Whom could have predicted this?

[baselinepanther]

It's tricky for the NRL to "engineer" a competitive expansion team from day 1, as they have less levers to pull than (say) AFL... and that's a real risk.

The Storm are an anomaly & are the only team that have proven its possible without interference to be successful ( not withstanding salary cap breaches) , we've only had 2 expansion teams since 1998 , the other team , the Titans have struggled . So no doubt you're right but the last thing we need to do is engineer success in our comp like the AFL . That comps fans are too stupid to question measures that bring into question the entire integrity of the comp.

 

[AdelaideSharky]

The Storm are an anomaly & are the only team that have proven its possible with interference to be successful ( not withstanding salary cap breaches) , we've only had 2 expansion teams since 1998 , the other team , the Titans have struggled . So no doubt you're right but the last thing we need to do is engineer success in our comp like the AFL . That comps fans are too stupid to question measures that bring into question the entire integrity of the comp.

The Storm were lucky the Western Reds & Hunter Mariners disappeared at the end of the previous season as most of their squad that won the comp in 1999 came from those two clubs.

 

[baselinepanther]

The Storm were lucky the Western Reds & Hunter Mariners disappeared at the end of the previous season as most of their squad that won the comp in 1999 came from those two clubs.

yea thats right , it was a series in hindsight of very fortunate events that culminated in a strongish outfit that ended up playing way above their weight & that has continued for 24 years

 

[AdelaideSharky]

yea thats right , it was a series in hindsight of very fortunate events that culminated in a strongish outfit that ended up playing way above their weight & that has continued for 24 years

Being bankrolled by Rupert's billions certainly helped in that sense.

 

[Colk]

I get that people might accuse things of being rigged but in order to come to that conclusion you have to believe that everybody has the same opportunity. Surely a club with no history is at a disadvantage compared to must clubs.

I am not necessarily against the salary cap but it does need to be tweaked in order to facilitate the division of talent necessary for more sides, most particularly spine players

 

[baselinepanther]

Being bankrolled by Rupert's billions certainly helped in that sense.

Eh , not so sure... they have turned no bodies into somebodies throughout that 24 years , I can't remember them ever pinching anyone else's marquee talent
Maybe they held onto talent they weren't entitled to in 2007-2009 by rorting the cap , but they developed those players anyway. News corp owning them doesn't change the fact they rarely get it wrong with their recruitment

 

[Perth Red]

The Storm are an anomaly & are the only team that have proven its possible without interference to be successful ( not withstanding salary cap breaches) , we've only had 2 expansion teams since 1998 , the other team , the Titans have struggled . So no doubt you're right but the last thing we need to do is engineer success in our comp like the AFL . That comps fans are too stupid to question measures that bring into question the entire integrity of the comp.

It would be a great opportunity to bring new talent Into the nrl without weakening the existing teams but the socialist approach of the nrl has once again missed the boat. Should have given them a $1million extra salary cap allowance for at lest 3 years to sign any player outside the current nrl or Australian second tier clubs. We could have seen all sorts of union and overseas talent joining the nrl and making expansion even more Interesting.

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

yep, thats what i'm referring to. It undermines the integrity of the comp which should never ever be done. Imagine if the Storm were receiving a COLA payment for the past 20 years with their success? NRL fans would be protesting outside of NRL hq. The AFL is lucky they have such a compliant media and brainwashed masses of fans.

News Ltd and ARLC invested an extra $90m or more into the Storm between 1998 and 2018. The Storm were handed a quality roster from the death of the Mariners, Reds and Crushers after the 1997 season. SEQ was limited to just the Broncos until 2007, which allowed Storm to plunder the best juniors from the region.

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

I get that people might accuse things of being rigged but in order to come to that conclusion you have to believe that everybody has the same opportunity. Surely a club with no history is at a disadvantage compared to must clubs.

I am not necessarily against the salary cap but it does need to be tweaked in order to facilitate the division of talent necessary for more sides, most particularly spine players

If we're going to have nine teams in Sydney then we need to look at giving all non-Sydney clubs an extra $1m to recruit talent. Players will accept less money to play for a strong Sydney club because it gives them the advantage of not having to catch a plane every week. A person playing for a Sydney club is in a better position to recuperate from injuries as they spend less time travelling. This would have a huge impact on older players.

 

[Perth Red]

If we're going to have nine teams in Sydney then we need to look at giving all non-Sydney clubs an extra $1m to recruit talent. Players will accept less money to play for a strong Sydney club because it gives them the advantage of not having to catch a plane every week. A person playing for a Sydney club is in a better position to recuperate from injuries as they spend less time travelling. This would have a huge impact on older players. a on,y ine Sydney club has been realy consistently good in the last decade,

and yet only one Sydney club has been realy consistently good in the last decade, for all their advantages most Sydney clubs have been pretty avg with just the sporadic success.

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

and yet only one Sydney club has been realy consistently good in the last decade, for all their advantages most Sydney clubs have been pretty avg with just the sporadic success.

All nine can't be good at the same time. Roosters have no trouble acquiring the game's best players without breaking the bank. They're also located in Australia's most sought after real estate.

 

[Colk]

and yet only one Sydney club has been realy consistently good in the last decade, for all their advantages most Sydney clubs have been pretty avg with just the sporadic success.

I would add the Rabbitohs to that list tbf. They might have won only one competition but they have made like six or seven preliminary finals in a row

 

[Colk]

Again though they are also close to the CBD and to the eastern suburbs and like the Roosters have a habit of acquiring high echelon players.

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

I would add the Rabbitohs to that list tbf. They might have won only one competition but they have made like six or seven preliminary finals in a row

The divide is probably going to get bigger.

Manly does alright in its affluent location.

 

[flippikat]

I get that people might accuse things of being rigged but in order to come to that conclusion you have to believe that everybody has the same opportunity. Surely a club with no history is at a disadvantage compared to must clubs.

I am not necessarily against the salary cap but it does need to be tweaked in order to facilitate the division of talent necessary for more sides, most particularly spine players

You mean a ratio or points loading so spine positions count more towards a salary/points cap? Interesting...

 

[AdelaideSharky]

Again though they are also close to the CBD and to the eastern suburbs and like the Roosters have a habit of acquiring high echelon players.

In fairness to Souths, unlike Easts the Rabbitohs do produce a lot of their own junior talent.

A large proportion of their squad in the last decade has been primarily home grown.

 

[Colk]

In fairness to Souths, unlike Easts the Rabbitohs do produce a lot of their own junior talent.

A large proportion of their squad in the last decade has been primarily home grown.

Totally agree unlike the Roosters their best players are not always purchased from other sides. They have purchased some big ones over the last decade or so (Inglis/Burgess/Mitchell) but they have also got a lot of blokes they have developed or outcasts from other clubs etc.

 

[Colk]

You mean a ratio or points loading so spine positions count more towards a salary/points cap? Interesting...

That’s one idea. A points system is impossible to cheat and is totally transparent. Problem is potentially how frequent the player movement is and whether it would affect rep honours. I’m interested to see how it works in the NRLW

The other option is to ban third party agreements (allow jersey sales - I’m a fan of player names on jerseys) and allow one or two players to be marquee with half of their salary to be paid by the NRL. In order for it to be activated the club would have to nominate the player and they have to be paid at least $1 million. If they are developed, the NRL portion is not counted or some other discount is applied. If they are purchased directly from another club whilst they are nominated by that club, then the whole amount counts. If they aren’t nominated, then 75% counts. Either that or you could do variations, one max contract (see above) and two other developed players (not max) quarantined (maybe a forward or a back) as well for example, so a club who purchased them would have to pay a development fee on top and that fee counts to the cap)

Under this system, you’ll have developed star players staying with the one club for their whole career which helps build a brand (so Nathan Cleary at the Panthers, Tedesco at the Tigers etc) and invariably you’ll have at least one very good spine players playing at each club which builds better quality across the comp.


The latter point is important as that is the biggest problem or argument against expansion and player depth. Watching the trials there are plenty of good athletic backs or forwards (or at least potentially so) underneath first grade but it’s the division of very good spine players which is the problem. If I went through the comp you have the Roosters with 4 (Manu being an excellent fullback) Storm with 5 (Smith playing lock), Parra with 3 (not counting Dylan Brown as excellent), Penrith with 3 etc whereas on the other end of the scale you have the Tigers at 0 (maybe Adam Douhei potentially), Cowboys at 0 (Drinkwater and Robson have some potential) Knights at 1 etc.

 

[The Great Dane]

The Dolphin is a strong brand & may end up being one of the strongest in Australian sport , It would have been utterly insane to call themselves anything else.

'Dolphins' isn't the sum and parts of the brand, and no matter how much some may wish to pretend otherwise it's impossible to separate it from the other facets of the Redcliffe Dolphins brand. Which, BTW, is why people are arguing over the geographical name at all.

Also, this mythologizing that Dolphins is some irreplaceable brand that holds universal appeal is absolute nonsense. They could have adopted any number of aquatic/semi-aquatic animals of similar cultural and regional relevance for their NRL side (if that's the route they chose to go) and it would have worked fine. Dugongs, whales, sea lions, turtles, rays, octopus, etc, etc, the list is honestly endless.

 

[baselinepanther]

'Dolphins' isn't the sum and parts of the brand, and no matter how much some may wish to pretend otherwise it's impossible to separate it from the other facets of the Redcliffe Dolphins brand. Which, BTW, is why people are arguing over the geographical name at all.

Also, this mythologizing that Dolphins is some irreplaceable brand that holds universal appeal is absolute nonsense. They could have adopted any number of aquatic/semi-aquatic animals of similar cultural and regional relevance for their NRL side (if that's the route they chose to go) and it would have worked fine. Dugongs, whales, sea lions, turtles, rays, octopus, etc, etc, the list is honestly endless.

Yea

the Brisbane dugongs ...

You're an idiot