What was the reason...

[Everlovin' Antichrist]

I go to the gym next to the AFL ground there spasmodically when visiting family. I have not seen a single game played there though assumed it was well used.

Very happy to hear League reigns supreme there.

It's pretty confusing why they keep hanging in there TBH.

I know there's a ground in Campbelltown itself, next to the bridge that leads to Macarthur Square and ditto as above, can't recall seeing game there for years. Baseball/Softball in the summer and it seems to be used frequently for that.

The Swans and the Magpies killed AFL in the area. Before the Swans and Magpies there was reasonable interest. Not enough to fill a decent ground but it was much better for AFL than it i now.

The joke is that there are AFL fans who believe that Campbelltown is a AFL mad area.

Seriously.

 

[Newcastlerabbit]

I spoke to an official at Parramatta a few years ago, and he mentioned that a merge between Penrith and Parra back then was so close to fruition it's not funny.

From what he told me, Parra officials gave it the green light, as did Penrith officials, but was aborted by the officials at Penrith at the last minute for reasons unknown.

I heard that they were considering the name Penrith-Parramatta Panthers but that's just what I heard.

Being a Panthers fan, I'm glad it didn't transpire (and I really don't mind Parra as well), but what a heck of a team that would have been if it did happen

Alexander, Hindmarsh, Vella, Girdler, Carter, Cayless, Jason Smith, Gower, Dymock, Matt Adamson..............

And what a blight on the game that would have been.This really summed up the war for me.Two clubs that can well and truly hold their own being forced to merge.
Fitzgerald pfffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffft

 

[STSAE]

The Roosters are the only NRL team who's home ground is in the Eastern Suburbs. Soufs should relocate, hell they shouldn't have even been allowed back in.

GOLD.

:lol: :lol:

 

[STSAE]

I go to the gym next to the AFL ground there spasmodically when visiting family. I have not seen a single game played there though assumed it was well used.

Very happy to hear League reigns supreme there.

Youre very good at that.:crazy:

Whats that saying again????

:lol: :lol:

 

[Hanscholo]

Folded is an interesting term. If you mean were victims of the Super League ARL war then you'd be closer to the mark. Remember which company owned which teams and didnt need to have them anymore after the peace deal....

 

[Slackboy72]

There just wasn't enough playing talent for twenty teams either. It was noticable how the quality of the competition did ramp up once all the 'franchise' teams (teams propped up in the name of expansion without juniors or a rugby league culture to support them) folded and their best had to find new homes in the 14 teams left behind.

We still need to get rid of one team in sydney and add one or two in Queensland. You can really see the dearth of talent now with the stocks of decent halfbacks and 5/8s in NSW. The fact is Mitchell Pearce, Tim Smith and Jamie Soward are realistic chances of making the NSW squad in my opinion and that says a lot about the talent and how thin it is spread. Some may say the competition is good as it is but you can't say that the standard of play has increased. With expansion and ESL stealing players it has quite naturally declined (not to late 90's standards though thankfully).

Just for the record I believe we should have no more than 6 teams in Sydney, no less than 5 in Queensland and maybe 2 in regional NSW. Add the warriors and you have 14 teams again. It'll never happen though.

 

[Perth Red]

And thank god it won't slackboy! having RL played in just two states will really get us the media deals we need to become the countries No1 sport!

I think there is more than enough talent as long as we A) stop it going elsewhere and B) Make sure any expansion area has the infrastructure and resources to generate its own players.

 

[Slackboy72]

Sorry PR but until we get the money in the game that approaches anywhere near what the AFL gets we can't afford to expand into non-league territories. Queensland is league heartland. WA is not. Queensland produces more talent than you can shake a stick at. WA has produced who? Houldsworth?

 

[joel caine number 1 fan]

the nrl wanted less teams so balmain had no choice but too merge or eventually be kicked out

it seemed that most the sydney arl clubs were the ones who had too suffer the most while the sl sydney clubs all stayed


but anyways it over now theres nothing we can do about it

 

[LeagueXIII]

Sorry PR but until we get the money in the game that approaches anywhere near what the AFL gets we can't afford to expand into non-league territories. Queensland is league heartland. WA is not. Queensland produces more talent than you can shake a stick at. WA has produced who? Houldsworth?

That's the thing, the money IS there, however it is the fact we are held back by self interest.

 

[bobmar28]

What decreasing population? There are more people living there now than there was 20 years ago.

The decreasing population of working class league fans.

 

[Canard]

And to think if the ARL clubs hadn't entered into that peace "treaty" with Sewerleague late in '97 and gone on just one more year as a stand alone comp, News. would have f**ked off and never been heard from again!

Can you explain why you believe that?

 

[East Coast Tiger]

There was talk (after the deal was done mind you) that if SL had been forced to go it alone for another year Murdoch would have pulled the pin because it was costing too much. Impossible to know if that was true but it seems the ARL was in a stronger position yet got the arse end of the deal.

 

[Slackboy72]

That's the thing, the money IS there, however it is the fact we are held back by self interest.

I'm not sure you know how much money the NRL gets. The deal struck in 2006 was $500m over six years (roughly $83m per year). This is a bit poor compared to AFLs $780m over five years ($156m per year).

Now clubs get roughly $3m each (compared to the AFLs $5.7m each) which when taken out of that $83m leaves $35m. This $35m is of course spent on representative fixtures, television and print advertising, salaries (those refs and officials don't come free) and disbursements to News Ltd and the ARL. The ARL then spend what they get on salries etc. as well as junior development in rural NSW and QLD. The rural competitions not assisted by NRL clubs have been screaming out for years now for more money.

Now it costs each team around $10m to run an NRL team each year. For a WA team that cost will be exacerbated by the tyranny of distance. So on top of the cut of 9% you want to make to the NRLs operating budget and subsequently the ARL budget you still need at least $7m per year to prop up a team in an AFL dominated market. Now you already have the Western Force propped up by the South African expat community and the Perth Glory propped up by the UK expat community. Without support from News ltd like you had before and which the Storm rely on now, where is the money going to come from?

 

[NthKnight]

The one I never understood was St George's choice to merge. Surely they could have survived? They may have saved first class football going extinct in Wollongong but for that they sacrificed the continuing of probably the proudest club history in rugby league.

Whats really changed for St George? So they play 5 games a year at WIN statdium but they still wear the red V, still carry the St George name and emblem (be it with Illawarra tacked on) all with the added advantage of having the Illawarra breeding ground as a junior base much like they did before the Steelers came into the comp anyway. The NRL could not afford to lose such an important area as Wollongong/NSW south coast and the Dragons were the perfect fit regarding the similar team colours and relationship with the areas juniors.

 

[Slackboy72]

St George has always had a long relationship with the Illawarra and the area was once considered a defacto part of St George's district. This was one of the reasons for fasttracking cronulla into the competition (to stop our near monopoly on the Illawarra juniors). So the fact that we bankroll football in the Illawarra in exchange for access to one of the best nurseries in the country is quite a reasonable proposition. This is why we protested merging with the rorters but nary anyone felt like complaining when the St George Illawarra merge was proposed. The area is a part of St George's history and now it has it's officially recognised on and off the field. The real boon will be ten years down the track when all the juniors coming through will all want to play for the Dragons first and foremost the same way nearly all the juniors in SE Qld dream of playing for the Broncos.

 

[LeagueXIII]

I'm not sure you know how much money the NRL gets.

No I was aware how much money the game gets, what I was referring to was the fact that the game is not independent so is NOT getting what it should be eg. the NRL refused 7's offer even though it was for considerably more.

The game should be getting alot more money, which could help clubs, but there is too much of "I'm right Jack,stuff you" attitude was is detrimental to the games growth. There is no plan to how we can generate more money and grow the game, these are the REAL issues of the game. What ever ground we have made in the last 10 years is ground we already had gained pre 1995, so it's no big deal.

The AFL is miles ahead of us when it comes to maximising their revenue potential, anyone who laughs at them is kidding themselves.

 

[Perth Red]

Point is slackboy the game will never HAVE the money if it continues to be perceived as a sport that only Brisbane and Sydney are interested in. Apart from the conflict of interest issue there are other reasons the AFL brings in a hell of alot more money (in sponsors and attendances as well as TV)

You are right that a WA team will require support and extra funding. I think we can see what doing that for melbourne has done in terms of giving us a hell of a lot stronger bargaining position for TV money now we can add 400,000 Victorians in our viewing stats.

 

[LeagueXIII]

will never HAVE the money if it continues to be perceived as a sport that only Brisbane and Sydney are interested in

And yet the NRL openly admits it is ONLY concentrating on the east coast.

The fact is if the game was getting what it deserves similar to what AFL does, why would there be any reason to move/merge clubs? We should strengthen our current strongholds and grow our weaker markets eg. Melbourne, Perth etc.

As you can see by this RL is positioned very well, it's just strong leadership we lack:
http://www.freetv.com.au/media/News-Media_Release/2007-0198_MED_PR8_Revenue_figures_Jan-Jun_07.pdf

 

[backwards]

And yet the NRL openly admits it is ONLY concentrating on the east coast.

The fact is if the game was getting what it deserves similar to what AFL does, why would there be any reason to move/merge clubs? We should strengthen our current strongholds and grow our weaker markets eg. Melbourne, Perth etc.

As you can see by this RL is positioned very well, it's just strong leadership we lack:
http://www.freetv.com.au/media/News-Media_Release/2007-0198_MED_PR8_Revenue_figures_Jan-Jun_07.pdf

The NewsRL need to re-coup all their investment in StoopidLeague.

Then I guess they will merge with Yawnion.:crazy:

Funny how the clubs they OWN have carved up recently???

:lol: :lol: