Queensland Cup sides moving into the NRL

[Hello, I'm The Doctor]

This is the ultimate OffSeason/Coronavirus thread, but anyway.....

We have heard a lot about Redcliffe wanting to join the NRL and, more recently, East Brisbane have thrown in as well.

So, for anyone more aware of the state of QRL teams, are there any other SE QLD clubs wealth enough to through in a bid if a license becomes available?

 

[Perth Red]

Nrl to get serious, introduce a $20million total expenditure cap then we wont be reliant on LC’s and we can have clubs introduced tha are best placed for the game, not just who happen to have a few hundred pokie machines.

 

[titoelcolombiano]

I'd like to see the following built in QLD at NRL level over the next 20 - 30 years

• North QLD Cowboys (North QLD)
• Redcliffe Dolphins (South-East QLD North)
• Brisbane Broncos (Brisbane City team)
• Ipswich Jets (South-East QLD West)
• Gold Coast Bears* (SEQ South, Gold Coast City Team, Northern NSW)

*Merge between the existing Burleigh Bears on the GC and the North Sydney Bears. Titans will do if not the bears though, as long as there is a GC presence.

This is a good mix of new and tradition in Queensland RL but not oversaturating it like in Sydney. I think it is often underestimated in NSW how much we value our RL traditions here too, especially when it comes to Q Cup teams.

There are PLENTY of RL fans to go around in South-East QLD and there is enough space (minimum 35kms) between each of these clubs to not canabilise each other too much, plus as we see in other sports, genuine local rivalries only help build interest and draw in fans.

 

[Perth Red]

4 clubs in a city of 2.4million? No better than Sydney's over saturation. If we are happy with 12k crowds and clubs struggling to pay bills one year to the next then sounds a great plan!
Brisbane needs 2 big clubs. That's all. In 30 years when the city has 3-4million we might look at a third.

 

[flippikat]

4 clubs in a city of 2.4million? No better than Sydney's over saturation. If we are happy with 12k crowds and clubs struggling to pay bills one year to the next then sounds a great plan!
Brisbane needs 2 big clubs. That's all. In 30 years when the city has 3-4million we might look at a third.

Spot on. I think either of the Western Corridor bid or the East Brisbane Tigers-led bids are the best for right now, with a North Brisbane/Redcliffe side later on, once growth in that overall area warrants it.

 

[The Great Dane]

4 clubs in a city of 2.4million? No better than Sydney's over saturation. If we are happy with 12k crowds and clubs struggling to pay bills one year to the next then sounds a great plan!
Brisbane needs 2 big clubs. That's all. In 30 years when the city has 3-4million we might look at a third.

Well three clubs in Brisbane and one about an hour down the road, but your point still stands.

Another thing though, is the competition can only be so big at any one time, so if we have three clubs in Brisbane another city/region without any clubs has to miss out.

 

[The Great Dane]

Spot on. I think either of the Western Corridor bid or the East Brisbane Tigers-led bids are the best for right now, with a North Brisbane/Redcliffe side later on, once growth in that overall area warrants it.

But by the time growth warrants a third club in Brisbane it'll warrant it in other places as well, and at the rate that the NRL expands we still won't have a club in Adelaide or a second club in NZ, and people will be talking about a third club in Brisbane.

For the foreseeable future, a third Brisbane club would at best be an unnecessary luxury, at worst it'd split the fan base in Brisbane so badly that it'd cripple clubs that should be sure bets.

 

[ReddFelon]

I think 4 teams in Queensland is more than enough. Having lived here for nearly two years now I've seen quite a bit driving through the state. Mackay, Townsville and Cairns are Cowboys territory for the most part (also a weird amount of St George fans). Rockhampton to the Gold Coast is Broncos territory and the Titans just sort of exist. What I would like is the Titans, Burleigh Bears and Tweed Seagulls to make their alignment as public as possible, it's somewhat embarassing that the only way you'd know the Bears and Seagulls had a pathway is if you zoom in on the jersey looking for a Titans logo.

Comparatively the clubs with Broncos pathways advertise it quite regularly. I think for a second Brisbane team to really work it need to be aligned with the Dolphins, Capras and they need to lure either the Sunshine Coast Falcons or the Wynnum-Manly Seagulls to be their feeders (Wynnum-Manly being more likely as the Storm rely on Easts and Sunshine Coast). They would need to be representative of basically North Brisbane, Moreton Bay, Sunshine Coast and Central QLD to really get off the ground.

So for me;
North Queensland Cowboys
Brisbane Broncos
Gold Coast Titans
North Brisbane Thundercats (HOOOOOOO)

 

[mongoose]

I think 4 teams in Queensland is more than enough. Having lived here for nearly two years now I've seen quite a bit driving through the state. Mackay, Townsville and Cairns are Cowboys territory for the most part (also a weird amount of St George fans). Rockhampton to the Gold Coast is Broncos territory and the Titans just sort of exist. What I would like is the Titans, Burleigh Bears and Tweed Seagulls to make their alignment as public as possible, it's somewhat embarassing that the only way you'd know the Bears and Seagulls had a pathway is if you zoom in on the jersey looking for a Titans logo.

Comparatively the clubs with Broncos pathways advertise it quite regularly. I think for a second Brisbane team to really work it need to be aligned with the Dolphins, Capras and they need to lure either the Sunshine Coast Falcons or the Wynnum-Manly Seagulls to be their feeders (Wynnum-Manly being more likely as the Storm rely on Easts and Sunshine Coast). They would need to be representative of basically North Brisbane, Moreton Bay, Sunshine Coast and Central QLD to really get off the ground.

So for me;
North Queensland Cowboys
Brisbane Broncos
Gold Coast Titans
North Brisbane Thundercats (HOOOOOOO)

I don't think its as cut and dry as that. The biggest problem with expansion to any part of QLD is that everyone already has a team. Don't forget the Storm have quite a large supporter base up here as well. Any new QLD based team will possibly eat into their support, especially with their big stars all retired or about to retire. Every Sydney club has pretty good support up here, Panthers and Sharks would have the lowest but Dragons, Rabbitohs, Eels, Dogs, even Manly all have solid support around QLD. And yes the Cowboys have support across the entire state.
It's one of the reasons the Titans have struggled a bit, cause there are not that many uncommitted fans to go around. They are a long term prospect.

 

[Hello, I'm The Doctor]

4 clubs in a city of 2.4million? No better than Sydney's over saturation. If we are happy with 12k crowds and clubs struggling to pay bills one year to the next then sounds a great plan!
Brisbane needs 2 big clubs. That's all. In 30 years when the city has 3-4million we might look at a third.

SEQld region has 3.5mil.

I actually think 4 teams in SEQld would be perfect (though I disagree about basing the 2 new teams in the outer suburbs). But GD is right that, this would either mean stretching the comp really wide with 20+ teams or just ignoring other locations.

It would just compound the current Sydney problem.

 

[flippikat]

I don't think its as cut and dry as that. The biggest problem with expansion to any part of QLD is that everyone already has a team. Don't forget the Storm have quite a large supporter base up here as well. Any new QLD based team will possibly eat into their support, especially with their big stars all retired or about to retire. Every Sydney club has pretty good support up here, Panthers and Sharks would have the lowest but Dragons, Rabbitohs, Eels, Dogs, even Manly all have solid support around QLD. And yes the Cowboys have support across the entire state.
It's one of the reasons the Titans have struggled a bit, cause there are not that many uncommitted fans to go around. They are a long term prospect.

Capitalising on the encouraging start (and especially 2009-10) would have helped the Titans a lot. I hope that when the NRL expands again that it does some good analysis into how to get the expansion club(s) the best shot at early success to draw in a fanbase.

 

[The Great Dane]

I don't think its as cut and dry as that. The biggest problem with expansion to any part of QLD is that everyone already has a team. Don't forget the Storm have quite a large supporter base up here as well. Any new QLD based team will possibly eat into their support, especially with their big stars all retired or about to retire. Every Sydney club has pretty good support up here, Panthers and Sharks would have the lowest but Dragons, Rabbitohs, Eels, Dogs, even Manly all have solid support around QLD. And yes the Cowboys have support across the entire state.
It's one of the reasons the Titans have struggled a bit, cause there are not that many uncommitted fans to go around. They are a long term prospect.

The initial core fan base of any new club is made up of people that already support another club picking the new one up either as their new team or their 'second team'.

It's good for business as well, because by giving them a team in their city you turn a bunch of people that aren't regularly going to games and stuff, into active supporters that are buying season tickets each year.

 

[Hello, I'm The Doctor]

The initial core fan base of any new club is made up of people that already support another club picking the new one up either as their new team or their 'second team'.

It's good for business as well, because by giving them a team in their city you turn a bunch of people that aren't regularly going to games and stuff, into active supporters that are buying season tickets each year.

Yeh, it doesnt matter if they are turning up to the stadium in the oppositions jumper, the important thing is that they are turning up...

Same arguement probably exsisted against the Broncos/ Storm/warriors/Knights/etc coming in, “you cant put a team there. All of te RL fans already have their favorite teams”

 

[Perth Red]

Yeh, it doesnt matter if they are turning up to the stadium in the oppositions jumper, the important thing is that they are turning up...

Same arguement probably exsisted against the Broncos/ Storm/warriors/Knights/etc coming in, “you cant put a team there. All of te RL fans already have their favorite teams”

yep no different to WA. Go to nrl games here and half the crowd are in warriors jerseys, other half in a mixture of nrl and SL jerseys. Reality is they are also RL fans and would love to go to a nrl game every other week, and eventually the second team become the first team, or certainly does for their kids.

 

[MrE_Assassin]

yep no different to WA. Go to nrl games here and half the crowd are in warriors jerseys, other half in a mixture of nrl and SL jerseys. Reality is they are also RL fans and would love to go to a nrl game every other week, and eventually the second team become the first team, or certainly does for their kids.

Build it and they will come...

 

[Angry_eel]

• Ipswich Jets (South-East QLD West)
• Redcliffe

There are PLENTY of RL fans to go around in South-East QLD and there is enough space (minimum 35kms) between each of these clubs to not canabilise each other too much, plus as we see in other sports, genuine local rivalries only help build interest and draw in fans.

Ipswich and Redcliffe seem to me to be Penrith and Cronulla of Brisbane. I assume they would play in their smaller stadiums instead of Suncorp.

 

[Perth Red]

Ipswich and Redcliffe seem to me to be Penrith and Cronulla of Brisbane. I assume they would play in their smaller stadiums instead of Suncorp.

Redcliffe look more like Manly, ltd catchment and not huge money behind them with a stadium, not fit for NRL.

 

[flippikat]

Redcliffe look more like Manly, ltd catchment and not huge money behind them with a stadium, not fit for NRL.

Redcliffe intregues me.

While *on their own* they risk being yet another "Enclave Club", they have some heft about them.. maybe in conjunction with other Brisbane clubs or the Sunshine Coast.. but I think if a geographical/suburb based 2nd Brisbane team is the plan, something south and/or west is in the box-seat.

 

[Perth Red]

Redcliffe intregues me.

While *on their own* they risk being yet another "Enclave Club", they have some heft about them.. maybe in conjunction with other Brisbane clubs or the Sunshine Coast.. but I think if a geographical/suburb based 2nd Brisbane team is the plan, something south and/or west is in the box-seat.

there is def scope for a north Brisbane and west Brisbane club over the next 20 years. If that should be a BRL club or a new club representing the region with those brl clubs in the region as reserves and maybe shareholders remains to be seen.

 

[titoelcolombiano]

Ipswich and Redcliffe seem to me to be Penrith and Cronulla of Brisbane. I assume they would play in their smaller stadiums instead of Suncorp.

It's unclear where they plan to play but Dolphin Stadium, as impressive as it is for QLD Cup does not have an acceptable capacity for use in the NRL (10k) so unless the QLD Government throw money at a redevelopment, they will probably be playing out of Suncorp but base themselves and train out of their Redcliffe base.

There is a direct train line from Redcliffe to the Brisbane CBD and the trip by car is only 40 mins. This is even less of a deal when you consider that NRL fans from any corner of the city have always had to do this as we've only ever had one option. Suncorp would be a better option for Redcliffe to broaden their fanbase too.