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John Grant’s confirmation yesterday that south-east Queensland will most likely host the 17th NRL franchise makes the debate currently underway about the game’s second tier particularly significant.
Yes, I know we have two preliminary finals over the next 48 hours and players taking painkillers is a massive story, but surely you’ve read enough about those topics elsewhere.
In case you missed it, the NRL chairman told a media conference in Brisbane that the grand final would be taken outside Sydney once in every three years from 2019. I like that. Good call.
Secondly, he gave a very strong indication that if we do get a new team any time soon, it will be in or near Brisbane and play games at Suncorp Stadium.
What this means for other groups trying to gain entry to the NRL is that they are hoping to prove their bona fides in second tier competitions, like the Papua New Guinea Hunters are in the Queensland Cup at the moment.
Fiji and Perth in the NSW Cup is one scenario being looked at.
But there is an ideological war going on between the Sydney clubs and the NRL regarding the second tier right now. The clubs regard the second tier as a means to an end – providing a pathway for players and getting results in first grade by using these pathways efficiently.
The NRL has very different objectives.
It wants to keep kids in their home towns longer and breath life back into bush footy with true statewide competitions. It wants to use the second tier as a vehicle for expansion, as outlined above.
The NSWRL is basically the Sydney rugby league. It wants a second tier setup with lots of Sydney clubs that players can represent under the watchful eye of the first grade coach.
It doesn’t want the American concept of ‘farm teams’ – sides which actually serve a commercial as well as developmental role in smaller markets. It doesn’t want Fiji and Riverina and North Coast, it doesn’t want to bring back the Illawarra Steelers or North Sydney Bears as second tier teams.
And the debate is getting a little ugly.
Because the NRL can’t force the new structure upon the Sydney clubs, we may get those great rugby league traditions – duplication and wastage – once again. The Sydney clubs will get their reserve grade competition and the League will get NRL north and south under the grand plan outlined above.
I love the idea of some of the old trademarks being reanimated, and of Newtown playing the Steelers on a Sunday afternoon – and then these famous old names taking on Riverina and North Coast and Western Division in a properly run, televised competition.
I live a short walk from Henson Park and the ironic, hipster nostalgia surrounding the jets is enormous. Imagine it being replicated at North Sydney, Wollongong, Leichhardt, even Lidcombe!
I can also understand the Sydney clubs wanting some control over their players when they are not in first grade. But the NFL seems to manage okay without a reserve grade, doesn’t it?
Warring reserve grade competitions fighting each other for players and what few supporters there might be? Only in rugby league!