NRL wants two conference comp

[Coastbloke]

I'm becoming a bit of a supporter of a shakeup.

In 1996 I was a staunch ARL supporter and hated super League with a passion. My North Sydney Bears were endangered and who the hell wants a rugby league team in Melbourne anyhow? 2021 Coastbloke would most certainly be a Super League supporter. Wth, we had Nines tournaments in Fiji. Tri Series. WCC (Ok, maybe we won't mention that.. lol)

Rugby League has gotten too stale of late. Don't get me wrong. The missus still get the shits on Thursday and Friday night because I claim the TV, but I'm not salivating on Thursday morning like I used to. For the last few years it goes like this:

Jan-Feb: Off field atrocities.
Feb-March: Trials
March: Kick off
March 2 hours after kick off: Who's in Origin
June-July: Origin. PI Test where Origin sycophants like Gus realises there's an International game.
Oct: Grand Final. Melbourne vs.....??

Rinse and repeat..

There's got to be something to make it relevent again..Hell, even Buzz's concept sounds interesting..Matty Johns yesterday even admitted the game has it arse up in regards to SOO being the so called 'pinnacle' rather than International footy (Yet when does he mention IRL on NRL 360 lol). How the hell was Eels v Bulldogs allowed to held at ANZ with zero promotion? Where's my Oceania Cup grrr...Where's the interesting ideas? Winner of SOO plays Tonga? NZ Origin?

Come in ARLC. Thinking caps on. Or just let me run the game. Either way...

 

[T-Boon]

I'm becoming a bit of a supporter of a shakeup.

In 1996 I was a staunch ARL supporter and hated super League with a passion. My North Sydney Bears were endangered and who the hell wants a rugby league team in Melbourne anyhow? 2021 Coastbloke would most certainly be a Super League supporter. Wth, we had Nines tournaments in Fiji. Tri Series. WCC (Ok, maybe we won't mention that.. lol)
Rugby League has gotten too stale of late.

I am the same.
Hated super league bigly.
Now I would get on board.

The good news is PVL is trying to shake things up. He wants rid of the wrestle and that is the worst thing to happen to the game in 25 years. He also wants a second Brisbane team which is also badly needed.

 

[T-Boon]

How do you expect a team coming up from the second division to "get their shyte together" when their wage budget is increased by 150% with no guarantee of income beyond the next season and the only available players in the market at seasons end being the high earners that have had to be cut (and probably paid off) by the teams that are going down?

Some clubs would accept being in the second division and others would get ambitious and find a way to get promoted and then when up there cling onto a branch and from little things big things grow.

It is true that if you support a club that is small and on the bubble of being broke the whole time you would have much less hope of winning an NRL premiership any time soon under promotion/relegation.

The only team I can think of that would be in threat of becoming irrelevant plus an actual loss to the game would be Newcastle.

 

[Perth Red]

What about if tourism WA became the major sponsor for the said Sydney team.

wa govt is already paying for nrl clubs to bring games to perth, and have been for years.

 

[Perth Red]

is there any team that has ever taken more than one game a season to an expansion city?

no , because they know their fans wouldn’t buy memberships,bor sponsors boxes, if they moved too many games from home.

Hawthorn are huge where they are and so were never going to relocate. If Perth went this route it could pick on a no hope sydney team with sub 10k attendences and no money and persuade them to keep upping the number of games.

no club is ever going to relocate. The only way to would ever happen is if the club went bust and the nrl refused to bail them out. Even then they’d just look for new owners like knights and dragons and Titans have done. This hope that someone is going to voluntarily relocate is just a pipe dream.

 

[Perth Red]

I don't see Parra, Brisbane, Penrith, Dogs, Rabbits etc going broke like that. Maybe a couple lesser clubs will become constant second division teams. Also RL is considerably bigger here than in England.

i never imagined my club would ever go broke, or the likes of widnes or Bradford who were all massive in their time. But there you go they all did due to relegation.

 

[Perth Red]

How do you expect a team coming up from the second division to "get their shyte together" when their wage budget is increased by 150% with no guarantee of income beyond the next season and the only available players in the market at seasons end being the high earners that have had to be cut (and probably paid off) by the teams that are going down?

Not to mention the clubs ar risk of relegation every year can’t sign players as the best ones don’t want to risk behaving to look for a new club every year. Slothfields comment about fans turning out for a relegation battle are rubbish as well. By that point in the season the fans have had enough of sht performances and are staying at home.

 

[The Great Dane]

Where do you think all the South's came from?! Always the most supported club just not shown in attendance & membership.

Yeah, superleague was built on same thought but really it's ppl in NSW & qld that watch the sport.

You're not a supporter unless you are actively supporting the club by investing your hard earned into the club. Until Russell Crowe came around and used his profile and prestige to get more people interested, Souths had a ton of "fans" (i.e. posers) whom would claim to be a Souths fan when asked but rarely if ever attended and/or watched a game, couldn't name a current player, etc, etc.

Souths struggled to crack 10k attendance from the early 70s till Crowe and Holmes à Court took over, and easily had one of, if not the, smallest fan-bases through the 80s and 90s.
Had they have been kicked pre the emotion of the SL war they would have gone with a whimper, and if we are being honest the comp would probably be in a better position today if they had have been kicked out again in 03/04 once the NRL won the right to kick them out on appeal, but that is a whole other subject.

 

[Santino Patane]

You're not a supporter unless you are actively supporting the club by investing your hard earned into the club. Until Russell Crowe came around and used his profile and prestige to get more people interested, Souths had a ton of "fans" (i.e. posers) whom would claim to be a Souths fan when asked but rarely if ever attended and/or watched a game, couldn't name a current player, etc, etc.

Souths struggled to crack 10k attendance from the early 70s till Crowe and Holmes à Court took over, and easily had one of, if not the, smallest fan-bases through the 80s and 90s.
Had they have been kicked pre the emotion of the SL war they would have gone with a whimper, and if we are being honest the comp would probably be in a better position today if they had have been kicked out again in 03/04 once the NRL won the right to kick them out on appeal, but that is a whole other subject.

A very controversial opinion, but one I wholeheartedly agree with!

 

[Pippen94]

You're not a supporter unless you are actively supporting the club by investing your hard earned into the club. Until Russell Crowe came around and used his profile and prestige to get more people interested, Souths had a ton of "fans" (i.e. posers) whom would claim to be a Souths fan when asked but rarely if ever attended and/or watched a game, couldn't name a current player, etc, etc.

Souths struggled to crack 10k attendance from the early 70s till Crowe and Holmes à Court took over, and easily had one of, if not the, smallest fan-bases through the 80s and 90s.
Had they have been kicked pre the emotion of the SL war they would have gone with a whimper, and if we are being honest the comp would probably be in a better position today if they had have been kicked out again in 03/04 once the NRL won the right to kick them out on appeal, but that is a whole other subject.

Meanwhile league's biggest source of revenue is broadcasting deal but fans who don't go to games or have membership don't count?!

 

[Pippen94]

Do they have scorpions in nz?

Just the rugby league team there

 

[siv]

Guess wecan go back to the NSWRL and QRL comps

Winners playoff in the Australian Championship

 

[Spanner in the works]

Rugby league is getting boring - the NRL is a completely closed comp; it's the same teams year-in year-out, same boring conversations, same everything. Hell, I reckon you could take what was said 20 years ago, change the player, club, and coach names, and it would still pretty much be the same conversation. It's so bad we go rabid when anyone at the NRL utters the word 'expansion'.

I'm firmly in the relegation/promotion camp ahead of a conference system; I think the conference system is a shit idea as it's still a closed competition. With a 15 year timeframe, my system would be:

• 20 team main competition
• 10-12 team second tier competition (let's get those additional broadcast dollars flowing)
• National U/20's comp.
• 3 up 3 down each year from the main and second tier competitions
• Salary cap in both the main and second tier comps
• Solidarity payments from the NRL for demoted clubs

Current QRL and NSWRL teams can either merge (former) or transition (latter, as a lot are named after main clubs) to an under 20's side; we can't have a Parra Eels and Parra Eels 2 in the same competition, for example. Gaps across states can be filled via a bid process - come up with the sponsors and a good business case, you're in.

3 up 3 down means plenty of clubs will get an opportunity to be in the main comp each year. Yes players will leave if relegated, but they can come back, and since 3 are going up, there's still that opportunity to get back soon (and pick up those players who leave relegated clubs in following seasons).

Not sure that the argument about two different salary caps equals clubs never getting promoted again holds much water tbh; 3 up 3 down means from a small second tier comp means there's plenty of opportunity, and when it does happen, those players are there to sign (25 per cent of clubs from that comp get promoted each season if a 12 team comp).

Sponsorship money is in all likelihood there - we are the 12th largest economy in the world after all - it's just a matter of getting the second tier comp strong and consolidated so the broadcast dollars flow, thereby getting those sponsorship dollars released. Honestly, I reckon about 3k people (if that) might tune in to a NSWRL or QRL game each time because there are no consequences, whereas if it's a club that could get promoted to the main comp... Sponsors need that exposure, fans need that excitement, it's pretty bloody exciting when your club has earnt the right to be promoted, and bloody terrifying when you're facing the drop, but that's what an open competition is about.

Population is probably there too, because we aren't trying to be like the Premier League/English football with 5 promotable tiers of 20+ clubs in each off a 65 million person base; it's 30-32 clubs off (if we say 15 years) 32 million people (Intergenerational Report 2015), so 1 club per 1 million people. If clubs can't find 15-20k supporters per game from that....

Solidarity/parachute payments are about keeping clubs and the comp stable, which if we get a good broadcast deal, would be affordable.

I'd love to see in 50 years time even a third tier, with smaller clubs aiming to get into the second tier, and in time, competing in the first tier comp.

 

[cumbrian Mackem]

Guess wecan go back to the NSWRL and QRL comps

Winners playoff in the Australian Championship

Invitations to outside state franchises.

 

[mongoose]

You're not a supporter unless you are actively supporting the club by investing your hard earned into the club. Until Russell Crowe came around and used his profile and prestige to get more people interested, Souths had a ton of "fans" (i.e. posers) whom would claim to be a Souths fan when asked but rarely if ever attended and/or watched a game, couldn't name a current player, etc, etc.

Souths struggled to crack 10k attendance from the early 70s till Crowe and Holmes à Court took over, and easily had one of, if not the, smallest fan-bases through the 80s and 90s.
Had they have been kicked pre the emotion of the SL war they would have gone with a whimper, and if we are being honest the comp would probably be in a better position today if they had have been kicked out again in 03/04 once the NRL won the right to kick them out on appeal, but that is a whole other subject.

How do you figure that? they have the most members of any Sydney club, they are the only Sydney club who regularly turn over a profit (from ticket sales and memberships). They are one of the only Sydney clubs to average over 20k in a season. That's a bizzare take...

 

[Perth Red]

Do agree nrl is a bit stale these days but much better options than the disaster that is promotion and relegation.

for me I’d go 18 team comp by 2025
20 club by 2030 and split into two conferences
24 club by 2050 split into three conferences plus uk conference included

shorter regular season
Mid season world nines
Genuine end of season international calendar with much more hype and coverage
3 magic weekends a year spread around the country at big stadiums
Genuine club world final 2 weeks after grand final with $1million winner takes all prize money
Friday night lights Sydney v Sydney game every week at new sfs with free admission to all nrl club full members, loads of stuff going on, full stadium.

 

[The Great Dane]

Meanwhile league's biggest source of revenue is broadcasting deal but fans who don't go to games or have membership don't count?!

Firstly, in my experience most people whom will claim to be a 'fan' of an NRL team (or any sports club in general) don't even regularly watch them on TV. You meet them all the time.

Secondly, by only watching on TV all you are doing is lining broadcasters pockets. So yeah from the club's point of view you might as well not exist because in real terms the vast majority of the money that is made from you watching on TV alone isn't trickling down to them.

With the exception of clubs that have BS memberships (like Souths actually), a person who buys the cheapest membership (or a jersey or whatever) every year is significantly more valuable to the club it's self than a person that only watches them on TV, even if we assume that you watch every single one of your clubs games every season.

This is another area where the AFL kicks the NRL's arse. They have a strong culture of actively supporting their clubs and are more than happy to call out posers whom don't put their money where their mouth is.

 

[The Great Dane]

How do you figure that? they have the most members of any Sydney club, they are the only Sydney club who regularly turn over a profit (from ticket sales and memberships). They are one of the only Sydney clubs to average over 20k in a season. That's a bizzare take...

You kick Souths out before Crowe's takeover and none of the above happens. Instead-

• Some other Sydney club becomes the big successful Sydney club. So you don't really lose anything, it's just that e.g. Parra goes through a golden patch instead of Souths.
• With one less club there's less competition in the Sydney market and all the clubs are better off for it, and less of them hit significant financial difficulties.
• The NRL doesn't rush expansion in the 00s to even the comp, therefore the Titans and all their problems don't happen, and the NRL probably expands sometime in the early 10s with much better options on the table instead.

I could go on, but you get the point.

People don't want to hear it, but if we are being objective the benefits of Souths being kicked back out in 04, thus having one less club in Sydney, probably outweigh the benefits of the Crowe era Rabbitohs, especially when considering that the Crowe era can't last forever...

 

[Perth Red]

Disagree about souths. They are a great example of how of you Modernise a club and if you put your focus on building your customer base you can become a profitable club with relevance and increased value to the competition. All clubs have that potential but few have the ability or desire to achieve it.

 

[The Great Dane]

Do agree nrl is a bit stale these days but much better options than the disaster that is promotion and relegation.

for me I’d go 18 team comp by 2025
20 club by 2030 and split into two conferences
24 club by 2050 split into three conferences plus uk conference included

shorter regular season
Mid season world nines
Genuine end of season international calendar with much more hype and coverage
3 magic weekends a year spread around the country at big stadiums
Genuine club world final 2 weeks after grand final with $1million winner takes all prize money
Friday night lights Sydney v Sydney game every week at new sfs with free admission to all nrl club full members, loads of stuff going on, full stadium.

I don't think internationals and all that other BS will have any impact on the staleness of the NRL it's self. It might help RL in general (given the apathy to internationals, Nines, and English RL by the general public in Australia, in most cases I doubt it), but it won't do anything to help the NRL it's self.

The NRL feels a lot like the VFL in the late 70s-early 80s, and like them it needs massive overhauls to fix it's problems. Going national, and expanding in quick succession (I'd aim for 24 before 2040), like the VFL did, would be a good place to start, but there're other issues as well that desperately need attention; for example, the whole way we train refs and officiate games, and the impact that is having on the spectator, needs a serious in-depth review.

Unfortunately the establishment seems to only be interested in gimmicks, band-aids, and anything else that doesn't threaten them or their clubs position in the game.