The next century of rugby league
Roar Guru By Frank Lee Kennedy, 24 May 2012 The Crowd is a Roar Guru
- Tagged:
- NRL, NRL expansion, Rugby League, Western Reds
Rugby league is traveling well at present. Other than the TV deal, there are not too many major issues to be sorted out.
However, the game needs to be proactive and not rest on its laurels. The future is where the battle will be won or lost. One of the most important issues for the future is the code spreading into new areas.
Here is my plan for rugby league expansion over the short, mid and long term.
Next 20 years
The immediate aim is to get in to Western Australia, with a team in Perth. Western Australia is the fastest growing state by population, including a lot of NSW and Queensland ex-pats.
If there is no rugby league presence in Perth, these people will go to other sports.
A team in Perth is a must in the next few years.
The next place is New Zealand. It is unbelievable how popular the code is with the Pacific Islanders over there and around the Pacific. In the next 10 years another New Zealand team is also a must.
Further consolidation in the meantime is needed in the heartland, with another team in Brisbane and a further one in central Queensland. NSW is well served by the existing 10 teams, but the country areas could be served by moving perhaps 6-12 games per year into NSW country areas like Gosford, Wagga Wagga and Coffs Harbour.
By 2032 we need a 22 team competition, with teams in Adelaide and Darwin.
Next 20-50 years
By 2062 Queensland will be the second most populous State according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, and Australia’s population is predicted to be between 35 to 45 million.
By then, rugby league will be well established as the major national winter sport in the country.
Further rationalisation of the code will be inevitable. Nine Sydney teams are a luxury so one shall move to Wollongong and another to the mid north Coast, perhaps around Coffs Harbour, Grafton or Lismore. The NRL should also consider Tamworth and Armidale.
Overall, there should be a maximum of 6-7 teams in Sydney by 2062.
We shall also have a 24 team reserve grade and a 12-16 team second division. There will be a relegation system in place. The Pacific Island Nations shall have a team in the competition.
Next 50-100 years
By the turn of the Century, Western Australia will be the second or third most populous state in the country, pushing Victoria further down to fourth. There is absolutely no doubt, that Western Australia will be the state where the war between rugby league and AFL will be won or lost.
AFL is far ahead at the moment there, but one shall not forget, that rugby union is already played there and league will be coming soon.
The similarity of the codes will split the population between NRL and AFL and the title of Australia’s most popular code will be up for grabs.
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- Explore:
- NRL, NRL expansion, Rugby League, Western Reds
May 24th 2012 @ 1:28pm
hotdog said | May 24th 2012 @ 1:28pm | Report comment
“Overall, there should be a maximum of 6-7 teams in Sydney by 2062.”
That part might be happen …
May 24th 2012 @ 2:18pm
stu said | May 24th 2012 @ 2:18pm | Report comment
he NRL will be in trouble 20 years down the track from now. they have left the development of the game too late. whilst trying in vain to nake something out of international rl they put up the borders around Qld/NSW and accommodated the Storm as an outpost. In the meantime AFL worked hard and used their money to consolidate and build within Australia. O top of this the a-league carries common support anywhere in australia except the gold coast!! NRL will gain limited glory from the next TV deal but i do not think it will progress.
May 24th 2012 @ 8:35pm
Tr0jan said | May 24th 2012 @ 8:35pm | Report comment
It’s not as if the world has yet to see RL. The world has seen it and just doesn’t care. Two states in Australia, the north of England (and then only in parts) and New Zealand. Though Rugby is first over there then daylight. And of course last but certainly least P.N.G
RL and it’s supporters will just have to accept that it is a minor sport played in less than a handful of countries.
I’ve heard over the last decade or so how it is starting up in Lebanon, Israel, China, The U.S and nothing has ever eventuated.
There are only two professional competitions in the world. Hardly a dominant sport by any stretch. The game has been around for nearly two hundred years, you had a go and you came up short.
Enjoy your game for what it is, but don’t expect to compete with the big boys on the world stage because it just won’t happen
May 25th 2012 @ 10:23am
Crosscoder said | May 25th 2012 @ 10:23am | Report comment
TrOjan.Old hackneyed ru fan summation yawn,that shows you have not kept up to speed with what is going on
.BTW would one suggest ru is two states game in Australia ? No.The national sport of a couple of countries Wales and NZ and a couple of PIs.Don’t get carried away.
“The game has been around for nearly 200 years” LOL
.
Where do you get the idea that rl is going to be huge on the world stage.latest update,for your edification just for Europe:-
http://www.rlef.eu-com/_uploads/RLEF%202011%20Annual%20Report.pdf
if you can’t get throiugh just google RLEF Annual Report 2011.
Nothing eventuated inLebanon,and the USA:crapola.
It has never claimed to be a dominant sport, just a growing sport which it appears some appear not to be able to handle.
May 25th 2012 @ 11:50am
D Maaga said | May 25th 2012 @ 11:50am | Report comment
cc, the game is growing and so it should at this time and age but its not growing as as much as you think but when its stall of course that’s where the bag of excuses comes in why its not the biggest sport on this planet.
May 25th 2012 @ 1:29pm
Crosscoder said | May 25th 2012 @ 1:29pm | Report comment
In fact it is growing better than I expected D Maaga with the limited funds available.And that may well provide discomfort to some.
Comps in Ukraine,Serbia,Czech,Norway,Italy,Malta,Lebanon,Germany,Russia,USA,Jamaica and Canada.
When what stalls???? Any person who has an inkling of development,knows at time ,there will be growth,little growth or the game stalls in various regions.It is the overall picture that you take into account.You think rl is the only code,that has had setbacks at times?.Give me abreak.
Getting govt recognition such as the Ukraine is a plus.Getting the European sports Commission to throw in funding is a plus.Getting stage 3 acceptance (the first rung into the commonwealth Games is a plus),and more people and countries playing the game than ever before is a plus.Getting British govt and local councils backing the RLWC2103 is a plus.
I have absolutely no idea,what you are on about,if the game was shrinking you would be right.You do your best in just about every post to look for negatives.It looks like desperation stakes to me.
Who the hell is talking about the biggest game on the planet,sometimes you guys leap at shadows that are not there.
May 25th 2012 @ 5:09pm
D Maaga said | May 25th 2012 @ 5:09pm | Report comment
rugby grew from england to be played in over 100 countries with limited or no funds available. And that may well provide discomfort to some.
before you get excepted at various national and internationals sporting organisation you have to prove that you have a solid base at grassroots level and a local comps. not making up numbers or pretend that a team out of sydney or west auckland hem.represents the sport back home in some cases in both codes. im sure ukraine would have had that govt recognition back fifty years ago had rugby league been in the country back then but then again 50 years ago ukraine of part of the soviet union which ban rugby union for many years. i believe those fundings has been around in years, you just have to look around to find them and apply for it.
dont forget the local councils and state government in australia also back the 2008 rlwc. i didn’t said the game was shrinking but for over 100 years rugby is played in how many countries? i’m sure afl and gaelic football have also been played in many countries as rugby league in over 100 years but they wont have over 100,000 excuses to come with it. word is afl is also expanding into many countries recently and i’m sure they will do well in growing their sport with no propaganda, excuses or play the victim or some sort of crime of the century to get there.
May 25th 2012 @ 6:50pm
Crosscoder said | May 25th 2012 @ 6:50pm | Report comment
If you are trying to give me a history of rugby league D Maaga,forget it,and I know a little about ru history I played the game.The exercise is pointless.
You can’t have pretend comps,or teams to be accepted in the RLWC,or as full members etc in the RLIF.
You still dont’get it ,the growth has happened in the last 20 years,and you are doing your best to downplay it.The European Sport Federation doesn’t throw money around for fun FFS.Played in at least 30 countries.
The local councils and govt don’t have to do a thing,especially when the country is currently in recession.The fact they are doing it ,speaks volumes.
For the hundredth time so it sinks in,I have never stated your code is small.It is a major code national code if you will in NZ and Wales and the PI.And has strong followings in the Bri Isle,France Sth Africa Argentina and Japan.
Whatever Gaelic Football,AFL even ,farnarkling does overseas,is their worries,I am only concerned with rl.
You are coming up with the usual ramblings against rugby league and the fact it is growing,that have been around since you first posted under another alias.It is a worn record.
May 25th 2012 @ 5:09pm
D Maaga said | May 25th 2012 @ 5:09pm | Report comment
rugby grew from england to be played in over 100 countries with limited or no funds available. And that may well provide discomfort to some.
before you get excepted at various national and internationals sporting organisation you have to prove that you have a solid base at grassroots level and a local comps. not making up numbers or pretend that a team out of sydney or west auckland represents the sport 200,000km away back home in some cases in both codes. im sure ukraine would have had that govt recognition back fifty years ago had rugby league been in the country back then but then again 50 years ago ukraine of part of the soviet union which ban rugby union for many years. i believe those fundings has been around in years, you just have to look around to find them and apply for it.
dont forget the local councils and state government in australia also back the 2008 rlwc. i didn’t said the game was shrinking but for over 100 years rugby is played in how many countries? i’m sure afl and gaelic football have also been played in many countries as rugby league in over 100 years but they wont have over 100,000 excuses to come with it. word is afl is also expanding into many countries recently and i’m sure they will do well in growing their sport with no propaganda, excuses or play the victim or some sort of crime of the century to get there.
May 24th 2012 @ 9:23pm
nomis said | May 24th 2012 @ 9:23pm | Report comment
Isn’t this the master plan of every code?
May 25th 2012 @ 1:05am
Pete said | May 25th 2012 @ 1:05am | Report comment
Within a 100 years they will merge back with Union. It will happen as soon as League is in a strong enough position to protect its clubs and history, and once Union shows itself to be adaptable enough. There is just too much cash to be made for all parties.
May 25th 2012 @ 6:34am
mark melville said | May 25th 2012 @ 6:34am | Report comment
the 2 codes will never merge!!! they are 2 completely different sports. its like merging netball and basketball, similar but extemely different. i personally have no interest in watching modern rugby union so why would i want to watch a half union half league match. games will never be similar enough for that to happen. It will only happen if union adpted the league play the ball, or league adpted the union breakdown. (which im not interested in so i wouldnt watch it
May 25th 2012 @ 6:39am
mark melville said | May 25th 2012 @ 6:39am | Report comment
All league needs to to get rid of the old boy sydney administrators who think they run the game still, have a shorter NRL/SL season and have a proper international board who have complete control over every aspect of the game. (Not run by the NRL). Then the game will BOOM!!!
May 25th 2012 @ 12:19pm
PLANKO said | May 25th 2012 @ 12:19pm | Report comment
The Perth FIFO Fortescue’s
Sounds like a good name for a perth team. Also the relegation and promotion would help you get teams out of Sydney with turning the light off on their supporters. However with the salary cap and the potential breaches you will have to be concerned that the wrong teams will get relegated ?
May 25th 2012 @ 1:31pm
Crosscoder said | May 25th 2012 @ 1:31pm | Report comment
The Rhinehart Cowboys?????
May 26th 2012 @ 12:08am
glacier said | May 26th 2012 @ 12:08am | Report comment
Frank
You have a fantastic vision of rugby league in Australia in 2062. Do you have a global vision of RL in 2062?
May 26th 2012 @ 5:10pm
Boris the Mudcrab said | May 26th 2012 @ 5:10pm | Report comment
I have recently been to the Cook Islands, NZ (South Is) & Samoa.
In the Cook is, League is played (first I think) and when the comp is finished the Union comp starts. League has a 6 team comp and you can buy their shirts at the markets and main sports store. The press gives it a good run but Union is still dominant
In Samoa Union is king, but again League is well followed and the NRL does get coverage in the press. In the South Is of NZ, League is getting bigger and does get well represented in the press. League is getting talked up and Warrior merchindise can be seen regularly in the street and in sports stores. Again Union is king but League has a growing presence and I believe that the 3 countries mentioned can support growth in Rugby League