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Time to move Sharks interstate
- Mal Meninga
- The Sunday Mail (Qld)
- March 24, 2013 12:00AM
THE resilience of rugby league can never be questioned.
It has been through some major upheavals, big controversies and dark days, and always come back stronger because of it.
Cronulla's ongoing battles, highlighted under the spotlight of the drugs investigation, like operating for years without a CEO have led to many questioning the Shark's future in the Shire, and the NRL.
Times of trouble also often bring opportunity and with a number of clubs feeling the pinch financially, and in a number of other areas, perhaps now is the best time to look at relocating these clubs to save them, and at the same time strengthen the game.
The quality of the football and the closeness of this year's competition in the opening rounds should act as a cautionary note for the game's administrators not to rush into the idea of expanding the competition.
It is a trap the game fell into once - the league blowing out from 16 teams to 20 in 1995 before the outbreak of the Super League war.
Put simply the game - just like in 1995 - does not have the depth of talent to carry an additional two teams for an 18-club competition.
The risk of diluting the standard of football is too big a risk to take.
Having said that, there is no doubt that the NRL must move into more markets to become a truly national game with Perth and Adelaide the major candidates.
Another team in Queensland could also be accommodated.
Both Perth and Adelaide have successfully run teams before, and with more television timeslots on offer with those cities involved, it should only be a matter of when not if.
But this time around, the league needs to be smarter and focus less on expansion and more on relocation.
Shifting a team - and Cronulla would be a perfect example - into Perth, Adelaide or even southeast Queensland is a win-win situation of helping a club keep its identity and traditions alive, while at the same time moving league into new frontiers with an established structure and playing rosters.
This would not simply be a matter of saying: "Cronulla, time's up. You're going to Perth".
This would need to be a strategic commercial decision made in the best interests of the club and the code.
This decision would be reached by analysing the club's corporate support, membership numbers, sponsorships, crowds, facilities and governance, as well as things like junior numbers and the ratio of juniors progressing to the NRL - both now and in the medium to long-term.
Would the people of these cities support a relocated team? I believe they would, particularly if that established team was successful and ready to challenge for the finals from the word go, rather than waiting for the obligatory couple of seasons for the team to jell.
Melbourne Storm is a great example of this, with the way they built a squad out of established combinations from Perth and the Hunter Mariners to be immediately successful.
We can always learn from our own experiences and those of other codes like AFL.
It is a formula that has worked well in American sports, with a number of franchises across various codes relocating to take advantage of bigger fan bases elsewhere.
In this new hardline professional era, ultimately whether clubs live or die will be decided by their balance sheets.
When the choices are move or die, relocation doesn't seem like such a bad idea after all.
While the ongoing drugs investigation has put a cloud over the early rounds of the competition, there were signs during the week that a few rays of optimism are breaking through.
Certainly, I feel those predicting the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority's investigation to throw this year's State of Origin series into turmoil may be taking an unnecessarily pessimistic view.
The Origin series is still some weeks away, and while I can only speak from a Queensland perspective, I would have to say that I expect the impact to be minimal for the Maroons.
First and foremost, the only club that has been directly linked to the drug investigation has been Cronulla (pictured at training).
Not too many Queenslanders are recruited to the Sharks, nor would those that are there be entangled in this saga.
Secondly, I think people underestimate the professionalism and resilience of the players.
Yes, this is a big issue in the game and one they would all dearly love to see resolved.
But the players of that calibre have the knack to not let dramas happening off the field negatively impact on their performances on the field.
Their ability to shut external issues down to focus on the task at hand is quite remarkable.
Thirdly, is the resilience and intelligence of the fans.
While there have been plenty of headlines and whispers in the day and weeks since ASADA revealed the so-called "blackest day in Australian sport", there has been no backlash from the fans.
The reason is simple to date, there has been nothing to protest about.
All rugby league fans are waiting to see evidence of the crimes that have been alleged. If it is proved there is a problem, then go ahead and fix it.
Until then, we'll just enjoy the footy. That assuredness from the fans would have been helped greatly by the actions of NRL CEO Dave Smith and Commission chairman John Grant, who this week fronted a press conference to explain to the supporters exactly where the situation was at.
This was a good move from both men showing the leadership the game needed to reassure fans that they knew what was going on, and how they were prepared to deal with the issue.
A little information and some direction from the game's chiefs is all that was needed to satisfy us fans' need to know.
Staying silent would have only served to fuel rumours.
As Mark Twain said, a lie will be halfway around the world while the truth is still pulling on its shoes.
By getting in front of the issue, fans are able to see that the NRL is in control of the situation.
Whatever happens be it a clean slate or the expulsion of cheats from our sport, rugby league will emerge the stronger for it.
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