Will NSW ever move towards a Qld-style comp?

[langpark]

Sorry if it's been brought up here before. But I find it frustrating that the NSW Cup is full of NRL B teams, when there are major NSW towns that could have filled those spots with stand alone teams (all of which would have a link to an NRL club anyway of course).

Qld on the contrary has an amazing geographical spread, not one of which is, for example, Broncos B or Cowboys B, for example. Will it ever happen? I think it would be great for the game there!

 

[Timmah]

I'm confused.

You know all QLD Cup teams bar PNG are feeders for NRL teams, right?

 

[langpark]

I'm confused.

You know all QLD Cup teams bar PNG are feeders for NRL teams, right?

Yeah but none of them have the name Broncos or Cowboys or Titans, for example, so they all attract a completely different set of fans of their own. How many Bulldogs fans go out of their way to follow the NSW Cup side, compared to if they were an independent side representing a completely different part of Sydney or NSW.

 

[Timmah]

NSW clubs tried that. Canterbury with the Sydney/Bankstown Bulls, Newcastle with Charlestown, Penrith with Windsor and so on. It wasn't profitable.

 

[Hello, I'm The Doctor]

I think this was what Richo tried to do with his Platinum League idea, but the Old Boys cut him off at the knees...

It is also what Super League tried to do in reverse. THey wanted the ARL to become feeder teams to the Super League mega clubs, but we all remember how that went.

 

[Broncos93]

Good idea in theory. Would be awesome to have teams from Coffs/Yamba down to the Riverina, as well as the likes of Norths, Newtown etc. Can't see the NSWRL doing it though. If they put half the effort in to their state competitions that the QRL do they might actually get some bums on seats an generate some interest in the lower grades.

 

[adamkungl]

Dumb idea, no one would care. NSW Cup will always be NRL B teams.
Why? They both developed organically to be the way they are.

QLD had Broncos superimposed on top of their local top grade comp. Fans retained interest and allegiance to local comp.

NSW evolved into the NRL with essentially the same clubs. We've always been top grade. Hence why reserve grade is seen as reserve grade.

Best thing NSW Cup can do is
1) Force teams to play Cup teams out of their local region or an approved country region. Canberra out of Canberra or country NSW. Manly out of Manly or country, not f**king Blacktown. etc. This is the most damaging thing in the NSW Cup, basically being a Western Sydney comp.

2) introduce expansion teams from Fiji, Perth, and NZ.

I'm also a fan of conference style competition with QLD Cup but most QLDers seem uninterested in changing QLD Cup at all.

 

[Captain Apollo]

I think this was what Richo tried to do with his Platinum League idea, but the Old Boys cut him off at the knees...

It is also what Super League tried to do in reverse. THey wanted the ARL to become feeder teams to the Super League mega clubs, but we all remember how that went.

Part of the problem that killed Richo's idea was that the players who were not in the NRL 17 each week would play for the feeder club based near where they grew up. Hence you could have players contracted to one NRL club (e.g. Parramatta) playing for 4-5 Platinum Cup teams and their NRL Club would have no say in how those players were trained nor in what positions they played. Thus the NRL Club would take all the risk and only the Platinum League Club would get the rewards. No employer in their right mind would stand for that type of arrangement.

 

[langpark]

Dumb idea, no one would care. NSW Cup will always be NRL B teams.
Why? They both developed organically to be the way they are.

Fair point, but I'm not saying it would be made up of articial teams, it should be teams that already exist across the state and a financially strong enough to field a team. The likes of historic clubs like Norths and Newtown would definitely be there so it would mostly be organic.

Also, let's not forget, that of the 14 current Q Cup teams, one was found in 2015 (Townsville), 2014 (Hunters) and 2007 Mackay and Northern Pride entered. So it's quite a successful mix of historic and new clubs. I have no doubt NSW could achieve the same thing!

 

[CC_Roosters]

I see no reason why the Ron Massey cup couldn't be evolved into a stateside competition incorporating Coffs,Tamworth, Dubbo etc.... It could then be more formally designated a minor affiliate league for the NSW Nrl clubs. The likes of Canberra can then keep their major affiliate with say mounties but have a proper regional affiliate like Wagga in meaningfull statewide competition

 

[siv]

I still think a two answer approach addresses this

1 get rid of NRL clubs out of Tier 2 by creating National RG

Then basically merge NSW Cup and RM Cup but add teams from North Coast, New England, Western Div and Riverina. And then bring in Perth and Adelaide. These teams to be given a extra travelling grant more than the Sydney region clubs

And all of these clubs to have teams in the aU18s and U16s NSWRL juniors

Then we can have the ARLC invest in locations like they did in Tamworth and Mudgee to develop top quality venues for each major district

Personally I would prefer to see a team representing the Central Coast rather than Wyong where they can engage the whole region from Umina to Lake Munmorah - rather than just the Kanwal suburb

And we still have the NSW and QLD winners playoff on GF Day

 

[CC_Roosters]

wrong thread

 

[Stewbum]

Dumb idea, no one would care. NSW Cup will always be NRL B teams.

Astonishing response.

 

[juro]

Is NSW Cup the only state-based RL or AFL comp that isn't shown on FTA TV? I've seen mention of ratings for QLD Cup, plus AFL comps for Vic, SA and WA. The ratings for these are mostly putrid. Why can't NSW Cup be shown on one of Nine's channels?

It seems like most people view this comp as purely reserve grade, so only the real die-hards attend. Bringing in regional teams may add the spark that the comp needs to make it stand on its own two legs.

 

[adamkungl]

Is NSW Cup the only state-based RL or AFL comp that isn't shown on FTA TV? I've seen mention of ratings for QLD Cup, plus AFL comps for Vic, SA and WA. The ratings for these are mostly putrid. Why can't NSW Cup be shown on one of Nine's channels?

It seems like most people view this comp as purely reserve grade, so only the real die-hards attend. Bringing in regional teams may add the spark that the comp needs to make it stand on its own two legs.

Part of the problem is it isn't even a proper reserve grade comp anymore. It's a mostly Western sydney comp with a ridiculous top 8 finals system in a 12 team comp.

 

[adamkungl]

I retract my original "dumb idea" comment. The NSW Cup *does* need a revamp. It doesn't need to exactly mirror the structure of QLD but the current comp is bland.

NSWRL needs to take more control over where teams are based. One idea that could be interesting is a 2 division promo-rel structure featuring statewide regional/nz/interstate teams + sydney teams + expansion teams. 24-32 teams across 2 divisions.

 

[jim_57]

I don't have a massive issue with teams playing under an NRL club banner, everybody knows full well it is 2nd division RL. Would be good to see it expand with new teams though and perhaps some NRL B teams rename/relocate at least some of their games to areas starved of professional RL. Conferences may also be the way to go with the idea of driving expansion to sure up Australia and the entire Pacific at this level.

If/when feasible I'd like to see these teams running around in the NSW Cup plus a good spread of clubs/games across all NSW.

Fiji - Partnered with Solomon Is. & Vanuatu RL
Auckland - Partnered with Samoa RL
Wellington - Partnered with Tonga RL
Christchurch - Partnered with Cook Is. & Hawaii RL
Melbourne/Victoria - Partnered with Tasmania & SA RL
Perth/WA

Add in a Darwin team and perhaps another PNG in QLD Cup and that is the Australia, NZ and the Pacific looked after club wise for the foreseeable future.

 

[adamkungl]

I'm not concerned how NRL teams run their reserve squad whether via feeder arrangement or full reserve team - I lean towards flexibility rather than 1 size fits all.

BUT

The NSWRL needs to cap the amount of Sydney (specifically west) teams allowed in the comp, and target regions for growth. Canberra and Melbourne playing reserve teams outside their regions is damaging to the comp and the wider game

 

[Old Time Tiger]

I believe that the NSW Cup is being flicked with a comp based on the Qld system. Fiji will be joining and perhaps a 2nd NZ team and that is the direction or vision of the NRL.

Problem is the NRL is a separate body to the NSWRL and plenty of fans are calling out for a proper feeder or 2nd tier comp and not an U20's comp.

There are plenty who believe that NRL clubs need to have a comp, every club has a 'reserve team' based in their city/area where their next best thing has time to develop with some older players but still not rushed into 1st grade.

 

[Tigers1986]

The issue with bringing in the 'expansion' teams is the associated costs of travel. Getting the reggies squads to Wellington, Perth, Adelaide for examples will become a financial strain.

However, I think the whole competition needs a huge revamp. If the ARLC were committed enough, they could design a 14-team competition from NSW and QLD teams for First Division (7 each). With those 'left over' teams, they can join teams from their own state and regional centres/expansion potentials. Then they can run promotion/relegation for each NSW/QLD competition winner into the first division. This would ensure that all affiliated NRL clubs and the ARLC put serious legitimacy into the competition and it can then fill down into CRL competitions (e.g. winner of a CRL tournament replaces last place in the state competition).