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Yesterday the Sunday mail released the NRL’s plans to give the game the biggest ‘makeover’ since the Super League, but all it will do is increase the power in Sydney clubs.
The Sunday mail’s two page article revealed that the NRL planned to even up the competition by trying to enforce equal profits between all clubs, allowing Sydney based teams such as Cronulla to earn as much as the Broncos yet only pulling in half the crowds.
This would lead to greater power in Sydney clubs as well as the destruction of the 10 million dollar relocation bail out. The NRL needs to spread the game and not be dragged down by struggling Sydney sides.
Sydney has too much influence on the game in Australia: the grand finals are held there, they have more clubs, all administrators, commentators, referees, judiciary members and media presenters are based there and now they have plans to relocate the Queensland origin team to be based in Sydney.
This would lead to NSW being able to control what the Queensland teams do, where they train, and would inevitably lead to rule changes like 12 interchanges to 10 in 2008, which was highly advantageous for NSW’s more mobile and fit forward pack.
The two main homes of rugby league are Brisbane or SEQ and Sydney. Sydney and Brisbane should have equal power when dealing with changes to the game or competition.
They should have equal power and a similar amount of teams.
The greater Brisbane area has a population of around 3 million, including the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast areas. Brisbane also has the fastest growing population of all the major cities and a rugby league culture.
Sydney has a population of 4.5 million.
South east Queensland should therefore have two-thirds the number of teams Sydney has.
To add to this, the Sydney region has all the power in NSW rugby league. Queensland, however has its power spread between five different regions and also has a national competition.
The NRL competition needs more teams in Queensland.
So here are my suggestions:
1. The Cronulla Sharks move to the Central Coast. This would mean passionate supporters could travel for a game.
2. New team in West Brisbane, namely the Ipswich/Logan area. With a massive rugby league following, similar to that of western Sydney, and a population of 400,000, the club is assured survival.
3. A team in Central Queensland based in Rockhampton, probably the most league passionate city in Australia.
4. A fourth south east Queensland team on the Sunshine coast, called the Redcliffe/Sunshine Coast Dolphins. The areas of Redcliffe and Sunshine Coast have a population of 100,000 in Redcliffe and 300,000 in the Moreton bay Area, plus the 250,000 people that live on the Sunshine Coast.
5. A team in Port Moresby. Rugby league is the biggest sport in PNG and support for a local team would be massive. It has a similar population to the Sunshine Coast. It joins the Qld cup next year in hope of reaching the NRL by 2013, although unlikely.
6. Finally, a second New Zealand team placed in Wellington.
This would make a 21 team competition which would allow a fairer and equal share of power between all clubs. The competition would be run for twenty weeks, leaving 10 games, with one team having a bye as well as international rest weeks and State of Origins on weekends.
This would also create a rivalry round between all clubs, with Sydney clubs battling it out, New Zealand teams playing each other, games against regional Queensland sides, Central coast Vs Newcastle, Brisbane Vs west Brisbane, and the Sunshine Coast Vs Gold Coast.
With the right decisions, the future looks bright for the NRL.
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