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On what planet would effectively third tier competitions with no exposure or mainstream coverage, inhabited mainly by small bush teams filled with mainly park footy level players, be sustainable even just as state wide leagues?!
So why hasnt the Qld Cup which only uses 0 to 4 NRL players and operates in the manner suggested above not fallen over in the manner you suggest?
To clarify, in your model, NRL2 teams are not tied to any NRL teams, correct? If so, where does all the junior development talent go to grow into the game beyond junior comps? If it’s a reserve grade, what does this achieve other than creating another layer (therefore cost and competition) in a market that couldn’t sustain it?
There are hundreds of thousands of people playing rl in the southern and northern hemispheres. There is plenty enough talent in the world to furnish 750 nrl1 plus reserve grade, and 400 or so nrl2 players.
They should pick the best ones up from the grassroots programs at 16-17 and develop them from there.
Of these hundreds and thousands of players worldwide, how many have the potential to play at a professional level (let alone “elite level”)? My answer is, not enough to fill additional levels of competition. If there was a need for an additional competition, the market would have already created one, or at least had a stronger push than just some random forum post.
I disagree. I see what my club are doing with juniors on the Goldie and I couldn’t think of any other sporting body doing a better job. Very high level and broad support of junior development, on and off the field.
I reckon somatotype plays a role in determining how accessible a sport is to the public and goes a long way to explaining why soccer is so global.
www.researchgate.net
That's kind of a self defeating prophecy. We only have two FT professional divisions in the world, there's undoubtedly talent to create a third out there. Also marketing driving it, well not really, the powers that be drive these things not market. Yes it wont be as strong as NRL or SL, but it doesn't need to be. Its not there to compete with NRL but to supplement it now we are getting to the point where the NRL is highly unlikely to expand beyond its current size and yet we have developing or continuing markets unserviced by an NRL team.
I think there's a genuine need for the state competitions to better represent large areas that don't have an NRL team. It's why I advocate Wynnum Manly rebranding as Redland Seagulls and relocating permanently to Redland City. It's stupid having them in a tiny area that represents few people. The combined population of Wynnum (12,910), Wynnum West (12,292), Manly (4,061) and Manly West (11,978)is about 38k, whereas Redland has about 150k.
no one wants to follow a pseudo nrl reserve grade comp where titles are decided by nrl club tie ins. It doesnt lend itself to developing a following, hence why current NSW and qlnd cup games are lucky to get 500 to them.
The only way I can see a competition like this working is if the ARLC forms strong ties with the NTRL, PNGRFL, NZRL, Samoa, Tonga, Cook Islands, Fiji, Solomon Islands and New Caledonia to get as many of the best athletes from these regions to play in it, under developmental contracts, with the long term goal being for them to make their way to the NRL. Our game needs a larger pool of players to support an 18 club competition. Growing the game in the Pacific by taking the best young athletes and giving them a chance to develop into an NRL player in a 2nd division would be lucrative to people from these countries. Their endomorphic mesomorph body type makes them ideal candidates to play RL and is the reason they struggle in endurance games like fumbleball, so we can recruit them with the knowledgeable that AwFuL will never get their hands on them.
