Will the NRL ever be truly national?
Roar Rookie By Matthew Maguire, 27 Apr 2010 Matthew Maguire is a Roar Rookie
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- Andrew Demetriou, Brisbane Lions, Melbourne Storm, NRL, Rugby League
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In stark contrast to AFL’s head first dive into rugby league heartland, the NRL must finally decide if it wishes to be a truly national competition and provide a blueprint for its existence ten and twenty years from now.
As it stands, it is hard to envisage the NRL, version 2020 or even 2030, in any different form to which it currently exists with just three states represented, a token Kiwi outfit and the Melbourne Storm the sole provider of the rugby league brand in the second biggest broadcast market in the country.
A decision must be made whether to follow the AFL’s lead and strike out into non-traditional rugby league regions.
Rather than now questioning the future viability of the Storm, talk should have long been of when a second franchise could eventually emerge in Victoria.
Andrew Demetriou has put his leadership of the AFL on the line with aggressive expansion plans into West Sydney and the Gold Coast. The FFA have generated massive interest in football with a genuinely national competition with five states represented and growing regions in North Queensland, the Gold Coast and now a second Melbourne outfit all given a berth.
The NRL administration appear to lack vision and ambition. The status quo seems good enough.
Despite creating significant controversy, the AFL assisted both Brisbane and Sydney to carve out niche markets in QLD and NSW.
For the Swans, in particular, it took more than 20 years to cement their place in the Sydney sporting landscape but never did the old VFL, now AFL, give up on the venture.
It is hard to imagine the NRL being prepared to support the WA Reds or Adelaide Rams for two decades until they take hold in their respective emerging markets. Former incarnations of both teams were rapidly killed off amidst the Super League debacle.
Even the Storm received no allowances when they entered the competition in 1998. A sink or swim approach existed and not much has changed.
Melbourne Storm’s disgraceful rorts average an additional $340,000 a season over five years.
Just as the Storm appeared in four straight grand finals, so too did arguably the best AFL team in history when the Brisbane Lions achieved the same feat between 2001-04.
The Lions played off for those premierships with an AFL approved $800,000 extra kick in their salary cap.
The Sydney Swans made back to back grand finals and won the 2005 premiership with an extra $600,000, all with complete knowledge and approval by AFL head honchos.
In short, it was one team on grand final day with well over half a million dollars more available to it than its opponent.
It created deep division in AFL circles and drew sharp criticism from the likes of Eddie McGuire and Jeff Kennett.
The payments were labelled as ‘retention’ allowances and argued by the AFL as compensation for the higher cost of living in Sydney and Brisbane.
The truth is the payments were an insurance policy to ensure the success of the Lions and Swans in burgeoning AFL markets.
In doing so, the AFL guaranteed itself a broadcast deal covering all states and territories, eventually totalling $780m with the new deal from 2012 expected to reach $1b over five years.
Provided the money is distributed wisely enough to both fund expansion at the elite level and foster grass roots football, it is terrific leadership by the AFL.
To remain an eastern states based competition is a perfectly reasonable position for the NRL to take. Lacking imagination, in my view, but if that is the extent of their vision, they should be upfront about it.
If instead they have a desire to see rugby league branch beyond its traditional heartland, they should bite the bullet and follow the AFL’s lead.
Yes, it creates an uneven playing field. It is true it is not a completely fair system and the Melbourne Storm, or in time the WA Reds for example, with an extra $340 000 a season will be a tough pill for opposition clubs and supporters to swallow.
But the bigger picture must always be studied. If the NRL is not pushing forward, where is it going?
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April 27th 2010 @ 7:13am
oikee said | April 27th 2010 @ 7:13am | Report comment
Lets not worry about taking the game to where its not supported, if a state wants a team, let the government of that state pay for it. Rugby league is killing itself by trying to compete with AFL. Its time to play the game where the game is treasured.
I dont wish for the Storm to die, if if does, so be it. We are no closer to being national even with the Storm. As you mentioned, 2 teams in every state is a ideal set-up. AFL will have this shortly, so are way ahead of the game.
April 27th 2010 @ 7:58am
Chris said | April 27th 2010 @ 7:58am | Report comment
Isnt that the point of the article though? Sports cant wait to be asked anymore – how will my state of SA ever get an NRL team if we get no games here, no coverage and no interest from the NRL admin. You have to be a bit bold, put a team in and support it or it will always be a NSW / QLD comp. Or is that what you are happy with? If it stays that way, the NRL wont ever get big $ for tv rights so they cant spend on juniors etc and the salary cap at the top end will always be too small.
April 27th 2010 @ 12:46pm
Corey said | April 27th 2010 @ 12:46pm | Report comment
I agree, I believe the AFL is more envisioned with nationalism than RL, even Rugby Union and Soccer have more vision. AFL was willing to let a club, that was formed in 1869, to relocate and lose its heritage (The Kangaroos), the NRL could say the same with St. George-Illawarra and Wests Tigers along with Northern Eagles and Souths, yet truth be told when will they offer big money to a club to relocate. I think the best idea would be for them to offer a club to relocate to PNG, so they have heritage, yet the PNG people get a team and they don’t mind them being a former team- they love all RL teams up there.
We need two teams in Melbourne, 2 teams in NZ, a team in WA, with a possibility of a second, maybe in Kalgoorlie or somewhere where a Mining company wants to expand and make a permanent city, not just a mining temporary city. This would cut their costs of travelling the workers as well as helping the WA economy. I think we have learnt that SA can only handle one team at the moment of any code, e.g. Port Adelaide looks like they are struggling. I think we than expand out to other countries, like the NBL with SIngapore Slingers are doing.
April 27th 2010 @ 2:37pm
JamesP said | April 27th 2010 @ 2:37pm | Report comment
Kalgoorlie??!! Have you lost your mind??!!
Its only got a population of 30k…and is in an AFL dominated state. You would be lucky to get 2000 people to a game…the club would haemmorage money and add absolutely no value to TV rights.
I think further international expansion via PNG and a second team in NZ is NRL’s best bet
April 27th 2010 @ 6:17pm
Corey said | April 27th 2010 @ 6:17pm | Report comment
Kalgoorlie is dominated by Rugby League already and it only has 30k because the miners don’t stay there, they fly back home. And that’s how towns start, mining colonies turn into towns and towns into cities. That’s how WA actually got started, its mining boom in the 19th Century encouraged people to move there, but now with companies paying for travel the workers move back home. Imagine if a company just invested a lot of money into the town and built it up to make it viably economical, you than have a team, that the company owns- gives them sponsorship, naming rights, and national exposure. It will never happen but it would be financially viable.
April 27th 2010 @ 6:45pm
Working Class Rugger said | April 27th 2010 @ 6:45pm | Report comment
How is Kalgoorlie dominated by RL. There’s only two teams. There are three Rugby teams, several AFL teams and the same with Soccer. Seems like a pretty good spread actually. The only other logical choice outside of Perth is Bunbury and that’s a population of a little over 50,000.
April 27th 2010 @ 8:25am
Crosscoder said | April 27th 2010 @ 8:25am | Report comment
The simple answer is yes.Rugby league will be a national code.Not in the next 5 years though.Perth will be next with the Central Coast in 2013.Why? It is a lot harder to sell a code ,without a national presence than it is with one.Again both WA and SA have development people working on growing the game in schools and clubs.What would be the point of having these develoments,if there were no national aspirations.
If the presence of these two teams assists in a better broadcast deal,they like the other NRL teams will receive the grants (whatever they be ATT)
After that new teams no doubt will be added in Qld,as the demand says so.Adelaide will be the missing piece in the jigsaw and maybe a Sydney relocated club like the Roosters ,will fill that slot.
The Storm will remian ,spending $66m in the game over the years in the club and junior development,is not going to be sinmply flushed down the loo.News have repeated ad nauseum they are committed long term.
I understand the Storm got in one hit in Melbourne,on sunday evening over 500 new memberships.
April 27th 2010 @ 9:01am
Matt said | April 27th 2010 @ 9:01am | Report comment
1) lol at the idea of soccer having a national comp, how were the crowds for the Gold Coast last season?
2) Areas that have expressed interest in an NRL team: PNG, Perth, Central Qld, Wellington, Sunshine Coast, Central Coast, Ipswich, Logan
Areas that have expressed interest in an AFL team: Tasmania
The game should go where the fans are, AFL’s push into GC and Sydney will be an EPIC FAIL
3) Gallop has already stated that Perth and the CC are the two most likely teams for 2013
April 27th 2010 @ 9:04am
Dogs Of War said | April 27th 2010 @ 9:04am | Report comment
Epic fail? It’s no different to the NRL’s push into Melbourne, nor what the Perth would look like. It will take a lot of investment and time to carve out a niche.
Really the game should forget about expansion until the Independent Commission is established. At that point proper plans can be put in place, that have a reason behind the expansion, rather than the ad-hoc approach we seem to be taking currently.
April 27th 2010 @ 11:32am
Chris said | April 27th 2010 @ 11:32am | Report comment
…” Areas that have expressed interest in an NRL team: PNG, Perth, Central Qld, Wellington, Sunshine Coast, Central Coast, Ipswich, Logan…”
another muppet who misses the point. all but perth are already rugby league regions wanting to join the NRL.
PNG, Central QLD, Wellington, Sunshine/Central Coast, Ipswich, Logan…what a bold expansion plan into, um, already areas of RL dominance. stand back everyone, genuis at work
April 27th 2010 @ 1:48pm
apaway said | April 27th 2010 @ 1:48pm | Report comment
Soccer had a national comp in 1977. OK, they didn’t include Perth until 20 years after that but they were the first of the codes to go national. Not saying they did so SUCCESSFULLY, mind you, but in 1977 the VFL was an all-Melbourne/Geelong competition and the NSWRL was an all-Sydney comp.
April 27th 2010 @ 2:45pm
JamesP said | April 27th 2010 @ 2:45pm | Report comment
Ipswich and Logan are basically Brisbane – no arguments from me….a second NRL in Brisbane may not be a bad idea….even the AFL are mooting a third Perth team.
Need to call you up though that only Tasmania have expressed AFL interest…so have Perth and Darwin/NT.
Central QLD (i.e. Rockhampton) too small…less than half size of Townsville…
I am sure if you asked the mayor of Kalgoorlie if he wanted an AFL team he would say yes too…provided he didn’t have to fund it!!
EPIC FAIL = wishful thinking on your part…thats what they used to say about Lions and Swans.
April 27th 2010 @ 9:07am
M1tch said | April 27th 2010 @ 9:07am | Report comment
Perth will have a team by 2015
I’m still very much in support of a Darwin/PNG team as I’m not sure Adelaide would full time support a NRL side
April 27th 2010 @ 12:57pm
Corey said | April 27th 2010 @ 12:57pm | Report comment
I don’t think Adelaide should be touched for a while, may be have a lot of our trial matches there or things like that, but not a team for a while. Although I don’t like the idea of a Darwin/PNG team, the logistics are terrible. Where do the players live, which city are they playing for, whose fans do they give credence to at finals time. Where will the stadium be located, everyone knows PNG will sellout the stadium 52 weeks a year. Give them a team so that the rest of Australia can look at them and know what a RL crowd should look like.
I think it would be very important and very well needed to buy someone from the NFL to organise our expansion in both making clubs and making the game national.
April 27th 2010 @ 1:02pm
coasty said | April 27th 2010 @ 1:02pm | Report comment
I think Adelaide could support an NRL team. (Im originally from Adelaide) I didnt think the crowds were too bad in the Rams days especially at Adelaide Oval and i think with cable TV and the Vics involved a lot more is known there about league now.
Also, those two years the Rams were there, were the years the Crow’s were back to back premiers so not a lot of room in the media left. Bit different now.
April 27th 2010 @ 2:06pm
Corey said | April 27th 2010 @ 2:06pm | Report comment
thanks coasty, I forgot about the Crows winning 2 premierships. So I take it you’re a league lover?
April 27th 2010 @ 2:41pm
coasty said | April 27th 2010 @ 2:41pm | Report comment
To be honest I did not know much about league before moving to NSW from SA for work 6 years ago, but really enjoy watching the game and appreciate the differences in the codes.
April 27th 2010 @ 3:00pm
M1tch said | April 27th 2010 @ 3:00pm | Report comment
Split the games between Darwin and PNG – Darwin is better for non PNG players to live at, as none would want to live there
April 27th 2010 @ 2:52pm
JamesP said | April 27th 2010 @ 2:52pm | Report comment
I think they should focus on a PNG team….you would see passion similar to what the southern states have for AFL.
I am sure the AFL are looking at Darwin…still too small for them…but is one of if not the fastest growing cities. More NT kids per capita play Aussie Rules then any other state, and more AFL stars per capita have also come from NT than any other state.
April 27th 2010 @ 9:20am
JF said | April 27th 2010 @ 9:20am | Report comment
Expansion into new areas has never been one of RL’s strong points, London, Paris, Melbourne – all massively populated cities within RL countries that have never taken to the game of RL. Why, because the RL fans are already besotted with football or Australian football. This is RL’s biggest problem in expansion – it’s product and culture is too similar to existing, established sports – simple as that.
Why do RL folk think the Holy Grail of National expansion will somehow validate their code? The AFL will bleed millions in their endless evangelical quest to convert the northern infidels, this is ok as they have millions in spare cash to bleed, the NRL does not. RL is well established in a massive chunk of Eastern Australia, an area that contains 7 of the top 10 populous centres in Australia, the code will ‘expand’ as this area does. The regionality of RL in Northern England, Eastern Australia, Auckland, PNG and SW France contributes greatly to RL’s identity, does the NRL really want to bleed millions of dollars expanding into new areas for the sake of winning a bar room argument?
April 27th 2010 @ 9:36am
Billo Boy said | April 27th 2010 @ 9:36am | Report comment
Expansion into new areas has never been one of AFL’s strong points, Sydney, Brisbane, Auckland, Wellington – all massively populated cities within reach that have never taken to the game of AFL. Why, because the local fans are already besotted with the rugby codes. This is AFL’s biggest problem in expansion – it’s product and culture is too similar to existing, established sports – simple as that.
April 27th 2010 @ 10:04am
Redb said | April 27th 2010 @ 10:04am | Report comment
So I imagine you beleive rugby league has no chance in Victoria by your logic.
April 27th 2010 @ 1:55pm
Corey said | April 27th 2010 @ 1:55pm | Report comment
I dont think the AFL is failing in the northern states, as I don’t think the storm will fail. Let’s not turn this into a code war, the thing I don’t get is why soccer gets a free pass into our heartland areas, where the other codes don’t?
April 27th 2010 @ 2:13pm
Redb said | April 27th 2010 @ 2:13pm | Report comment
Soccer is very widely played and the EPL quite popular. But when you look at attendances even after 5 years as one team towns they are not doing any better than the Swans in Sydney or Storm in Melbourne.
They face the same battle, rusted on fans of incumbent codes. They can carve out a niche.
I think the person who suggested one code will take over another in its heartland should be shot, its so far from the truth it aint funny.
April 27th 2010 @ 9:26am
Tom said | April 27th 2010 @ 9:26am | Report comment
Epic fail? Like Sydney and Brisbane AFL teams or like they already tried Adelaide and Perth league teams?
I know which I’d prefer in my comp.
April 27th 2010 @ 9:27am
King of the Gorganites said | April 27th 2010 @ 9:27am | Report comment
The Storm must be relocated to Perth. The expermiment in Melbourne is over. they now need to move to the West.
WA is crying out for more contact sport. look how they have taken to rugby. the force are 3rd last on the ladder, but the Perth faithful sold out the stadium for there last game of the year. i think a similiar thing could happen with the Reds. The Storm must leave Melbourne.
April 27th 2010 @ 3:01pm
M1tch said | April 27th 2010 @ 3:01pm | Report comment
Perth already has the Reds, they wouldnt want the Storm
The experiment with crowds and juniors is working well for the game, of course if news go, then Storm is screwed
April 27th 2010 @ 9:28am
Michael C said | April 27th 2010 @ 9:28am | Report comment
re The payments were labelled as ‘retention’ allowances and argued by the AFL as compensation for the higher cost of living in Sydney and Brisbane.
The truth is the payments were an insurance policy to ensure the success of the Lions and Swans in burgeoning AFL markets.
The issue of ‘retention’ payments or not as fair or not is a murky one.
The irony of Eddie McGuire as the most outspoken critic is that, his club benefitted greatly from attracting Victorian kids back to Victoria from both Brisbane and Sydney,
such people as Anthony Rocca, Paul Licuria and Shane O’Bree,…..and in the early days of securing Nathan Buckley who effectively signed with Collingwood but had to go to Brisbane and fullfil his drafted obligations before heading to Collingwood.
It’s very easy to suggest for example that Brisbane won 3 flags in a row because of X% concession……however, they were a laughing stock created poorly in the mid/late 80s from rejects and cast offs. The AFL had to correct the earlier mistakes. As it was, the Brisbane Bears had managed to make the prelim final in ’96, gained some Fitzroy players post the merger and that included an element of ‘golden handshake’ that also muddied those waters. The stars for the Lions though were ‘home developed’ talent in Voss and Akermanis. And once home grown talent of Brownlow medal quality was coming through the local system…….some of those ‘retention’ concessions began to lose relevance. However,……when there’s a draft system in place……there’s no guarrantee that the QLD talent will all end up in QLD.
At the time, late 90s, my North Melb won a couple of GF’s, doing very well, but, still unable to retain WA and SA recruits such as Byron Pickett, Peter Bell, and Scott Welsh who all had a burning ‘go home factor’ that saw them depart Arden St. Where was our ‘retention’ concessions???
Point of all this.
The NRL has no draft. Has a far more open labour market than the AFL and has to fend of nibbles from RU and RL both domestically and abroad. FAR more so than the AFL examples – there SHOULD have been a retention concession for Melb Storm. THat there wasn’t beggars belief. I guess it illustrates that Melb Storm was really just a News Ltd contractual obligation in the eyes of the ARL/NRL non – News chiefs.
For expansion into ‘hostile’ territory,….the AFL learned the hard way that it takes a long time and real support. They have though been able to build the power and influence of the independant commission, and garner the support of club chiefs and get the game put first. Still takes time, money and dedication. The NRL seems short on those facets.
April 27th 2010 @ 9:39am
Jay said | April 27th 2010 @ 9:39am | Report comment
lets just wait and see how gsw and gc17 go before we applaud the afl’s decision to expand… the a-league is a national comp and some of the their expansion teams are struggling – despite the fact that there is no footballing competition when its player.
April 27th 2010 @ 2:56pm
JamesP said | April 27th 2010 @ 2:56pm | Report comment
GWS could take 20 years to hit its straps – the AFL hae said all along it will take a generation. It took both the Lions and Swans 10+ years to build up 30+k average attendances.
April 27th 2010 @ 9:56am
Ken said | April 27th 2010 @ 9:56am | Report comment
How many teams can fit in the comp though? Are we saying that a viable plan is to add 2 teams in each of the states (and I imagine 1 in the NT if we want to be truly national) – that would be 24 teams. It blows out further when you consider that the Central Coast and Central Queensland both are clamouring for teams and would have instant strong sponsorship and fanbases.
No question that the AFL has been bold but there’s a different geography dynamic in place too. NSW and Queensland have big regional populations with >5 million people outside the 2 captial cities compared to less than half that in the 3 states of Vic/SA/WA. While the AFL has a similar roots problem as the NRL (unbalanced amount of teams in their origin cities of Melb and Sydney respectively), the NRL hasn’t actually exhausted expansion in it’s heartland and could easily continue to expand the comp without branching out anywhere ‘new’. It contrasts with the AFL, who took their Melbourne base, effectively ‘filled’ their supporter base by adding a couple of teams each in the small but loyal capitals of Perth and Adelaide and then went looking for somewhere new.
In this modern world though where media contracts are seemingly the only real indicator that matters the NRL will have to do a careful balancing act in it’s expansions. New teams in friendly areas like the Central Coast and Central QLD would hit the ground running with strong sponsorship and fan support – they would be ready made success stories but they won’t add much to a TV contract. Adding teams in the AFL states may help the TV contract but they are going to need long term support to establish themselves as per the experiences of both the AFL and NRL in the past.
I’m not saying that expansion is the wrong way to move, just that we have to be careful.