NRL to buy share of Super League

[Dark Corner]

I think it should be 14 team comp.
Current teams plus Toulouse and Bradford or London.
Maybe both and the hassan chop on wakefield or Leigh.

Leigh and Wakefield need to be in it as the work they done to get good crowds in the past couple years has been fantastic.

 

[Gobsmacked]

A bit more chat about the NRL and SL at 6 minutes.

I really enjoyed Jimmy's take on the whole thing because he fully understands and is willing to give an honest take.

 

[Éamonn an Chnoic]

This would be great! That Gus Gould interview makes me think this might actually be serious

I think 10 teams is a great way to start (and just make sure there is a strong 2nd grade + the challenge cup)

It sounds a lot like Super League Mk2.
- 6 big clubs from the Heartland (North)
- 2 in France (Catalan + Toulouse)
- 2 TBA (London + target location/heart land combined club)

from there, build up event games/derbies/rep matches then add teams over the next decade from a good core.

i think starting with 14-16 now would be the easy choice, but it will chock out expansion options. Better to start with a smaller group and promote teams/plan new teams as we go

 

[Éamonn an Chnoic]

^^^ should definitely be a plan for adding a US team or 2.

start with a smaller local comp to get the teams running and prove that they can manage a club budget. (Add them to the Challenge cup, etc)

then promote one (Dolphins style) or plan a new team (Broncos style) off the successful structures

 

[Perth Red]

Out of the original 12 clubs of the inaugural 1996 SL season there are only: Cas, Wigan, St's, Warrington and Leeds still in SL.

 

[Perth Tiger]

I don't get why people think cutting teams from SL is such a good idea. 10 teams is way to low.

the NRL took decades, and arguable still hasn't, to catch back up after we cut so many teams after super league

 

[Perth Red]

I don't get why people think cutting teams from SL is such a good idea. 10 teams is way to low.

the NRL took decades, and arguable still hasn't, to catch back up after we cut so many teams after super league

Only justification is fewer slices of the pie so clubs left are more sustainable. Problem is if it leads to a smaller pie as less content and audience for tv they are back to square one.
The better choice, if they could find the money, is to move to 14 teams with London replacing Salford and Toulouse and Bradford (if suitably financially stable) coming in.

 

[Éamonn an Chnoic]

^^^ if youre going to use alt accounts to agree with yourself, at least change the name a bit more

 

[Éamonn an Chnoic]

I don't get why people think cutting teams from SL is such a good idea. 10 teams is way to low.

the NRL took decades, and arguable still hasn't, to catch back up after we cut so many teams after super league

The problem with the Super League War was that it was destructive to the existing comp.

the solution is just to create a new comp above the existing ones and offer promotion to limited teams into that.

the goal would be a more focused comp (fewer teams to track, best players in the same few teams, more event games)

its not guaranteed to work, but SL is not exactly in a healthy state as it is….

 

[Perth Red]

^^^ if youre going to use alt accounts to agree with yourself, at least change the name a bit more

after 72k posts I really have no need for an alt lol

 

[Perth Tiger]

^^^ if youre going to use alt accounts to agree with yourself, at least change the name a bit more

Wow so I have finally made it on LU, being accused of being an alt, it has only taken 20 years.

you can improve the comp without cutting teams which has only proven in the post to alienate fans, not increase them

 

[taste2taste]

I’ve seen a lot of English fans say 14 would be best, adding 2 teams.

People a lot smarter than us will make these decisions, but I agree with those saying cutting teams would be bad.

 

[RedVee]

I was interested that Jimmy was suggesting only one team out of Warrington / St Helens / Wigan (I guess Leigh too) and one of the 2 Hull teams.
While I get what he is saying about them being too close together, I really don’t think cutting teams that have shown they can be successful is the way to go forward.
Maybe the six strongest teams plus 4 strategic teams is as good a way as any?

 

[Perth Red]

I’ve seen a lot of English fans say 14 would be best, adding 2 teams.

People a lot smarter than us will make these decisions, but I agree with those saying cutting teams would be bad.

Problem with cutting teams is you lose fans from the cut teams who no longer follow SL on tv. Leading to a smaller audience leading to less money. Adding another French club just exacerbates that.
Then you end up with having to play each other three times a season to get enough fixtures, which becomes very boring for fans. Fans hate the loop fixtures now without adding in more.
And third there is no evidence that reducing teams means the remaining ones are any better. There will always be good teams and poor teams in every comp every year regardless of number.

Sl needs to go to 14 not to ten, and those 14 need to be viable clubs that can grow a fanbase.

 

[Perth Red]

Wow so I have finally made it on LU, being accused of being an alt, it has only taken 20 years.

you can improve the comp without cutting teams which has only proven in the post to alienate fans, not increase them

Congrats, next step is to be called an AFL fan lol

 

[Dark Corner]

14 teams
Wigan
St.Helens
Warrington
Leigh
Leeds
Castleford
Wakefield
Hull FC
Hull KR
Catalan
Toulouse
?
?
?

 

[titoelcolombiano]

14 teams
Wigan
St.Helens
Warrington
Leigh
Leeds
Castleford
Wakefield
Hull FC
Hull KR
Catalan
Toulouse
?
?
?

Bradford, London, Toronto

 

[BuffaloRules]

The better choice, if they could find the money, is to move to 14 teams with London replacing Salford and Toulouse and Bradford (if suitably financially stable) coming in.

what are the feasible options to get more money? Particularly those that don’t involve the NRL…

 

[Perth Red]

what are the feasible options to get more money? Particularly those that don’t involve the NRL…

Hard work and trusting in the img process. it’s about growing the audience of each club every year. If they can do that, fill the grounds, increase each clubs fanbase who will watch on tv then the sponsors and tv money follows. It’s not an easy fix, it’s not a quick fix and looking at state of union in uk, that has many advantages over league, and the mess they are in it may not be possible and the game may have to cut its cloth accordingly. We shall see.

re the nrl buying in im struggling g to see what they will actually do to turn it around? I can’t seem them throwing tens of millions at it, I can’t see them dictating to the clubs how they are run. Thing I can see they could offer is getting dazn involved as part of a package for global rl rights which might fast track a better media deal for SL.

 

[BuffaloRules]

Hard work and trusting in the img process. it’s about growing the audience of each club every year. If they can do that, fill the grounds, increase each clubs fanbase who will watch on tv then the sponsors and tv money follows. It’s not an easy fix, it’s not a quick fix and looking at state of union in uk, that has many advantages over league, and the mess they are in it may not be possible and the game may have to cut its cloth accordingly. We shall see.

re the nrl buying in im struggling g to see what they will actually do to turn it around? I can’t seem them throwing tens of millions at it, I can’t see them dictating to the clubs how they are run. Thing I can see they could offer is getting dazn involved as part of a package for global rl rights which might fast track a better media deal for SL.

Yes … there doesn’t appear any easy answers … particularly if they can’t turn around the decline in the broadcasting money

I actually don’t want the NRL to buy them … it screams money pit and they should be concentrating on a number of things back home