what's the number one thing you want the IC to do?

[Lockyer4President!]

Merging clubs will not happen.

If one particular club is struggling financially and the NRL have exhausted all options then I can see a lure of cash to start up a franchise else where.

Adelaide Sharks
Christchurch Sharks

I would love to see a second NZ team. Adelaide is probably another 10-15 years away.

We had an Adelaide team 10-15 years ago and they had more season ticket holders in their initial season than most current clubs have now.

 

[BunniesMan]

We had an Adelaide team 10-15 years ago and they had more season ticket holders in their initial season than most current clubs have now.

And culling them was one of the many stupid decisions we made in the 2nd half of the 90s. Imagine if we kept going with Perth and Adelaide. Those teams would be around for more than a decade now with strong support built up over the years and we'd be a truly national comp.

 

[Eels Dude]

And culling them was one of the many stupid decisions we made in the 2nd half of the 90s. Imagine if we kept going with Perth and Adelaide. Those teams would be around for more than a decade now with strong support built up over the years and we'd be a truly national comp.

You can only blame News Ltd for that... and they'll be the ones with no say once the IC is up and running.

 

[beave]

both sides of the war had to drop teams when the comp reunited, a 22 team comp was never going to fly for very long..... unfortunately adelaide and perth aren't rugby league heartlands and were always going to be faced with getting the chop over teams like mine that come from league strongholds. Who would you people suggest they dropped at the time of reunification instead of adelaide and perth???????????????

 

[BunniesMan]

both sides of the war had to drop teams when the comp reunited, a 22 team comp was never going to fly for very long..... unfortunately adelaide and perth aren't rugby league heartlands and were always going to be faced with getting the chop over teams like mine that come from league strongholds. Who would you people suggest they dropped at the time of reunification instead of adelaide and perth???????????????

Firstly going all the way down to 14 was overkill IMO. It should have been 16-18. And New Zealand should have gone instead of both Adelaide and Perth. One of the criteria was off field stability, the very next year they went bankrupt.

 

[jc155776]

We should just kick Soufs out again.

Good times.

 

[LESStar58]

besides a proper tv deal?

Replace Gallop. He's still got too many ties to his old mates at News. The independent commission will be a joke if anyone with glaring allegiance to either News or the ARL is made CEO.

I personally would love to see them go after an ex-commisioner of the NFL.

 

[LESStar58]

Firstly going all the way down to 14 was overkill IMO. It should have been 16-18. And New Zealand should have gone instead of both Adelaide and Perth. One of the criteria was off field stability, the very next year they went bankrupt.

Well if the court case to get Souths reinstated was anything to go by the criteria was flawed to begin with...

 

[Eels Dude]

Replace Gallop. He's still got too many ties to his old mates at News. The independent commission will be a joke if anyone with glaring allegiance to either News or the ARL is made CEO.

I personally would love to see them go after an ex-commisioner of the NFL.

Gallop has his ties, but he'd be better than an American who knows nothing about rugby league or Australian culture.

 

[Phil McGrawhan]

I like the idea that was put forward by someone a while ago ..
That each club can sign one player (not already a NRL player)from second tier international countries such as PNG,Wales,France,Pacific islands,etc,& is not included in the salary cap for the club...
It would help the international game immensely.

 

[Eels Dude]

I like the idea that was put forward by someone a while ago ..
That each club can sign one player (not already a NRL player)from second tier international countries such as PNG,Wales,France,Pacific islands,etc,& is not included in the salary cap for the club...
It would help the international game immensely.

That's all well and good in theory. But how many players from PNG, Wales, and France would actually be worth pursuing by NRL clubs? I'd say a grand total of zero, and even if there were a few that were they'd command minimum wage at best so hardly a an incentive for clubs to take advantage of if they're not included in the cap.

 

[Lambretta]

Souths support will shrink,wtf :shock::crazy:

That's not what I said. I said in their geographical area (which isn't growing) there has been a culture shift away from the working class towards a more middle class. In fact many residents of the South Sydney traditional area are paper millionaires based on their property assets. Alexandria, Maroubra, Rosebery, Kensington & Kingsford - even Surry Hills and Darlinghurst have seen a shift in the type of people living there in the past 20 years. Heck, even staunchly working class areas such as Botany and Mascot have seen vast changes in the last 20 years.

Souths can't cling to that battler, underdog mantra and expect to gain new fans and I think that Peter Holmes and Russell are well aware of that. They will need to work hard to gain new supporters as their traditional supporter base which has always been relied on is changing and will continue to change.

Souths, like Easts before them will find their supporter base spread further and further apart.

 

[BunniesMan]

That's not what I said. I said in their geographical area (which isn't growing) there has been a culture shift away from the working class towards a more middle class. In fact many residents of the South Sydney traditional area are paper millionaires based on their property assets. Alexandria, Maroubra, Rosebery, Kensington & Kingsford - even Surry Hills and Darlinghurst have seen a shift in the type of people living there in the past 20 years. Heck, even staunchly working class areas such as Botany and Mascot have seen vast changes in the last 20 years.

Souths can't cling to that battler, underdog mantra and expect to gain new fans and I think that Peter Holmes and Russell are well aware of that. They will need to work hard to gain new supporters as their traditional supporter base which has always been relied on is changing and will continue to change.

Souths, like Easts before them will find their supporter base spread further and further apart.

Membership numbers and crowd numbers say your full of sh*t. "Heartlands" don't mean as much any more, good teams have fans from all over. Look at the Panthers, by your logic they'd be an empire with that massive (and growing) territory but they have sh*t crowd and membership numbers. I'd say there's just as many Souths fans west of Parramatta as there are Panthers members.

If you think our paying fans are limited to what's known as our heartland, you're an idiot.

 

[Perth Red]

re OP, give us a team!

 

[Jason Maher]

Bring back the Bears and the Reds.

 

[NGR]

I like the idea that was put forward by someone a while ago ..
That each club can sign one player (not already a NRL player)from second tier international countries such as PNG,Wales,France,Pacific islands,etc,& is not included in the salary cap for the club...
It would help the international game immensely.

I think it would work better if the NRL allowed every club to buy a Rugby Union player from anywhere in the world with a total salary cap exemption. And possibly give every club say $1mil a year to do so...

Could you imagine the press in those rugby countries about dan carter, the caveman, johny wilkinson etc playing for NRL clubs..

 

[Perth Red]

I think it would work better if the NRL allowed every club to buy a Rugby Union player from anywhere in the world with a total salary cap exemption. And possibly give every club say $1mil a year to do so...

Could you imagine the press in those rugby countries about dan carter, the caveman, johny wilkinson etc playing for NRL clubs..

I am pretty sure the Ru friendly press would either
A) ignore it totally
B) Spin a story about how RL is dying and needs to rely on RU to survive
c) Talk about wasted talented in the "simple" game of RL

We'd be better off giving the press $1million to print nice stories about us!

 

[Lambretta]

Membership numbers and crowd numbers say your full of sh*t. "Heartlands" don't mean as much any more, good teams have fans from all over. Look at the Panthers, by your logic they'd be an empire with that massive (and growing) territory but they have sh*t crowd and membership numbers. I'd say there's just as many Souths fans west of Parramatta as there are Panthers members.

If you think our paying fans are limited to what's known as our heartland, you're an idiot.

For that exact reason, the move to ANZ stadium is a good one by Souths. They've probably realised by now, as you have, that Souths fan base is spread far and wide and by playing in the heart / West of Sydney, in League's heartland they're ensuring that as many of their supporters as possible will have as short a distance as possible to get to the games.

Thanks for the name calling though. You've certainly shown yourself up for what you are.

I wasn't having a go at Souths, I was merely pointing out that Souths have started to adapt to the new World and their ownership was doing a good job. Another reason (apart from the fact our fans don't see eye to eye) why they shouldn't merge with Souths. Which I believe IS the same thing you're argueing for.

I was merely pointing out that they need to keep doing a good job to ensure that they're successful in the future and that Memberships don't fall as their traditional heartland has changed.

But feel free to ignore what I'm saying and go back to pointless name calling and chest beating. After all, you're rather very good at that.

 

[CMUX]

I think it would work better if the NRL allowed every club to buy a Rugby Union player from anywhere in the world with a total salary cap exemption. And possibly give every club say $1mil a year to do so...

Could you imagine the press in those rugby countries about dan carter, the caveman, johny wilkinson etc playing for NRL clubs..

You are making a couple of assumptions here:

1. That all clubs would have the money to entice RU players.
2. That RU players would actually want to play league.

 

[NGR]

You are making a couple of assumptions here:

1. That all clubs would have the money to entice RU players.
2. That RU players would actually want to play league.

1: thats why i said the NRL give each club $1mil a year to do it.
2: True, but money talks and people usually listen when it does.