Welcome to the comp, Redcliffe.

[The Great Dane]

The Dolphins are a powerhouse and some still don't realise it. For those that haven't cottoned on yet, this is a huge, very well run, football club and business and are exactly how you want all NRL clubs to be operated. I think they'll be mid-table in their first season but honestly it doesn't matter even if they pick up the spoon. Once they are in their stride they will be a juggernaut.

Anybody else remember when everybody was crowing about some other club from SEQ and their massive sponsorship deals with Jetstar and Reebok, and saying that that was evidence that they were going to be a financial powerhouse?

If the Dolphins are 'exactly how you want all NRL clubs to be operated' then the sport should give up now, because it will always be a niche product with no appeal outside of NSW and QLD that has no real prospects of significant national or international growth. It's support outside of NSW and QLD will be token at best, and vastly overrepresented by expats, and it's international component will be embarrassingly astroturfed.

 

[Iamback]

Anybody else remember when everybody was crowing about some other club from SEQ and their massive sponsorship deals with Jetstar and Reebok, and saying that that was evidence that they were going to be a financial powerhouse?

If the Dolphins are 'exactly how you want all NRL clubs to be operated' then the sport should give up now, because it will always be a niche product with no appeal outside of NSW and QLD that has no real prospects of significant national or international growth. It's support outside of NSW and QLD will be token at best, and vastly overrepresented by expats, and it's international component will be embarrassingly astroturfed.

Apples and Oranges comparison.

Titans are a plastic club
Redcliffe has history behind them and have got this rich playing a secondary competition.

The fact they did that, now they are in a national competition they will continue to grow.

Not sure what people expect but they tick all the boxes in an expanded competition

 

[Colk]

The Dolphins are a powerhouse and some still don't realise it. For those that haven't cottoned on yet, this is a huge, very well run, football club and business and are exactly how you want all NRL clubs to be operated. I think they'll be mid-table in their first season but honestly it doesn't matter even if they pick up the spoon. Once they are in their stride they will be a juggernaut.

Nobody would question their financial position prior to entering the competition.

I would question their marketing (what are they and what do they want to become?) as well as the fact that they are not playing all their games at Suncorp. Like really what is the point of adding another Brisbane side that is explicitly not targeting the Brisbane metro area (seemingly) and whom are not going to play all their games at (arguably) the best rectangular stadium in Australia?

 

[Iamback]

Nobody would question their financial position prior to entering the competition.

I would question their marketing (what are they and what do they want to become?) as well as the fact that they are not playing all their games at Suncorp. Like really what is the point of adding another Brisbane side that is explicitly not targeting the Brisbane metro area (seemingly) and whom are not going to play all their games at (arguably) the best rectangular stadium in Australia?

I know the media likes to call them Brisbane but the club itself has said the Moreton Bay area and above

 

[Colk]

I know the media likes to call them Brisbane but the club itself has said the Moreton Bay area and above

Yeah that’s the point. That is an outer suburban area of Brisbane. Give them a few years and they will say all our fans are in the outer suburban area and it doesn’t suit our supporters to play at Suncorp and we want an upgraded stadium closer to our area. It is a bit like entering Cronulla or Penrith in the competition and playing them at the SFS.

This is the biggest problem with the Dolphins side - they are just as likely (probably more likely) to become a Moreton Bay/Sunshine Coast than a Brisbane side

 

[Wb1234]

The Dolphins are a powerhouse and some still don't realise it. For those that haven't cottoned on yet, this is a huge, very well run, football club and business and are exactly how you want all NRL clubs to be operated. I think they'll be mid-table in their first season but honestly it doesn't matter even if they pick up the spoon. Once they are in their stride they will be a juggernaut.

There’s a good portion of this forum still saying it was a major mistake

they can challenge the broncos as the strongest club in the world

 

[Colk]

There’s a good portion of this forum still saying it was a major mistake

they can challenge the broncos as the strongest club in the world

If they play all their games at Suncorp and actually target the Brisbane metro area, they will give themselves the best chance. They won’t if they call themselves the and play games at their very small ground

 

[The Great Dane]

Apples and Oranges comparison.

Titans are a plastic club
Redcliffe has history behind them and have got this rich playing a secondary competition.

The fact they did that, now they are in a national competition they will continue to grow.

All of which is utterly irrelevant to the future prospects of their NRL side.

Seriously, name one tangible commercial advantage they've gained from their 'history', and before you go there, don't dare say a fanbase. Prior to their admission to the NRL they'd have been lucky to have more than a few thousand committed fans, and the vast majority of those fans will already support other NRL sides.

Not sure what people expect but they tick all the boxes in an expanded competition

The bid team/market with the potential of being the most commercially successful in the mid-long term would be a bare minimum. Teams that actually push the growth of the sport, instead of cannibalising it, and add significant value to competition would be great as well.

In Brisbane's case a side that actually intended to represent Brisbane proper, not a peninsula on the outskirts of city, and was actually capable of being serious commercial competition for the Broncos, would have been nice.

But apparently it's too much to ask that this sport has any ambition or desire to grow or improve it's self.

 

[Iamback]

Yeah that’s the point. That is an outer suburban area of Brisbane. Give them a few years and they will say all our fans are in the outer suburban area and it doesn’t suit our supporters to play at Suncorp and we want an upgraded stadium closer to our area. It is a bit like entering Cronulla or Penrith in the competition and playing them at the SFS.

This is the biggest problem with the Dolphins side - they are just as likely (probably more likely) to become a Moreton Bay/Sunshine Coast than a Brisbane side

Problem is Broncos have had it to themselves for so long, That particularly the corporate side is aligned with them.

So if they can attract new sponsors especially the miners from the CQLD partnership than it is a win for the game. Especially as the majority of the games will be at Suncorp

 

[The Great Dane]

If they play all their games at Suncorp and actually target the Brisbane metro area, they will give themselves the best chance. They won’t if they call themselves the and play games at their very small ground

Even then they'd struggle as the core of their support lives an hour or more from their home stadium.

I can think of only a handful of teams from around the world that are successful despite the core of their fanbase living away from the stadium, and they are very much the exceptions that prove the rule that it's a very bad idea.

 

[Wb1234]

If they play all their games at Suncorp and actually target the Brisbane metro area, they will give themselves the best chance. They won’t if they call themselves the and play games at their very small ground

Broncos are a lazy club who are happy to make 3 million profit pa based on average crowds of 32k

the dolphins are going to shake up the brisbane market and it will benefit both clubs

not so good for fumble ball or union though

 

[The Great Dane]

Problem is Broncos have had it to themselves for so long, That particularly the corporate side is aligned with them.

So if they can attract new sponsors especially the miners from the CQLD partnership than it is a win for the game. Especially as the majority of the games will be at Suncorp

Sure the Broncos being in the market a long time means that they'll have developed good relations with their corporate partners, but all that means is that most of the other corporates, and potential sponsors, whom are interested in sponsoring a Brisbane NRL side are locked out of the market unless they are willing to pay exorbitant amounts to displace one of those partnerships.

In other words demand massively outstrips supply in the Brisbane NRL sponsorship market (which is a good thing BTW), and a new side should, and did, find it easy to find corporate partners interested in sponsoring them.

Whether or not Redcliffe will be able to meet the expectations of those corporate partners is another question though, as the Broncos have set those standards pretty high. But that's a separate debate.

 

[The Great Dane]

Broncos are a lazy club who are happy to make 3 million profit pa based on average crowds of 32k

the dolphins are going to shake up the brisbane market and it will benefit both clubs

not so good for fumble ball or union though

You are utterly delusional if you truly believe the Dolphins have the means to achieve that, especially when they're playing basically half their games out of Redcliffe and the Sunshine Coast.

At this point, whether or not they realise it, they're basically banking on on-field success to push the growth of their business, and that's a terrible way to run a club.

 

[Perth Red]

Apples and Oranges comparison.

Titans are a plastic club
Redcliffe has history behind them and have got this rich playing a secondary competition.

The fact they did that, now they are in a national competition they will continue to grow.

Not sure what people expect but they tick all the boxes in an expanded competition

Except they aren't Brisbane2 playing at Suncorp every game which is what the game were all crying out for for the last 25 years!
Lets be honest they got in as they have pokie revenue and they where the least challenging of the Broncos monopoly. Not because 'THE' is a good idea.

 

[The Great Dane]

Except they aren't Brisbane2 playing at Suncorp every game which is what the game were all crying out for for the last 25 years!
Lets be honest they got in as they have pokie revenue and they where the least challenging of the Broncos monopoly. Not because 'THE' is a good idea.

And News hand picked them...

 

[Perth Red]

And News hand picked them...

which is to my second reason they got in. News wanted the least threatening to its business and a remote Dolphins not really identifying with the whole Brisbane metro provided that.

 

[Colk]

Even then they'd struggle as the core of their support lives an hour or more from their home stadium.

I can think of only a handful of teams from around the world that are successful despite the core of their fanbase living away from the stadium, and they are very much the exceptions that prove the rule that it's a very bad idea.

Exactly. As I mentioned earlier. Using a RL analogy it is like incepting Cronulla or Penrith and asking them to play the majority of or all their games at SFS.

The only way it would work is if essentially they gain support in the centre of Brisbane, otherwise they will revert to becoming a Moreton Bay/Sunshine Coast team

 

[Colk]

Broncos are a lazy club who are happy to make 3 million profit pa based on average crowds of 32k

the dolphins are going to shake up the brisbane market and it will benefit both clubs

not so good for fumble ball or union though

Average crowds of 32k is better than anybody else is doing and the Dolphins won’t be near they if they play a percentage of their games at Moreton Daily or Sunshine Coast.

I’m sure they will be sustainable from a financial perspective but to me it is a confused brand/idea of a side, playing at small grounds (which is the opposite of what we should be doing) and not maximising the potential of a Brisbane side.

Again, the first prerequisite of this side should have been that all of their home games being played at Suncorp.

 

[Iamback]

All of which is utterly irrelevant to the future prospects of their NRL side.

Seriously, name one tangible commercial advantage they've gained from their 'history', and before you go there, don't dare say a fanbase. Prior to their admission to the NRL they'd have been lucky to have more than a few thousand committed fans, and the vast majority of those fans will already support other NRL sides.

The bid team/market with the potential of being the most commercially successful in the mid-long term would be a bare minimum. Teams that actually push the growth of the sport, instead of cannibalising it, and add significant value to competition would be great as well.

In Brisbane's case a side that actually intended to represent Brisbane proper, not a peninsula on the outskirts of city, and was actually capable of being serious commercial competition for the Broncos, would have been nice.

But apparently it's too much to ask that this sport has any ambition or desire to grow or improve it's self.

What is better a team with 70 years of history with $200m in the bank

Or some rich guy wanting a team with no history in the game putting the same amount in?

 

[Wb1234]

Average crowds of 32k is better than anybody else is doing and the Dolphins won’t be near they if they play a percentage of their games at Moreton Daily or Sunshine Coast.

I’m sure they will be sustainable from a financial perspective but to me it is a confused brand/idea of a side, playing at small grounds (which is the opposite of what we should be doing) and not maximising the potential of a Brisbane side.

Again, the first prerequisite of this side should have been that all of their home games being played at Suncorp.

1995 rugby league average close to double that average crowd in Brisbane

and the population has grown by over a million since then