"Sydney Orign"

[Twatface Magee]

Tigers are the main team for the Inner West.

Merge Easts with A-league.

 

[Perth Red]

Sydney doesn't have 8 teams though. Really the only clubs that are very close together are the Roosters and Rabbitohs. Outside of that you have Manly who control the Northern Beaches where no one else plays. Bulldogs who have the South West region. The Eels which is about to become Sydney's 2nd CBD along with the North West. Penrith who have their own area from about St Marys through to Katoomba. Tigers who have Inner West through to Campbelltown.

They're really the only clubs in the greater Sydney area I would classify.

Thats very simplistic, its not like people in Penrith arent tigers, souths or bulldogs fans. The days of the local oval, local team, local fan are long gone. The clubs that are growing and will survive are the ones that have embraced a city wide approach to attracting fans, the rest will find themselves falling further and further behind, reliant on NRL handouts to make ends meet.

 

[pHyR3]

I think most people would concede that 9 teams in one city is just too many, it's just that no one wants THEIR team to be cut. That's why I'm more in favour of just cutting support for poorly run teams and encouraging relocations - it prevents the fans from taking out their rage on the game as a whole as they will know it was their team's board who led them down the path

it's not about rage at the NRL. its about not really caring about any other team besides your own.

many people just couldnt bring themselves to support another team, one they have hated for years, after theirs is cut. it feels hollow.

Relocation/Merger is far better than just cutting a team though.

dont think the nrl has any plans to cut teams anyway. who would people like to cut? Sharks have a 200 million dollar development project and are the only team to own their own stadium. Tigers, Souths, Dargons, Dogs, Eels are too big to cut. Manly hold a pretty key area in Sydney with room to expand across the north shore. Roosters are a foundation club, with big bucks and strong board/management. Penrith are the only one left, and probably the team i would like to see cut most out of any. But they have Gus Gould at the helm and are starting to make inroads in penrith. Doubt they will be removed either.

 

[alien]

EVERYONE knows that Sydney shouldn't have 8 bloody teams

sydney has 9 teams unless youre counting stgeorge illawarra as a wollongong team only, which they really arent

you could relocate sharks to adelaide, roosters to perth, dogs to brisbane, bring in central coast bears and bring in a team from christchurch. that would make a true national comp with 18 teams, but no supporter wants their club to relocate

 

[bobmar28]

It'd be about as popular as City/Country.



I'll never support anyone in the NRL who aren't the Parramatta Eels, and I reckon there are a lot of fans that would feel the same way about their own clubs.

Who would you support instead? The Giants? How about Parramatta Panthers?

 

[bobmar28]

Sydney doesn't have 8 teams though. Really the only clubs that are very close together are the Roosters and Rabbitohs. Outside of that you have Manly who control the Northern Beaches where no one else plays. Bulldogs who have the South West region. The Eels which is about to become Sydney's 2nd CBD along with the North West. Penrith who have their own area from about St Marys through to Katoomba. Tigers who have Inner West through to Campbelltown.

They're really the only clubs in the greater Sydney area I would classify.

Tigers through to Campbelltown. Isn't that 'south west region?

 

[Bulldog Force]

Player burnout anyone?

 

[maccattack]

we dont all agree that is necessary. what about the tens of thousands of fans the game will lose, who might even start to support opposing codes??? is that whats best for the game??? :roll:

I don't really get this. The older I get the less I'm attached to my club over the game. I love rugby league more than I love my club. Would people really dump their game because their club was out of the comp? I guess a lot would but for me... I'd keep watching.

Doesn't everyone have a second and third club?

And the more internationals are built up then we will always have a country team to follow. No?

 

[docbrown]

No need for 'Origin/Rep' matches

WESTERN SYDNEY CUP
feat Panthers, Tigers, Bulldogs & Eels
12 key matches across the season
Rd 22 or 23 have two matches or a double header at Stadium Australia as quasi-final

EASTERN SYDNEY CUP
Rabbitohs, Roosters, Sea Eagles, Sharks & Dragons
20 key matches across the season
Rd 22 or 23 have two matches at SFS as quasi-final

The other big one would be the QUEENSLAND CUP

 

[flippikat]

No need for 'Origin/Rep' matches

WESTERN SYDNEY CUP
feat Panthers, Tigers, Bulldogs & Eels
12 key matches across the season
Rd 22 or 23 have two matches or a double header at Stadium Australia as quasi-final

EASTERN SYDNEY CUP
Rabbitohs, Roosters, Sea Eagles, Sharks & Dragons
20 key matches across the season
Rd 22 or 23 have two matches at SFS as quasi-final

The other big one would be the QUEENSLAND CUP

I think a "competition within the competition" idea has some merit, but I'd love to see a challenge trophy like the Ranfurly Shield in NZ rugby.

Basically, the holders of the trophy put it up for every home game they play - if they get beaten at home, the trophy gets handed over to the away team and they have to defend it in their next home game.

It'd be easy to implement - when the trophy is launched it can be given to the team with the best home winning-streak from the end of last season as the initial holders.

It just adds something to the competition - especially for teams out of the running for playoff spots at the end of the season. If they have a challenge for that trophy, it adds a little more incentive on what would otherwise be a dead game - if they have a chance to take the trophy from a top-8 team, then defend it in the last few home games & hold it for the summer then that's something.

 

[flippikat]

I think a "competition within the competition" idea has some merit, but I'd love to see a challenge trophy like the Ranfurly Shield in NZ rugby.

The netball competition is doing it, so they see some merit:

http://anz-championship.com/Fixtures-Results/Challenge-Trophy

 

[Matt_CBY]

If there's one topic that gets brought up a lot here it's the problem of having too many teams in Sydney. But how do you reduce the number of teams without alienating people? There really is no easy answer to this, but one idea I've come across that I quite liked is the notion of having a 4 way "Sydney regions origin series" at the start of the season with Sydney's geographical and club landscape being carved up into North,South, East and West.

Much like interstate origin, it would be about bragging rights being able to go to the area who develops the best players. The format could work like the current 4N series, and player eligability would simply be contingent on where your junior development took place up until the age of 17 (although this could be tinkered with), with the most recent area you were developed by getting your services provided you were there for more than a year.

The reason I like this idea is sydney clubs always talk about who is better at developing talent, and so this would be a way to genuinely test it.

Obviously it'd start off a little bit small, but I reckon the bragging rights would be significant and if you ran it over 10 years and did it really well, you could gradually transition those new "rep" teams into the main NRL competition and relegate all the other Sydney clubs to the NSW cup.

Now, I understand this notion is a little unsettling, as it would involve taking the big NRL teams of sydney and effectively relegating them, but try to look at it this way: our teams would still be there, they'd just be part of something bigger.

Again, rather than the brutal super league approach which alienated fans and damaged the code, this would be a very gradual approach, that would allow for genuine parochialism to build between the new 4 Sydney regions "Origin" teams. The end game would be what we all know is necessary, a rationalised NRL with 4 teams from Sydney and thus great room for growth interstate.

You obviously have put a lot of thoughts and effort into this. For that reason, I won't take the piss or have a go at you as it seems other may be doing.

What i will say though is this -

Your solution to the problem, wouldn't actually be a solution at all. The main reason why people are attached to the clubs is the brand, the history, the colours and emblems of who the club is. Not which part of Sydney (if at all) the players come from.

 

[papabear]

Thats very simplistic, its not like people in Penrith arent tigers, souths or bulldogs fans. The days of the local oval, local team, local fan are long gone. The clubs that are growing and will survive are the ones that have embraced a city wide approach to attracting fans, the rest will find themselves falling further and further behind, reliant on NRL handouts to make ends meet.

Sydney is vastly bigger then any other city in Australia.

Anyone who has driven Sydney to Melbourne knows that you see the outskirts of Melbourne 20 odd minutes before your in the city, at least triple that with Sydney.

With this size brings more parochialism to the areas.

IMO it has different areas
inner city. Pyrmont/surry hills etc.
South Sydney - redfern to botany
Eastern suburbs
North shore
Northern beaches
Main line (ryde Macquarie park etc)
North west / hills / housing developments
The shire

Then you also have all the divides of western Sydney and south western Sydney that I haven't gotten to into.

Eitherway I would underestimate its size and the parochialism of locals identifying with areas not the whole city.

 

[Mr. Sharky]

If you cut the Sharks, and Balmain Tigers from the comp that would help a lot. Move the Western Suburbs Magpies exclusively back to Campbelltown and that will be a lot better.

What did you learn from the whole Souths debacle from 1999 to 2001?

Cutting teams from the comp will just provide a free kick to the other sports.

 

[Mr. Sharky]

sydney has 9 teams unless youre counting stgeorge illawarra as a wollongong team only, which they really arent

you could relocate sharks to adelaide, roosters to perth, dogs to brisbane, bring in central coast bears and bring in a team from christchurch. that would make a true national comp with 18 teams, but no supporter wants their club to relocate

While that would be good for me considering I will be moving to Adelaide in the next year or two I'd still find it hard to support that as the fact the Sharks are Cronulla and it's been my local area since I was a baby is the reason I became a fan of the club in the first place.