Pacific Islander owned 18th NRL club.

[SpaceMonkey]

Surely there would be more capital in Wellington than Christchurch?

An Austronesian themed club would appeal to Austronesians living all around the world -- there are 386 million of them -- but very few would become active supporters.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austronesians languages

If it's just a South Pacific islander themed side then that nber dwindles significantly. There are just 2.5 million Polynesians.

Polynesians - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

There are 11.5 million Melanesians.

Population of Melanesia (2024) - Worldometer

Melanesia Population: current, historical, and projected population, growth rate, immigration, median age, total fertility rate (TFR), population density, urbanization, urban population, country's share of world population, and global rank. Data tables, maps, charts, and live population clock

www.worldometers.info

We already have Melanesian teams in the Queensland Cup and NSW Cup providing a valuable pathway for rugby league players from PNG and Fiji.

I don't think a racially exclusive team at the professional level can work a there's just not enough people to make provide the money that it'll need to succeed. There's just 880k Polynesians in New Zealand.

Nobody really self-identifies as Austronesian though, it’s a term used in Anthropology but not something willed themselves identify as in everyday life. On the other hand Polynesians readily self-identify as poly and recognise other Polynesian people as such (even if they often have bitter rivalries in the case of Samoans and Tongans)

 

[Perth Red]

Do we know whose backing this possible bid? I saw NFL players but are they part of a sports ownership company or something?
Do they think there is profit to be made in RL?

 

[SpaceMonkey]

The question of corporate support is interesting. Wellington has a MUCH bigger corporate sector than Christchurch, and bigger than you’d expect for a city of its size- because it’s the capital there are an larger than normal number of company HQ based there. But Christchurch is more parochial and has a more distinct regional identity which could make up for that.

personally I’d still like to see a second NZ team that wasn’t really tied to a city for its identity and basically represented everything south of the Bombay Hills - with the Warriors reverting to being Auckland based. Auckland vs everyone else is probably more of a rivalry in NZ than north va South Island or anything else really.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Do we know whose backing this possible bid? I saw NFL players but are they part of a sports ownership company or something?
Do they think there is profit to be made in RL?

I’d guess that same Richard Fale guy who was talking up wanting to buy the Warriors a while back is in there

 

[Colk]

The question of corporate support is interesting. Wellington has a MUCH bigger corporate sector than Christchurch, and bigger than you’d expect for a city of its size- because it’s the capital there are an larger than normal number of company HQ based there. But Christchurch is more parochial and has a more distinct regional identity which could make up for that.

personally I’d still like to see a second NZ team that wasn’t really tied to a city for its identity and basically represented everything south of the Bombay Hills - with the Warriors reverting to being Auckland based. Auckland vs everyone else is probably more of a rivalry in NZ than north va South Island or anything else really.

Would people get behind that though? Based on how you have stated people from Christchurch as parochial would they get behind something as obtuse as everything bar Auckland? Another thing what would you call them?

 

[Perth Red]

Would people get behind that though? Based on how you have stated people from Christchurch as parochial would they get behind something as obtuse as everything bar Auckland? Another thing what would you call them?

Isnt it obvious? 'THE'

 

[Colk]

Isnt it obvious? 'THE'

That does stir passion I guess

 

[MugaB]

Isnt it obvious? 'THE'

SouTHErn Orcs of middle earth

 

[SpaceMonkey]

If the Warriors reverted to Auckland you could just give them the “NZ” tag. Otherwise I’d go with Southern Orcas/Orcs/whatever. Would make sense geographically at least.