It was the original SL vision. The problem is, if you do it now, the media will have a field day with negative press and stories and the game would suffer lots because of it.
As an interesting exercise... which clubs do you think would make the final 6?
Eventually, with population growth it would make sense to see:
North QLD Cowboys
Redcliffe Dolphins playing out of their own 25k stadium and owning the north and sunny coast
Brisbane Broncos out of Suncorp owning Brisbane
Ipswich Jets playing out of their a 25k stadium at somewhere like Springwood owning Logan, Ipswich and the West out to Toowoomba
Gold Coast Titans owning everything south of Logan, right through to Northern NSW
I'd have the Jets join in around 10 years and that would do QLD at NRL level pretty much forever
Teams 19 and 20 could then be allocated to Perth and either NZ2 or Adelaide depending on which option suits the game better
Good question. I think a lot of the relocation angle was more about certain clubs in Sydney who have a limited scope for growth. Not necessarily to place like Adelaide or Perth, although that shouldn’t be off the table.
My idea would be Manly to either relocate to either CC or North Sydney. In one swoop you would get rid of this weird Mexican standoff between the Bears and other clubs wherein you have a whole bunch of people without a proper team and where one tiny corner of north shore has. The problem with Manly the fact that they are not central enough. Either that or give it to the Roosters. Somebody has to take it.
The second relocation would be the Tigers to Campbelltown/MacArthur. I bet you any money that AFL is looking at it as it is probably going to be the fastest growing region in NSW when the second airport arrives. It would put an end to their nomadic existence and with the new stadium to be built in Liverpool (in the future third CBD) it makes perfect sense to have a CBD rivalry with the Bulldogs.
The third one would be Cronulla. They have the weakest supporter numbers than anyone bar the Titans and they are in an area which can’t grow and they are too far away from the CBD to have any corporate support.
The other possible one would be the Dragons down to the gong or at the very least have the majority of their games there and just a few of their big games at the games at the SFS.
Essentially with this plan you would have the clubs properly spaced out. You would have the clubs around the three CBD rule (South Sydney vs Roosters/Manly) Old CBD Parramatta vs Penrith at Parramatta CBD stretching out west of course and Dogs/TIgers at the Liverpool CBD stretching down to MacArthur
Dragons would be Gong mainly, Manly/Roosters would be CC with them both playing the occasional game at Brookvale/SFS,
Cronulla could move to Adelaide/NZ/Perth
All those clubs mentioned either need more supporters, more money from corporate sponsorship or some sense of direction.
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