NSW Cup to expand

[nqcowboy87]

Wire: AAP Australian Sports Wire (ASP) Date: Nov 17 2009 15:12:20
RL: Knights reveal Central Coast link up
SYDNEY, Nov 17 AAP - Newcastle Knights have revealed plans to
increase their presence on the NSW Central Coast in a new
partnership between the NRL club and the region's rugby league
governing body.
The new-look Central Coast Crusaders team will play in the NSW
Cup while the Entrance Tigers will play in the Bundaberg Red Cup
competition, formerly known as the Jim Beam Cup, in a system that
could give youngsters a pathway to the Knights first grade side.
The Crusaders side will be selected from elite local players and
Newcastle contracted players not involved in NRL or Toyota Cup
matches.
The Central Coast previously competed in the NSW Cup under a
joint-venture agreement with the Melbourne Storm while the Entrance
Tigers are also no strangers to NSWRL open age competitions having
won the 2007 Jim Beam Cup Premiership.
Melbourne pulled out of the partnership this year after deciding
to enter its own team in the NSW Cup.
Country Rugby League General Manager Terry Quinn believes the
new link-up will prevent talented junior players being lost to
other codes.
"With today's announcement grade and junior players now have a
complete representative pathway available to them from under 13s
through to the National Rugby League with the Newcastle Knights,"
Quinn said.
"It gives our juniors something to strive for and will hopefully
keep them in our game."
AAP imc/tb
-0- Nov/17/2009 4:12 GMT
-----------------------------====================------------------------------
Copyright (c) 2009

i always knew theyd come back, bush footy may be strong but its not stong enough for nrl level players

 

[Roland]

With the Sharks not participating in 2010, outgoing coach Alex Melville will coach Campbelltown Kangaroos in Group 6

 

[Roland]

The Dragons have inserted Terry Gillogley as coach of Shellharbour, replacing Mark Horo.

 

[johnkelley]

Rip Taylor to coach Central Coast team, i think they are going to have to change the Crusaders moniker though as it clashes with Central Coast Basketball Team.

 

[Bluebags1908]

Sharks are in. The pool groups are interesting - like the idea of the foundation group.

http://www.nswrl.com.au/news/article.php?id=829

The New South Wales Rugby League today announced that the Cronulla Sharks will field a team in the NSW Cup competition in 2010.

The state's premier open age competition will now comprise 12 teams and will run over a 26 week schedule mirroring the NRL competition.

NSW Rugby League General Manager Geoff Carr says the addition of the Sharks is important for the future development of Rugby League in NSW.

"The NSWRL has been working closely with the Cronulla club to ensure they will be represented in next year's NSW Cup," Mr. Carr said.

"This result is a step in the right direction for both the NSWRL and the Cronulla club.

"The League received a strong message from NRL clubs asking for us to provide a competition which would allow their players to have 25 weeks of competitive football.

"The inclusion of the Sharks and the new Central Coast Crusaders will allow us to do just that.

The NSW Cup will run over 26 weeks and will begin on the 13th of March with three double headers across the Sydney metropolitan area.

For the first time in NSWRL history a three pool system will be used for rounds one through three pitting traditional clubs Newtown, Western Suburbs, North Sydney and Balmain against each other.

Now that the participating teams are finalised the NSWRL is in a position to finalise the draw for 2010. The completed draw for 2010 will be released early next week.

Pools for rounds one through three are as follows:

Pool One (Foundation Pool)
* Balmain Ryde-Eastwood Tigers
* Newtown Jets
* North Sydney Bears
* Western Suburbs Magpies

Pool Two
* Central Coast Crusaders
* Melbourne Storm
* Wentworthville Magpies
* Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs

Pool Three
* Shellharbour Dragons
* Windsor Wolves
* Auckland Vulcans
* Cronulla Sharks

 

[siv]

Interesting to see how this will look once Manly and Canberra come back next year.

Only then need Souths and Easts to stop their associations with Newtown and Norths and we can have a true RG with all clubs back in their original jersies and NAMES !

 

[nqcowboy87]

Interesting to see how this will look once Manly and Canberra come back next year.

Only then need Souths and Easts to stop their associations with Newtown and Norths and we can have a true RG with all clubs back in their original jersies and NAMES !

and then we need the shellharbour dragons to revert to the st george illawarra dragons, windsor wolves to revert to the penrith panhers, the wenty magpies to become the eels again and so on.......

i was also of the understanding that no nrl teams from nsw could put their reserve grade side in nsw as of next year but existting ones could stay

 

[Bro Bear]

Why get rid of the mighy clubs Newtown and Norths. Good to see Easts and Souths aligned with them. Hopefully Norths will be aligned with the Central Coast Bears soon inthe NRL.

 

[Ghipo]

Good news if Sea Eagles and Raiders come back we can call the competition Reserve Grade...Tigers Jets Bears Magpies Dragons Sharks Bulldogs.

Pool One (Foundation Pool)
* Balmain Ryde-Eastwood Tigers
* Newtown Jets
* North Sydney Bears
* Western Suburbs Magpies

Pool Two
* Central Coast Crusaders
* Melbourne Storm
* Wentworthville Magpies
* Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs

Pool Three
* Shellharbour Dragons
* Windsor Wolves
* Auckland Vulcans
* Cronulla Sharks


Two magpies teams is a problem...when i hear magpies i think of Wests

 

[nqcowboy87]

it hasnt been a problem in the queensland cup with both the tweed heads seagulls and wynumm manly seagulls competing in the same comp and wynumm is probably one of the oldest teams in the comp going back to the brl/bulimba cup days

 

[Ghipo]

it hasnt been a problem in the queensland cup with both the tweed heads seagulls and wynumm manly seagulls competing in the same comp and wynumm is probably one of the oldest teams in the comp going back to the brl/bulimba cup days

Yeah I guess its not really a problem - as long as every now and then I get to watch 3 Wests games on the one day I'll be happy.

And of course that special day when all 5 Wests teams play on the same day at the same ground.

 

[yappy]

It is a problem (the two Magpies teams) and Wests certainly made their disgust known to the NSWRL, but as per standard operating procedure they did nothing.

To give them credit though the new competition format looks like a BIG step forward. 25 round comp, so only one weekend off. All the foundation sides playing each other 3 times. Double headers. Lots of good stuff to make the competition more meaningful to the players and attractive to the fans.

You'll probably find that the third game of the group games will be played as the second game of the double headers. ie Wests will play Balmain once at home, once away, and once as the first game of a double header at either Henson or NSO where the Jets and Bears are playing. Hopefully it will mean the Centenary game at Birchgrove Oval will be on again with the Jets and Bears playing before the Tigers and Magpies - that would be a great day of footy.

You will obviously see more teams play on the same day as the NRL side - Bulldogs are keen to do so, Wests and Balmain will play theirs when the Tigers are at Campbo and Leichhardt, and you'd think Cronulla probably would too for convenience, but there will also be lots of stand alone games which I think gives a good balance. Hopefully the TV coverage is expanded - probably part of the reason why the foundation clubs are getting more games against each other - the games with these teams rated considerably better. So much so that Fox was pretty much demanding at least one foundation side in each of the televised games where possible after about the midway point of last season. Looking forward to 2010.

 

[siv]

Why get rid of the mighy clubs Newtown and Norths. Good to see Easts and Souths aligned with them. Hopefully Norths will be aligned with the Central Coast Bears soon inthe NRL.

Never let go - But Newtown and Norths should be stand alone

Norths need to focus on establishing themselves as the CC Bears playing most games out of Gosford as they would in a expanded FG comp. And taking on the Newcastle/Wyong Knights/Kangaroos

Either Easts become a genuine team in NSW or they can revert off to qld as teh Central Qld Roosters

They clearly are not interested - as they have shown in how they dropped out of the U18 comp and almost out of the U16 comp last year, with Newtown picking things up

Also - I beleive NSWRL and NRL should be working overtime to help St Mary's re-establish themselves in the Bundy cup. As they,Hills, Windsor and Wenty are on the frontline v AFL GWS

 

[siv]

I would prefer to see RG re-established, we are very close at the moment, with the NSW and VIC based clubs as a 16 team comp

Souths, CC Bears, Newcastle, Parra, Penrith, Manly, Canberra, Balmain, Wests, Canterbury, Cronulla, Newtown, St George, Melbourne, Easts, Auckland

With the Bundy Cup expanded to be the new NSW Bundy Cup comp with

Wenty, Windsor, Hills, St Marys, Cabramatta, Ryde-Eastwood, Bulls, Northern Rivers (Port M), Northen Div (Singleton), Western Div (Bath), Monaro (Goul), Riverina (Wagga), Illawarra, Southern Div, Adelaide, Perth

 

[mono_mal]

Siv, you raise some good points but what real value do you see in re-establishing a reserve grade competition?
NRL Clubs are increasingly struggling to turn a profit and it must be remembered that fielding a semi-pro team reserves team requires a considerable financial outlay. Do you think your average supporter really cares how their clubs reserve team is travelling?
We have the potential to develop a strong stand alone second tier competition which could be the equal or even surpass the Qld Cup in profile. But to do this we must develop our second tier clubs into marketable brands and allow them to develop their own identity.

 

[yappy]

Siv, you raise some good points but what real value do you see in re-establishing a reserve grade competition?
NRL Clubs are increasingly struggling to turn a profit and it must be remembered that fielding a semi-pro team reserves team requires a considerable financial outlay. Do you think your average supporter really cares how their clubs reserve team is travelling?
We have the potential to develop a strong stand alone second tier competition which could be the equal or even surpass the Qld Cup in profile. But to do this we must develop our second tier clubs into marketable brands and allow them to develop their own identity.

Yes. Not completely stand alone. Having a few sides that remain closely aligned to their NRL side and even play on the same day will probably help to keep the competitions profile high, but teams like Shellharbour, Windsor, Crusaders and the foundation sides give competition the chance to provide an alternative to NRL for those fans who want that.

 

[Bluebags1908]

Yes. Not completely stand alone. Having a few sides that remain closely aligned to their NRL side and even play on the same day will probably help to keep the competitions profile high, but teams like Shellharbour, Windsor, Crusaders and the foundation sides give competition the chance to provide an alternative to NRL for those fans who want that.

I am in favour of 'stand-alone' teams in NSW Cup so they can develop their own brands and identity. I was disappointed the Bulldogs are back replacing the Bankstown City Bulls.

I also think a Blacktown side in the NSW Cup is a must - not sure who they can feeder to, but if Wests Tigers can have 2 NSW Cup feeder teams then why can't Parramatta or Penrith?

Also, Melbourne Storm NSW Cup team should call themselves 'Port Melbourne whatevers' or 'West Melbourne whatevers' or 'Geelong whatevers' (for example) so give themselves their own identity and promote a 2nd semi-pro team based in Melbourne. Calling themselves the Mebourne Storm just makes their identity get lost and confused with the NRL team.

 

[mono_mal]

Feeder arrangements are probably necessary at this stage though the English model sees clubs operate independently of super league clubs with players being dual registered and loaned to the lower level team.
The current situation where Cabramatta's entry was blocked by Parramatta must be prevented. Clubs should be able to be ambitious and attempt to play in the highest level possible and perhaps steering away from the feeder arrangements could be a solution.

 

[yappy]

I like the look of the draw. They are doing it as noted with the three groups playing each other three times and everyone else twice. That gives 25 rounds. Round 17 will be a free weekend (before 3rd Origin for the Resident's game), and to give everyone 12 home games the first round will be double headers - presumably at neutral grounds.

Bears v Magpies and Jets v Tigers will be one venue, Vulcans v Sharks and Dragons v Wolves will be the second, Crusaders v Storm and Wenty v Bulldogs the last. It will be interesting to see where they play these.

 

[siv]

Currently the whole NSW Cup is a bits apeices setup with every club playing players 18-25 in a NRL squad playing

That is what is creating most of the interest at that level

NRL clubs are then forced to put their best juniors back into the U20's because of the contract setups and players who are 21-25 start leaving the clubs development processes because they cannot get a contract - or just retire

When in prior years they would continue to play RG say until they were 23-24

Qld Cup is not really the same as teh NSW Cup as the number of fringe NRL players is way less with only 5 NRL clubs - compared to the 11 aligned club setup in NSW Cup.

So there are two needs one as a national/or NSW based RG and the second as a true NSW Cup.

We cannot get away from the issue that any NSW Cup is either a Metro Cup or RG - BUT can't be both !

If a Metro Cup model then Country divisions should also play - agsinst the best of teh old Metro Cup, and allow NRL clubs to focus on teh RG needs, rather than having their fringe FG players coached at a level this is closer to A-grade than RG