Where could/should/will the NRL be in 10 years time?

[jim_57]

I think you're pretty much on the mark there.

Perth & NZ 2 are probably the next two teams in (in either order) - the Dolphins need a chance to "bed in", and the Broncos & Titans (and News Ltd!) will be very reluctant to admit a SE-Qld club that may step on their toes.

That brings us to 19 teams - and that 20th spot could well be West-Brisbane, with Adelaide as a relocation.... BUT the two unknowns are...

a) will relocation ever happen? (I have strong doubts) and
b) will the incumbent SE-Qld clubs & News Ltd resistance to SE-Qld expansion teams in that western corridor endure?

In that case, I can easily see the next 3 expansion clubs being Perth, NZ, Adelaide - or (more likely) NZ, Perth, Adelaide.

Strong chance relocation won’t happen so long as the grant is more than the salary cap. If the NRL got to their desired maximum number of teams - which I think would be 20 at most - they can always offer very large financial incentives for a club to move to Adelaide or wherever is left. May not get any bites but money talks, either that or get tough and enforce certain criteria and if clubs fall behind they can leave or relocate.

There may be resistance to another SEQ team any time in the next 20 years, hard to say. Different people and agendas will come and go several times before then.

 

[Loose Cannon]

Three more clubs from “The” should do the trick. Really shore up all the markets.

 

[flippikat]

Three more clubs from “The” should do the trick. Really shore up all the markets.

The Moa (New Zealand 2, extinct giant flightless bird)
The Sand (WA, logo is a big sandcastle, Knights rivalry guaranteed!)
The The (SA, logo is a big THE)

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

Strong chance relocation won’t happen so long as the grant is more than the salary cap. If the NRL got to their desired maximum number of teams - which I think would be 20 at most - they can always offer very large financial incentives for a club to move to Adelaide or wherever is left. May not get any bites but money talks, either that or get tough and enforce certain criteria and if clubs fall behind they can leave or relocate.

There may be resistance to another SEQ team any time in the next 20 years, hard to say. Different people and agendas will come and go several times before then.

Any chance of Easts Tigers relocating the "Brisbane Firehawks" bid to Perth as "The Firehawks"?

It would give Perth a team and have a strong Leagues Club in Coorparoo to fund the team. The West Coast Pirates won't have this due to WA legislation prohibiting pokies.

 

[The Great Dane]

Haha, how long have we been saying that? Of course NRL has massive potential but the reality is the revenue gap has been widening year on year since the ARLC took over, not shortening. The game has no strategy for growth and wont invest the money it now has in it so how exactly is it going to overtake AFL to become the countries #1 football code? AFL have got a very easy ride as we are not challenging them anywhere except in our own backyard which is exactly where they want us to be.

Things might have been different if the ARLC was actually independent, then it might have been capable of acting exclusively in the sports best interests, but it was almost instantly subverted and has been subject to the same agenda driven nonsense that RL has always suffered from.

 

[Pippen94]

Things might have been different if the ARLC was actually independent, then it might have been capable of acting exclusively in the sports best interests, but it was almost instantly subverted and has been subject to the same agenda driven nonsense that RL has always suffered from.

Sucks when you have to engage with different stakeholders, clubs, fan bases, broadcasters, traditions & everything which goes into underpinning the game's success. Things would out better when you just rule lines through things ala John Ribot.

 

[MugaB]

Sucks when you have to engage with different stakeholders, clubs, fan bases, broadcasters, traditions & everything which goes into underpinning the game's success. Things would out better when you just rule lines through things ala John Ribot.

It's must be easier to whinge about everything

 

[Ck9]

hopefully we get a second team in brisbane next

 

[Perth Red]

hopefully we get a second team in brisbane next

Why? We don’t know if this one will be successful yet!

 

[MugaB]

Why? We don’t know if this one will be successful yet!

I think that was a joke, he meant IN brisbane not 40 mins north of it

 

[Perth Red]

I think that was a joke, he meant IN brisbane not 40 mins north of it

Haha whoosh missed that

 

[xe_kilroy]

Sorry to harp on, but ...

Reduce Sydney teams by moving them to Wollongong, Campbelltown, Gosford, Perth, Adelaide.....those relocated will be stronger for it owning a region and those who stayed in Sydney will be stronger having less competition.

Side-benefit...you get a true national comp without creating more licenses.

 

[Pippen94]

Sorry to harp on, but ...

Reduce Sydney teams by moving them to Wollongong, Campbelltown, Gosford, Perth, Adelaide.....those relocated will be stronger for it owning a region and those who stayed in Sydney will be stronger having less competition.

Side-benefit...you get a true national comp without creating more licenses.

There's more sponsorship & commercial opportunity in Sydney than Wollongong or Central Coast even if ur one of 9 teams

 

[MugaB]

There's more sponsorship & commercial opportunity in Sydney than Wollongong or Central Coast even if ur one of 9 teams

No one said that the team must permanently relocate the 12 games there, dragons in Wollongong 6 games a year is sufficient, Manly in gosford 6 games a year could be too, tigers in Campbelltown 6 games a year....etc Perth would have to be a permanent club move, but i would like to the Bears maybe push for that licence, and have a few home trials, maybe a token sydney away game at NSO or a few depending on who they are playing... manly/roosters/souffs
As for Adelaide only the roosters can make that work, the SFS woud already have the bunnies as a tenant, although either of them could move to SA, but with the roosters there wont be fans walk tge streets like there was when souffs and the rest were merged/culled

 

[Perth Red]

Sorry to harp on, but ...

Reduce Sydney teams by moving them to Wollongong, Campbelltown, Gosford, Perth, Adelaide.....those relocated will be stronger for it owning a region and those who stayed in Sydney will be stronger having less competition.

Side-benefit...you get a true national comp without creating more licenses.

The nrl can’t just move clubs! It has zero power to do that other than not renew licenses but that would cause another civil war.

 

[MugaB]

The nrl can’t just move clubs! It has zero power to do that other than not renew licenses but that would cause another civil war.

I think he might mean the clubs picking up and being incentivised to do it on their own valition...

......BHAWAHAHA HGAHAHA!!!!
WHO ARE WE KIDDING,
they wouldn't do shit on their own

 

[xe_kilroy]

Yeah i meant the league offering money and extra financial and junior recruitment support and such, if they relocate. Push not shove

 

[MugaB]

Yeah i meant the league offering money and extra financial and junior recruitment support and such, if they relocate. Push not shove

You need to litterally crane the fatman out of the 3rd story window.. for anything remotely close to that happening

 

[jim_57]

Yeah i meant the league offering money and extra financial and junior recruitment support and such, if they relocate. Push not shove

I agree, although it would have to be huge amounts of money to get a club to relocate even if they were on death’s door.

The NRL could act now and put up something like (total guess) a $40million “bounty” on Perth, Adelaide and Christchurch/Wellington. Pay $20m up front then an extra $2m on top of the grant for 10 years. Most likely none would take it but at least it’s on the table.

Likewise they could offer an incentive if any club really wanted to make somewhere like Central Coast their own by taking 4-6 games there annually. Or offer something like $10-15m for a full relocation since it’s a bit easier than Perth/Adelaide/NZ.

 

[xe_kilroy]

Four teams (six if you count the Bears, Eagles) took a $10m incentive to merge....which imo is far worse than a relocation. Something like that offer above might crane the fatman out