Following on from the Gold Coast Titans Rugby League franchise, the Gold Coast United football A-League team starting in a couple of months and the AFL’s plans to start up another AFL team on the Gold Coast in 2011, comes the news that the next Super 15 Rugby team should come from the Gold Coast.
Pardon me, but are we missing something?
Are the Gold Coast streets paved with gold and is the Gold Coast the disposable income capital of the world?
Terry Jackman, a good friend of ARU supremo John O’Neill argues that the Gold Coast is the only legitimate challenger to Melbourne’s hopes of entering an expanded Super 15 Rugby competition and has demanded the Australian Rugby Union prevent a bidding war by making an immediate choice of the Gold Coast based on “rugby reasons”.
AFL-mad Melbourne, a far bigger sporting market, is the overwhelming favourite for the 15th licence, but Jackman says the Gold Coast, which has one powerful Queensland Premier Rugby side plus its own club competition, deserved to get the nod because it was a rugby heartland.
Rugby “heartland”?
Heartland is becoming a very quickly over-abused term for all codes lately. Heartland for the schoolies maybe, but a rugby heartland?
With time running out for the Coast to put forward a bid to rival Melbourne, which narrowly lost out to the Western Force in 2005, Jackman said the national body needed to make an immediate decision for “the good of the code”.
“I sympathise with the ARU, it’s not an easy decision,” said the former ARU director.
“But I don’t think you can get into a bidding race, I think the ARU has to decide which way to go for the good of the game.
“We’re the third biggest city in rugby heartland and you’ve got to be careful we don’t lose it to the other three codes with AFL, NRL and A-League teams all set up here by 2011.
“If we don’t get a Super 15 side it will be hard to stop the kids going elsewhere.”
It’s already prompted concerns from Queensland coach Phil Mooney who doesn’t believe Australia has the depth of playing talent to host five sides. Mooney’s Reds were the hardest hit by the establishment of the Western Force, which kicked off in 2006, and have spent six straight seasons in the bottom three of the competition.
O’Neill is wary of the same damage to the existing teams and is supporting the idea of a “hybrid” team including a healthy amount of Pacific Islanders and foreign-based Australians to combine with local players.
Both the Gold Coast and Melbourne are planning on signing more than half their squad from Fiji, Tonga and Samoa and the Gold Coast is the nearest destination for the pacific islanders.
Victorian Rugby Union president Gary Gray wants none of the “hybrid” talk – it’s a “Victorian” rugby team.
However, like Perth, they just don’t have enough of their own local talent and have to import most of their players.
But the Gold Coast as the Super 15 Rugby franchise?
How could the Gold Coast possibly successfully support a top-flight team from all four major football codes plus all the other sports and the motor racing circus every year?
Working Class Rugger
Guest
Westy It would make more sense if the Melbourne based side aligned itself with Western Sydney. Through this alignment the Western Sydney might be able to develop it's own club competition.
Redb
Roar Guru
Ed, What is exactly do you think the VRU is not doing to pick up their act already? This talk of JON being some sort of guru makes me laugh - maybe he's just scared like last time. ;-) Redb
Ed
Guest
Perhaps it is a bluff. One of the big pushing points for the gold coast and western sydney is private equity, which the vru aren't keen on at all. Perhaps JON is using his friend Terry Jackman as a bargaining chip with vru.???? 'If you don't let us bring in private equity then where going back up north' If they let the vru think they're not a certainty then the vru will pick their act up quickly.
westy
Guest
Sheek you miss one vital ingredient . Melbourne provided they exclusively use and align with Western Sydney first grade clubs. They use and assist our first grade teams and we offer them juniors not yet available in Melbourne.
sheek
Guest
The day the ARU starts up a national club comp (again), we can have teams from Gold Coast & Western Sydney. Until then, it's NSW, Queensland, ACT, WA & Victoria. Looking logically, the ARU won't put a super team in either GC or WS. Unless, they want to kill off either Qld or NSW.
Working Class Rugger
Guest
The decision is simple. Melbourne is the only first choice. Western Sydney if they are serious is the second choice with the Gold Coast a comfortable third. For an area with a little over 600,000 population the amount of attention it is recieving is a little unwarranted. Something has got to give up there soon. Just don't know which code it will be that suffers when it does.
Justin
Guest
Digby is a VIC Hoy ;)
Hoy
Guest
So Sam is that for or against Melbourne? And the main impact of the Force was a massive bleed for QLD, not too many others. Imagine if we kept all those that have left their home state: Sharpe, Digby, Junior Pelasalsa (?), Mitchell, Richard Brown, Pocock, O'Connor, Luke Doherty, just for a few over the years.
Sam Taulelei
Roar Guru
Give it to Melbourne then watch all four other teams complain bitterly about the Melbourne teams recruitment drive and the impact it's having on their own sides - a la 2005 when the Force were given the nod. Look for them to concentrate on signing a marquee player from overseas and NRL ranks to gain media exposure and coverage in a parochial AFL press as well as some experienced hardheaded campaigners who's best playing days are behind them but who's seniority will be invaluable amongst younger teammates a la John Welborn for the Force. Watch with interest comments from the Melbourne team whose first priority will surely be to promote Australian talent, justiy their worldwide search for the best coach available regardless of nationality a la the Force. Then watch in awe as Melbourne defy the odds and become extremely competitive in the Australian conference from the start.
Hoy
Guest
Thinking about the Gold Coast rugby heartland hogwash. They do have their own rugby comp, but it is not equivalent to Brisbane Premier rugby. The only one that is, is the Gold Coast team themselves. All the others are close to Subbies teams. If they are going to say that is a true comp, then Brisbane itself could field the 15th team couldn't it? Brisbane has both a premier comp, and several subbies comps as well... It must be Melbourne, but it scares the hell out of me. The poor old Reds can't cop another schelacking like last time. We basically propped up the Force, and got it up and running with our players, but look what it has done to us.
jimbo
Guest
Would have to agree that Melbourne is a better choice for the S15 franchise than the Gold Coast. The crowds for the Titans at Skilled Stadium are getting as thin as Shane Warne’s scalp and the FFA and AFL must be getting some worrying flashes of reality. The magnificent Melbourne rectangular stadium [has it got a name yet?] will be completed by next year and would be an ideal home ground. Melbourne, you'd have to admit, is the sporting capital of Australia and all the rugby games played there to date have been very well received. Vacancy Rugby players - have money, have a nice home, must be willing to travel south.
Brett McKay
Guest
spot on Sheek, and that's why the QRU President/Chairman (it was one of them) has already thrown Qld's support behind Victoria. Mind you Mooney's said Aust can't support a fifth team, so perhaps a common song sheet needs to be found at Ballymore...
macavity
Guest
LOL@ Rugby "heartland" Rugby heartland in Oz is measured in private schools and postcodes, not cities.
sheek
Guest
And does anyone think the QRU will sit back & let it happen? The Reds suffered enough when the WA Force came into being. Giving the license to GC would kill off the Reds. Dumb, dumb, dumb. No, I don't think so. Victoria will get the gig.
Justin
Guest
I think the GC could, and I stress could be all hype. They havent even got a bid team or proposal yet. At the moment its all paper talk with nothing backing it up. Can we please have the consortium interested actually raise their hands. Jackman is speaking on behalf of who? I think himself, as a rugby lover, living on the GC.
sheek
Guest
Good discussion point, & who knows, the ARU might even be happy to flame the fires of discussion. But if in reality the Gold Coast get the 5th Aussie franchise license, it would be one of the dumbest decisions ever made by ARU/SANZAR. Not that they're incapable of such gross stupidity. Melbourne, Victoria must be the home of the 5th Aussie franchise license. Lock it in, Eddie!
Michael C
Guest
I thought Super 14/15 whatever, was using state based teams as that step up between the 'domestic' comp. WOuldn't it be against the grain to have 2 QLD sides? Or, for the sake of this, do we consider Gold Coast as separate as the ACT is to NSW? (so, the QLD Reds become the Brissie Reds? - or, can they still be QLD Reds and identify with all of QLD OTHER than the Gold Coast?) It just seems to me the issue of (the failure of the ARC and the lack of ) a decent domestic structure is getting in the way of the 15th licence.
Towser
Guest
Theres enough balls on the Gold Coast with Keno. Last time I was at Jupiters,the balls dropped & so did the money in my wallet. Funny place the Gold coast every time I go there looking for 'The Streets paved with Gold" I end up like "The Emperor with no clothes".
Pippinu
Roar Guru
Could the ARU be so foolish, so short sighted, so lacking in vision, that it would ignore Melbourne again? Using some choice terms from our beloved local game, it would be the equivalent of not running straight at the ball, of taking your eyes off the ball, of ducking the head, of failing to back into the oncoming pack, of not putting your head over the ball. It would be the soft option in the extreme.
Kurt
Guest
I'm with you on this one Jimbo, it seems there is a pretty strong bandwagon effect in relation to football code expansion and the GC. The local city council claims the area will have a population of 900,000 by 2030, which is a reasonable size but still no more than approx. 75% of Adelaide's current population. Sure the GC has more visitors that Adelaide (where doesn't?) but this hardly seems a solid base to build sustainable support for four professional sporting teams.