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

[Pippen94]

A number of millionaires willing to invest, nrl reaching a new population of over 2.2million and growing, a very supportive state govt that you could leverage for facilities good stadium deal etc, sponsors getting exposure in one of Australia’s richest cities, corporate support from some of biggest companies in Australia that are looking for a better vehicle to reach nsw and qlnd audiences, increased nrl sponsorship from companies wanting to reach an extra 10% of the population. The tv value will be in the extra content and that will be there regardless of who the 18th club is. So far all I’ve heard about nz2 is that nrl would have to pump millions more than the grant in to make it viable.

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/wa...7gz64LO4OH2QTpBlhrbNZ8_Qz9ELCYG3T4hycGkRpSDME

Extra game is by bringing in 18th team. That could be anywhere. FTA want Brisbane & Sky want nz2. Investors want Perth but they'll disappear after a few seasons of losing.
Bet FTA pay for Brisbane 3 before Perth. Roy Masters mentioned PNG last year.

Swans wouldn't exist if they didn't make finals almost every year. We saw what happened to lions after 4 grand finals club went bankrupt. Both cities bigger & richer than Perth.

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

If it has a "shit record" it's because of Super league, no other reason. The foundation clubs have an even shitter record, Norths - gone, Wests and Balmain - merged, Souths - kicked out then came back, Newtown - long gone...

Arthurson and Quayle are responsible for Super League and two of their expansion clubs falling over. The two clubs who survived did so because they sided with News Ltd. News Ltd knived the Reds in the back after initially saving them from the ARL's untenable requirements. I've been reading 20 Years In The Saddle, North Queensland Cowboys 1995-2014. It goes into great detail to explain why the club had to side with News Ltd.

The North Sydney and Manly saga was another mistake brought on by the ARL. Arthurson was a staunch supporter of the Sea Eagles. The Bears, Magpies, Jets and Tigers didn't enjoy the onfield success of the Sea Eagles. Their demise was brought on by oversaturation. Western Sydney Tigers are a bigger asset to the game than Manly. Merge Manly with North Sydney to form the North Sydney Sea Eagles and the club will be like the Wests Tigers in 20 years from now.

Arthurson and Quayle were the original architects of Sydney's rationalisation, yet they try to pass the blame onto Murdoch.

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

Extra game is by bringing in 18th team. That could be anywhere. FTA want Brisbane & Sky want nz2. Investors want Perth but they'll disappear after a few seasons of losing.
Bet FTA pay for Brisbane 3 before Perth. Roy Masters mentioned PNG last year.

Swans wouldn't exist if they didn't make finals almost every year. We saw what happened to lions after 4 grand finals club went bankrupt. Both cities bigger & richer than Perth.

AwFuL bit off more than they could chew when they introduced the Suns and Giants. It really hurt the Swans and Lions. One team in Perth won't have the same effect.

PVL did himself and the game no favours when he bailed out the destitute Sharks after saying he wouldn't "waste money on rusted-on AFL states". The Sharks case proves that Sydney is oversaturated and untenable in its current format, yet PVL says Brisbane 2 must provide a business case that "stacks up" and rules out Perth for no reason other than it is a traditional AwFuL state. It's one rule for Sydney and another for everyone else, and that doesn't sit well with people outside of NSW.

 

[Pippen94]

AwFuL bit off more than they could chew when they introduced the Suns and Giants. It really hurt the Swans and Lions. One team in Perth won't have the same effect.

PVL did himself and the game no favours when he bailed out the destitute Sharks after saying he wouldn't "waste money on rusted-on AFL states". The Sharks case proves that Sydney is oversaturated and untenable in its current format, yet PVL says Brisbane 2 must provide a business case that "stacks up" and rules out Perth for no reason other than it is a traditional AwFuL state. It's one rule for Sydney and another for everyone else, and that doesn't sit well with people outside of NSW.

If only there was a way to capitalize on the Sydney vs the rest divide??

 

[Perth Red]

Extra game is by bringing in 18th team. That could be anywhere. FTA want Brisbane & Sky want nz2. Investors want Perth but they'll disappear after a few seasons of losing.
Bet FTA pay for Brisbane 3 before Perth. Roy Masters mentioned PNG last year.

Swans wouldn't exist if they didn't make finals almost every year. We saw what happened to lions after 4 grand finals club went bankrupt. Both cities bigger & richer than Perth.

everything you have said there is hypothetical and if and maybes, except the real value being in a ninth game and it doesn’t matter where the club is as the value is the extra content. AFL reckon the extra content was worth $52mill a year on the tv contract despite it was created by two clubs tv didn’t want and don’t rate,
There is literally no evidence for anything you have said lol
Everything I mentioned in the business case for perth is a fact.

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

If only there was a way to capitalize on the Sydney vs the rest divide??

There isnt, as it's based on discrimination against everyone else so that small, unviable clubs in Sydney can pretend they're Manchester Utd. There's competition from AwFuL, RU and soccer for support from kids who don't have an emotional attachment to any sport in particular. Piss off enough people and they will give up on the game and go watch a competitor that doesn't rig everything in NSW's favour. AwFuL has targeted SEQ because they realise the ARLC has alienated many people with its Sydney-centric focus. Thw ARLC strung the Queensland Gov along over the GF, only to give it to Sydney for 30 years. AwFuL capitalised on it by taking the fumbleflag to Brisbane and being the talk of the town. The fumbleflag smashed the NRL GF in the ratings. This is a sign of things to come as they ARLC is always going to be skewed in favour of Sydney. Lose Brisbane and the game's buggered.

 

[Pippen94]

everything you have said there is hypothetical and if and maybes, except the real value being in a ninth game and it doesn’t matter where the club is as the value is the extra content. AFL reckon the extra content was worth $52mill a year on the tv contract despite it was created by two clubs tv didn’t want and don’t rate,
There is literally no evidence for anything you have said lol
Everything I mentioned in the business case for perth is a fact.

We all are. You're hoping team catches on in afl city & whatever investors don't get cold feet when team is losing - they will.
I'm speculating sky will pay for more nz contract. Talk from NRL gives clue which may be reality.

 

[The Great Dane]

Its not an "ethnic club" its just one where all the players from the Pacific islands can be promoted to.
A bit like the Panthers with the central west tablelands at the moment, no one is saying the players all have to be from those areas, its just a good way to promote players from the silktails or any of the other local island teams, if they set up an acedemy in auckland.

If you say that to Kiwi's a lot of them are going to interpret the club as the RL version of Moana Pasifika, which are effectively a PI's ethnic club that just joined Super Rugby and will probably be based in South Auckland.

And again you don't need a club specifically set up for PI's players to provide professional pathways from the PI's to the NRL, that's such an archaic way of thinking.

I mean surely it would be better for the PI's and the players if all the NRL clubs were regularly scouting and providing opportunities to Islander players rather than just one club that's effectively been given them as it's jurisdiction?
I know that if I was them I'd rather what would be 18 solid opportunities rather than one.

I know its easier to just pick Christchurch or Wellington and say thats the spot, but Auckland is league central in NZ, its the better city for it

Considering the Warriors ownership history and financial struggles, I think it's safe to say that at best a second club in Auckland would just split the market, and at worst it would bankrupt both clubs.

I can't see it being viable unless you've got a billionaire up your sleeve that is willing to bankroll the exercise for decades.

 

[The Great Dane]

Double post.

 

[Perth Red]

We all are. You're hoping team catches on in afl city & whatever investors don't get cold feet when team is losing - they will.
I'm speculating sky will pay for more nz contract. Talk from NRL gives clue which may be reality.

You have absolutely no way of knowing what investors would or wouldn’t do. Given Cummins has continued to heavily invest in RL annually in WA since 1995, Sage has continued to invest in glory despite years of direness and puddy is a RL man through and through, Id suggest there’s enough evidence to suggest it wouldnt be the case.
Abdo is pssing in the wind, he has no idea what sky would be willing to pay in 2026, I suspect this is the first they have heard about a nz2 possibility in 5 years time same as rest of us lol

maybe Vlandys realises he is being a dick and is changing his stance?

Asked about Perth’s desire to be considered as an expansion location, ARLC chairman Peter V’landys said: “We’d consider anything that could benefit the game.”

 

[Foreign Legion]

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/nrl...e-team-in-nrl-is-immoral-20210501-p57o0q.html

League powerbrokers in Perth have called on the ARL Commission to consider granting them an 18th NRL licence, claiming it is “absurd” that Western Australia is not part of the expansion conversation.

The ARLC will make a decision in July on whether to add a Brisbane team, while also flagging during the week the prospect that another New Zealand-based club could be added at some stage in the future. Talk of expanding into New Zealand has come as a shock to officials in Perth, who believe they have a far more compelling case for a licence.

While there currently is not a single bidder prepared to set up a franchise across the Tasman, there are up to three interested parties in Perth who would consider joining forces if they felt they were a realistic chance of inclusion in the NRL.

Former Western Reds chairman Laurie Puddy said he was stunned that New Zealand was being discussed as an expansion option before Perth.


“The talk of anything other than taking a team to Perth is immoral,” Puddy said. “I don’t understand the logic. Obviously no one has looked at the numbers.

“When we finished with the Reds in Perth in 1997, the population in WA at the time was 1.3 million. Today it’s fast approaching 3 million.

Western Reds star Mark Geyer charges into St George’s Nathan Brown at Kogarah Oval in 1995.CREDIT:FAIRFAX

“The Reds averaged 15,500 [fans] per game up until 1997 and they are talking about maybe another team out of New Zealand? It’s bizarre. I don’t know what they are thinking.

“There is so much interest in Perth, my phone is running hot.”

Puddy said there would be corporate support for a team in the west.

“There are any number of people prepared to put up $10 million,” he said. “For somebody to say today – with 3 million population and the financial position that Western Australia is in – that it’s not viable, it’s just absurd.


“There are people today who were involved in the first outing who would put their hand in their pocket to make it all happen again. There are lessons to be learnt from it, but it could happen, don’t worry about that.”

About a decade ago, Perth Glory owner Tony Sage was behind a separate push to establish an NRL franchise in Perth. The businessman had put together a consortium and even registered half-a-dozen potential names – including Perth Quokkas and Western Dolphins – in the hope of landing a licence.


He opted to shelve the idea after NRL administrators made it clear there was no appetite for a team in Western Australia, but would be prepared to revisit the concept if the game was serious about pushing into Perth.

“When they firmly make a decision and they ask for bids, I of course will put my hand up because the synergies with Perth Glory would be fantastic, especially around the stadium,” Sage said.


“Everything coming out of the NRL is that it’s not on the radar right now – they’re talking about a Brisbane team, a New Zealand team – but I got back to my original premise that it’s not a National Rugby League until Perth and Adelaide are back in.

“That’s where the AFL and even A-League has got it over the NRL; they can’t truly call themselves a national competition.”


Sage had no doubt the $30 million required to make a Perth bid viable could be raised and there would be cost savings in having one administration overseeing football, league and potentially even a basketball team in Perth.

“With the amount of money in Perth, with the mining boom, I don’t think it would be difficult to raise that $30 million,” he said.

The advantages of a Perth team in the NRL include a favourable time zone for matches to be beamed back to the eastern states in prime time, already established stadiums in HBF Park and Optus Stadium, and a state government prepared to invest in the game.

“We have to keep the dream alive,” NRL WA general manager John Sackson said. “Now that expansion is well and truly on the agenda again, for the sake of the game we need to be in the conversation.


“When it comes to consideration for New Zealand to be an 18th location, we believe Western Australia can table a proposal equal to or far more compelling than a New Zealand franchise.

“We know we will have strong government and corporate support here.

“Someone told me the other day that something like 52 per cent of ASX listed companies are listed here. There’s a lot of potential revenue that could be invested in rugby league, but it’s untapped at the moment.”

Asked about Perth’s desire to be considered as an expansion location, ARLC chairman Peter V’landys said: “We’d consider anything that could benefit the game.”

 

[Foreign Legion]

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/nrl...e-team-in-nrl-is-immoral-20210501-p57o0q.html

League powerbrokers in Perth have called on the ARL Commission to consider granting them an 18th NRL licence, claiming it is “absurd” that Western Australia is not part of the expansion conversation.

The ARLC will make a decision in July on whether to add a Brisbane team, while also flagging during the week the prospect that another New Zealand-based club could be added at some stage in the future. Talk of expanding into New Zealand has come as a shock to officials in Perth, who believe they have a far more compelling case for a licence.

While there currently is not a single bidder prepared to set up a franchise across the Tasman, there are up to three interested parties in Perth who would consider joining forces if they felt they were a realistic chance of inclusion in the NRL.

Former Western Reds chairman Laurie Puddy said he was stunned that New Zealand was being discussed as an expansion option before Perth.


“The talk of anything other than taking a team to Perth is immoral,” Puddy said. “I don’t understand the logic. Obviously no one has looked at the numbers.

“When we finished with the Reds in Perth in 1997, the population in WA at the time was 1.3 million. Today it’s fast approaching 3 million.

Western Reds star Mark Geyer charges into St George’s Nathan Brown at Kogarah Oval in 1995.CREDIT:FAIRFAX

“The Reds averaged 15,500 [fans] per game up until 1997 and they are talking about maybe another team out of New Zealand? It’s bizarre. I don’t know what they are thinking.

“There is so much interest in Perth, my phone is running hot.”

Puddy said there would be corporate support for a team in the west.

“There are any number of people prepared to put up $10 million,” he said. “For somebody to say today – with 3 million population and the financial position that Western Australia is in – that it’s not viable, it’s just absurd.


“There are people today who were involved in the first outing who would put their hand in their pocket to make it all happen again. There are lessons to be learnt from it, but it could happen, don’t worry about that.”

About a decade ago, Perth Glory owner Tony Sage was behind a separate push to establish an NRL franchise in Perth. The businessman had put together a consortium and even registered half-a-dozen potential names – including Perth Quokkas and Western Dolphins – in the hope of landing a licence.


He opted to shelve the idea after NRL administrators made it clear there was no appetite for a team in Western Australia, but would be prepared to revisit the concept if the game was serious about pushing into Perth.

“When they firmly make a decision and they ask for bids, I of course will put my hand up because the synergies with Perth Glory would be fantastic, especially around the stadium,” Sage said.


“Everything coming out of the NRL is that it’s not on the radar right now – they’re talking about a Brisbane team, a New Zealand team – but I got back to my original premise that it’s not a National Rugby League until Perth and Adelaide are back in.

“That’s where the AFL and even A-League has got it over the NRL; they can’t truly call themselves a national competition.”


Sage had no doubt the $30 million required to make a Perth bid viable could be raised and there would be cost savings in having one administration overseeing football, league and potentially even a basketball team in Perth.

“With the amount of money in Perth, with the mining boom, I don’t think it would be difficult to raise that $30 million,” he said.

The advantages of a Perth team in the NRL include a favourable time zone for matches to be beamed back to the eastern states in prime time, already established stadiums in HBF Park and Optus Stadium, and a state government prepared to invest in the game.

“We have to keep the dream alive,” NRL WA general manager John Sackson said. “Now that expansion is well and truly on the agenda again, for the sake of the game we need to be in the conversation.


“When it comes to consideration for New Zealand to be an 18th location, we believe Western Australia can table a proposal equal to or far more compelling than a New Zealand franchise.

“We know we will have strong government and corporate support here.

“Someone told me the other day that something like 52 per cent of ASX listed companies are listed here. There’s a lot of potential revenue that could be invested in rugby league, but it’s untapped at the moment.”

Asked about Perth’s desire to be considered as an expansion location, ARLC chairman Peter V’landys said: “We’d consider anything that could benefit the game.”

 

[Foreign Legion]

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/s...1fd2fe6be1627b&memtype=anonymous&mode=premium

I can't open it due to pay wall. but it is suggesting a return of Newtown and North Sydney Bears if anyone can post the article it would be fantastic ... Granted this is a Buzz Rothy Article

 

[mongoose]

What, in Sydney?

Rothfield is such a dopey moron

 

[Hartwood]

Bring back the North Sydney Bears and, while we’re at it, the Newtown Jets.

And do it without affecting the quality of the NRL competition.

The future of rugby league has been the subject of much debate around conferences, expansion, a lopsided competition and the survival of bush footy.

One option the NRL should consider is promotion and relegation like in UK soccer.

Relegate two clubs to have a streamlined 14-team NRL premiership and a 10-team Championship (2nd division.)

Here’s how it would work.

BETTER FOOTY

The two-conference proposal first raised seven years ago in this newspaper will not improve the standard of the product each week.

It will actually make it worse in that there are not enough quality football players to fill 16 teams, let alone 18.

The gap between the top and bottom teams is too great. We see it every week.

Reducing the number of teams will create a much stronger NRL competition with fewer blowouts and more regular blockbusters.

Players that aren’t quite first graders can join a Championship team.

THE DESPERATION

There would be as much interest in the bottom end of the ladder as the top.

Lower teams would be as desperate to avoid relegation as top clubs are to make the finals.

It would add huge interest at the back end of the season to games that are normally dead rubbers.

This will surely increase the quality of football, attendances and television ratings.

Imagine the interest if St George-Illawarra was playing the Wests Tigers and needed to win to avoid relegation in the final round. You’d need a big stadium.

DETAILS AT A GLANCE

• Initially two teams relegated from bottom of the ladder
  
  
• 1 team promoted and relegated each year
  
  
• 14 strong NRL clubs
  
  
• New 10-team Championship (2nd division)
  
  
• Not as many blowouts
  
  
• More blockbuster games
  
  
• Huge interest in bottom placed NRL teams late in season
  
  
• Huge interest in top Championship teams late in season
  
  
• Brings back the Bears and Newtown
  
  
• Puts the onus on the clubs to get their houses in order
  
  
• Massive boost for bush football
  
  
• League on the Central Coast
  
  
• Loan player arrangements for promoted clubs
  
  
• Championship match of the round on TV Wednesday nights
  

DEMOTED NRL CLUBS

The bottom two teams on the premiership ladder would initially drop to The Championship.

Then the bottom team each year would be relegated.

It sounds harsh and there would no doubt be met with outrage by fans of underperforming NRL clubs like the Wests Tigers, the Canterbury Bulldogs or even the Cronulla Sharks.

However tough and not always fan-friendly calls need to be made.

Uncompetitive teams on the receiving end of blowouts each week are hurting the quality of the NRL competition.

Let them go back to The Championship, get their house in order, then try to make it back through better management.

This will force them to think smarter and run a business as well as clubs like the Roosters, Rabbitohs, Storm and the Parramatta Eels.

THE PLAYERS

So what happens to the star NRL players from the clubs that are demoted?

The players could be lent to clubs in the NRL competition. Like Melbourne Storm, the Wests Tigers and Harry Grant last year. It can be done.

The promoted Championship club each year would get first crack in a draft for these players.

NRL 14-TEAM COMP

$10 million salary cap

Teams: Panthers, Storm, Eels, Roosters, Raiders, Rabbitohs, Knights, Sharks, Titans

Warriors, Manly, Dragons, Broncos, Cowboys

• Play each other twice
  
  
• Top 5 finals series
  
  
• Bottom team drops to Championship
  

THE CHAMPIONSHIP

Imagine the excitement around a fairytale return for traditional old clubs like the North Sydney Bears and the Newtown Jets.

While these clubs at the moment are nowhere near in a position to be running an NRL side, this at least leaves the door ever so slightly ajar for it to happen in the future.

Both clubs still have enormous fan bases.

The Championship 10-team competition would also put rugby league back on the Central Coast.

This is a thriving rugby league area but lacks enough corporate support to have an NRL franchise. This would change if they won The Championship.

It would also be a way help new expansion clubs like a second Brisbane or New Zealand team get their introductions into a professional environment.

Teams would have a salary cap of $4 million.

CHAMPIONSHIP 10-TEAM COMP

$4 million salary cap

Teams: Wests Tigers, 2nd Brisbane team, Bulldogs, Wellington (NZ), NSW Country, Perth, Central Coast, North Sydney Bears, Newtown, Mackay

NSW COUNTRY

This would give country football the lift and revitalisation it so desperately needs.

The side could be based out of the Riverina, (population 155,000) and once a rugby league heartland before the AFL steamrolled into Wagga Wagga.

It could be a satellite team playing home games in country towns like Dubbo, Bathurst, Mudgee, Tamworth, Armidale and Coffs Harbour but the majority of games out of the Riverina.

It would mean high quality rugby league in the bush every weekend. Youngsters in country towns would dream of making the side and getting TV exposure along a pathway to the NRL.

TV COVERAGE

Having two competitions would allow the NRL to spread the coverage of the game around the TV networks, like what happens with major sport in the United States.

All Championship matches would be covered on TV as well as NRL.

The match of the round could become a regular Wednesday night game on Fox Sports.

THE REACTION

Peter V’Landys has always said he will listen to the fans. This is fantastic.

However you can’t be completely driven by the parochialism of rugby league supporters.

There will be initial pain but tough decisions need to be made in big business and in sport.

 

[mongoose]

With the Broncos getting the wooden spoon last year there is next to no chance that pro/rel would ever happen. Can you imagine if the Broncos got relegated and what that would do to the comp? Nine would lose their shit but they wouldn't even pay for the rights knowing the Broncos could possibly be relegated.

 

[Perth Red]

If ever you needed proof that drinking kills brain cells, slothfield provides it, stupid idea.

 

[flippikat]

As Morty would have said....

 

[Foreign Legion]

 

[Pippen94]

Remember when Phil said knights would be moved to Ipswich even though there's no stadium there?!