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Western Melbourne - NRL Expansion (2nd Victorian Team)

Western Melbourne

Western Melbourne

Juniors
Messages
42
Colk said:
Quick question. Would there be a bigger population in the north of the city?
Click to expand...
Melbourne's northern suburbs is home to a million people, with growth projected to reach 1.5 million by 2036. They also have the least amount of junior clubs. This is where the western market has the advantange in both population, projected growth and junior numbers. It also just makes the most sense geographically speaking given the west-southeast divide.

A lot of a potential Western Melbourne/VIC bid really comes down to financial backing and the stadium in Tarneit being built. No professional sports team in Melbourne actually plays out of Melbourne's western suburbs. Essendon & WB play their home games in Melbourne's CBD, with the Bulldogs taking the odd regional game to Ballarat. Geelong, while part of the Western corridor market, is much further out from the suburbs. This is why the stadium being built is key to getting this done. The NRL could potentially have a chance to land a huge strike in AFL heartland and bring a team out west that actually plays out west. Its centralized location in the heart of Melbourne's west along with the millions being invested into the sports entertainment precinct is vital to this idea coming to fruition.

Comparing this idea to Western United is pretty much apples and oranges. The A-League's popularity has dwindled considerably in recent years, much like Super Rugby. At the height of its peak, the old Victory v Heart derby in the A-League drew crowds of 50k+ without any real geographical incentive behind it. Given that WUFC were introduced with two other established teams in the same market at a time when the A-League was in rapid decline (and still is) - and without the stadium - gives us models to learn from. On the other hand, the NRL finds itself growing in popularity which is evident in the 50% growth of rugby league juniors in Victoria. Add that with a growing population and the potential to tap into the large Pasifika demographic out west - as well as the possibility to take regional games to Geelong and Ballarat - there's a lot going for us.
 
C

Colk

First Grade
Messages
6,750
Western Melbourne said:
Melbourne's northern suburbs is home to a million people, with growth projected to reach 1.5 million by 2036. They also have the least amount of junior clubs. This is where the western market has the advantange in both population, projected growth and junior numbers. It also just makes the most sense geographically speaking given the west-southeast divide.

A lot of a potential Western Melbourne/VIC bid really comes down to financial backing and the stadium in Tarneit being built. No professional sports team in Melbourne actually plays out of Melbourne's western suburbs. Essendon & WB play their home games in Melbourne's CBD, with the Bulldogs taking the odd regional game to Ballarat. Geelong, while part of the Western corridor market, is much further out from the suburbs. This is why the stadium being built is key to getting this done. The NRL could potentially have a chance to land a huge strike in AFL heartland and bring a team out west that actually plays out west. Its centralized location in the heart of Melbourne's west along with the millions being invested into the sports entertainment precinct is vital to this idea coming to fruition.

Comparing this idea to Western United is pretty much apples and oranges. The A-League's popularity has dwindled considerably in recent years, much like Super Rugby. At the height of its peak, the old Victory v Heart derby in the A-League drew crowds of 50k+ without any real geographical incentive behind it. Given that WUFC were introduced with two other established teams in the same market at a time when the A-League was in rapid decline (and still is) - and without the stadium - gives us models to learn from. On the other hand, the NRL finds itself growing in popularity which is evident in the 50% growth of rugby league juniors in Victoria. Add that with a growing population and the potential to tap into the large Pasifika demographic out west - as well as the possibility to take regional games to Geelong and Ballarat - there's a lot going for us.
Click to expand...

Thanks mate. Very detailed response

I was intrigued where the growth is in Melbourne considering it has overtaken Sydney in terms of population. It is also good to hear about the growth of the game down there.
 
S

Steel Saints

Juniors
Messages
1,049
Western Melbourne said:
Melbourne's northern suburbs is home to a million people, with growth projected to reach 1.5 million by 2036. They also have the least amount of junior clubs. This is where the western market has the advantange in both population, projected growth and junior numbers. It also just makes the most sense geographically speaking given the west-southeast divide.

A lot of a potential Western Melbourne/VIC bid really comes down to financial backing and the stadium in Tarneit being built. No professional sports team in Melbourne actually plays out of Melbourne's western suburbs. Essendon & WB play their home games in Melbourne's CBD, with the Bulldogs taking the odd regional game to Ballarat. Geelong, while part of the Western corridor market, is much further out from the suburbs. This is why the stadium being built is key to getting this done. The NRL could potentially have a chance to land a huge strike in AFL heartland and bring a team out west that actually plays out west. Its centralized location in the heart of Melbourne's west along with the millions being invested into the sports entertainment precinct is vital to this idea coming to fruition.

Comparing this idea to Western United is pretty much apples and oranges. The A-League's popularity has dwindled considerably in recent years, much like Super Rugby. At the height of its peak, the old Victory v Heart derby in the A-League drew crowds of 50k+ without any real geographical incentive behind it. Given that WUFC were introduced with two other established teams in the same market at a time when the A-League was in rapid decline (and still is) - and without the stadium - gives us models to learn from. On the other hand, the NRL finds itself growing in popularity which is evident in the 50% growth of rugby league juniors in Victoria. Add that with a growing population and the potential to tap into the large Pasifika demographic out west - as well as the possibility to take regional games to Geelong and Ballarat - there's a lot going for us.
Click to expand...
Nice response mate. Good insight. However i am intrigued by this new stadium at Tarneit.

www.austadiums.com

Value capture model to fund Western United stadium

The future home stadium of A-League club Western United will be entirely funded by a concept known as ‘value capture’, with no state or federal funds committed to the project.
www.austadiums.com www.austadiums.com
 
Centy Coast

Centy Coast

Juniors
Messages
1,749
Canard said:
Yes Melbourne with 10 teams (Geelong included) with multiple clubs that average over around 50k a game, isn't much of an AFL centric town.
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100% correct, Melbourne = AFL, Sydney = NRL, Adelaide have two AFL teams yet our Cronulla m8 and self appointed Melbourne expert says Adelaide is the more dominant AFL State over Melbourne who have 10 AFL teams, seriously some dumb comments on here lol
 
Western Melbourne

Western Melbourne

Juniors
Messages
42
Steel Saints said:
Nice response mate. Good insight. However i am intrigued by this new stadium at Tarneit.

www.austadiums.com

Value capture model to fund Western United stadium

The future home stadium of A-League club Western United will be entirely funded by a concept known as ‘value capture’, with no state or federal funds committed to the project.
www.austadiums.com www.austadiums.com
Click to expand...
A positive about this article (being written in 2020) is 'Field 2' being constructed on-time, according to the report:

1683288461151.png
Western United are set to host fixtures there later this year. Good signs in terms of development.
 
S

Steel Saints

Juniors
Messages
1,049
Colk said:
True. But you’d have to do a similar thing to Redcliffe in that case. Play only a couple of games there and play the absolute majority at AAMI.
Click to expand...
If they play majority of the games at AAMI, then it's not going to work. There needs to be a point of difference between the Storm and Melb 2. Unless this stadium at Tarniet can be expanded later on. But anyway, Western Melbourne has a long way to go.
 
C

Colk

First Grade
Messages
6,750
Steel Saints said:
If they play majority of the games at AAMI, then it's not going to work. There needs to be a point of difference between the Storm and Melb 2. Unless this stadium at Tarniet can be expanded later on. But anyway, Western Melbourne has a long way to go.
Click to expand...

Agreed. It’s maybe a choice for the 20th team. We should be looking at a Perth and second NZ side first.
 
Centy Coast

Centy Coast

Juniors
Messages
1,749
Western Melbourne said:
A positive about this article (being written in 2020) is 'Field 2' being constructed on-time, according to the report:

View attachment 73744
Western United are set to host fixtures there later this year. Good signs in terms of development.
Click to expand...
On time for what ?, 2045 ?, Melbourne 2 will not happen for years and years. Absolutely dreaming. St Helens will play in the NRL before Melb 2
 
Western Melbourne

Western Melbourne

Juniors
Messages
42
Centy Coast said:
On time for what ?, 2045 ?, Melbourne 2 will not happen for years and years. Absolutely dreaming. St Helens will play in the NRL before Melb 2
Click to expand...
On time for later this year, as stated. The 5,000-capacity field opening later this year potentially opens up Storm trial games to be played there in the near future and perhaps get a gauge on what interest could like for a future NRL team. Being out west and staying in touch with the grassroots scene in Victoria, I'm more than 100% convinced a Storm trial at 'Field 2' would sell out easily. You also have to understand the demographic among a whole lot of other factors.

From an outsider's perspective, I understand why people would not even give us a second thought and look at us as a viable option. However once you do your due dilligence and analyze the data, look at the facts and compare us to other major cities in expansion talks given the standards of criteria like market size, junior numbers and grassroots participation, logistics, TV household #, along with other factors like average median household income, infrastructure, projected growth of populations etc we definitely tick a lot of boxes the NRL would be looking at. There are pros (and cons) of any expansion team, however I believe the pro's are definitely in our favour. Maybe more than what some may think.

Of course we want the game to expand nationally, but you have to look into every option and analyze how practical it is. For example, many fans favour the idea of a PNG team or a Cairns-based Pasifika team. On paper, it sounds great. When you look at it from the NRL's perspective taking said criteria above into consideration, it's perhaps more detrimental than beneficial. Perth for example definitely deserves an NRL team, but Perth has its disadvantages too. It's not a knock on them, but take into account the lack of 'marquee' signings a legendary coach like Wayne Bennett couldn't even bring to the Dolphins in QLD, a rugby league heartland. The same can be said for NZ2 also, but you can argue that NZ2 would have a much bigger talent pool given their league and union numbers. Then you add the logistics of travel and distance i.e. 3-6 hour flights to and from NSW, QLD, NZ etc. You could have a 8pm game in Perth which would be 10pm AEST; 12am NZT. Now imagine if you add NZ2 to the mix along with a Perth team. Sounds good to us. All sorts of financial and logistical dilemmas for the NRL.

This, along with all the other reasons aforementioned in this thread, highlights why I definitely believe Melb2 is at least worth considering. I'm not here to sh*t on other expansion cities and take the piss. There are serious grounds for considering a 2nd Victorian NRL team, even if PVL was only using us for PR ammo lol.
 
Perth Red

Perth Red

Post Whore
Messages
69,520
Why is this even being discussed? pistol Pete threw out some click bait to try and take a bot of media away from afls genuine expansion. Melbourne2 isnt happening.
 
greenBV4

greenBV4

Bench
Messages
2,510
Centy Coast said:
100% correct, Melbourne = AFL, Sydney = NRL, Adelaide have two AFL teams yet our Cronulla m8 and self appointed Melbourne expert says Adelaide is the more dominant AFL State over Melbourne who have 10 AFL teams, seriously some dumb comments on here lol
Click to expand...
He's not wrong though, in my experience as well AFL fans in Melbourne are more likely to watch and even follow other sports than those in Adelaide, its got nothing to do with how many clubs there are
 
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