Western Corridor NRL bid

[PaulyTom]

What needs to happen in the NRL is having grounds with the facilities that the fans need and require.

We are playing in 3rd world venues. I have been fortunate enough to have travelled the world and watched soccer/union and league in many countries and we are seriously being screwed.

Manly and Cronulla need major work. The NSW government do not invest enough into these suburban grounds. Cronulla need a boutique 20 seater stadium with facilities of a 1st world country. Standing up at the end of the field is what was done in the 60s not in the 2010.

 

[docbrown]

Again at the risk of pissing off all their fans, someone on another thread mentioned the idea of a Roosters-Cronulla merger with the team called the Sydney City Sharks. They'd play in Roosters uniform but with the lighter Cronulla Blue and black shorts and have 6 games at SFS, 5 games at Endeavour and 1 at SCG.

Of all the options regarding sending teams to new cities outright etc, this merger seems to make the most sense and actually feels a bit like the Wests Tigers. They're not traditional rivals and it keeps both areas in the game rather than just collapsing it. They'd have the membership support of the 2 leagues clubs - about 50,000 altogether.

I'd hate to see Cronulla or Easts forced interstate and abandon their areas. This solution I think is actually quite workable as most of the other teams are traditional rivals of one another and less manageable. It would mean there would be 10 NSW teams rather than 11:

Sydney Sharks
Penrith Panthers
Wests Tigers
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
Parramatta Eels
South Sydney Rabbitohs
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
St George-Illawarra Dragons
Newcastle Knights
Central Coast Bears

Then you could add 2 more teams: Perth + QLD and have 18 until the next expansion with QLD + NZ

 

[PaulyTom]

Good idea. This could be an idea that would work if you could convince the masses in the Shire.

 

[Bro Bear]

I can understand if Ipswich are admitted before the CC Bears as there should of been a second team in the Brisbane region years ago.

WA has done alot of hard work SG Ball entered this year for the first time! Football on the Central Coast and North Sydney has been around since 1908. 42 years longer than WA. The Bears have had the intentions of being the Coast's team since 1998. CC deserves a team before all the other bids, especially WA and CQLD. Ipswich's is only a proposal at this stage and the bids maybe annouced 8 months away.

CC Bears already have sponsorship, a stadium, 2000 odd members and a large growing population, with hundreds of juniors. CC Bears do not need to be shafted by the NRL again.

Fish where the fish are - QLD and NSW. If WA whats a club then they should have a team relocate as they do not have the juniors compared to Central Coast and Ipswich.

 

[1 Eyed TEZZA]

Very VERY sticky situation. All we need is for the Orcas bid up and running again and we have ourselves a nice recipe for one hell of a f**ked up situation.

Part of me is saying "come on Cronulla, take one for the team", another part wants them to survive and be strong again. ANOTHER part of me is saying to just admit 4 bloody teams again, but we know that isnt a great idea.

Situations like this, im glad I don't have to make them.

 

[docbrown]

Very VERY sticky situation. All we need is for the Orcas bid up and running again and we have ourselves a nice recipe for one hell of a f**ked up situation.

Part of me is saying "come on Cronulla, take one for the team", another part wants them to survive and be strong again. ANOTHER part of me is saying to just admit 4 bloody teams again, but we know that isnt a great idea.

Situations like this, im glad I don't have to make them.

Just wait for the Adelaide Rams and South Queensland Crushers teams to make bids :shock:

I think it's given that 2 will be accepted for 2013 so there's another game/timeslot. And I think given that PNG and Wellington have gone quiet and have major issues and that CQld/Ipswich/Bears are competing to be be that 'heartland' team, I'd have to say Perth is a goer given that it helps put the N in NRL and opens up timeslots (unless Wellington/Christchurch comes into the fray and they expand East instead of West).

So then the others are fighting for the other place. Four sets of bids/fans are going to be unhappy so the best thing David Gallop can do is actually explain to each one what they'd need to do to gain entry at the next expansion and set a timeline for their next review or a set a loose timeline to phase in their entries over the next 5-15 years.

 

[Perth Red]

Keep Gosford for relocation (sorry Bears)
Admit Ipswich, another Q'land team will add more $'s to the next TV deal then any other bid
Admit WA Reds, the game has to expand into new markets if it wants to grow and WA is the biggest and most developed of any non heartland possibility
Encourage CQ to partner with Manly and allow Manly to link with Q'land cup team again and play 3 games a year in Rocky
Work with the PNG Govt and QRL to admit PNG team into Q'land cup
Start working with NZRL to develop a bid fo 2017 for a Southern Orcas playing out of wellington and Christchurch, regular gams to be played in those cities and a NSW cup team to be funded to play out of Wellington and linked to Warriors for now

Worse thing will be if the NRL just chooses two and lets the others wither away again ala Wellngton last time

 

[simostorm]

Only one way to keep everyone happy. Bring in all 3.

 

[Perth Red]

and if there is 5 bids?

 

[Loudstrat]

oh oh, bet the Bears are getting that deja vue feeling!

Who they choose will send out a huge statement of intent for RL in this country imo. if they go the two safe options, Ipswich and Bears they are holding up the white flag to ever being anything more than they are now, if they go with the reds it shows a confidence that the NRL is aiming to be the number one code in the country.

No - they need to go with the strongest bids, not necessarily chase dreams. Perth needs to show it can be equal to the weaker of the other two, because the game is driven by $ and nothing else. If Perth needs to be propped up, then any fantasy about "growing the game in afl territory" will be just that - fantasy - until League HAS to.

Maybe Perth should be kept for relocation. The Bears are already a relocated team.

 

[simostorm]

and if there is 5 bids?

Ipswich and Perth are the most important areas to go to.

Wellington and CQld have nothing on these 2, which is pretty obvious.

 

[Perth Red]

Bears are not a relocated team, they would be a resurrected team.

Perth isn't chasing dreams, it is putting a team into a brand new population of 1.6million people in one of the richest cities in the country with a large NSW/Q'land/Kiwi/Nth English RL background population and a place full of mining companies desperate to attract workers from the East coast. That's before we look at TV audience, new live TV time options and the opportunity to expand on a junior RL development system that is already producing NRL players. The Perth option isn't about challenging AFL(never going to happen in any AFL city just as AFL will never challenge RL in Sydney) it is about growing RL and making it a stronger game across Australia at all levels.

Gallop has already said it will be one heartland and one expansion team, the battle it seems is between CC and Ipswich.

I have no problem with the Bears getting in, it is a safe if unexciting option. The Bears bid team have done a brilliant job and could do no more than what they have achieved. I do see however that a 2nd Brisbane team has more potential in a lot of areas for the game, especially in the much vaunted TV $'s.

 

[Red Bear]

I have no problem with the Bears getting in, it is a safe if unexciting option. The Bears bid team have done a brilliant job and could do no more than what they have achieved. I do see however that a 2nd Brisbane team has more potential in a lot of areas for the game, especially in the much vaunted TV $'s.

Unexciting? Speak for yourself. They arent just some random side. Its not like bringing back one of the three gold coast sides, the adelaide rams or south queensland. It's bringing back a side with 92 seasons of history in the first grade, in a booming growth region. One of the pioneer sides. It's bringing generations of support back to the game. It's helping to keep union as isolated as bloody possible.

Hell on the weekend at my Grandpa's 80th birthday, inside a hospital room after a stroke he suffered last wednesday due to tumours on the brain, which has left him unable to speak, we were going over memories etc of his lifetime. Dad, uncle and i even broke into a bit of 'the big black bears are back on the road again,' there was a little bear on the cake and fond memories discussed. This is what this clubs means to people, this is what it means to bring them back, it's reigniting the passion for the game and making things right again.

Unexciting? You're having a f**king laugh

 

[1 Eyed TEZZA]

I have no problem with the Bears getting in, it is a safe if unexciting option.

Geez I think its freaking exciting. They potentially could be as big(support wise) as Newcastle, St George, Parra and the Tigers, having another match like that a few times a year would be awesome.

The fact that the Central Coast is backed by the Bears too only makes it more exciting. Bears vs Sea Eagles, Central Coast vs Newcastle, and because the Syd-Newy Freeway is virtually in Parra, Bears vs Eels will be another "derby"!

I friggin cant wait to see this again.

 

[Perth Red]

sorry no offence, of course it will be exciting to life long fans, Bears got shafted big time (twice!) and deserve their shot but if emotion is taken out and the future of the game is the over riding factor majority of people would, I think, choose Ipswich and Reds.

All a mute argument at the moment anyway as the Ipswich bid is just talk and still has a long long way to go to catch the Bears or the Reds.

 

[1 Eyed TEZZA]

Little back on topic, am I the only one concerned by the likely hood that the Ipswich team will be called the "Western Jets"?

We already have Wests Tigers, we are probably going to have the Western Reds, but also the Western Jets?? Wouldn't be a problem like Melbourne Victory or the Melbourne Heart because they are representing the same place, but geez that could get annoying.

Solutions? Reds to be called Perth? Jets to be called Ipswich or Ipswich Logan, or SEQ??

Just something so we dont have 3 teams in different areas called "Western" or "Wests"

 

[docbrown]

Perth isn't chasing dreams, it is putting a team into a brand new population of 1.6million people in one of the richest cities in the country with a large NSW/Q'land/Kiwi/Nth English RL background population and a place full of mining companies desperate to attract workers from the East coast. That's before we look at TV audience, new live TV time options and the opportunity to expand on a junior RL development system that is already producing NRL players. The Perth option isn't about challenging AFL(never going to happen in any AFL city just as AFL will never challenge RL in Sydney) it is about growing RL and making it a stronger game across Australia at all levels.

Yep agreed on all points. Perth can support a Rugby League team if given the right level of support. The biggest issue though is the NIB Stadium - it needs to be revamped and all the government dollars appear to be earmarked for AFL. The Reds, Glory and Force need to combine to force the issue and get a boutique 30,000 seat stadium with the tiers split so that 15,000 crowds don't feel small. The Asian Cup won't be played in Perth or Adelaide because they have poor rectangular stadiums and Rugby League shouldn't be forced to play on Ovals.

Keep Gosford for relocation (sorry Bears)
Admit Ipswich, another Q'land team will add more $'s to the next TV deal then any other bid
Admit WA Reds, the game has to expand into new markets if it wants to grow and WA is the biggest and most developed of any non heartland possibility
Encourage CQ to partner with Manly and allow Manly to link with Q'land cup team again and play 3 games a year in Rocky
Work with the PNG Govt and QRL to admit PNG team into Q'land cup
Start working with NZRL to develop a bid fo 2017 for a Southern Orcas playing out of wellington and Christchurch, regular gams to be played in those cities and a NSW cup team to be funded to play out of Wellington and linked to Warriors for now

Worse thing will be if the NRL just chooses two and lets the others wither away again ala Wellngton last time

Agreed - they have to give all the losing bids a sense to keep going by giving them entry ways to the NRL, that way management and fans continue to support their entries over the following five years.

I disagree about the Bears though. That's about healing an old wound and the Central Coast can support its own team without affecting Manly or Newcastle (Wyong has always traditionally been the border any how) and Central Coast was considered as North Sydney by the NSWRL.

I'd rather see a rationalisation of a 50/50 Eastern Suburbs-Sharks merger, rather than relocate teams. That way those areas stay in Rugby League hands.

20 Teams:
7 Sydney Teams
3 NSW Country Teams - including Illawarra
1 ACT Team
1 VIC Team
2 NZ Teams
1 Perth Teams
5 QLD Teams or 4 QLD + 1 SA

You'd have 4 games in Sydney a week, 1 in NSW Country, 1 in Brisbane, 1 in QLD Country, 1 in NZ and the other 2 alternate.

That's a pretty wide spread.

 

[Perth Red]

Little back on topic, am I the only one concerned by the likely hood that the Ipswich team will be called the "Western Jets"?

We already have Wests Tigers, we are probably going to have the Western Reds, but also the Western Jets?? Wouldn't be a problem like Melbourne Victory or the Melbourne Heart because they are representing the same place, but geez that could get annoying.

Solutions? Reds to be called Perth? Jets to be called Ipswich or Ipswich Logan, or SEQ??

Just something so we dont have 3 teams in different areas called "Western" or "Wests"

No worries with us, we are the:

 

[Perth Red]

Yep agreed on all points. Perth can support a Rugby League team if given the right level of support. The biggest issue though is the NIB Stadium - it needs to be revamped and all the government dollars appear to be earmarked for AFL. The Reds, Glory and Force need to combine to force the issue and get a boutique 30,000 seat stadium with the tiers split so that 15,000 crowds don't feel small. The Asian Cup won't be played in Perth or Adelaide because they have poor rectangular stadiums and Rugby League shouldn't be forced to play on Ovals.

.

yeh agree, its a nice place on a warm March evening but not much fun on a cold rainy July night! Recent upgrades have seen improved lighting for HD broadcasts, extra corportae faciltiis and extra seating taking capcity to 21,500. The new stand will take it up to 25K with 20 new corporate boxes.

The WA Govt has pledged $80mill for a new Eastern main stand to be built for 2013 (http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/no-funds-for-super-stadium-in-barnetts-budget-20100520-vhu9.html) and a study is being undertaken at the moment for a further $260million upgrade for some time in the future (probably when the next mining boom hits and we are flush with cash again!)

Showing new East stand

 

[1 Eyed TEZZA]

I'd rather see a rationalisation of a 50/50 Eastern Suburbs-Sharks merger, rather than relocate teams.

That idea really needs to be put to bed quick smart. 1st of all the 2 teams need to agree to it, the Roosters have absolutely no reason and no need to merge, let alone with Cronulla. If that were to ever happen, it would be a take over of Cronulla, similar to the St George and Illawarra merger, but then the Roosters would have this nagging bit of territory that would be surrounded by Dragons and Souths boarders.

Cronulla don't need to merge, they just need money and a way of getting more support from the Cronulla locals and more businesses.