The Rumours Thread

[Jubilee]

Are you saying the PNG team will be based in Cairns for all their home games?
If so does that mean the team is based there for the year including training?

You should be addressing Como Connection. All I know is that their Centre of Excellence will be in Alice Springs.

 

[Jubilee]

Are you saying the PNG team will be based in Cairns for all their home games?
If so does that mean the team is based there for the year including training?

More seriously. Cairns was at one time the proposed base, but Vlandys says it will be Port Moresby. And while you may think the Gong is no recruitment magnet, Port Morseby...

But no worries, they are going to build a "compound" for players and their families to live in.

That isn't ominous at all.

NRL expansion: Papua New Guinea to become 19th team with historic in-principle agreement

Papua New Guinea is set to make history by entering the NRL competition in a $600 million expansion coup for rugby league.

www.postcourier.com.pg

 

[Jubilee]

I am still trying to nut all of this out. Let me see if I have this straight.

1. We are putting $600m into an NRL team in PNG to stop the Chinese.
2. The Chinese are a leading industrial power off the back of cheap hydrocarbons (coal) from (among others) Australia
3. We have closed our own cheap coal-fired power generation bcs of global warming but this just makes more coal available more cheaply to China who are building massive coal generation capacity
4. So to block the geopolitical aspirations of the China to whom we sell our coal so that we can earn the $600m we are spending to oppose China we are launching an NRL team that will have a massive carbon footprint just as we get into hyperdrive towards Net Zero, which is a recently legislated principle of the country's forward energy policy designed by the same people who are opposing China with a new NRL team.

Is this correct?

I am going to my room. Where did I put my straitjacket?

 

[jak]

I am still trying to nut all of this out. Let me see if I have this straight.

1. We are putting $600m into an NRL team in PNG to stop the Chinese.
2. The Chinese are a leading industrial power off the back of cheap hydrocarbons (coal) from (among others) Australia
3. We have closed our own cheap coal-fired power generation bcs of global warming but this just makes more coal available more cheaply to China who are building massive coal generation capacity
4. So to block the geopolitical aspirations of the China to whom we sell our coal so that we can earn the $600m we are spending to oppose China we are launching an NRL team that will have a massive carbon footprint just as we get into hyperdrive towards Net Zero, which is a recently legislated principle of the country's forward energy policy designed by the same people who are opposing China with a new NRL team.

Is this correct?

I am going to my room. Where did I put my straight jacket?

sport and politics, who would have guessed

 

[Trifili13]

Yep, because 60m a year for 10 years to have your own NRL team is going to keep China away if they come in and say to PNG, we are going to build you new roads, schools and hospitals - PNG will say no, we have an NRL club and don't need what you are offering us.

The funny thing would be if a Chinese company ends up building the players village or a new stadium.

 

[justadragon]

Memo to PVL - a team in PNG will be a disaster and devalue the game.
Alternative - get 300M from Canberra and fund every team playing a home game in the Pacific every 3 years. That's 6 games a year - maybe 2 in PNG, 2 in Fiji, 1 in Samoa & 1 in Tonga each year.

Sounds good but it wont meet our political needs.

 

[Dragon David]

I can see a BIG disaster coming to hit the NRL. Sport and politics do not go well together.

My feelings are that the PNG set up will cost a fortune and there will be massive problems for the Administration to handle the day to day matters. Will it be worth it?

How much will it cost to build a stadium that meets the requirements for health, safety, amenity, Rugby League standards there. If not in Port Moresby, then they plan for the facilities to be in Darwin?

Why would you have a PNG team and set them up in Darwin? The local people from PNG cannot afford to travel every time there is a game there - it would be ludicrous. The Darwin Kumuls is what they will be called.

How is it that the Perth Bears fell through because they did not include funds for a licence? Does PNG have a licence or don't they need one? Having the Perth Bears would be so much more straight forward than setting up PNG just because it suits the politics - I cannot understand it.

I mean, we want Jubilee to be upgraded but won't get it while Penrith, basking in all of its glorious victories, is getting a new stadium as their existing one doesn't meet all the right standards.

I say look after what we have. Good luck with the 20 team comp NRL/ARL. You are going to need it.

 

[Old Timer]

More seriously. Cairns was at one time the proposed base, but Vlandys says it will be Port Moresby. And while you may think the Gong is no recruitment magnet, Port Morseby...

But no worries, they are going to build a "compound" for players and their families to live in.

That isn't ominous at all.

NRL expansion: Papua New Guinea to become 19th team with historic in-principle agreement

Papua New Guinea is set to make history by entering the NRL competition in a $600 million expansion coup for rugby league.

www.postcourier.com.pg

I recently posted that the PNG franchise will attract all the dick heads offloaded by other clubs and its behaviour on and off the field will be seriously problematic and that’s before you even think about their supporters.

 

[since77]

I recently posted that the PNG franchise will attract all the dick heads offloaded by other clubs and its behaviour on and off the field will be seriously problematic and that’s before you even think about their supporters.

PNG is a nice idea but fraught with really big problems no matter how you look at it. Totally impractical in my opinion.
Besides that, the whole expansion idea is a totally unnecessary and dangerous sh*t show waiting to happen. Let's watch while the player pool gets further diluted, the marquee players and player managers line up their contracts to match expansion years and we can look forward to the same 3 or 4 clubs competing for the title every year after they rape the bottom clubs for their talent. Meanwhile the same 3 or 4 struggling clubs will fight for the wooden spoon each year. Every five years or so an outlier might jag a premiership. Then the NRL will come out as usual and say the game has never been better......

 

[Dragon David]

PNG is a nice idea but fraught with really big problems no matter how you look at it. Totally impractical in my opinion.
Besides that, the whole expansion idea is a totally unnecessary and dangerous sh*t show waiting to happen. Let's watch while the player pool gets further diluted, the marquee players and player managers line up their contracts to match expansion years and we can look forward to the same 3 or 4 clubs competing for the title every year after they rape the bottom clubs for their talent. Meanwhile the same 3 or 4 struggling clubs will fight for the wooden spoon each year. Every five years or so an outlier might jag a premiership. Then the NRL will come out as usual and say the game has never been better......

The Dragons have been struggling to be top 8 material over the years since that golden Bennett era and making the 8 just once since 2011. They struggle to snap up players at a whim and most attempts to sign anyone decent seem to inevitably fall flat. Wait until the 18th, 19th and 20th teams come rolling into the NRL, our young nursery of players will be given offers too good to refuse, our signing of players will become even harder to achieve.

I hope that the Club is putting into place a workable plan for the future to ensure that we can maintain and remain a viable club.

Sorry to be so negative again.

I can though say come on NRL/ARL bring on all these extra franchises, the Dragons will kill it when they come in. The Dragons will be top 4 material for ever and a day.

 

[justadragon]

The Dragons have been struggling to be top 8 material over the years since that golden Bennett era and making the 8 just once since 2011. They struggle to snap up players at a whim and most attempts to sign anyone decent seem to inevitably fall flat. Wait until the 18th, 19th and 20th teams come rolling into the NRL, our young nursery of players will be given offers too good to refuse, our signing of players will become even harder to achieve.

I hope that the Club is putting into place a workable plan for the future to ensure that we can maintain and remain a viable club.

Sorry to be so negative again.

I can though say come on NRL/ARL bring on all these extra franchises, the Dragons will kill it when they come in. The Dragons will be top 4 material for ever and a day.

Sounds like you are saying Dave that a draft needs to be introduced before its too late, let alone a trade period.

 

[Jubilee]

I recently posted that the PNG franchise will attract all the dick heads offloaded by other clubs and its behaviour on and off the field will be seriously problematic and that’s before you even think about their supporters.

What do you think? Will it take PNG longer to get their first premiership than it did Cronulla?

 

[Jeremy Dragon]

making the 8 just once since 2011.

Twice, at least get the simple things right

 

[Dragon David]

Sounds like you are saying Dave that a draft needs to be introduced before its too late, let alone a trade period.

Yes, I think the NRL needs to consider bringing in a system to make sure that all clubs remain viable and have an even balance of quality players at their beck and call. To me it is much better for the NRL to have exciting games to watch where teams all have good playing strength and they fight to the end rather than have those massive blow out scores.

To me the competition is poor when you have the same clubs virtually in the top 6 every year. There has to be some sort of draft system to go with the salary cap but we know that this would be hard to implement based on the court ruling made some years ago.

I guess like in many sports there will be those individuals who will dominate for years like in tennis and golf and teams like in the EPL and Rugby League etc. The harder you work on your game and keep learning to improve, that's the way to do it as an individual while for a team, it is the same but of course on a bigger scale. Both individuals and Teams have coaches and back-up teams to support them.

At the end of the day, teams are either working well together and being coached well or not. Player strength is vital - you don't need a great coach to have the team top 6 material if you have the players who know what they can achieve.

 

[Dragon David]

Twice, at least get the simple things right

Yes, sorry Jeremy. I forgot about 2015 when we finished 8th. Thanks for correcting me. For some reason I have just had 2018 as the only year.

 

[since77]

Twice, at least get the simple things right

Twice in 13 years. I mean when you put it like that of course a club is going to double down on Price while he was failing, then double down on McGregor while he was failing, then double down again on Griffin while he was pulling us further down the ladder whilst sucking on his Coke Zeros.
The decision makers at our club have done quite a job at F#%king us over haven't they?

 

[justadragon]

Twice in 13 years. I mean when you put it like that of course a club is going to double down on Price while he was failing, then double down on McGregor while he was failing, then double down again on Griffin while he was pulling us further down the ladder whilst sucking on his Coke Zeros.
The decision makers at our club have done quite a job at F#%king us over haven't they?

Those decision makers are still there, time is ticking, continue to make the wrong calls and we will die a slow death by the time the comp is at 20 teams.

 

[Slippery Morris]

As soon as a player makes any excuses not to join such as travel or money then that should be the end of discussions. The club shows interest and has initial talks to see how the person's character is and enthusiasm to join. Then if they sense any knockbacks just walk away. The ex-Liverpool coach does that and he has built an amazing squad.

I would be saying goodbye to Gutho and JAC if they are stalling. Especially being unwanted at their clubs. Seems like they did this to RCG and Aladin so I am all for this type of approach. No need to be begging players to join the club as you will get low key effort.

 

[OneEyedDragon]

As soon as a player makes any excuses not to join such as travel or money then that should be the end of discussions. The club shows interest and has initial talks to see how the person's character is and enthusiasm to join. Then if they sense any knockbacks just walk away. The ex-Liverpool coach does that and he has built an amazing squad.

I would be saying goodbye to Gutho and JAC if they are stalling. Especially being unwanted at their clubs. Seems like they did this to RCG and Aladin so I am all for this type of approach. No need to be begging players to join the club as you will get low key effort.

It sounds like a good idea @Slippery Morris , but if the tactic was implemented can you imagine the whining that would go on here about how "the duds missed another one! Just get it done Flano!"

 

[Old Timer]

What do you think? Will it take PNG longer to get their first premiership than it did Cronulla?

PNG will never win one.