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

[The Great Dane]

Well yeah that makes sense, most syd clubs, like dogs, sharks, rabbits, roosters need only 10 games in sydney as home grounds, the rest should be taken away elsewhere, it would help them financially and it means keeping the regional or 1 team cities keep 12 home games in their area, a great example is magic round in brisbane, instead of making broncos use up a home game, make their opponents be the home team thus gifting brisbane or suncorp in particular an extra game, same should be said for canberra, dragons, cowboys etc

Pretty sure that's already the case to be fair. Maybe the Broncos are the exception.

BTW, the Dragons are a Sydney club in basically all but name. They do the bare minimum in the Gong and focus all their efforts on Sydney.

 

[MugaB]

Pretty sure that's already the case to be fair. Maybe the Broncos are the exception.

BTW, the Dragons are a Sydney club in basically all but name. They do the bare minimum in the Gong and focus all their efforts on Sydney.

Yes and no, they have been pushing 6 games in the gong for a few years, with kogarah, and the anzac day games getting the remaining 6, im sure the WIN group wanted that as a minimum, id prefer that and any games in syd to be at SFS when it opens to get more tenants there basically getting a weekly use out of the new stadium, instead of kogarah

 

[jim_57]

Let Sydney clubs take games to regional areas you mean.

None of the one club cities should be moving games unless they have no choice.

I’d argue the Cowboys situation is a bit different, they represent a large area with 3 small cities. They are based in the biggest & central city for obvious reasons but IF (again, big if) Cairns gets that 20k stadium then I see no reason why they couldn’t take 1-2 games to Cairns. Thursday or 6pm Friday games in particular could be a good target.

If the Cowboys moved a home game to Brisbane, Rockhampton or Darwin I’d agree but Cairns is their territory and only slightly smaller than Townsville. Townsville getting 10 games a year of elite sport is still very good for a city that size.

Ideally a Sydney club or two could take a home game Vs Cowboys there as well to beef up the numbers. Mackay as well to a lesser extent.

 

[Perth Red]

Townsville crowds this year have been pretty Dissapointing considering the form of the team and the lovely new stadium. There doesn't seem to be a new stadium surge like we've seen at the Eels which is weird. Doesnt look like the Cowboys would be losing a lot taking at least a pre season trial and 2 NRL games to Cairns and really cementing their fanbase with special Cairns memberships there.

I know clubs do it because they get paid but taking games to regional towns where less than 7k turn up seems a great waste of a game opportunity.

 

[Perth Red]

Yes and no, they have been pushing 6 games in the gong for a few years, with kogarah, and the anzac day games getting the remaining 6, im sure the WIN group wanted that as a minimum, id prefer that and any games in syd to be at SFS when it opens to get more tenants there basically getting a weekly use out of the new stadium, instead of kogarah

I think they are based there as well aren't they? They were out training at WIN on the Monday and Tuesday I was in town last month.

 

[Wb1234]

Townsville crowds this year have been pretty Dissapointing considering the form of the team and the lovely new stadium. There doesn't seem to be a new stadium surge like we've seen at the Eels which is weird. Doesnt look like the Cowboys would be losing a lot taking at least a pre season trial and 2 NRL games to Cairns and really cementing their fanbase with special Cairns memberships there.

I know clubs do it because they get paid but taking games to regional towns where less than 7k turn up seems a great waste of a game opportunity.

They sold out their first game then covid hit and they lost momentum

with the improved form I’m sure they will go back to 20k ish

 

[The Great Dane]

I’d argue the Cowboys situation is a bit different, they represent a large area with 3 small cities. They are based in the biggest & central city for obvious reasons but IF (again, big if) Cairns gets that 20k stadium then I see no reason why they couldn’t take 1-2 games to Cairns. Thursday or 6pm Friday games in particular could be a good target.

If the Cowboys moved a home game to Brisbane, Rockhampton or Darwin I’d agree but Cairns is their territory and only slightly smaller than Townsville. Townsville getting 10 games a year of elite sport is still very good for a city that size.

Ideally a Sydney club or two could take a home game Vs Cowboys there as well to beef up the numbers. Mackay as well to a lesser extent.

All moving games to multiple venues does is confuse your club's identity and devalue your season tickets/memberships. It's a lazy band-aid solution to a much larger problem that is anti-fan and bad for business.

The Tigers split their games between multiple stadiums in the same city and it's gone a long way to crippling their business, the Cowboys trying to do same between Townsville and two other cities that are four hours away in opposite directions will do the same. It's trying to be everything to everyone, and that never works.

Despite claiming all of NQ, the Cowboys are, and always have been, a Townsville side first and foremost. And before you say it; it makes absolutely no sense to appeal what is undoubtably a the tiny minority of their fanbase that travels from hours around to attend their games at the expense of the vast majority that live in and around Townsville.

 

[Perth Red]

All moving games to multiple venues does is confuse your club's identity and devalue your season tickets/memberships. It's a lazy band-aid solution to a much larger problem that is anti-fan and bad for business.

The Tigers split their games between multiple stadiums in the same city and it's gone a long way to crippling their business, the Cowboys trying to do same between Townsville and two other cities that are four hours away in opposite directions will do the same. It's trying to be everything to everyone, and that never works.

Despite claiming all of NQ, the Cowboys are, and always have been, a Townsville side first and foremost. And before you say it; it makes absolutely no sense to appeal what is undoubtably a the tiny minority of their fanbase that travels from hours around to attend their games at the expense of the vast majority that live in and around Townsville.

They are called NQ, surely they should be appealing to, you know, North Queensland? Increased memberships and more sponsors cant be a bad thing surely? A pre season trial and 2 NRL games whilst 10 are played in Townsville wouldn't damage anything and could be very beneficial financially. Without a proper second division this is often the only chance these fans of the game get to see a proper decent tier live game.

 

[Wb1234]

They are called NQ, surely they should be appealing to, you know, North Queensland? Increased memberships and more sponsors cant be a bad thing surely? A pre season trial and 2 NRL games whilst 10 are played in Townsville wouldn't damage anything and could be very beneficial financially. Without a proper second division this is often the only chance these fans of the game get to see a proper decent tier live game.

Building a new stadium in cairns or Maccay is stupid. The new ground in Townsville is amazing

if the state government has money for more grounds it should go to a bank west type ground at Redcliffe

especially after afl got the development st Springfield and the Gabba upgraded for their benefit

 

[Perth Red]

Building a new stadium in cairns or Maccay is stupid. The new ground in Townsville is amazing

if the state government has money for more grounds it should go to a bank west type ground at Redcliffe

especially after afl got the development st Springfield and the Gabba upgraded for their benefit

Sound slike the cairns stadium is a bit of a pie in the sky from local business people. If Cairns is a marginal seat it may get the $180mill they are asking for but if not they've got buckleys chance without a decent top tier tenant.
How they think theyll build a 20k seat stadium for $130mill I dont know, we spent that much on hbf park on two stands!

Having said that the fact there isnt even a half decent rectangular stadium in a RL city of 155k people is pretty appalling when you look at the AFL stadium they've got.

 

[jim_57]

All moving games to multiple venues does is confuse your club's identity and devalue your season tickets/memberships. It's a lazy band-aid solution to a much larger problem that is anti-fan and bad for business.

The Tigers split their games between multiple stadiums in the same city and it's gone a long way to crippling their business, the Cowboys trying to do same between Townsville and two other cities that are four hours away in opposite directions will do the same. It's trying to be everything to everyone, and that never works.

Despite claiming all of NQ, the Cowboys are, and always have been, a Townsville side first and foremost. And before you say it; it makes absolutely no sense to appeal what is undoubtably a the tiny minority of their fanbase that travels from hours around to attend their games at the expense of the vast majority that live in and around Townsville.

Cowboys are a team for all of North Queensland not just Townsville. The majority of North Queensland catchment isn’t in Townsville and a large chunk of membership and merchandise sales would come from Cairns, Mackay and other towns in the area. It absolutely makes sense for them to appeal to their fan base in Cairns and if Cairns had the stadium to back it 100% Cowboys should take some games there.

You’ve got a point in general about 1 team towns and if it was Gold Coast taking a game to Toowoomba or Melbourne taking a game Geelong I’d agree. For North Queensland taking a game to Cairns (North Queensland) your point misses the mark in my opinion. Nobody is going to be confused by the club’s identity if they take a game or 2 out of Townsville to another part of their territory, if planned well it would most likely boost the crowd average and membership numbers for the year.

As for “tiny minority”, yes fans travelling to Townsville for games are definitely a minority but not a negligible number by any means. For fans in general though there’s most likely more Cowboys fans living outside of Townsville than in it which makes it a unique situation.

The argument is most likely redundant anyway because that stadium is a long shot.

 

[Vee]

Townsville crowds this year have been pretty Dissapointing considering the form of the team and the lovely new stadium. There doesn't seem to be a new stadium surge like we've seen at the Eels which is weird. Doesnt look like the Cowboys would be losing a lot taking at least a pre season trial and 2 NRL games to Cairns and really cementing their fanbase with special Cairns memberships there.

I know clubs do it because they get paid but taking games to regional towns where less than 7k turn up seems a great waste of a game opportunity.

The Cowboys have to rebuild trust with their fans after several pea-heart years.

 

[ground zero]

They sold out their first game then covid hit and they lost momentum

with the improved form I’m sure they will go back to 20k ish

maybe not everyone in Townsville can afford a $60 $80 ticket in the grandstand. Thats your problem right there. pure greed from stadium management an Cowboys.

 

[The Great Dane]

Cowboys are a team for all of North Queensland not just Townsville.

They are based in Townsville, the vast majority of their members and active supporters would be based in Townsville, the majority of their local corporate support would be reliant on their market share in Townsville. So considering that the core of their business (broadcasting aside) is all reliant on strong support in Townsville what sense does it make to A. hurt that fanbase to play make believe in smaller markets, and B. pretend that 'NQ' is anything more than a token gesture in the name?

If the Cowboys take games to Cairns and Mackay all they would be doing is hurting their local members, active supporters, and corporates, the majority of whom are, and probably always will be, based in Townsville.

The only justifications that you, PR, and anybody else that pushes this split city nonsense, put forth are appeals to emotion; 'the fans in X city/region deserve it' shit. Well I'm sorry but this is a business, and it's terrible business to alienate your core consumer base in pursuit of another unless you are convinced that A. it's more valuable than the other, and B. that you can replace every customer you alienate with another. Neither of which is for sure in this case.

Clubs taking second homes is a lazy, ineffectual, band-aid solution to serving smaller markets that are currently underserved by the sport. As, BTW, the AFL is slowly learning the hard way in Tasmania and Canberra.

 

[jim_57]

They are based in Townsville, the vast majority of their members and active supporters would be based in Townsville, the majority of their local corporate support would be reliant on their market share in Townsville. So considering that the core of their business (broadcasting aside) is all reliant on strong support in Townsville what sense does it make to A. hurt that fanbase to play make believe in smaller markets, and B. pretend that 'NQ' is anything more than a token gesture in the name?

If the Cowboys take games to Cairns and Mackay all they would be doing is hurting their local members, active supporters, and corporates, the majority of whom are, and probably always will be, based in Townsville.

The only justifications that you, PR, and anybody else that pushes this split city nonsense, put forth are appeals to emotion; 'the fans in X city/region deserve it' shit. Well I'm sorry but this is a business, and it's terrible business to alienate your core consumer base in pursuit of another unless you are convinced that A. it's more valuable than the other, and B. that you can replace every customer you alienate with another. Neither of which is for sure in this case.

Clubs taking second homes is a lazy, ineffectual, band-aid solution to serving smaller markets that are currently underserved by the sport. As, BTW, the AFL is slowly learning the hard way in Tasmania and Canberra.

You’re talking as if Townsville is a thriving city of 1 Million people and I’m advocating playing a game in Bowen. Cairns and Mackay alone have more people combined that Townsville and the support in these towns isn’t “token”. They would definitely have more supportoutside of Townsville than in it.

How many members or corporates do you really believe would be alienated by the club taking a couple games to another city that they represent? And how delicately attached they have to be to walk away. Many of their sponsors operate in Cairns as well.

North Queensland’s situation is nothing like Tasmania or Canberra so again misses the mark. Cowboys represent a large region either side of Townsville and from experience those places are staunch Cowboys. Cairns is one of the places they represent, only slightly smaller than Townsville and will never have their own Cairns based team. If they get a stadium to back it up they should and most likely will get a couple of games.

 

[MugaB]

You’re talking as if Townsville is a thriving city of 1 Million people and I’m advocating playing a game in Bowen. Cairns and Mackay alone have more people combined that Townsville and the support in these towns isn’t “token”. They would definitely have more supportoutside of Townsville than in it.

How many members or corporates do you really believe would be alienated by the club taking a couple games to another city that they represent? And how delicately attached they have to be to walk away. Many of their sponsors operate in Cairns as well.

North Queensland’s situation is nothing like Tasmania or Canberra so again misses the mark. Cowboys represent a large region either side of Townsville and from experience those places are staunch Cowboys. Cairns is one of the places they represent, only slightly smaller than Townsville and will never have their own Cairns based team. If they get a stadium to back it up they should and most likely will get a couple of games.

If and when they get this upgrade, they have been advocating for (for the world cup soccer) they will be needing a tennant, since Cairns is atleast 2 hours north of Townsville and also classified as Far North QLD, they could easily field an NRL team but only as long as its that PNG joint bid, i see it similar as what the Dragons do between Wollongong and Kogarah...
this to me is a no brainer, increasing the player pool, funneling 9mil population of RL mad supporters and inclusion of another QLD side, all on one go..
Not to mention having a rivalry with the cowboys, which Cairns and Townsville definitely have that stigma between the 2 towns

 

[Perth Red]

They are based in Townsville, the vast majority of their members and active supporters would be based in Townsville, the majority of their local corporate support would be reliant on their market share in Townsville.

That's why they will remain based in Townsville and playing 80% of games there. But they have other potential markets being they represent NQ. Be foolish no to tap into those markets to increase your revenue.

 

[Perth Red]

If and when they get this upgrade, they have been advocating for (for the world cup soccer) they will be needing a tennant, since Cairns is atleast 2 hours north of Townsville and also classified as Far North QLD, they could easily field an NRL team but only as long as its that PNG joint bid, i see it similar as what the Dragons do between Wollongong and Kogarah...
this to me is a no brainer, increasing the player pool, funneling 9mil population of RL mad supporters and inclusion of another QLD side, all on one go..
Not to mention having a rivalry with the cowboys, which Cairns and Townsville definitely have that stigma between the 2 towns

again, Cairns has a team, its called the Cowboys.

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

Maybe we can relocate a Sydney team to Cairns and rebrand them as PNG...?

PNG Roosters?

PNG Sea Eagles?

PNG Bulldogs?

PNG Tigers?

It'll have 9 million fans in PNG + 5 million fans in Sydney + 160k fans in Cairns. It'll be one-third PNG, one-third Queensland and one-third Sydney.

It'll be the manbearpig of football and bill itself as "half QLD half Sydney half PNG". Greg Florimo is probably reading this and thinking "PNG Bears"!

 

[Perth Red]

Maybe we can relocate a Sydney team to Cairns and rebrand them as PNG...?

PNG Roosters?

PNG Sea Eagles?

PNG Bulldogs?

PNG Tigers?

It'll have 9 million fans in PNG + 5 million fans in Sydney + 160k fans in Cairns. It'll be one-third PNG, one-third Queensland and one-third Sydney.

It'll be the manbearpig of football and bill itself as "half QLD half Sydney half PNG". Greg Florimo is probably reading this and thinking "PNG Bears"!

Is PNG the only place the Bears havent yet mentioned bidding with?