Why expand?

[Lockyer4President!]

Are you telling me that RL isn't losing any ground at all to other sports? Unless the NRL bucks it's ideas up then this will continue

RL is in a golden age atm in Australia. Compare that to Union which, after the failure of the ARC and terrible RUWC, is almost off the radar completely except in Perth where it seems to still be somewhat popular due to the new team hype.

AFL is throwing money around in an effort to solve all of its problems without any luck. The Brisbane and Sydney AFL teams are surviving (Brisbane made a $M loss this year) simply because they are the only AFL teams in markets of 4+ million and 7 million, they've been around for a number of decades and some other reasons I won't get into the details of atm (super league and giant AFL handouts).

A Gold Coast side will be a complete disaster for the AFL, you can put your house on it. The only reason they are going there is because of the Titans success and the A-League will have a team there within a year or two, hardly a good reason for expansion.

Football is growing steadily but I don't see it as a threat to RL as it's played in a different season and it's a non-contact sport. If anything I view its growth as a positive for RL as it means we get more quality rectangular stadiums and facilities and it'll eat away from the AFL juniors in the AFL states, severely weakening the AFL.

If you get most of your info about the game in Oz from forums like this then you've got a skewed view. As Wayne Bennett said, the biggest problem with the game is the negativity (in this case from the fans). We like to bitch and moan a lot so what you read on the net will not necessarily be a true reflection of what's actually happening.

 

[meltiger]

Good point, the answer is no. There must be a way for a merger to work without one club virtually disappearing (Magpies/Steelers). Maybe a new name and colours.

The Tigers are called Wests and wear a black strip as their 'main' jersey. In previous year it has been essentially a black and white jersey with gold trimming as the 'main' jersey.


Western Suburbs have hardly been taken over by the Tigers.


(& no before anyone starts I am not bagging the merger ... i actually like the new home jersey )

 

[The Tank]

Gotta agree. Wests Tigers seem pretty fair and even from the outside looking in. I'm not sure if the fans feel the same way.

BTW, I'd also like to see Illawarra with it's own team again one day. The Saints merger doesn't seem to be fair.

 

[no name]

Gotta agree. Wests Tigers seem pretty fair and even from the outside looking in. I'm not sure if the fans feel the same way.

BTW, I'd also like to see Illawarra with it's own team again one day. The Saints merger doesn't seem to be fair.

Yeah, they just get all the juniors from the wollongong areas and call them 'saints juniors'.
But the steelers did get to keep the socks ;-)

 

[NthKnight]

Yeah, they just get all the juniors from the wollongong areas and call them 'saints juniors'.
But the steelers did get to keep the socks ;-)

LOL Saints have always poached Sth Coast juniors so essentially nothing much has changed. BTW the Saints away jersey is pretty much the old Steelers design and it could be worse, thay could have gone with the proposed merger name of "ST George Illawarra Steel Dragons" :crazy:

 

[no name]

LOL Saints have always poached Sth Coast juniors so essentially nothing much has changed. BTW the Saints away jersey is pretty much the old Steelers design and it could be worse, thay could have gone with the proposed merger name of "ST George Illawarra Steel Dragons" :crazy:

It's not really the steelers jersey. Wear are the white bars on the sleeves? They hardley ever waer the red jerseys anyways

 

[The Tank]

Weren't they whinging about the away jersey this year?

 

[NthKnight]

Weren't they whinging about the away jersey this year?

They being....?

 

[NthKnight]

It's not really the steelers jersey. Wear are the white bars on the sleeves? They hardley ever waer the red jerseys anyways

Prodominantly red with white shorts is pretty close. Besides, how many clubs wear the same design today that they had back in the 90s?

 

[no name]

Prodominantly red with white shorts is pretty close. Besides, how many clubs wear the same design today that they had back in the 90s?

The dragons?

 

[The Tank]

They being....?

Saints. They're supporters I mean.

 

[Perth Red]

RL is in a golden age atm in Australia. Compare that to Union which, after the failure of the ARC and terrible RUWC, is almost off the radar completely except in Perth where it seems to still be somewhat popular due to the new team hype.

AFL is throwing money around in an effort to solve all of its problems without any luck. The Brisbane and Sydney AFL teams are surviving (Brisbane made a $M loss this year) simply because they are the only AFL teams in markets of 4+ million and 7 million, they've been around for a number of decades and some other reasons I won't get into the details of atm (super league and giant AFL handouts).

A Gold Coast side will be a complete disaster for the AFL, you can put your house on it. The only reason they are going there is because of the Titans success and the A-League will have a team there within a year or two, hardly a good reason for expansion.

Football is growing steadily but I don't see it as a threat to RL as it's played in a different season and it's a non-contact sport. If anything I view its growth as a positive for RL as it means we get more quality rectangular stadiums and facilities and it'll eat away from the AFL juniors in the AFL states, severely weakening the AFL.

.

Good post. RL is nearly back to where it was in the late 80's when we were in a position to look at developing the game nationally. What we do need to do though is have a clear plan on how we take ourselves to the next level and become the undisputed No1 sport in the country. We can only do this by A) more teams to get full national coverage B) Growth of the international game C) Ensuring the heartland teams continue to strenghen off the field

Even RU in Perth is waning and the Force reckon they will have 13,000 less members this year than in their first season.

Don't agree with your AFL on the GC though. No way they would throw the sort of money needed to establish a team their just to counteract the Titans. They realised a number of years ago that the greater population coverage (even of it is only "perceived") that a sport has the more it can demand in TV and sponsorship income.

They want the GC team to A) say look at how healthy our sport is as we grow into non AFL areas and B) to be able to say they now cover all the major population centres in the country and C) to try and create some rivallry to rescue the Lions form their downward spiral.

 

[Lockyer4President!]

Don't agree with your AFL on the GC though. No way they would throw the sort of money needed to establish a team their just to counteract the Titans. They realised a number of years ago that the greater population coverage (even of it is only "perceived") that a sport has the more it can demand in TV and sponsorship income.

Before the GC started getting in the news about bringing back an NRL team the AFL did nothing, despite the Southport Sharks (some local team with a load of pokies) applying every year since the mid-ninties for a spot in the AFL. As soon as the NRL started making plans to get a team back on the coast the AFL suddenly scheduled a couple of games a year at Carrara and said they'd look at a GC team in about 2015+. Then the Titans became a raging success and the AFL brought forward the date to 2010 and tried to force an AFL team on the GC unsuccessfully. It's pretty clear that the only reason they started taking notice of the GC is because of the Titans.

They want the GC team to A) say look at how healthy our sport is as we grow into non AFL areas

Isn't that what the Brisbane and Sydney teams are supposed to do? The Lions have barely 15'000 QLD members and are making a loss just a couple of years after winning three successive premierships. How do they expect the GC team to survive?

B) to be able to say they now cover all the major population centres in the country

Biggest 10 cities in Australia. The NRL has teams in 7, the AFL in only 5.

C) to try and create some rivallry to rescue the Lions form their downward spiral.

There has to be an initial interest for there to be a rivalry. Considering the waning interest of the Lions in Brisbane and the sh*tty reception the AFL gets on the Coast I'm amazed that people think adding a GC will suddenly turn around the fortunes of both.

 

[Perth Red]

Fair post but I still cannot see the AFL chucking $50mill at the GC because they are concerned about RL putting a team in its own heartlands.

When you look at the top ten cities the AFL has teams in the top 5 compared to us in only 3. These top 5 happen to be the biggest cities by a long shot. Again comapring the clubs and leagues incomes we are a bus ride behind and ultimately the growth or death of sport nowadays rides on its ability to generate income.

Getting back to the original thread this is why the NRL MUST expand and why they MUST have clear plans for that expansion and be shouting them from the rooftops.

 

[Lockyer4President!]

Fair post but I still cannot see the AFL chucking $50mill at the GC because they are concerned about RL putting a team in its own heartlands.

Honestly I think the whole thing is an ego trip. Vlad has done nothing in his time at the top (tv rights aside, not to downgrade it but it's not something that'll stick in the publics mind like introducing a new team) and I think he wants to leave something behind as his legacy. He could've gone the easy route and moved a 3rd team to Perth (and basically cut off whatever hope the NRL had of putting a team there and severely dented the Farce and Glory) but he seems fixated on QLD and NSW.

When you look at the top ten cities the AFL has teams in the top 5 compared to us in only 3. These top 5 happen to be the biggest cities by a long shot.

On the surface I'd agree but you need to look a bit closer. Of those 5 cities the AFL is in it is only the top sport in 3 (2, 4, 5). Compared to the NRL which is the top sport in 6 out of the 7 cities it's in (1,3,6,7,8,10). Makes the difference a bit more stark imo.

Again comapring the clubs and leagues incomes we are a bus ride behind and ultimately the growth or death of sport nowadays rides on its ability to generate income.

Well hopefully the clubs stick with the membership push and the public latches on. It's one major area that the AFL is way out in front in but with some effort we could catch up quite quickly. There are so many positive effects from a club having a high membership count, it's just insane that we've left the push until now.

Getting back to the original thread this is why the NRL MUST expand and why they MUST have clear plans for that expansion and be shouting them from the rooftops.

I dunno about shouting it from the rooftops I'd settle for a nice press release sometime next year, saying that the SARL are entering a team in the JBC in 2009. I'm not holding my breath however.

 

[bobmar28]

Before the GC started getting in the news about bringing back an NRL team the AFL did nothing, despite the Southport Sharks (some local team with a load of pokies) applying every year since the mid-ninties for a spot in the AFL. As soon as the NRL started making plans to get a team back on the coast the AFL suddenly scheduled a couple of games a year at Carrara and said they'd look at a GC team in about 2015+. Then the Titans became a raging success and the AFL brought forward the date to 2010 and tried to force an AFL team on the GC unsuccessfully. It's pretty clear that the only reason they started taking notice of the GC is because of the Titans.

Isn't that what the Brisbane and Sydney teams are supposed to do? The Lions have barely 15'000 QLD members and are making a loss just a couple of years after winning three successive premierships. How do they expect the GC team to survive?

Biggest 10 cities in Australia. The NRL has teams in 7, the AFL in only 5.

There has to be an initial interest for there to be a rivalry. Considering the waning interest of the Lions in Brisbane and the sh*tty reception the AFL gets on the Coast I'm amazed that people think adding a GC will suddenly turn around the fortunes of both.

I clicked on your link and it shows the Sunshine Coast is the ninth city in Australia. Maybe they should be next for a franchise as well as Perth.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

I clicked on your link and it shows the Sunshine Coast is the ninth city in Australia. Maybe they should be next for a franchise as well as Perth.

I think the notion that the Sunny Coast is an option for an NRL club is a bit premature. The area might have a big population and it's growing rapidly but it's fairly spread out and has no major base like Gosford is for the Central Coast and no major stadium facilities. I think the Sunny Coast is maybe where the God Coast was at when it first came into the comp and it didn't really work for them. Maybe in 10 or 15 years time that region will be ripe for an NRL side but surely it is well behind the likes of Perth at present. Realistically a second Brisbane/SE Qld team is more likely and one that adopts the areas immediately north of Brisbane might be just as good as having a team based on the Sunny Coast for now.

 

[Lockyer4President!]

The Sunny Coast is in line for a QLD Cup spot within the next couple of years, they've just got a few $million to upgrade the main stadium up there and have announced a new partnership with Manly too. I'd guess that an NRL side is about a decade or more away like ECT said.

 

[shaggy]

if the panthers/eels merged then they would have the strongest junior system

the steelers/dragons merger is a takeover: st george bank has the naming rights so the team is offically the st george bank st george illawarra dragons, now most people would shoren that down to the st george bank dragons

i cant see the central coast happening, why would the nrl add another team in syndey when 9 is pushing it as it is

 

[The Tank]

i cant see the central coast happening, why would the nrl add another team in sydney when 9 is pushing it as it is

CC isn't in Sydney. But I agree otherwise.