Relocating a Sydney team to a new NRL frontier makes sense in theory but it’s almost certainly never going to happen.
The goal for every club is to survive and thrive exactly where they are. In that order. Even though there’s a fair chance some of the nine teams in and around Sydney could do better in a new location, no one is going to even consider that option unless it’s a last resort.
And even then, clubs are more likely to die on their feet than live on their knees.
Every current team can make an argument off the top of their head when anyone dares mention them as a candidate to be sent elsewhere.
Manly – only team north of the harbour, if they weren’t there then rugby union would have a monopoly in the area. Talk emanates every few years that the Penns may consider selling but they’re smart enough to know the asset is only getting bigger.
Roosters – money, tradition of being the only team to have played every season of the premiership, decades of recent success.
Souths – the only other 1908 club still operating as a single entity, profitable, huge membership, solid ownership structure, you tried kicking them out so don’t try booting them out of Sydney.
Cronulla – only team to own their stadium, financially strong due to property investments, vast junior nursery.
Penrith – biggest catchment area for juniors, financial clout of leagues club, growing population base, have been travelling alright on the field lately.
Canterbury – another team with plenty of dollars in the bank, nearly 90 years of tradition with a reputation for success, huge following.
Parramatta – centre of western Sydney, financially strong, plenty of juniors, massive fan base.
St George Illawarra – another club with a proud tradition, massive nursery on the South Coast, corporate clout backed with leagues club turnover, a centre of excellence of their own on the way in Wollongong.
Wests Tigers – representing the Macarthur growth area, modern facilities after opening their new Centre of Excellence, combined tradition of two 1908 originals.
It would take a club going into financial dire straits for a Sydney side to wave the white flag.
But that would mean some seriously bad mismanagement for a club to go belly-up with the increased revenue streams coming into the NRL over the past decade – mainly from broadcast rights – and leagues clubs continuing to turn over profits despite government threats to blow up the pokies which always seem to disappear after election day.
NRL expansion is set to happen with three teams on the horizon in the next decade but relocating Sydney teams is a long shot.
www.theroar.com.au
basket
at Brookvale & central coast Gosford
