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Last year it was announced the NRL would cease the annual City versus Country Origin match, which will be held for the last time this year.
There’s also talk of relocating the heavily indebted Newcastle Knights to Ipswich, which would be more lucrative for TV deals.
These are just some of the developments in a long downward slide for rugby league in rural and regional areas.
The NRL have abandoned the field – and the AFL could take advantage of this.
If the AFL set up a regional league, it could tap into a strong sense of local identity and gain a loyal following.
The AFL could easily find the money for an RAFL if they disband the ten-team NEAFL. The new regional league could also create its own revenue though regional broadcasting and sponsorship deals.
Bringing a national league to regional centres would help spread the game and allow teams to audition themselves for inclusion in the AFL.
You could put a league together with teams from the following places:
Tasmania
The clear front-runner among fans as to where they think the next AFL team should be based is Tasmania, but the AFL need to get in before the Titans are relocated there.
I mean, it’s a better idea than the Gold Coast Bears surely?
Canberra
The nation’s capital should also be included since, like Tasmania, it was also overlooked in the last round of expansion.
Sunshine Coast
The Sunshine Coast is rapidly growing and will soon be the size of the Gold Coast. There’s already strong support to build on as well.
In a reader poll, the Sunshine Coast Daily found that 69 per cent of people were in support of a having a team in the AFL.
Another poll, in the Fraser Coast Chronicle, found that 50 per cent would like to have an AFL team, compared to just 37 per cent support for an NRL team.
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Newcastle
The second-largest city in New South Wales is also the home of the historic Black Diamond Cup, which dates back to 1888.
Ballarat
The new Eureka Stadium in Ballarat would make a good home for a team based here and the people of Ballarat would get behind it.
Bendigo
The Bendigo Football League is one of the oldest in Australia and includes Castlemaine Football Club, the second oldest club in the nation.
Albury-Wodonga
An AFL stronghold, the local Ovens and Murray grand finals regularly attract 15,000 spectators to Lavington Sports Ground.
Darwin
Well known for its enthusiasm for the sport, Darwin has the highest participation rate in the country.
Cairns
AFL Cairns is widely regarded as the strongest league in regional Queensland and eight of the ten highest crowd figures at Cazaly’s Stadium have been set by AFL matches.
Townsville
Although interest in Aussie rules isn’t as strong here as it is in Cairns, there’s no reason it couldn’t take off.
AFL should go regional
A third of all Australians live in regional areas, yet only two of the current 18 teams are located in the regions: Geelong and the Gold Coast.
If the AFL want to claim it is a national code, it should do more to embrace regional Australia.
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