL or S15 Tahs eg the Bears and I know of people with mergers that gave up on the game completely.
If no one has learnt the lesson of the SL debacle,then they are living on another planet.

And yet despite mergers and clubs being axed attendances and TV audiences are higher than ever?

 

[Phil McGrawhan]

And yet despite mergers and clubs being axed attendances and TV audiences are higher than ever?

:lol::lol::lol:
& how long did that take ..about 15 yrs.

Jesus you are dumb.
You kill a club or force a merger you lose not only fans ,but the future fans (children of bitter fans will probably take after their parents & have no interest ).
It takes more than a generation to get interest back with new fans..
Why set yourself back to start with

 

[Perth Red]

Unless you replace them with a club with more fans? In the ideal world you would just keep growing the number of clubs but in the real world that seems not possible so you have to consider what is best for the long term future of the game. That is what the NRL will do end of 2014, unfortunately I think they lack the balls to make the really tough decisions so will keep throwing money at small struggling clubs in the hope they will come good one day.

There is very very little evidence for your assertions that kids will stop wanting to play RL or support an NRL club because their parents team were culled or merged. Peers, what's on at schools, exposure via media, hype around star players etched etc are all far more likely to be factors if a kid plays a sport than if there is an NRL club within a 5km radius.

 

[docbrown]

Yeah the Bombers just come off as the Broncos 2.0 and that is not what RL fans in Brisbane want or need, but I'm not so sure that the Brothers are the perfect fit for Brisbane either.

In my opinion the NRL can only afford to give 2 more licenses to Queensland before they start to give them licenses at the expense of other areas, which is something we really need to avoid. IMO another full time team in Brisbane and another team to cater to as many of the other untapped regions of Queensland as possible is the way the NRL should look to go about it.

I do think that with some coordination between the 4 Queensland clubs (Titans, Broncos, Cowboys, Brothers) all the key northern markets can be targeted.

For example -

Darwin -1x Eels (home) vs Cowboys
Cairns - 2x Cowboys (home), 1x Cowboys (away)
Townsville - 10x Cowboys (home)
Rockhampton - 2x Brothers (home), 1x Brothers (away)
Sunshine Coast - 2x Broncos (away)
Gold Coast - 11x Titans (home)
Brisbane - 10x Brothers (home), 12x Broncos (home)
Port Moresby - 1x Titans (home)

Keeping in mind that also in a 20 team comp we could have five division of 4 teams and the 12 derby games (one every 2-3 weeks) in the Queensland division would be like bringing back the QRL at its peak.

Given the Broncos are the most successful and biggest modern day NRL club I also struggle to see the problem of someone replicating them!

Then after the West Coast Pirates are introduced we'll see how well the West Australian Buccaneers fare...

 

[taipan]

Unless you replace them with a club with more fans? In the ideal world you would just keep growing the number of clubs but in the real world that seems not possible so you have to consider what is best for the long term future of the game. That is what the NRL will do end of 2014, unfortunately I think they lack the balls to make the really tough decisions so will keep throwing money at small struggling clubs in the hope they will come good one day.

There is very very little evidence for your assertions that kids will stop wanting to play RL or support an NRL club because their parents team were culled or merged. Peers, what's on at schools, exposure via media, hype around star players etched etc are all far more likely to be factors if a kid plays a sport than if there is an NRL club within a 5km radius.

Then spend a little time in the North Sydney area and do a little detective work,you will obtain all the evidence you need.:roll:

 

[woodyk2]

So the NRL is a coastal game?

 

[bobmar28]

To all those people who threaten to switch allegiance to Afl if they don't have an NRL team in their suburb all I can say is.....goodbye.
Brisbane has one team and yet most would agree that area is league heartland. One team for the whole city, not nine.

 

[bobmar28]

Then spend a little time in the North Sydney area and do a little detective work,you will obtain all the evidence you need.:roll:

The people of North Sydney were always more inclined to support union. These days union is losing out to AFL on the north shore.