We can't deny it - there is a problem in Sydney

[bobmar28]

Would never happen. You cut clubs and you will be losing fans, not gaining them.

How many people would simply turn to another club if their club vanished?

I know I wouldn't.

What are you going to do? Follow AFL?

 

[bobmar28]

Given the damage our band has just suffered with gas and sbw going lets go and piss off thousands and thousands of people who actually do love and support the game.

People talk about it would mean more money if there was less clubs. Rubbish. Who says that say that bloke who props up the eagles would give money to league if we killed them off? Would Rusty invest in league if we cut souths?

Why ruin your best asset in this war? If league loses ownership of sydney then they are very f**ked.

So our best asset is 9 teams in one city drawing embarrasing crowds?

 

[bobmar28]

I like anyone else, wants to see League prosper.

That said, Souths supporters can certainly tell you what it is like when your team is cut.

I am a Souths supporter first and foremost, my club is cut/merged/re-located and it is no longer Souths.

No longer Souths for me means that I no longer have a team, so why am I going to buy a season pass each year or stay a member?

That is how it is, like it or lump it.

Maybe if some of you whingers calling for teams to be culled actually went to games or financially got behind your teams rather than typing on here like internet heroes, I may listen.

Until then, f**k off with your AFL driven propoganda.

Cheers

AFL driven propaganda? Are you serious?

Telling people to get to games. Did you see the crowd at Newcastle yesterday? If Sydney teams could get crowds like that we wouldn't have this problem.

 

[brooksy19]

1. In 2009 Install an Independent Board to control all matter related to club football, country rugby league and state of origin. (including negotiating all media rights as separate entities (league matches, playoffs and origin)

2. Have ARl solely in charge of running and promoting Test Football.

3. Install a transfer fee and a trade deadline into all contracts.

4. End of 2009 Reduce Sydney teams by 2. (Based on geographic, sponsorship and crowds)

5. 2010 By either expansion or relocation implement teams in Perth and the Central Coast.

6. 2012 negotiate all media rights as separate entities (league matches, playoffs and origin) look at the NFL's model, TV stations falling over each other to get the rights.

7. Have the draw set at the beginning of the year, TV schedules only to be flexible after 18rnds. e.g top of the table clash can be moved to friday night etc..

 

[drake]

Whilst there is a franchise wholly paid for by the rest of the clubs in the NRL, not one current club should have to move/merge or disappear. The NRL: needs to step up it's advertising and promotion; AFL leaves us for dead in this field. But AFL only has to look after the good of the sport, not the good of a multinational multi-billion dollar company.

Offer franchises in areas were people want Rugby league, not in areas News want Rugby League supporters to appear.

Until News is no longer involved, I can't see the NRL going forward, because a dog with two masters is a very confused beast indeed.

 

[johns_reds]

Did anyone see the crowds for wallabies vs all blacks at telstra?

Do you know what is wrong with league?
It is Australia vs the rest...
if a player goes to ESL we complain, i'd rather they stay in league and go to england then jump ship and go to union in france...

Look at Union and Soccer, the two biggest competitions are the world cups, look at league, the biggest thing to aussies is SOO, your kidding yourselves if the league world cup is bigger then SOO, We need to build the international game, work together with the northern hemisphere not against them, it is the only way league will survive, NRL can not save the game alone, sydney clubs will suffer if we can't get the game working globally...

 

[Dragons84]

So if you want to increase crowds, drop 2 Sydney teams ?
:roll:


What if a team does not perform well in a season due to injuries do they deserve to be dropped from the draw?


The problem is with the game itself, if you want to draw crowds improve your product.

Rugby League has become a boring game, its all about money NO PASSION.

 

[stormtragic]

So if you want to increase crowds, drop 2 Sydney teams ?
:roll:


What if a team does not perform well in a season due to injuries do they deserve to be dropped from the draw?


The problem is with the game itself, if you want to draw crowds improve your product.

Rugby League has become a boring game, its all about money NO PASSION.

.

tv ratings are at all time high...people love the game

crowds are actually on up as well...its just playing at ANZ which makes it look crap

 

[Dragons84]

.

tv ratings are at all time high...people love the game

crowds are actually on up as well...its just playing at ANZ which makes it look crap

Yeah, believe it or not instead of "boring" game I was going to put "TV game"

I enjoy watching every team play as long its a tough game. But working 6 days 7 til 7 and occasionally the Sunday work as well its hard to attend.

Only reason I have foxtel is for NRL games, would be nice if they had a NRL only package.

 

[league]

Yeah, believe it or not instead of "boring" game I was going to put "TV game"

I enjoy watching every team play as long its a tough game. But working 6 days 7 til 7 and occasionally the Sunday work as well its hard to attend.

Only reason I have foxtel is for NRL games, would be nice if they had a NRL only package.

 

[Ziggy the God]

AFL driven propaganda? Are you serious?

Telling people to get to games. Did you see the crowd at Newcastle yesterday? If Sydney teams could get crowds like that we wouldn't have this problem.

Mate, if we get a decent Souths side on the field for the first time in decades, rather than some of the nuffies we have now, we will.

 

[JW]

In a perfect world and if we could start all over, sure, things would be set up very differently and the number of Sydney teams being present at the top level would be set to a more workable number. However, we missed the chance to catch that boat decades ago so we need to work on optimising what we've got.

The facts are that Rugby League in Sydney has never been hyped, promoted, and most importantly, run to its potential by people who actually know how to maintain a successful business in the type of environment that professional sporting entities exist. These simple areas need to be tried and exhausted before any culls, or preferably natural selection, take place.

Will we ever get to that stage though? Not likely. Whilst ever the game doesn't have a controlling share in itself and the club honchos are motivated by quick fixes and self interest, the game will progress in the interests of the suits' agendas and the game at the top level in Sydney will never be given the opportunity to realise its full potential.

 

[joshreading]

I think one of the crucial problems is the lack of imagination and lowest common denominator play in the business of RL in Sydney.

1. We want to be the top but don't want to pay for it. (this includes 3rd party issues as well)
2. We want our Sydney clubs to survive but complain like spoilt brats when the clubs make the only financially responsible decision and play out of ANZ. Creating more negetive press and dragging the perception of the game down despite having greater average attendance then anywhere else in Sydney.
3. We want to mix it up with the National teams but we only turn out for games in numbers against key rivals.
4. We continually bag anyone with initiative - and bag the prospect of ultimately widening and securing the future of our game by expansion because 'who wants to see Parra V WA?' They might even take our players, better than ESL or Union.

Our future is found in expansion and connection. New markets need to be opened up including WA, 2nd NZ. We need to align closer with European Super League and effectively create a world wide RL competition.

Dare I sound like a broken record but a conference system (with home and away then once against the other conference) would help the national growth and Sydney based consolidation.

Also concepts like 'Southern Sharks' need to be explored because a land development might secure your financial future but it is no different to pokies. It is NOT the game creating fans, and creating a secure financial future on the back of the game.

 

[Coaster]

Ok i have put more thought into the subject of a new shorter comp to clarify a bit what im thinking, Ive used the challenge cup in the ESL as a model.

Round 1 Played in Feb teams drawn out of a hat to match games
64 teams - Knock out to next round
teams would consist of

1. Brisbane Easts Tigers
2. Wynum Seagulls
3. Redcliff Dolphins
4. Sth Logan Magpies
5. Burleigh Bears
6. Ipswich Jets
7. Sunshine Coast
8. Tweed Heads Seagulls
9. Aspley Devils
10 Mackay Cutters
11 Northern Pride
12 Central Coast Comets
13 Toowoomba Clydesdales
14 Runaway Bay Seagulls
15 Wests Panthers
16 Wentworthville
17 Newtown Jets
18 Windsor Wolves
19 Western Suburb Magpies
20 Central Coast
21 Central Newcastle
22 Balmain Tigers
23 Belrose Eagles
24 Cabbramatta
25 Chester hills Rhinos
26 Erina Eagles
27 Mounties
28 Shelharbour Marlins
29 Sydney Bulls
30 North Sydney Bears
31 Indigence Rep Side
32 Army RL
33 Navy RL
34 Airforce RL
35 University RL Champions
36 School Boy Champions
37 Western Reds
38 Adeliade Rams
39 Winner of NZ dometic Comp
40 PNG
41 Darwin
42 Police RL REP side
and the GF winners of all 22 Group Country divisions

Round 2 Played in March
32 winners to play each other- Knock out- drawn from hat

Round 3 played in April
16 Winners + 16 NRL teams, Knock out- drawn from hat

Round 4 Played in May
16 winners - knock out

Round 5 played in June
8 winners - Knock out

Semi played in late June
4 Teams

Final played in July
2 teams

This could mean we could even shorten the season to fit in the extra games, but the Winning NRL team (if they win) would only play an extra 5 games anyway.

There could be seperate sponsers, seperate TV deals, Seperate Income to players, Increases national coverage, Brings the game to the bush, expands the comp, ect ect

what do you think?

 

[brooksy19]

I still think the best thing is to split into two confrences, one for sydney based clubs and then one for expansion clubs..you can still play teh expansion teams but you play sydney teams twice (maximise tv & crowds), bit with a view to decrease Sydney Clubs by 2 and expand by another two teams by 2012.

ARL Conference
Easts
Wests Tigers
Canterbury
Souths
St George Illawarra
Cronulla
Parramatta
Penrith
Manly

option... Southern Dragons (Encompassing Cronulla region, Hurstville, Botany, Kogarah etc regions and Illawarra with a 6-6 split)


NRL
Newcastle
Canberra
Melbourne
Gold Coast
Brisbane
Melbourne
New Zealand

adding Perth & Central Coast by 2012.

 

[TheBourbonBeast]

radical...but not the worst idea i've ever heard...

 

[DINGb@T]

To do anything to the Sydney teams you'd have to create new franchises that the various Sydney teams support. The old suburban teams would have to go to NSW Cup but they would directly support their regional franchise (built from the ground up ala the Titans) as their representatives in the NRL. Anything else will 'kill' a team and therefore turn off the fans in droves.

You'd have to try to sustain the history while making something new so names like 'Foundation Metro <insert logo name here>' for an inner Sydney team or something similar for Inner west, outer west, north shore or however you want to break it down. The original teams will still have to compete on some level so that fans dont walk away but the links with these new franchises would have to be direct and strong to keep drawing crowds etc.

I posted an idea on the QLD and NSW Cup boards that also might provide a different option for people to consider. It's a bit long but it might give some more ideas....
http://forums.leagueunlimited.com/showthread.php?t=206884

 

[Abz]

I was watching the footy show on thursday and turvey mortimer said something which caught my attention. He said "we can't deny that there isn't a problem in Sydney" or something along those lines.

Anyway, this got me thinking, cause I have being denying for a while that there is a problem for the past few months and now I have realised that there is. We can't keep Rugby League as a surburban game that gets piss poor crowds.

We need all Sydney clubs to have certain criteria that they have to fulfill otherwise they can f**k off and die/re-locate/merge/go to NSW Cup.

/end rant.

Rugby League's biggest comp (the NRL) started back in the 1900s as a Sydney-based comp. Gradually we've been getting more teams in the comp - Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, NZ, Nth Qld, Titans, Illawarra, Knights etc... and teams that failed such as Adelaide, Perth, South Qld, hunter etc... basically, it started in Sydney. ALL SYDNEY TEAMS WHO ARE IN THE COMP NOW DESERVE TO BE IN THE COMP!!!

Now just because there aren't as many interstate teams, that DOES NOT mean that there are too many Sydney teams... it means something else (thread coming...)

 

[blaine train]

Sorry, this is the NRL, not the NSWRL. This idea that Rugby Leagues fans are finite and that by removing a Sydney club Rugby League ends up with less fans is bollox. The question is - what's better for the future of Rugby League in this country? An underperforming suburban Sydney club or new clubs in SEQ, NZ, WA and other areas.

The fact that Sydney clubs have rejected relocations to Gosford is mind boggling and proves that Rugby League won't grow until the higher powers make drastic decisions for the future of Rugby League, because Sydney clubs won't.

 

[Perth Red]

The only thing that will change things of is a club is no longer fiancially viable. This will only happen if the salary cap is dramatically increased. Only other thing that would change things would be a true franchise system based on criteria. Otherwise nothing is going to change as clubs are not voluntarily going to move or drop out.