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

[Jamberoo]

We need both.
We need a couple of sensible relocations of clubs to big empty cities We need to move some of the Sydney teams to other parts of Sydeny and we need a big sydney marketing drive.

Nah, the just destroys the game and loses fans. Are there more fans or less fans after the Wests Tigers, Nth Eagles and St G *Illa mergers? I would argue that there are less. Relocations are a maybe, but mergers don’t grow the game. They literally make it smaller.

 

[T-Boon]

Nah, the just destroys the game and loses fans. Are there more fans or less fans after the Wests Tigers, Nth Eagles and St G *Illa mergers? I would argue that there are less. Relocations are a maybe, but mergers don’t grow the game. They literally make it smaller.

Agreed, mergers are a disaster.

Relocations (done well) would be great.
To me Perth and Adelaide are relocation only places.

I would move th Sea Eagles to a more sensible part of the Northern Sydney area and have them represent the whole area.

 

[flippikat]

Agreed, mergers are a disaster.

Relocations (done well) would be great.
To me Perth and Adelaide are relocation only places.

I would move th Sea Eagles to a more sensible part of the Northern Sydney area and have them represent the whole area.

Yep, as I said elsewhere the AFL had exactly the right idea in relocating the Swans and Lions to Sydney & Brisbane - outside AFL heartland.

Likewise, Perth & Adelaide for the NRL could be relocation destinations. Sure that means Perth drops their Pirates bid, and adopts the branding of a former Sydney club.. BUT if it means a seat at the table, and the club is genuine about the move, why not?

It solves a LOT of problems.

These conversations need to happen now at NRL HQ.

 

[T-Boon]

Yep, as I said elsewhere the AFL had exactly the right idea in relocating the Swans and Lions to Sydney & Brisbane - outside AFL heartland.

Likewise, Perth & Adelaide for the NRL could be relocation destinations. Sure that means Perth drops their Pirates bid, and adopts the branding of a former Sydney club.. BUT if it means a seat at the table, and the club is genuine about the move, why not?

It solves a LOT of problems.

These conversations need to happen now at NRL HQ.

I think any Sydney team that relocates should get extra home games by way of getting to play some sydney away games at their traditional ground. Eg: Southern Sharks out of Adelaide with 3 sydney games at Cronulla.

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

We need both.
We need a couple of sensible relocations of clubs to big empty cities We need to move some of the Sydney teams to other parts of Sydeny and we need a big sydney marketing drive.

100%!

I'd send Manly to NZ and use former Kiwis who played for them as club ambassadors. Market the relocation as NZ stealing one of Sydney's most successful clubs. That will surely appeal to New Zealanders who like to get one over Australia.

It also frees up room for Roosters to absorb North Sydney, Manly and Central Coast as their territory. Older fans of Manly and North Sydney won't like it, but it's not about them. Kids who are too young to remember them will grow up only knowing of the Roosters as their team, so it's a 20-30 year project that will provide huge dividends to the game. It's important that Roosters take in this affluent area as we need a strong team covering this base to counter the Swans and Waratahs. Playing a few games a year at Gosford will give the Roosters a massive free kick over the Swans when it comes to capturing the hearts and minds of kids in that city.

Dragons could make the move to Adelaide, allowing Souths to absorb St George territory and Sharks representing Illawarra.

Tigers to Perth as Pirates with Bulldogs and Magpies teaming up to cover the southwest. Western Sydney Bulldogs and West Coast Pirates.

 

[Perth Red]

As the NRL is planning on an extra team in Brisbane (TBD this year)0before they have a new deal with FTA stations and after a large chop into their monies ,especially after the COVID debacle they aren't dithering.
Only someone fixated with AFL(who can't even decide on a Tasmanian team and stuffed up NZ expansion) and an axe to grind, would believe that.

we’ve been in a position to plan for introduction of perth and brisbane2 teams since 2013. Covid just the latest reason to dither some more.

 

[T-Boon]

100%!

I'd send Manly to NZ and use former Kiwis who played for them as club ambassadors. Market the relocation as NZ stealing one of Sydney's most successful clubs. That will surely appeal to New Zealanders who like to get one over Australia.

It also frees up room for Roosters to absorb North Sydney, Manly and Central Coast as their territory. Older fans of Manly and North Sydney won't like it, but it's not about them. Kids who are too young to remember them will grow up only knowing of the Roosters as their team, so it's a 20-30 year project that will provide huge dividends to the game. It's important that Roosters take in this affluent area as we need a strong team covering this base to counter the Swans and Waratahs. Playing a few games a year at Gosford will give the Roosters a massive free kick over the Swans when it comes to capturing the hearts and minds of kids in that city.

Dragons could make the move to Adelaide, allowing Souths to absorb St George territory and Sharks representing Illawarra.

Tigers to Perth as Pirates with Bulldogs and Magpies teaming up to cover the southwest. Western Sydney Bulldogs and West Coast Pirates.

If the Roosters took a couple games to North Sydney oval each year and made it their training base they could sprout some interest over there.
It is pretty easy to get from NS to Moore Park now.
They probably are the logical team to take over that area.

 

[Perth Red]

All pie in the sky, there’ll be no mergers or relocations. Hell the nrl chairman believes Sydney suburbs are the future of the sport lol
nrl will keep throwing money at failing clubs and the game will remain stagnant.

 

[T-Boon]

The key to relocating sydney clubs is you have to retain big links to the traditions of the club so it is clearly the same entity.
Perth Red says otherwise, he says (paraphrasing) "you have to be all in on the move and delete the past from memory".
But this is the wrong way to do it as the goal should be to retain as many existing fans who will be losing their local team as possible and then slowly build in the new city, as lets face it it will be a slow build in the new city anyway.

 

[LeagueXIII]

We need both.
We need a couple of sensible relocations of clubs to big empty cities We need to move some of the Sydney teams to other parts of Sydeny and we need a big sydney marketing drive.

Do that and you will kill the emotion of RL that drives the passion of the game. Might as well just make it a TV show.

 

[LeagueXIII]

RL has most cities covered except Adelaide and Perth.

We have the East Coast of Australia, NZ and Pacific Islands. I'd like to see league in Perth and the game to grow it's player base and eventually have two conferences like NFL.

Why does the game succeed and fall on Adelaide?

 

[T-Boon]

Do that and you will kill the emotion of RL that drives the passion of the game. Might as well just make it a TV show.

That is a bit dramatic. It would hurt some people a bit. RL is a bad sport if it can’t do sensible things and survive.

 

[Perth Red]

Do that and you will kill the emotion of RL that drives the passion of the game. Might as well just make it a TV show.

not really, you’ll negatively impact the clubs fanbases involved and the rest of the game will move on. You think anyone cares anymore that the bears aren’t in the nrl other than old time bears fans?

but won’t happen so no need to get upset at hypotheticals

 

[Perth Red]

RL has most cities covered except Adelaide and Perth.

We have the East Coast of Australia, NZ and Pacific Islands. I'd like to see league in Perth and the game to grow it's player base and eventually have two conferences like NFL.

Why does the game succeed and fall on Adelaide?

when we have melbourne 2, perth and Adelaide in the nrl it can genuinely start to consider itself a national game, until then it looks like an east coast competition. Wh6 does it matter? Look at the revenue gap between afl and nrl, that’s why it matters.

 

[T-Boon]

the only bad thing about relocating sydney clubs would be that a certain percentage of their fans will stop supporting RL and a certain percentage of those will become AFL fans.

 

[Perth Red]

the only bad thing about relocating sydney clubs would be that a certain percentage of their fans will stop supporting RL and a certain percentage of those will become AFL fans.

itd be a tiny amount. As someone who moved from a rl mad city to an afl one and tried to get into afl just so I had a team to cheer on trust me not many will be converted! It’s a hard game to watch if you haven’t grown up with it,

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

the only bad thing about relocating sydney clubs would be that a certain percentage of their fans will stop supporting RL and a certain percentage of those will become AFL fans.

The only people who'll abandon RL and jump on the AwFuL train are those who never had anything more than a casual interest in our game. They probably played RU as kids and still have that as their main game, but adopted an RL club to follow as our game has always been the big boy in Sydney. Now that fumbleball is worming its way into the upper class snobs of Sydney we're seeing RU snobs abandoning RL altogether and talking up the Swans and AwFuL.

 

[T-Boon]

The only people who'll abandon RL and jump on the AwFuL train are those who never had anything more than a casual interest in our game. They probably played RU as kids and still have that as their main game, but adopted an RL club to follow as our game has always been the big boy in Sydney. Now that fumbleball is worming its way into the upper class snobs of Sydney we're seeing RU snobs abandoning RL altogether and talking up the Swans and AwFuL.

Yep.

 

[Jamberoo]

when we have melbourne 2, perth and Adelaide in the nrl it can genuinely start to consider itself a national game, until then it looks like an east coast competition. Wh6 does it matter? Look at the revenue gap between afl and nrl, that’s why it matters.

Killing Sydney clubs will only weaken the game, and erode its main strength, which is domination of the media in Sydney. A strong NRL is better than an expanded, weaker one. That what PVL thinks anyway. I can’t stand him but I do agree with him. A second Melbourne team would be a disaster and would not add a cent to media rights. They would make the GWS Giants appear like Man U.
The reality is that Rugby League IS an east coast competition. The $$$ gap between AFL and NRL will never be closed. AFL is and has always been played and supported in ‘enemy territory’ (Qld & NSW) in decent numbers, the games go for 40% longer and the crowds have always been more than double that of RL - for over 100 years. RL at community level is virtually non existent outside those two states. All of that is unlikely to ever change.
But the game CAN become stronger, but the kind of growth you want PR will not make the game more popular, it will send it broke.
Go with the strength. Brisbane 2, then Brisbane 3. Smaller, better stadiums in Sydney that are full every week. No more regular season matches at ANZ once SFS is built. Lots of ways to strengthen the game of RL.

 

[Jamberoo]

The only people who'll abandon RL and jump on the AwFuL train are those who never had anything more than a casual interest in our game. They probably played RU as kids and still have that as their main game, but adopted an RL club to follow as our game has always been the big boy in Sydney. Now that fumbleball is worming its way into the upper class snobs of Sydney we're seeing RU snobs abandoning RL altogether and talking up the Swans and AwFuL.

Those casual ‘swinging’ fans are the one that you actually need to keep. Like at any election 40% will always vote liberal and 40% votes labor (read AFL & NRL), so it is the swinging 20% that actually matter. And that, is where the AFL are currently winning the ‘war’. TV ratings are pretty much identical for each code, yet the AFL receive significantly more (partly due to their longer matches). Lose those swinging fans and the NRL is in trouble.
Based on trends of the past decade, AFL participation in QLD and NSW will surpass RL within 20 years. Another generation and TV ratings might follow. Getting rid of Sydney teams will only gift the AFL more kids. The priority needs to be strengthening the game at grassroots level in the heartland. Lose the kids of Sydney and Brisbane and it won’t matter if you have teams in WA and SA, the game will go broke.