Bite the bullet and move the Sharks out of town
Roar Rookie By Altona Rebel, 27 Aug 2010 Nagti Pakeha is a Roar Rookie
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- Central Coast Bears, Cronulla Sharks, NRL, NRL expansion, Rugby League
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With all the talk in the NRL about expansion, am I the only who thinks there are three areas that are a must for 2013? I nominate Perth, Central Coast, and another team in Queensland.
1. The Central Coast is a logical choice. It shows the NRL is still a community competition and strengthens one of the strongholds of the game. The Bears’ bid is looking pretty good, but should they be the only contender for this area? If there is another group who thinks they have better team for Gosford, then let them bid as well.
2. Queensland is another one of our strongholds that is the fastest growing state of Australia and to put a team into an area that is growing is a great idea. Also, let the Queenslanders decide where it goes. This will have most Queenslanders debating where to put it, hence killing off the Suns’ free publicity for the next two years.
3. I saved Perth for last because there is only going to be two new teams, which means relocation. And I know I will get bagged for this. In my opinion, if Perth wants a team, it needs to be a relocated team.
Really, there are only five choices. First, Melbourne. This won’t work because its a privately own club and we need a team in Melbourne. Second, the Roosters, but you just can’t relocate the Sydney team. Third, Bulldogs? Ain’t going to happen, so forget about it. Fourth and fifth comes down to two things: crowds and money, so if it’s between the Slivertails and Sharks, it has to be the Sharks.
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- Central Coast Bears, Cronulla Sharks, NRL, NRL expansion, Rugby League
August 27th 2010 @ 9:01am
Mals said | August 27th 2010 @ 9:01am | Report comment
Well if it has to out of Manly & Cronulla I vote for the Sharks to relocate. Manly have outperformed the Sharks on & off the field in recent times & have drawn the bigger crowds.
August 27th 2010 @ 9:26am
Sharky Pete said | August 27th 2010 @ 9:26am | Report comment
As a passionate Cronulla fan, I am deeply offended by this article.
Relocation would never work, not now, not ever.
Because many of us grew up in the area and have supported the Sharks BECAUSE they were the CRONULLA-SUTHERLAND Sharks and were representatives of OUR district.
Questions for you Shark haters out there:
What are we going to do with Toyota Stadium?
What are we going to do with the Leagues Club?
What are we going to do with the property owned by the Sharks in the Woolooware bay precinct?
Do you honestly expect fans from The Shire to follow a team based in Perth or Adelaide?
There is no way in the world that I will follow the Sharks if they are relocated elsewhere and there is no way in the world that I will support any other team.
August 27th 2010 @ 11:19am
bilbo said | August 27th 2010 @ 11:19am | Report comment
Well why dont the Sharks supporters become members or go to games? They consistently have the lowest crowds even though they have performed well in previous years.
Its not going to be a popular decision, but they are, unfortunatelyh:
Team with the least juniors (besides the roosters)
Team with the least ticketed members
Team with the least non-members
Least corporate support
Geographically ‘land-locked’ by St George
Least successful club in NSWRL/ARL/NRL history
Lowest Crowds at home
A poor away team draw
If a club needs to fold – and I think it would help RL in Sydney if there was one team less – then it would be the Sharks. I think they should bite the bullet and move to ensure they stay alive in one form or another.
August 28th 2010 @ 11:03am
Fez's are cool said | August 28th 2010 @ 11:03am | Report comment
The majority of people in the sutherland shire support other clubs, like St George, Souths, Canterbury and Wests.
It is an area of the city that has a tendency to have people from other areas and loyalties. Penrith and Western Sydney in general is like this too.
August 27th 2010 @ 12:18pm
macavity said | August 27th 2010 @ 12:18pm | Report comment
burn it to the ground and salt the earth
burn it to the ground and salt the earth
let it sink into the bay
don’t care
August 27th 2010 @ 9:50am
Crosscoder said | August 27th 2010 @ 9:50am | Report comment
And should the Sharks get their act together off the field as is likely to happen by years end,with one of the largest junior leagues in Sydney,with their own ground,that would look rather silly.But a brilliant idea for the AFL/soccer or ru.The locals who follow the sharks would follow which NRL team………….? Yeah thought so.We donate the ground to these other codes give juniors the opportunity who now play ,the open invitation to switch codes.
Of course the large crowds that watch the saints v sharks local derbies would disappear.Many of these fans are Shark’s fans.
I have been noting crowds of late in NQ,Penrith,Roosters,Dogs and Manly ,are hardly worth writing home about.
A club should move by its own volition ie if it can’t financially continue,and not because of a new region wanting a club.The new IC may well make that decision,but one suggests they will have some knowledge of teh failed SL experiment and subsequent axing of clubs.
it appears continually people never learn,as soon as Norths,were given the flick St George and wests were involved with mergers,they lost fans opure and simple.More than an inconsequential number went to RU/AFL.
BTW the same Sharks have beaten this year Roosters twice and ditto Parramatta,move those two on that basis.
August 28th 2010 @ 11:12am
Fez's are cool said | August 28th 2010 @ 11:12am | Report comment
SL axed some of the wrong clubs. The Shire can’t support a full time NRL side. That is a fact.
They were bailed out by the ARL in 1993, only to join SL for money. This artifically inflated the Sharks crowds and bank balance leading into the “criteria” for rationalising Sydney.
That money ran out in around 2006, and they have simply been building debt ever since. As soon as St George and Illawarra merged it spelt the end of the Sharks.
They don’t have as many juniors as you claim, and the majority of people in the Shire follow other NRL clubs. Merge the Shire juniors comp with the St George one (currently joined up with Canterbury)
August 27th 2010 @ 10:12am
wallythefly said | August 27th 2010 @ 10:12am | Report comment
Only option is Cronulla, the others you mentioned have important geographical stakes in sydney. also i’d relocate sharks to qld and keep the western reds for perth rather than send the sharks west
August 27th 2010 @ 10:28am
The Link said | August 27th 2010 @ 10:28am | Report comment
There’ll be no forced relocation or kicking out of clubs.
Someone may go broke, but they won’t be pushed.
Good luck to the Sharks. If they can hang on for the increase in TV deal and their development plans they should be OK.
August 28th 2010 @ 11:15am
Fez's are cool said | August 28th 2010 @ 11:15am | Report comment
…. ok for around 10 years more. Beyond that, they will be back struggling again, as there is an underlying problem.
That is
THE SHIRE ISN’T BIG ENOUGH TO SUPPORT A FULL TIME NRL CLUB.
August 27th 2010 @ 10:45am
Col the Bear said | August 27th 2010 @ 10:45am | Report comment
I think you’ll find that david Gallop has made it clear they don’t want to relocate anyone..Manly or Sharks.. he also made mention that when the Bears were removed they lost well over 40 000 fans at that time which didn’t come back..and the place on the NS was left abandoned … Cronulla wanted to play 5 home games a year at Gosford for the 2010 season which the NRL knocked on the head straight away..they don’t want another Northern (Manly)eagles debacle.. and besides it’s Bear territory ..
oh and you also mentioned about what if another bid group come into the CC.. well first of all, there are 2500 paid up members for the Central Coast Bears who would be every peeved.. with more coming in every week.. we were at Lake haven shopping centre yesterday on another one of our membership drives ,and we had nothing but Praise for what the Central Coast Bears are doing for the Central Coast community.
tomorrow we are at North Sydney Oval for the Junior grandfinals, where once again the CCBears will have a stall set up for new members and also to purchase your CC Bears jerseys and other merchandise… we will reconnect the North Shore to Rugby League in partnership with the Central Coast…
August 28th 2010 @ 11:20am
Fez's are cool said | August 28th 2010 @ 11:20am | Report comment
I agree with you that if there is a team to be based in Gosford, it has to be the Bears, or (a less satisfactory) Manly.
This will put preasure on the weakest Sydney club, which is Cronulla. Why are they weak? low membership, low attendences, debt due to low income, low sponsorships. Its a small niche market without success, where the majority of RL fans follow other clubs.
The NRL can only realistically give out 2 new licences over the next 10 years. So when you have Perth, Brisbane, Ipswich, Central Coast, Central Qld, Wellington, PNG, Adelaide, and the Sunshine Coast all earmarked for expansion, it makes sense to strip the very weakest club that adds very little to the competition.
August 27th 2010 @ 10:55am
Col the Bear said | August 27th 2010 @ 10:55am | Report comment
and I can say we had a huge day yesterday with the sales of the CC Bears mechandise on the CC.. Gotta love those Bears!!!
August 27th 2010 @ 11:03am
tee gee said | August 27th 2010 @ 11:03am | Report comment
Whether or not the Sharks want to relocate is really irrelevant.Over the past thirty or so years their insular “shire” mentality has been objectionable at best.Their many-faceted buisness plans over this same period have been outright failures,cutting players wages,shelving develoopment plans through lack of finance,I could continue,suffice to say that the “shire” obviuosly attracts people to the club that haven’t got a clue.The sharks don’t deserve to go to the Central Coast,the Bears have put time,effort and money into the area already,and seem to be well recieved,let the Sharks,if it comes to it,go the way of Newtown,Wests(my team),and others of their ilk.They are happy where they are now,and have forged their own identities in their new competitions.If the Sharks latest buisiness plan doesn’t come to fruition,then let them sink by their own hand,and look at bringing in another area,such as Perth.This scenario would,of course,by natural attrition,reduce the number of teams based in Sydney.
August 27th 2010 @ 12:10pm
oikee said | August 27th 2010 @ 12:10pm | Report comment
Agree, if they cant keep up with the mob, they will die on the vine. The Sharkies are the whipping boys of the comp. Yes they might win a game here or their, but mate, come-on. I love the sharkies, i want them to do well, but mate, lets look at facts, they have tried and failed with even great players.
I think its up to their club to stand up and be counted, either throw in the towel, or let the game gobble them up into nothingness.
Lets us not be sad, it happens in England all the time, clubs spending millions to be relagated and busted. At least with the sharkies, they will be a nsw feeder club. Qld is full of feeder clubs, no big deal.
August 27th 2010 @ 1:15pm
Col the Bear said | August 27th 2010 @ 1:15pm | Report comment
coming from a club that is now a feeder club, it is a big deal Oikee.. you miss the big games, you miss being apart of the action,you miss the spotlight, you miss not being referred to as a top flight team, just another park footy team, and you constantly get looked over when an u/20s side (basiclly just glorified jersey flegg)gets more publiciityover foundation clubs..
Newtown are different they have found a niche and goodluck to them, they don’t want to be back in the NRL they are happy where they are.. but as for the Bears we want nothing more then to be back in this NRL comp.after the way we were unceremoniously ditched from the comp.
if Sharks ever decide to leave the shire, and I still find it extremely hard that they will, there have been rumours abound that Adelaide is an option..same colours as Power also..or maybe just media hype because they were playing some games there for a couple of years or so..
August 27th 2010 @ 1:40pm
Col the Bear said | August 27th 2010 @ 1:40pm | Report comment
maybe what has to happen is that if clubs are not performing, then they have to sit a season or 2 out.. to get their acts together.. the Bears will come back bigger and better then ever.. because we have had time to build the club up again from scratch, we can see where other clubs are struggling in some areas, and we have learnt not to go that way..we have got out into the communities with our membership drives, something we never would hav edone before.. clubs get complacent because they are in the comp..spend a couple of years out, and see whats it like to fight for survival.. get back to the grass roots.. plus we have removed all the deadwood now, with a big broom.. and now the club is just run by diehard red and black Bears people, as what is happening at Souths.. remember they also were out of the comp for sometime..clubs take being in the NRL for granted..they all think they are safe and cosy..because they have had hand outs over the years when they get in trouble..Gees I wish we had a few of those handouts when we got into a lot less financial trouble then others have over the past 10 years…