NRL expansion review process

[eozsmiles]

Canberra won't get kicked out because they are in a strategic spot for a start.

But the point about 16 clubs struggling to make coin, get crowds, or have two decent seasons in a row should make people think carefully about expansion.

 

[Hello, I'm The Doctor]

As much as we suck at the moment and some intervention is needed, the Raiders are financially viable and make huge investments in junior football. I don't think booting us out is going to help address the games anemic talent pool long term.

Yeah, from what ive heard from people involved, the Raiders have one of the best junior systems in all of Rugby League...

(Am i right in thinking they even took over in group leagues from the CRL??)

Their only real problem seems to be first grade; not only does the team suck, they just give the perception of not caring that much. And we've seen at Penrith how quickly a team can turn around with the right attitude shift...

 

[El Diablo]

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...plans-20140804-100611.html?rand=1407129758825

Very good rational article stating the argument for applying a handbrake to expansion. The bulk of the money is in tv. Tv has said a 9th game adds no value. Half a dozen clubs are struggling. Expansion is 5+ years away.

so much derp in that article

 

[Nerd]

so much derp in that article

Yep. Rugby League already dominates the east coast of Australia...

Relocating the Sharks or Raiders to Queensland would be a GWS type failure.

 

[Perth Red]

Brisbane needs a second team, Sydney needs less teams, NRL needs three new clubs and only has two expansion spots. All makes sense to me lol.

 

[duylm]

so much derp in that article

Wooden spoon contenders are struggling to draw crowds ----> therefore don't try to grow the overall game. :roll:

And finishes with a club CEO saying we are not ready to expand (subtext we deserve all of the current grant and all of any future grant) :crazy:

The journo is being a gimp. The ARLC is there to make decisions for the overall benefit of the game, not as per this example, individual clubs.

 

[Perth Red]

yep ask a fat kid if he thinks the pie should be shared amongst more people and you'll get the same response! Of more concern would be the well established teams sitting around the top 8 who are struggling to break 13k averages and to break even. Having said that not opening more lucrative markets in order to keep propping up failing areas hardly seems a good plan for long term growth and prosperity.

 

[Hello, I'm The Doctor]

Wooden spoon contenders are struggling to draw crowds ----> therefore don't try to grow the overall game. :roll:

And finishes with a club CEO saying we are not ready to expand (subtext we deserve all of the current grant and all of any future grant) :crazy:

The journo is being a gimp. The ARLC is there to make decisions for the overall benefit of the game, not as per this example, individual clubs.

There was an article last week quoting a Balmain boardmember...

Said something along the lines of "why is the ARLC putting $200million into a future fund. It should divided amounst the clubs to get us all in the black. They say its for the future, well the future is now!!"

Yeah, clubs shouldnt be allowed to influence decisions like expansion......

 

[BuffaloRules]

Canberra and the GC are ordinary though.

Failures in fact.

Now, they are on par with the Suns & GWS and possibly the Lions, but I can't see much chance of the NRL clubs permitting the admin to pump in the millions required each year to keep out failures afloat.

 

[Perth Red]

Canberra have had 32 years to get their sht together and be a succesful club off the field. How much longer do you suggest we give them, how long shall we hold back growing the game in the hope they come good one day?

 

[Perth Red]

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...plans-20140804-100611.html?rand=1407129758825

Very good rational article stating the argument for applying a handbrake to expansion. The bulk of the money is in tv. Tv has said a 9th game adds no value. Half a dozen clubs are struggling. Expansion is 5+ years away.

How many times do I have to tell you TV did not say it has no value, in fact TV said they were never asked and they do think it will add value!

“I am 100 per cent in favour of a second team in Brisbane,” Gyngell said.
“I support any moves the NRL makes on this because we have been pushing for it now for several years. It does nobody any favours only having the Broncos in Brisbane.
“Our return is 100 cents in the dollar with the Broncos and only 40 cents elsewhere. The Broncos would not have missed the eight this season if they’d had another team there.
“They need to compete and not be so complacent. We believe the market in Brisbane is more than ready for another team. My belief it that this is inevitable in the next few years.”
Many people have got it into their heads that NRL expansion was off the cards for the next five years following last month's $1 billion broadcasting agreement with Nine and Fox Sports," Keeffe said.

"But Gyngell said that was just the assumption people had made because it was not mentioned in the announcement. He also said expansion was not brought up at all during negotiations for the TV deal, but it was something he could not overlook."
Of particular interest to Gyngell, was the ninth game in the NRL draw which, through Australian anti-siphoning laws, would have to be shown on Free-to-Air TV (Channel 9).

 

[Hello, I'm The Doctor]

"He also said expansion was not brought up at all during negotiations for the TV deal"

As soon as John Grant and the rest saw how little Gallop had done on expansion, they would not have even considered it...

I dont think anyone has said there is no value. Its just that revenue and profit is the very last thing you think about when setting up a business; It just seems like people are trying to read between the lines and then accepting that conclusion as fact.

 

[Perth Red]

Agreed, the fact there had been no work done by NRL during 2008-2011, despite all the work done by bids, meant they were never in a position to offer an expanded NRL to the TV deal for 2013. Its a damning indictment of Gallops poor management and how badly run the NRL was pre ARLC take over. Bunnies man keeps going on about expansion adding no value as it wasn't included but the Ch9 Exec himself says otherwise and it wasn't included as Gallop was a muppet and hadn't done the hard yards to be ready to include it.

 

[Edwahu]

Canberra have had 32 years to get their sht together and be a succesful club off the field. How much longer do you suggest we give them, how long shall we hold back growing the game in the hope they come good one day?

Sorry but how is killing a financially viable club covering a huge rugby league heartland, which invests more that any other club in junior development, a good way to grow the game?

 

[Perth Red]

Sorry but how is killing a financially viable club covering a huge rugby league heartland, which invests more that any other club in junior development, a good way to grow the game?

Where did I say kill Canberra? I was replying to the articles suggestion that growing the game should be held back as some clubs are struggling. Every year some clubs struggle, we shouldn't be delaying expansion because some clubs, that have had decades to get it right, currently aren't very good. PLEASE NOTE, NO MENTION IN THE POST ABOUT KILLING ANY CLUBS!

 

[The Great Dane]

Where did I say kill Canberra? I was replying to the articles suggestion that growing the game should be held back as some clubs are struggling. Every year some clubs struggle, we shouldn't be delaying expansion because some clubs, that have had decades to get it right, currently aren't very good. PLEASE NOTE, NO MENTION IN THE POST ABOUT KILLING ANY CLUBS!

Even so Canberra is a poor example because off the field we run like a well oiled machine, and we're making plenty of money for old farmer McIntyre.

It's on the field where we can't get anything right, we're like a reverse Manly.

Walters suggestion that Canberra is holding the growth of the competition back is nonsensical to say the least.

I personally think that the suggestion that any club is holding back the competition from expanding to 18 teams is nonsensical (but I'd agree that the amount of clubs in Sydney will affect expansion plans in the future), if we wanted to add two viable teams before 2018 we could with little affect on the existing clubs, but if any clubs are holding us back it's not the Raiders (I can't speak for the Titans) it's clubs like the Tigers, Sharks and Knights where the NRL is being forced to intervene and completely restructure the clubs as businesses.

 

[Diesel]

Expansion is a must for 2018/9 and if any Sydney club can't keep up with the KPI's set out then they'll be left behind.

Canberra isn't holding the comp back and neither are most of the Sydney clubs.
As for non-Sydney clubs, the Titans are a basket-case but after yesterday I think they are about to turn a corner.

Probably because I'm not from Sydney I don't understand the need for Sydney clubs to be strong before the comp expands but why are Sydney clubs facing threats from AFL, soccer or whatever that other clubs aren't? They're not. Also this is the NRL not the NSWRL, the NSWRL was out grown at the end of the 1994 season

 

[Hello, I'm The Doctor]

Even so Canberra is a poor example because off the field we run like a well oiled machine, and we're making plenty of money for old farmer McIntyre.

It's on the field where we can't get anything right, we're like a reverse Manly.

Isnt all that money made by the Leagues Club that owns the Raiders rather than the Raiders themselves...

So basically it doesnt matter how badly run the Raiders are, they have their debts covered.

The great failure of CanberraRLFC is that they havent connected at all with the locals. The crowds/membership/general interest shoud be comparable to Newcastle or NQLD, but theyre at the bottom of every one of those lists.

The Raiders shouldnt lose their licence, but i would question how well oiled this machine actually is....

 

[The Great Dane]

Isnt all that money made by the Leagues Club that owns the Raiders rather than the Raiders themselves...

So basically it doesnt matter how badly run the Raiders are, they have their debts covered.

The Raiders group (who own the Raiders NRL club and multiple leagues clubs in Canberra and Queanbeyan) started/bought the leagues clubs (and later on a large portfolio of real estate and other assets) with the direct intent of these assets supporting RL in the ACT and surrounding region.

In other words The Raiders own the leagues clubs and not the other way around.

The great failure of CanberraRLFC is that they havent connected at all with the locals. The crowds/membership/general interest shoud be comparable to Newcastle or NQLD, but theyre at the bottom of every one of those lists.

The Raiders shouldnt lose their licence, but i would question how well oiled this machine actually is....

The machine is oiled perfectly for what the Raiders group (the family farm) wants, and at the moment that's as large a return on their investment as possible while investing as little as possible extra into the club and the bragging rights of owning an NRL club. This is the heart of the Raiders problem!

If they really wanted to the Raiders group could afford to essentially buy themselves as many premierships as they want and to triple their membership and attendance numbers in a decade, but that would mean loosing a large chunk of their yearly profit and risking another large chunk and they're not interested in doing that.

This is the main reason that the Raiders fail to connect to the community at large, because we know that they could make the club anything but refuse to because they're not in it for the love of RL or the Raiders anymore but for the money.

That's also the main reason for the disconnection between the club and it's (shrinking) fan base because the fans want on field success and don't care about off field success and the raiders group wants the opposite.

 

[Hello, I'm The Doctor]

^^^

So if the ARLC were somehow able to reclaim the Raiders franchise or even just insert these independent directors, they would have control of the funds from the Leagues Clubs??

Thatd be good...