NRL's growth mindset points to 18th team. And it ain't Perth.

[Gobsmacked]

You missed all the talk about the WA government involvement last month?

Yeah I did. What happened?

 

[Perth Red]

Yeah I did. What happened?

Media statements | Western Australian Government

Media statements

www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au

High-powered working group to make Perth NRL team a reality

The McGowan Government has upped the ante in its efforts to get a WA-based NRL team, forming a high-powered working group to make a Perth franchise a reality.

thewest.com.au

WA confirm ambition for 18th NRL franchise bid

The state government is willing to support a bid but won't make one themselves.

www.zerotackle.com

WA lines up to back state-based NRL team

Western Australia has kicked off a campaign for a state-based National Rugby League franchise beyond 2023. Work is...

www.theadvocate.com.au

 

[Gobsmacked]

That's underwhelming to say the least. Not only is it meaningless that the WA government supports a possible bid ( of course they would/ why wouldn't any government) akin the the lip service from Albo to PNG .
But there's actually no bid...
And after the stadium debacle that Vlandys just went through with the NSW government... and the bullshit promises of government... why would this mean anything to the NRL?
They haven't committed a penny ..
It could mean any less tbh
Didn't make the news on the East coast. Does the NRL even know about the " announcement " lol

 

[Perth Red]

That's underwhelming to say the least. Not only is it meaningless that the WA government supports a possible bid ( of course they would/ why wouldn't any government) akin the the lip service from Albo to PNG .
But there's actually no bid...
And after the stadium debacle that Vlandys just went through with the NSW government... and the bullshit promises of government... why would this mean anything to the NRL?
They haven't committed a penny ..
It could mean any less tbh
Didn't make the news on the East coast. Does the NRL even know about the " announcement " lol

Haha. Yes there is at least one WA team ready to bid we know of And of course THE FIFO Bears.
Having a cashed up state govt backing a bid isn’t meaningless. It’s anything but. they arent employing consultants and going public Because they want a bit of free publicity!
didnt make the news on the east coast because it wasn’t about the bears and let’s be honest if it isn’t to do with sydney RL it isn’t making the biased east coast media lol.

 

[Gobsmacked]

Haha. Yes there is at least one WA team ready to bid we know of And of course THE FIFO Bears.
Having a cashed up state govt backing a bid isn’t meaningless. It’s anything but. they arent employing consultants and going public Because they want a bit of free publicity!
didnt make the news on the east coast because it wasn’t about the bears and let’s be honest if it isn’t to do with sydney RL it isn’t making the biased east coast media lol.

Who's the bid?
WA Bears are a big no btw

 

[Colk]

Who's the bid?
WA Bears are a big no btw

They have three bids. The state government support is pretty significant. There also was some news about this and Perth in general on the east coast.

I wouldn’t be as confident as Perth Red is but they as well as PNG (and that is not feasible at this point in time) are the only areas now being discussed

 

[Colk]

Obv

juniors
Stadium
Existing fan base
Leagues club
Direct train link to Sydney
Growing population

Juniors - who are already servicing an NRL side
Stadium - an advantage to a point but it is not a good stadium so it would need a good amount of money to be poured into it
existing fan base - who? Are you talking about the Bears or the Central Coast? If it is the latter then the CC is an area already full of people who support other sides. They have ten other sides they can support within a 2 hour or so radius and they have the means to do so. In any case the whole point is not an existing fan base but creating a new fan base without impacting other clubs which CC wouldn’t provide
Leagues club - sure but so do a whole bunch of areas in QLD and NSW.
Direct train link to Sydney - see point 3. It is actually a disadvantage to a point.
Growing population - agreed but it is still a small population. Moreover, a large part of that population is coming from Sydney and already support a side.

I’m not against CC as an area. I live in Newcastle and travel often to that area. I also used to work there. It’s a nice enough place. It’s just not very big in terms of population, it’s quite spread out and it doesn’t have any large businesses or corporates (so money would be a problem i.e. what the Knights have struggled with)

If there were only 4 or 5 Sydney sides then I could see the point maybe but there are ten sides surrounding them. CC would have to come at the expense of an existing side via relocation really

 

[Gobsmacked]

They have three bids. The state government support is pretty significant. There also was some news about this and Perth in general on the east coast.

All of it is pretty significant. I wouldn’t be as confident as Perth Red is but they as well as PNG (and that is not feasible at this point in time) are the only areas being discussed at this point in time.

Both PNG and Perth are only being discussed by politicians lol
And in typical political fashion have no real substance to what they're saying.

The NRL are well on top of the issue and there's precisely 0 sway any political peanut has over the NRL. Politicians come and go and the decision for an NRL licence is permanent.
If the WA government passes a funding bill for the franchise to the tune of millions each year come see me
The NRL almost moved the Grand final because of a failed promise of the NSW government less than a month ago the NRL and any government couldn't be on worse terms! The only thing worse than Perth putting it's name forward with the government!! Is the timing!!!

If Perth wants a shot that's great but jumping in with government won't help!

 

[Gobsmacked]

Juniors - who are already servicing an NRL side
Stadium - an advantage to a point but it is not a good stadium so it would need a good amount of money to be poured into it
existing fan base - who? Are you talking about the Bears or the Central Coast? If it is the latter then the CC is an area already full of people who support other sides. They have ten other sides they can support within a 2 hour or so radius and they have the means to do so. In any case the whole point is not an existing fan base but creating a new fan base without impacting other clubs which CC wouldn’t provide
Leagues club - sure but so do a whole bunch of areas in QLD and NSW.
Direct train link to Sydney - see point 3. It is actually a disadvantage to a point.
Growing population - agreed but it is still a small population. Moreover, a large part of that population is coming from Sydney and already support a side.

I’m not against CC as an area. I live in Newcastle and travel often to that area. I also used to work there. It’s a nice enough place. It’s just not very big in terms of population, it’s quite spread out and it doesn’t have any large businesses or corporates (so money would be a problem i.e. what the Knights have struggled with)

If there were only 4 or 5 Sydney sides then I could see the point maybe but there are ten sides surrounding them. CC would have to come at the expense of an existing side via relocation really

That's just what the NRL needs.... another regional Sydney suburban team
Gosford is less than an hour by train ffs.
If you're on the central coast and you love league.. follow a Sydney club ( which they already do) and catch the train ( which they already do)
Even with the limited games at Gosford, the crowds aren't fantastic and if they had weekly games, the novelty would wear of and that would drop substantially.

Central Coast will bring 0
0 new juniors
0 new fans
0 new television audience
0 new sponsors

0

 

[Wb1234]

Those thr

They have three bids. The state government support is pretty significant. There also was some news about this and Perth in general on the east coast.

I wouldn’t be as confident as Perth Red is but they as well as PNG (and that is not feasible at this point in time) are the only areas now being discussed

Those three bids are old bids though

and tony sage is a hard no

I’d get cash converters and Puddy to join bids

cash converters stayed loyal since 95 in a fumbler state

got to reward that passion and loyalty imo

the fact wa govt is calling for bids is interesting

sounds like they want to brush the bears and vlandys is ok with it if they can come up with a reasonable bid

 

[Wb1234]

Juniors - who are already servicing an NRL side
Stadium - an advantage to a point but it is not a good stadium so it would need a good amount of money to be poured into it
existing fan base - who? Are you talking about the Bears or the Central Coast? If it is the latter then the CC is an area already full of people who support other sides. They have ten other sides they can support within a 2 hour or so radius and they have the means to do so. In any case the whole point is not an existing fan base but creating a new fan base without impacting other clubs which CC wouldn’t provide
Leagues club - sure but so do a whole bunch of areas in QLD and NSW.
Direct train link to Sydney - see point 3. It is actually a disadvantage to a point.
Growing population - agreed but it is still a small population. Moreover, a large part of that population is coming from Sydney and already support a side.

I’m not against CC as an area. I live in Newcastle and travel often to that area. I also used to work there. It’s a nice enough place. It’s just not very big in terms of population, it’s quite spread out and it doesn’t have any large businesses or corporates (so money would be a problem i.e. what the Knights have struggled with)

If there were only 4 or 5 Sydney sides then I could see the point maybe but there are ten sides surrounding them. CC would have to come at the expense of an existing side via relocation really

You asked what metrics those are the metrics that are in their favour (not now but one day they might be)

And central coast stadium craps all over hbf park

it’s still a great stadium today

and the fact the roosters are trying to bludge off their juniors isn’t a point against them it’s a point against the roosters

and how many people do you think regularly travel from the central coast to Sydney to watch games as fans of Sydney teams ?

if anything you should’ve used the argument as it’s newcastles area that’s actually a valid one

 

[Gobsmacked]

Those thr

Those three bids are old bids though

and tony sage is a hard no

I’d get cash converters and Puddy to join bids

cash converters stayed loyal since 95 in a fumbler state

got to reward that passion and loyalty imo

the fact wa govt is calling for bids is interesting

sounds like they want to brush the bears and vlandys is ok with it if they can come up with a reasonable bid

Meanwhile 6 months ago New Zealand has already been told they're the front runners. New Zealand are playing in a world cup while the bids are doing the hard work on details for everything to be announced professionally once they get the green light.
New Zealand win world cup , Warriors returns to packed Mt smart, New Zealand league juniors and participants make the news for their increased numbers- 18 licence bid announced.
Timing is key
Brisbane bid rode a wave of a grand final, magic weekend ect .
Vlandys knows how to capitalise on publicity and is only waiting for the perfect timing for the announcement.
New Zealand 2

 

[Wb1234]

Meanwhile 6 months ago New Zealand has already been told they're the front runners. New Zealand are playing in a world cup while the bids are doing the hard work on details for everything to be announced professionally once they get the green light.
New Zealand win world cup , Warriors returns to packed Mt smart, New Zealand league juniors and participants make the news for their increased numbers- 18 licence bid announced.
Timing is key
Brisbane bid rode a wave of a grand final, magic weekend ect .
Vlandys knows how to capitalise on publicity and is only waiting for the perfect timing for the announcement.
New Zealand 2

I want nz over Perth

sadly there’s just no chatter and vlandys has done a uturn on his anti afl states comments

international expansion offers way more than Perth but it is what it is

 

[Colk]

Both PNG and Perth are only being discussed by politicians lol
And in typical political fashion have no real substance to what they're saying.

The NRL are well on top of the issue and there's precisely 0 sway any political peanut has over the NRL. Politicians come and go and the decision for an NRL licence is permanent.
If the WA government passes a funding bill for the franchise to the tune of millions each year come see me
The NRL almost moved the Grand final because of a failed promise of the NSW government less than a month ago the NRL and any government couldn't be on worse terms! The only thing worse than Perth putting it's name forward with the government!! Is the timing!!!

If Perth wants a shot that's great but jumping in with government won't help!

I’m intrigued by where you think it will be though. I think the only alternatives to Perth are another NZ side and if they want to play it really safe another Brisbane side

Also as I said before you concentrated on the government there are multiple expressions of interest and there are backed by wealthy people over there

West Coast Quokkas (which is a pretty stupid name)

NRL news | West Coast Quokkas name registered as potential expansion club | The NRL Economist

Western Reds

https://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/nrl/nrl-news-mark-geyer-scott-sattler-warn-dolphins-recruits-about-pros-and-cons-of-new-franchise/news-story/0f05e6c61653d04f3741b16d7dec438b?amp

How the West can still be won

Perth’s push for NRL admission has been reignited and the bid team believes a side could be ready for inclusion by 2024.

thewest.com.au

Also the Bears which has been highly documented as well as the West Coast Pirates which has been around for a long time

Also about the government they have already talked to the ARLC about this which was talked about when the Bears thing hit the news. Also, they won’t be negotiating directly with the ARLC, they will be finding out who the best bid is. Lastly, by virtue of this process there has to be some level of interest from the ARLC otherwise the initial negotiations wouldn’t have gone ahead and this announcement wouldn’t have happened.

Whether that means they will definitely get the next side, I wouldn’t be so certain but they are obviously in with a chance

 

[Colk]

You asked what metrics those are the metrics that are in their favour (not now but one day they might be)

And central coast stadium craps all over hbf park

it’s still a great stadium today

and the fact the roosters are trying to bludge off their juniors isn’t a point against them it’s a point against the roosters

and how many people do you think regularly travel from the central coast to Sydney to watch games as fans of Sydney teams ?

if anything you should’ve used the argument as it’s newcastles area that’s actually a valid one

They are not very good arguments though.

There are a couple of sides in Sydney already and I’ll add Newcastle to that list that struggle to compete in terms of corporate sponsorship and supporters. Why would adding another side to an already congested market be a good thing?

It’s not a great stadium. It’s in a nice location right next to Gosford station and the water but it is quite a small stadium. It would need to be redeveloped.

The point I was making was that those juniors aren’t going to struggle because they are based in Gosford. In fact they have way more opportunities afforded to them than say a junior based in Rockhampton or Cairns or in the Riverina for example. Those sides don’t have ten NRL sides based around them. Also, I hate the Roosters but I don’t get the hate around this. They have rightly been criticised for just buying talent but it seems like they are actually doing something in the junior space by doing this.

I don’t know but it is not like they don’t have the opportunity. That’s the point.

 

[Wb1234]

They are not very good arguments though.

There are a couple of sides in Sydney already and I’ll add Newcastle to that list that struggle to compete in terms of corporate sponsorship and supporters. Why would adding another side to an already congested market be a good thing?

It’s not a great stadium. It’s in a nice location right next to Gosford station and the water but it is quite a small stadium. It would need to be redeveloped.

The point I was making was that those juniors aren’t going to struggle because they are based in Gosford. In fact they have way more opportunities afforded to them than say a junior based in Rockhampton or Cairns or in the Riverina for example. Those sides don’t have ten NRL sides based around them. Also, I hate the Roosters but I don’t get the hate around this. They have rightly been criticised for just buying talent but it seems like they are actually doing something in the junior space by doing this.

I don’t know but it is not like they don’t have the opportunity. That’s the point.

If bears don’t get in bed with Perth then central coast bears as team 21 or 22 comes into play

 

[Gobsmacked]

If bears don’t get in bed with Perth then central coast bears as team 21 or 22 comes into play

Central Coast will never be in play.
In order of chances:
Nz2
Perth
Adelaide
Brisbane 3
Nz3
Sunshine Coast
PNG
Central qld
Cairns
Melbourne 2

Central Coast.

 

[Colk]

Central Coast will never be in play.
In order of chances:
Nz2
Perth
Adelaide
Brisbane 3
Nz3
Sunshine Coast
PNG
Central qld
Cairns
Melbourne 2

Central Coast.

You reckon Adelaide is a chance down the line? But I agree CC should not really be ever in discussion for a new side - it would have to be a relocated Sydney side and even then you would probably move to another area anyway.

 

[Gobsmacked]

You reckon Adelaide is a chance down the line? But I agree CC should not really be ever in discussion for a new side - it would have to be a relocated Sydney side and even then you would probably move to another area anyway.

The way it looks to be playing out is NZ 2 Brings it to 18 solid teams in no risk territory. Each of which improves the finances of the NRL. Both will sustain crowds, sponsors and juniors ect. The next 2 teams to bring it to 20 will be both Perth and Adelaide which won't be a financial win but it will complete the national footprint.

Ideally it'll stay at 18 with a massive financial incentive to relocate two Sydney clubs eg: Adelaide Tigers and Perth Sharks.

It's funny how you hear about the bears . It's aging guys with nostalgia making the noise but doesn't represent big numbers akin to a sustainable NRL club.
The future of the game isn't nostalgia!
It's future generations.
The Brisbane Lions are the perfect example of a relocation being effective. It takes time but it works.

 

[Gobsmacked]

NZ is 6 million people. A lot of union sure but a lot of league too.
Sydney has 9 sides...with 5 million..
NZ has 1.... 6 million...
NZ 2 is a dream location . There's never going to be a more obvious expansion.