Western Corridor NRL bid

[Lockyer4President!]

Not about losing fans for viewers, its about Junior numbers in that area.

How is that any different?

Brisbane has 1 NRL club, 1 AFL team and 1 S14 team all competing for juniors/viewers/corporate support.

Sydney has 9 NRL clubs, 1 AFL team and 1 S14 team.

Seriously, who do you really think is under more threat from other codes poaching their juniors? Yet Brisbane is still by far a RL city in every respect.

 

[BDGS]

How is that any different?

Brisbane has 1 NRL club, 1 AFL team and 1 S14 team all competing for juniors/viewers/corporate support.

Sydney has 9 NRL clubs, 1 AFL team and 1 S14 team.

Seriously, who do you really think is under more threat from other codes poaching their juniors? Yet Brisbane is still by far a RL city in every respect.

The area without NRL representation.

 

[BDGS]

HE rapidly growing suburbs of Springfield will be the home for a western corridor NRL team, with a multi-million dollar centre of excellence facility proposed.


Consultant to the Ipswich Jets NRL bid, Brian Canavan, said he was finalising details of a high performance centre that would become the club's home if they were granted an NRL licence.


The facility would be similar to the Broncos' Red Hill base, but whether a leagues club would also become part of the centre is undecided.


Mr Canavan, Sydney Roosters chief executive for five years until 2008, said it was critical to establish a home for the Jets NRL club which hoped to be granted the league's 17th licence for the 2013 season.


“We will likely be playing out of Suncorp Stadium for the first few years so we need a true home base in the corridor and Springfield is the best option for where we want to represent,” he said.


“We have not defined the club's boundaries yet, but it will roughly be Ipswich and Toowoomba, then out towards Logan.”


Springfield, on the border of Logan and Ipswich, is the fastest-growing region in Australia.


A passenger train line connecting the city to Brisbane will be operational in 2013.


Jets chairman Steve Johnson, who hired Mr Canavan to conduct a feasibility study for the bid, said Springfield was the heart of the western corridor.
“Our club will be a community-based club so you want to be where the fans are and Springfield is right in the middle of our patch,” Mr Johnson said.
“We will also be looking to strengthen our ties to Logan and Toowoomba plus you will have the Jets in North Ipswich.”


Mr Canavan said the amount of support for rugby league in the western corridor should help the region be granted an NRL club.


“Gallop (NRL chief executive David) loves facts and numbers and the fact is this region has the best case based on numbers,” he said.


“In Ipswich and Toowoomba alone you have 5500 junior rugby league players, that is far more than just about every Sydney rugby league club.
“When you add in some Logan areas and the outskirts of Brisbane you are talking about 9000 to 13,000 juniors.


“Juniors mean families and families mean generational support.


“The Penrith Panthers have the biggest league junior base in Sydney with just 5500 juniors.”


Ipswich City Councillor for Springfield, David Morrison, said he would support a multi-million dollar training facility being built in the region.
“We have 12 rugby league fields in Springfield Central,” Mr Morrison said.


“Springfield would work very well as a base especially because of the access through the new train line.”

http://www.qt.com.au/story/2010/12/09/springfield-nrl-side-stadium-proposal-home/

Bolded part highlights the level of amateur

 

[beave]

I think the team should be something along the lines of 'South QLD Dingos'....................... make it something completely new in regards to mascot so that the jets name doesn't get recycled again, and make the region name pretty broad to capture the toowoombites, ippies and logan you know whats.

 

[dgsfan]

Ha! Definitely gaining traction. Bears will miss out again.

 

[Perth Red]

sometimes we are a really insecure lot when it comes to jnrs "jumping ship" (oris it just a meaningless excuse for another NSW team?) to another code. Do you think the AFL went into panic when the Storm were announced and thought about bringing back a club to Fitzroy in case kids decided to play RL?

 

[Jason Maher]

The fact they ain't based in NSW: they are more lucrative to TV broadcasts throughout queensland.

Google the populations of NSW and Queensland, and then google the ABS population projections for 5, 10, 30 years from now (by which there should be at least 5 qld teams), then come back and tell me that the Bears are a better option.

How about some actual figures: how much more in net dollar terms will an Ipswich team be worth over the Bears? And please include all working.

 

[BuffaloRules]

I'll be happy with whatever 2 teams get the nod for expansion provided the process is transparent ( meaning details are released to the public) and the 2 teams that offer the most return to the NRL in terms of TV dollars and growing the game get up.

This can be done by talking with TV networks and seeing what combination of new teams coming in that they will pay the most money for.

If CC is one of these two teams then fine.

Id hazard a guess though that if the CC miss out, the supporters wont take the decision well, even if they were beaten by two better bids at the time...

 

[BuffaloRules]

The only thing the "Western Jets" will do for the rest of the competition is have a more local derby between them and Brisbane, compared to the Bears that could bring that in with Newcastle, Manly, Souths, Wests and East not to mention other obvious rivals such as Cronulla and the Gold Coast. Rivalries is what bring the big games, and the big games bring the crowds something NSW League requires now more then ever.

So the Gold Coast will have an "obvious" rivalry with the Central Coast Bears but not the Jets....

Interesting argument... not sure what you are basing that on though ( because they both have "Coast" in their names perhaps?)...

Manly, Newcastle are the only teams that will have a real rivalry with the Bears, and this will be the same as the Jets having a rivalry with the Broncos and the GC...

As a Tigers supporter, a potential rivalry with the Bears wouldnt make my Top 10...

 

[bobmar28]

Surely they need a stadium before they are serious about entering. Sure for the broncs/cows/titans games suncorp will be awesome... but you cant have a "outer-western brisbane" team playing in the city centre every single home game. Especially for the fans past ipswich and all the way to toowoomba who they are proclaiming as in the catchment. These people wont go 2-3 hours to suncorp every week or two. They also need their own identity... suncorp is a broncos thing these days.
I doubt the qld gov would be willing to fork out for another 25-30 seater... but surely thats what is needed. The springfield idea has some merit. 3-4 years to set up infrastructure and get 100% ready... then i think they would be a pretty viable option. Not 2012/13.

Tigers play most of their home games at ANZ stadium, even Leichardt and SFS. Campbelltown is 51k from Sydney CBD. Ipswich is 40k from Brisbane cbd. And they have stated that they will build their own stadium in good time.

 

[bobmar28]

Surely they need a stadium before they are serious about entering. Sure for the broncs/cows/titans games suncorp will be awesome... but you cant have a "outer-western brisbane" team playing in the city centre every single home game. Especially for the fans past ipswich and all the way to toowoomba who they are proclaiming as in the catchment. These people wont go 2-3 hours to suncorp every week or two. They also need their own identity... suncorp is a broncos thing these days.
I doubt the qld gov would be willing to fork out for another 25-30 seater... but surely thats what is needed. The springfield idea has some merit. 3-4 years to set up infrastructure and get 100% ready... then i think they would be a pretty viable option. Not 2012/13.

Except when the Titans are playing there.

 

[Goddo]

How about some actual figures: how much more in net dollar terms will an Ipswich team be worth over the Bears? And please include all working.

You would have to talk to a media programer - I ain't one so I can't tell. But it would be something along the lines of what the Titans, Cowboys, Warriors and Storm bring to the media rights.

The Bears would be less no question. They only get 3 free to air games on TV, yet there are 11 NSW + 1 ACT clubs. How many regularily get free to air exposure? The others constantly moan they are never on TV and can't build their brand. How does 1 more help?

Compare that to another Qld side that is very attractive to broadcasters in Qld. Gives us an alternative to watching Brisbane every Friday night, and gives pay TV more local content to sell in Queensland, something they would be very keen to get.

 

[bobmar28]

And the difference there is the management structure and business structure. The Bears have been working with the NRL on creating a Business structure that both brings success and a structure in which the NRL prefer.

You can't start bringing in facts about a club that has struggled with money for their entire existence, that implies a lot without any substance.

Put in the Bears and you strangle GWS to death, Put in Central Queensland and watch us have two identical teams that play in different colours (we'll end up having two cowboy teams, while waiting for a predicted boom that may take, as Gallop puts it, "decades"), Put in Ispwich and watch Sponsors, players and supporters spread themselves out over 3 teams instead of two (the very mistake the AFL has done, GWS only supporters are those who moved from other teams).

The only thing the "Western Jets" will do for the rest of the competition is have a more local derby between them and Brisbane, compared to the Bears that could bring that in with Newcastle, Manly, Souths, Wests and East not to mention other obvious rivals such as Cronulla and the Gold Coast. Rivalries is what bring the big games, and the big games bring the crowds something NSW League requires now more then ever.

9 Sydney teams can't do that?

 

[bobmar28]

ipswich bid is not developed enough

Yet. Let's see what they present to the IC next year.

 

[bobmar28]

I think the team should be something along the lines of 'South QLD Dingos'....................... make it something completely new in regards to mascot so that the jets name doesn't get recycled again, and make the region name pretty broad to capture the toowoombites, ippies and logan you know whats.

Recycle the name they have had for 30 years?

 

[Goddo]

http://www.qt.com.au/story/2010/12/09/springfield-nrl-side-stadium-proposal-home/

Bolded part highlights the level of amateur

No, it reflects the build time of getting a Stadium built if the bid is successful.

You see, Stadiums are big complex projects that require a lot of planning and financing, and then ususally have build times of around 2 years.

You have a very short memory - the Titans did the same thing before Skilled Park was finished, playing at Cararra Stadium.

 

[BuffaloRules]

9 Sydney teams can't do that?

Couldnt agree more.

The Bears playing 11 of 12 games at Gosford will have zero influence on what sport kids play at Blacktown where the GWS will be based...

Talk about a smoke screen!

 

[imasharkie]

Ipswich Jets and Perth Reds for 2013

​

 

[BDGS]

So the Gold Coast will have an "obvious" rivalry with the Central Coast Bears but not the Jets....

It'll be the "Battle of the Coasts", i can already hear the fans and media commentators calling it that. We already have the "Battle of the Beaches" so the smart thing to do will be work with what we already know works and make it bigger and better in different areas.

Obviously the Western Jets will have one with the Gold Coast but that's only because they are from Queensland. Do the Gold Coast and North Queensland really have that big of a rivalry? no they don't and thats what will happen with the Western Jets and the Titans if the Jets are put in.

Manly, Newcastle are the only teams that will have a real rivalry with the Bears, and this will be the same as the Jets having a rivalry with the Broncos and the GC...

Rivalries for the Bears:

1. Newcastle because of the fact that will be the closest team to them.
2. Manly because of the close factor again but also because of the North Sydney ties that tie into the North Sydney-Manly fued and the recent acts of manly trying to take North Sydney and Central Coast Juniors (see the local central coast newspapers today)
3. Wests Tigers, it's a little of a long stretch but could make it work well.
4. Sydney Roosters - Both Foundation Clubs.
5. South Sydney - old Fashion Norths vs Souths but also because of the helpful nature of the Rabbitohs towards the Central Coast Bears NRL Bid and the feeder Arrangements between the South Sydney Rbbbitohs and the North Sydney Bears.
6. Cronulla-Sutherland for trying to con the NRL with an attempted "relocation" to the coast that only included 6 games and no change of name or identity for the sharks.

As a Tigers supporter, a potential rivalry with the Bears wouldnt make my Top 10...

Maybe not but that is only your opinion and that opinion may change once the rivalry commences.

 

[BDGS]

9 Sydney teams can't do that?

No because the simple fact that the region won't accept or allow them to do so, Manly Held a stand for two weeks in North Sydney are during the two weeks holidays with the aim to sign up members. After the two week they signed up 0 members.