The Broncos contributed to the demise of the Crushers due to them being major players in the Super League war. One of their motives in pushing for Super League was due to the ARL admitting the Crushers to the comp. When the Crushers came into the comp it was common knowledge the Broncos were against the move, and they hardly welcomed their cross-city rivals with open arms to promote the good of the game in Brisbane. And when the NRL was formed after the Super League war, the Broncos had an exclusitivity clause that they remain the only team in Brisbane for a certain period of time (not sure how long exactly, it was for a few years).
Notwithstanding the Broncos involvement with Super League and their angst towards the ARL and the Crushers (we can argue the point until the cows come home), it would be very hard to argue that the Crushers WOULD NOT have been a raging success had of they not come into existence during the Super League era. They were getting crowds of 20,000-odd in their first season and a half.
The fact remains that the Broncos have a clear-cut unfair advantage over every other team in the comp because of the monopoly they enjoy being in a city of 2 million people where League is the number one dominant sport.
When push comes to shove, its hard to argue that Brisbane should have a 2nd team and it would be a move that is good for the game. And only then can we have a level playing field.
If its good enough for Adelaide and Perth to have 2 AFL teams (and they have smaller populations than Brisbane) then its good enough for Brisbane to have 2 NRL teams.
As for the number of Sydney teams, whilst it is correct that if you were to work off a clean sheet of paper you would ideally have less Sydney teams, its not that simple. The Sydney teams have been established for decades so eliminating teams now would do untold damage to the game of Rugby League in Sydney and therefore Australia.
Sydney is THE market that EVERY sport wants. Every sport in the country would love to be as dominant as Rugby League is in the biggest city and financial capital of Australia. Soccer and AFL both want teams in Western Sydney. Cutting Sydney teams now would be committing suicide and giving up territory to the AFL and soccer.
With other sports strategically targeting Sydney, the key here is to work with what weve got and make our saturation coverage and dominance in Sydney even stronger, not weaker.
Has any of the ignorant Queenslanders learnt anything from the debacle of kicking Souths out of the comp? Do you want that to happen again? And how do you think Rugby League is going on the North Shore since the Bears left the comp? The game is as good as dead on the North Shore. If you want the same thing to happen in other parts of Sydney then go ahead and kick out more Sydney teams.
The only way Sydney teams will be eliminated is through natural attrition and even then it will be BAD for the game. Mergers might work in some circumstances (i.e. Wests Tigers), but you need the correct teams to merge. Manly and Norths was NEVER going to work.
Queenslanders will no doubt snigger, but the fact is that if the game loses Sydney then the game is as good as over in Australia.
And having 2 teams in Brisbane will make the game stronger in Brisbane, not weaker.
