Some people are crazy fools. You go on about how a team in Ipswich playing at suncorp will somehow bring people living up to 200km to the games! The Broncos have been around 24 years, i'm pretty sure if those people were to go to a game they would have done so already! Ipswich for christ sake is 36km up the road, I cannot see how it can better represent the darling downs etc than any other team in seq.
*facepalm* You clearly don't understand whats going on long term...
Lets face it - this bid is aiming at the population that does/will live in the "Ipswich-Logan corridor" to use Gallops words. It will leverage its access to a large lower-middle class belt south of Brisbane (it will be well over 1M within 10 years if the ABS is to be believed) for players and fans, and leverage its position as part of Metro Brisbane to get sponsors and for TV $ for the game.
Thus, as a second Brisbane side it will substancially add to the NRL TV rights.Playing at Suncorp is only temporary. Long term they will be playing and training at Springfield. By 2030 Brisbane will have a population aproaching 4M. The NRL would be stupid not to have another side there. We should already have 2 teams in Brisbane really.
Yes, this won't really bring people from Toowoomba who don't already travel I never claimed it would. In fact, I advocate just focussing on Ipswich-Logan region, forget Toowoomba. The whole point of talking up the Valleys and Toowoomba though is to support junior and senior rugby league in those regions, and using that to strengthen the bid. Its a strategy to make the bid look good, no different to the Bears membership drives, or Perth talking up their junior structures.
Then you go on about a team representing northern brisbane that automatically means the sunny coast has a team. :crazy:
In regards to the Sunshine Coast, Redcliffe is keen to break away from the Broncos and get their own NRL licence. Sunshine Coast currently has no NRL club backing, and is also keen for an NRL licence. The Sunshine Coast local gov has put asside a huge parcel of land to build an NRL stadium in the future. It won't happen for at least 10 years, but it will happen.
Because they aren't strong enough yet, the Dolphins and Sea Eagles have backed the Bombers, but have made a lot of noise about doing their own thing. By the time they get around to bidding (2025 ish) the SC population will be much larger and will justify their own bid.
Also there is some sort of thing going on about the Lions wanting the land for a training ground and gym facilities, why is it not feasible that if this Jagera (WHAT?!!@) get into the NRL, that the two clubs could not share the facilities effectively halving their own investment?
That is actually a good idea, the problem though is that the parcel of land isn't big enough for this bid, its training facilities, stadium, small leagues club and shopping strip planned and an AFL oval and office facilities for the Lions.
So one will win out. You should ask yourself why the Lions what to set up there so badly rather than the other locations they had sounded out.
Will common sense prevail? Stay tuned.
Yes, the NRL will likely expand with the Western Corridor Bid for the TV dollars and improvements to the structure of the game in Queensland, and either Perth or Gosford.
