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The NRL needs to hand a licence to the Central Coast

23rd December, 2008
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Roar Guru
23rd December, 2008
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11540 Reads

There is an elephant sitting in the NRL boardroom and it is adorned with a large flashing Las Vegas style neon light which reads ‘Central Coast rugby league’. The next big thing on the domestic to-do list is to get the Central Coast up and running and into the NRL.

The current pattern of teams relegating games against Newcastle to Bluetongue Stadium is the sort of halfway house solution that doesn’t satisfy rugby league fans in the region nor the fans of the travelling teams, and only slightly cheers up the club’s bean counters.

In fact, the only people it would make happy would be a few hard heads looking to test themselves against Belinda Neal after a dozen schooners at Club Troppo.

You could even argue it actually alienates local fans as it deprives them of the respect of seeing their own team in action. If they are good enough for NRL matches, they are good enough to have their own side.

For god’s sake, the people of Cronulla do.

I’ve also always maintained that a relocated side is also doomed to fail. Why should the people of the Central Coast pick up a side that has failed elsewhere?

The only exception would be a revival of the North Sydney Bears.

This is due to the fact that the Bears have always had an eye on the Central Coast (the attempts to get up there actually killed them off) and it is probably closer to their rugby league territory of Asquith, Pennant Hills, and the rest of the Hills district than North Sydney Oval.

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I’d argue the NRL needs to hand a licence to the Central Coast in the same way it did the Gold Coast: that is, with a few seasons for the club to build its side and infrastructure.

The Titans are the blueprint for a successful launch, so plagiarism is encouraged if not demanded.

They’ve looked to restart the momentum by appointing David Fairleigh, and acting CEO Greg Florimo is clearly a contender for Australia’s most patient man.

A new club could also help retain players heading to Super League. In fact, I’ll even create the first rumour that Matt King could be a great marquee signing.

Unhappy in Warrington and a former North Sydney lower grader, it could be the sort of signing to get things happening, at least in the tabloid press.

Bluetongue Stadium is also a great ground and it is a crying shame it is only used in the summer months by the Mariners.

I’ll also fire a pre-emptive strike against anyone who believes that the area is strictly Mariners territory now.

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You are dreaming.

The Central Coast clearly has a big enough population to support a number of sporting franchises, and given the Mariners crowds this year, they are clearly as far away from a mortgage there as many of the battlers in the area are.

If no other code could survive on the Central Coast, what hope the A-League franchises in North Queensland or the Gold Coast?

Remember, reality exists outside cyberspace.

But I digress, be it as the Central Coast Bears in red and black or the Central Coast Bucks in a Hawaiian motif, I’d love to make the trip come 2011/2012.

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