NRL to consider handing back the game to clubs

[butchmcdick]

Does anyone here believe that News are just going to walk away ? After the hundreds of millions they have spent they are just going to give up ?That somehow a deal can be done that sees the governing body of rugby league in this country being run purely for the good of the game ?

The ARL, NRL, NSWRL, QRL, CRL and all the other hangers on are going to vote to disolve themselves and agree to one single body running the game ? The clubs are going to vote for the good of the game and not themselves ?

If so I want $20 worth of whatever you are one.

 

[Ray Mosters]

This is ideal, because it wont be Fitzgerald and co running the thing, it will be a board put in place by all of them, and between them they will pick a capable, professional board.

Yes their charter will be to the clubs first and the game second, but thats close enough for effective governance. We will have independent arbitration of the TV rights, a plan for the future, expansion...

This is what we have been waiting for, people. I had my doubts that it would ever come to pass and that News would ever relinquish their hold.

 

[Babyface O'reilly]

Does anyone here believe that News are just going to walk away ? After the hundreds of millions they have spent they are just going to give up ?That somehow a deal can be done that sees the governing body of rugby league in this country being run purely for the good of the game ?

The ARL, NRL, NSWRL, QRL, CRL and all the other hangers on are going to vote to disolve themselves and agree to one single body running the game ? The clubs are going to vote for the good of the game and not themselves ?

If so I want $20 worth of whatever you are one.

Maybe after ten years they feel they got their money back or they're going to rape another code or worse, maybe with all the bad press (their doing) they think they're leaving a sinking ship.

 

[$$Poor Boy Blues$$]

Does anyone here believe that News are just going to walk away ? After the hundreds of millions they have spent they are just going to give up ?That somehow a deal can be done that sees the governing body of rugby league in this country being run purely for the good of the game ?

The ARL, NRL, NSWRL, QRL, CRL and all the other hangers on are going to vote to disolve themselves and agree to one single body running the game ? The clubs are going to vote for the good of the game and not themselves ?

If so I want $20 worth of whatever you are one.

Very noteworthy amongst posts that are not so.

I think the idea would be to reduce involvement and eventually eliminate it - as per reports.

News have stated over and over that they DON'T want to run the game forever.

In fact, you touch on many key points....you see, they want to remain in the game because clubs are mostly incompetent when it comes to the greater good.

I see the forming of an independent body as the perfect opportunity for them to reduce their involvement in the running of the game. They wont just sell off clubs willy-nilly, to coin a term.

With reduced involvement, under a new system, for instance, at this early stage one would think they'd just move into the pack along with the rest of the clubs bowing to the decisions of the new independent rule. Who knows how it will work exactly, but they may have voting rights along with the other clubs....i think they own two clubs now, so they would have twice as many votes as anyone else bu by no means a majority.

I seriously believe that they wanted to nurse the game back to health, then exit....they are not a company that likes to run rugby league, but they dont want to beat it up either. They are a media company. Their business is media.

Eliminated invovlment speaks for itself. They would either sell off completely, handing back total control, but keep a contract with the league to provide the necessary amount of funding to repay past debts until such a time they are repaid.

I would think its quite clear league needs a new direction/structure and they are willing to provide the best fit.

Also, who cares about the crl qrl and all the rest....they would continue if they must, but in a different capacity.

The power has certainly shifted. Those old organisations are rotting and fast becoming obsolete. They may even be obsorbed and the people there taking on new jobs elsewhere in league.

 

[Bluebags1908]

Bravo. Thankyou, Danish.

Apart from the ethical implications, good old aussie rightfulness, and relief, the tactical advantages achieved by this up-coming overhaul are enormous.

And I believe it will be a part of an overhaul. This whole clubs owning the nrl thing is great, and its the exact direction that nearly everyone theorises, and phrophecies, and gut-level-feeling-knows that will enable rugby league to take off here like never before.

lets hope its the path they take.

In the SMH article (i have not recently, and will not again read RLW) Gallop said "The equity in the NRL would be an asset added to each club's balance sheet."


Money is exactly what we need. With money you can increase your operations and have a truly influencial reach. Stadium, juniors, memberships, community involvement on greater scales. Broke sydney clubs have no chance to do anything.

In regards to sydney teams, this is perhaps another nail in their coffin. They are like cane toads....you can kick them a few times really hard, but after a while they suck up their guts, forgive a broken leg, and hop away....except you actually want to send the buggers back to hawaii, or in this case, hell. Forgive the language, but the eventual even-spread of the competion from east coast to west coast (though the majority of teams will be east coast) is inevitable and highly lucratice thus allowing leagues influence to soar to great heights and make it the number one sport....but everyone is clammering away from the edge, as there can be only 12-14 of the current teams to 'make it'.

Hopefully there will be more details this season of a new structure. At the heart of any successful system would need to be a dash of interdependency. The NFL system sounds very workable. After all, the broncos are based on nfl clubs, and they command the greatest amount of power of any Australian football club (any code).

I came on here once suggesting things like the above, and every person thought i was trying to make the nrl american football, and got upset about franchises and cutting teams....but the reality is people "do you want a powerful competition that can influence a nation and make league the number one sport for the current generation and all future generations....or do you want to die a slow death and wither away before too long, and have people laugh about how you could have done things differently and then watch everyone play other sports (smudge all that up because it would be a complex and dark mess you dont want to live through)....

my vote is to let league live. and prosper.

May I also add that there have been plenty of non-Sydney teams that have either been broke or have had financial troubles in the past. Your Sydney-hate bias knows no bounds. Without Sydney RL would be DEAD in Australia. That's a fact. And that's not to say that the out of Sydney teams are not needed too - I am very pro expansion and it's what the game needs. It can't stay a Sydney game forever and needed to expand for the game to prosper. The bottom line is that we need a mix teams from Sydney and elsewhere.

As David Gallop has rightly said in the recent past - no club is currently expendable. And saturation coverage in the Sydney market is to Rugby Leagues advantage - not disadvantage. Every other code in Australia is envious that Rugby League totally dominates the most prestigious and lucrative market in Australia. They would give and arm and a leg for the dominance the game enjoys in Sydney. You out of town people that have a Sydney inferiority copmlex don't realise how good the game has it with dominance in the biggest city in Australia.

No doubt I will receive the usual and tiresome and abusive doom & gloom rant calling me a 'dinosaur' and to 'wake up' and 'kick out Sydney teams otherwise the game will die' etc etc.

I'm not saying things in Sydney are perfect - far from it. And I will be the first one critical of a poorly performing Sydney team (take my criticism of Penrith's pathetic crowds for example). Just a bit of balance to your arguement would be nice, instead of your usual Sydney hate crusade sewage that comes out of your posts.

 

[LeagueXIII]

Agreed Bluebags. Sydney is the crown jewel of Australian sports, and we have it.

Why instead of weakening the game by ridding itself of Sydney clubs don't we try and strengthen our Sydney clubs thus increasing the value of the game. We can also expand as well as keep the traditional clubs who bring great spirit and history eg. South Sydney.

Are we better off for having Souths or worse?

 

[sass]

Do you still fall for that SL propaganda drivel? Or is it just the club's pathetic justification of accepting the filthy Murdoch dollar?
Maintain the rage mate. I do.

amen! I'm proud the roosters resisted SL.

meanwhile great post bluebags. (ps are you gonna be at henson this sat or next? I'm missing this sat to go to wollongong, but on the 28th I'm THERE.)

 

[donkey|rope]

lol this has to be the worst idea since super league.

the clubs can barely run a meat raffle, how exactly are they going to be able to run one australia's largest organisations?

-what do you think is going to happen to junior development?
-whats going to happen to rural football?
-what do you think is going to happen to expansion?
-the list could go on till the cows came home.

this would not be like the NFL because NFL clubs are professional corporate entities run by forward thinking business moguls. the NRL clubs are half-pregnant semi-professional community club houses run by dinasours. in fact before you start even talking about the NFL's structure, you should actually familiarize yourself with it - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFL-NFL_merger

if our game is going to be what it could have been and what it should be:
-news limited must relinquish ownership
-the arl dinosours must go
-a single independent body to govern the entire game of rugby league must be formed

 

[matt]

Great,News(Troll) LTD have run the game into the ground and are ramping up the agenda with smear campaigns..before they jump into the arms of another..

the troll is destroying the game from the inside out.

Where have all the men with balls gone??

POQ LTD.

 

[adamkungl]

Independant commission is the way to go. Clubs should have some say but not in a position of real power.

 

[Loudstrat]

The NFL is owned by its teams, why would it not work here??

Providing all teams are given an equal voting right, then we would certainly see things go the right way. Brisbane would not have any power to stop another SEQLD team, as they would be outnumbered at the table.

Sydney teams could not save each other from relocation, as the interstate teams are now equal to the amount of sydney-based clubs, and as such only a single vote would be required to force such decisions.

After a decade or so the teams would naturally spread out across the country until the balance of power for each faction (QLD, Sydney, Vic/SA/WA, NZ) would be equal.

It would all be driven by the clubs chasing the TV dollar. We all know that to gain $1 billion deals you need a true national presence. I really doubt too many sydney clubs would fight for the sharks to stay in cronulla if pushing them to perth or Adelaide would net them a few million bucks in their pockets.

This is ideal, because it wont be Fitzgerald and co running the thing, it will be a board put in place by all of them, and between them they will pick a capable, professional board.

Yes their charter will be to the clubs first and the game second, but thats close enough for effective governance. We will have independent arbitration of the TV rights, a plan for the future, expansion...

This is what we have been waiting for, people. I had my doubts that it would ever come to pass and that News would ever relinquish their hold.

Great thinking guys. You hate the NSWRL, so you implement the NSWRL. :crazy:

I'm not against clubs running the game. However, we had that. One club (or a group of clubs) manage to dominate the rest. And you lot ripped the code apart because you didn't like it.

News pissing off is fantastic. Should declare a public holiday. But I think the only way out is either an independent commission, or the ARL board.

 

[butchmcdick]

Great thinking guys. You hate the NSWRL, so you implement the NSWRL. :crazy:

I'm not against clubs running the game. However, we had that. One club (or a group of clubs) manage to dominate the rest. And you lot ripped the code apart because you didn't like it.

News pissing off is fantastic. Should declare a public holiday. But I think the only way out is either an independent commission, or the ARL board.

The ARL board ? They couldn't get the world cup right, what makes you think they are in a position to run the NRL ?

IF news walk away ( I can't ever see it happening ) there has to be an independent commission set up to run the game.

Also GET THE f**k OVER THE WAR !!! It is over. Stop looking backwards and start looking forwards.

 

[Danish]

Great thinking guys. You hate the NSWRL, so you implement the NSWRL. :crazy:

I'm not against clubs running the game. However, we had that. One club (or a group of clubs) manage to dominate the rest. And you lot ripped the code apart because you didn't like it.

This isn't the 80s Loudstrat, clubs are now run by business men instead of morons (bar the eels of course).

Implementing a commissioner voted in by each of the clubs will see a fair system, with clubs voting on relocations, new franchises etc.

We will undoubtedly see a few sydney clubs die or moved, but thats life.

News pissing off is fantastic. Should declare a public holiday. But I think the only way out is either an independent commission, or the ARL board.

The ARL board??

This is the same organisation that sold the pay TV rights to league for a few measly dollars to a man that didn't even own (or intend to own) a pay tv network.

The ARL were just as much to blame as News Ltd for the super league debacle.

 

[Loudstrat]

The ARL ran the best world cup ever. What didn't they get right for you, Butchmcdickhead?

Danish - what sort of alternate reality do you live in?

The ARL sold Pay TV rights before there was Pay TV. Did Murdoch make an offer when they were for sale? No. Don't let the facts get in the way of your Sydney hating.

And, you two clowns just advocated for an exact return to the NSWRL model under Kevin Humphreys. The same model you hate. The only way that makes sense is if you two are devoid of the ability to think.

 

[Canard]

Isnt there two issues here:

1) The day to day operations of the NRL
2) All of Rugby League operations in Australia.

I think this latest issue relates to 1) not 2).

 

[Danish]

Danish - what sort of alternate reality do you live in?

The ARL sold Pay TV rights before there was Pay TV. Did Murdoch make an offer when they were for sale? No. Don't let the facts get in the way of your Sydney hating.

And, you two clowns just advocated for an exact return to the NSWRL model under Kevin Humphreys. The same model you hate. The only way that makes sense is if you two are devoid of the ability to think.

you don't think selling the rights for pay tv to your current FTA provider when a pay TV network was in the design stages was a rather stupid decision Loudstrat??

At a time when Telstra and Optus were rolling out rival pay TV networks, the ARL gave away the pay TV rights to a man who never intended to broadcast them for almost a decade.... FOR FREE.

How about you study the NFL and its incredibly successful design and tell me why this would not apply to our code.

 

[Loudstrat]

you don't think selling the rights for pay tv to your current FTA provider when a pay TV network was in the design stages was a rather stupid decision Loudstrat??

Not at all. How do you sell something to someone who is not ready to buy?

And anyway, how can you justify theft?

Cunard, I think you are on the money. However, eliminating News will allow one body to emerge that runs the entire code, which will have benefits to the entiure code.

What Super League jihadists like Danish fail to admit is that News Ltd drove a wedge between the elite premiership and the whole supporting body, and the massive web of clops, competitions and players, without whom the elite comp cannot exist.

 

[Perth Red]

I see no advantage to clubs running the NRL over an independent commision of top quality businessmen running the NRL. The only proviso should be in the guaranteed amount of money and support that goes to the ARL to continue what there focus should be, ie juniors, grass roots and Internationals.

 

[Loudstrat]

I see no advantage to clubs running the NRL over an independent commision of top quality businessmen running the NRL. The only proviso should be in the guaranteed amount of money and support that goes to the ARL to continue what there focus should be, ie juniors, grass roots and Internationals.

Not a bad point. Especially in light with this classic from Danish:

This isn't the 80s Loudstrat, clubs are now run by business men instead of morons

Of course, modern club bosses would not be self serving because they have a business degree would they.Nope, far better to have an Alan Bond, Rodney Adler or Jodi Rich running a club than a Frank Facer.:roll:

 

[$$Poor Boy Blues$$]

Agreed Bluebags. Sydney is the crown jewel of Australian sports, and we have it.

Why instead of weakening the game by ridding itself of Sydney clubs don't we try and strengthen our Sydney clubs thus increasing the value of the game. We can also expand as well as keep the traditional clubs who bring great spirit and history eg. South Sydney.

Are we better off for having Souths or worse?

the other guy noted that things in sydney are far from perfect.

Your city will need 4 billion dollars per year for 30 years (estimate) to get a world class public transport network, your political parties are a joke and your sydney clubs are broke and have poor crowds to boot...

no, sydney is no jewel, its a ruddy stone....nothing more.