Tasmania is getting really pissed off with the AFL, it is time for the NRL to act

[BIKER_DRAGON]

Tasmania is once again receiving the sh*tty end of the stick with plans for the afl to introduce 2 new teams, one coming from Sydney’s west, the other from Queensland’s Gold Coast.
Tasmania has produced champions in Australian rules football time and time again, yet the AFL will not give Tasmanians what they have craved for decades, that being a team in the national competition.
This really has to be the time that rugby league, in particular the NRL, takes full advantage of this situation and starts promoting rugby league in Tasmania with a view to winning them over to the game of rugby league.
What the hell, why not give them a few NRL games a year played down there and for one year, being 2012, play an extra state of origin game there to give Tasmanians a first hand look at how great the game of rugby league is.
The NRL should also get down there at grass roots level and get the game being played in schools.

For all the knockers of this idea out there if rugby league can be successful in Melbourne it sure as hell can be successful in Tasmania if promoted and the game is strucured correctly.

 

[GB!]

i'd have to see a map of tassie first to see if its feasible

 

[bartman]

Cost benefit analysis.... says no.

Sorry Tassie. 2nd Brisbane team makes more money for the code in crowd numbers, and media interest/ratings/broadcast rights. I'd say a 2nd NZ team would as well.

Pecking order for other states:
Perth (perhaps 2019)
Adelaide (perhaps 2019)
Tassie/NT (not sure it will ever happen, in AFL or NRL)
PNG (not realistic, unstable country/economy)

 

[BIKER_DRAGON]

i'd have to see a map of tassie first to see if its feasible

So you would call the team the Tasmanian Crabs:lol:

 

[Lockyer4President!]

Tiny population.
Decentralised population.
Decreasing population.
Not counted in OzTam tv ratings.
Doesn't even have a local comp anymore.

They are a chance for an A-League soccer team so I'm sure the AFL will react when they start up but I can't see one positive for the NRL to be concetrating on Tassie when they're completely unrepresented in WA and SA.

 

[Pass the Ball]

With Hobart's population reaching 200 000, how can anyone ignore such a monster market..:roll:

 

[adamkungl]

Would be a complete waste of time and money, so would NT.

 

[butchmcdick]

Mate I lived there for 2006 & 2007 due to work. I can tell you that they get confused with league and union. Union internations are on live though. sh*t even state or origin is on delay down there.

Like locky says we don't even have a local comp and there are only 500 thousand people in the whole state.

 

[BIKER_DRAGON]

Yep i can really see why our great game is going nowhere as far as new areas are concerned Rugby league fans = negativity

 

[Brutus]

Tasmania = no.

But promoting the game down there wouldn't be a bad thing just to test the waters.

We need another NZ team, Perth and a 2nd Brisbane Team (bring on the Dolphins)

 

[bartman]

Have to shore up the games finances through the central/heartland areas first, before frittering away on expansion. Rugby League heartlands are and always will be NSW, Qld and to an extent NZ (even though Union is dominant, no AFL or soccer inroads there much at all).

That was the lesson from Super League, it watered down the heartland teams, and the expansion teams we already had (thanks to the ARL) folded. Like it or not the game has to go slower with expansion these days to survive, especially in the current economic climate.

 

[butchmcdick]

Yep i can really see why our great game is going nowhere as far as new areas are concerned Rugby league fans = negativity

Well sh*t lets give mount isa, alice springs and broome a franchise too and sit back and watch the money pile up.

 

[Eastern Panther]

why would the nrl waste its time? they only care about afl and would add nothing to nrl in terms of revenue or spectators. more than that, name one fg player who would want to live and play down there.

 

[Perth Red]

What we should be doing (same with every corner of Australia) is making sure NRL is on FTA at a decent time, making sure the ARL has a plan of action to support the game at jnr and amateur level and taking one or two NRL games there a year (preferably a club permenant link up). We don't need an NRL team in every population centre but we should blooming well have a strong presence in every population centre.

ps Hobarts population is similiar to Hull's in the UK and they manage to have two succesful SL clubs drawing over 23,000 fans to games between them and not much difference to Townsvilles. The AFL have also managed to secure $20mill in external funding to develop the game in Tassie, why can't the NRL do the same?

 

[bartman]

What we should be doing (same with every corner of Australia) is making sure NRL is on FTA at a decent time, making sure the ARL has a plan of action to support the game at jnr and amateur level and taking one or two NRL games there a year (preferably a club permenant link up). We don't need an NRL team in every population centre but we should blooming well have a strong presence in every population centre.

Very true. The aim shouldn't be to transplant a NRL team in every corner, but to grow the development of the game.

ps Hobarts population is similiar to Hull's in the UK and they manage to have two succesful SL clubs drawing over 23,000 fans to games between them and not much difference to Townsvilles.

Hull's a special place though ;-). If anyone is over there in league season, I recommend a trip to Hull on a footy weekend, had myself a great time.

The AFL have also managed to secure $20mill in external funding to develop the game in Tassie, why can't the NRL do the same?

See the numerous threads about player behaviour, the game's public image, and the government actually telling Gallop and Co recently they need to improve things to be eligible for government funding....

 

[LESStar58]

There's people on the mainland (Central QLD, Logan-Ipswich, Central Coasy, WA) and NZ (Wellington) knocking down the NRL's door for a license.

The license should be awarded to a place that actually WANTS a team and not just as a business/marketing strategy. The AFL have done that with the Gold Coast and Western Sydney while neglecting Tassie and all the while the naysayers are already predicting the demise of the former 2 expansion teams. Time will tell if they are a success or not but we shouldn't be following the AFL's lead in this regard.

I say the next 2 teams in should be Central Coast and WA (Locky, I'm stealing your banner! It's awesome!). Tasmania offers nothing!

 

[adamkungl]

government funding....

Does Rugby League (or even AFL for that matter. Clearly the two most popular sports by attendance in Australia) get ANY government funding? Or is it all given to rubbish olympic sports so we have the wonderful prestige of winning medals?

 

[BIKER_DRAGON]

What we should be doing (same with every corner of Australia) is making sure NRL is on FTA at a decent time, making sure the ARL has a plan of action to support the game at jnr and amateur level and taking one or two NRL games there a year (preferably a club permenant link up). We don't need an NRL team in every population centre but we should blooming well have a strong presence in every population centre.

ps Hobarts population is similiar to Hull's in the UK and they manage to have two succesful SL clubs drawing over 23,000 fans to games between them and not much difference to Townsvilles. The AFL have also managed to secure $20mill in external funding to develop the game in Tassie, why can't the NRL do the same?

Spot on man good to see some foresight

 

[seanoff]

NOT ECONOMICALLY VIABLE

this is why the AFL don't want them, they bring no money to the comp.

TV Ad revenue for the last 6 months of last yr.

NSW $761M

VIC $484M

QLD $370M





















TAs/NT $37M

if you give Tassie $25M of that $37M the ad revenue for tas for 6 months = 6 days of revenue in NSW, 9 days in Vic.

They will add nothing to any future TV rights deal. THe AFL think they can get $1B for 5 yrs next up, Tassie would add nothing to this number. However If they add WS and the GC it is likely to add because of the Ad $ it is worth to the networks.

 

[BIKER_DRAGON]

Does Rugby League (or even AFL for that matter. Clearly the two most popular sports by attendance in Australia) get ANY government funding? Or is it all given to rubbish olympic sports so we have the wonderful prestige of winning medals?

Bloody good point