A lot has been written in recent weeks about the need to improve the second tier competition within NSW (NSW Cup). This argument has been brought to a head by an over reliance on under 20’s competition players when injuries occur.
In my opinion this has detracted from the quality of the NRL this season and something urgently needs to be done to address this before it undermines the credibility of our great product – the NRL.
The problem with addressing this issue is how do we improve the quality of the NSW Cup without crippling the finances of our existing NRL clubs. The one thing that is certain is that we cannot go back to playing this second tier competition as a lead-up game to the NRL.
Why is this you may ask?
The answer is that the revenue associated with playing this competition as a lead-up to an NRL game does not justify the cost involved.
In fact I would argue that this would have a negligible effect on crowd numbers and reduce overall margins to the NRL as a result. That is why this competition has disappeared from our current match-day experience.
So how do we improve the NSW Cup?
The only way this can be achieved is to market it as a stand-alone competition with its own revenue streams and identity. I look north to our neighbours in Queensland with envy. They have been able to build and maintain a high standard second division competition without cannibalising the NRL’s market.
The success has been in their ability to connect with grassroots. This is something that is sadly lacking in NSW.
I grew-up playing rugby league in the Riverina and feel saddened by the lack of purpose set by the NRL and ARL with regard to grassroots development. I think there is no clear strategy for developing markets in regional NSW.
At best the current strategy is haphazard. Money is directed at different projects without any real understanding of the expected returns to be gained from these investments. What then happens is that funds are not available to support real projects with real potential.
I hope the Independent Commission addresses this issue and we have a clear business plan for rugby league which connects all the dots and realigns spending towards clear objectives.
My proposal for the NSW Cup is to revamp this competition along regional lines. The competition would have teams representing the following areas:
– North Sydney
– South Sydney
– Newtown
– Western Suburbs
– Central Coast
– Newcastle
– Far North Coast
– Illawarra
– Riverina
– Central West
– ACT
– Melbourne
These clubs would operate as stand-alone teams. They would be responsible for managing their own finances with the key objective being to provide a development pathway to the NRL.
All games should be played on a Saturday at 3pm. This timeslot is critical because country rugby league is predominantly played on Sunday’s, ensuring that this competition exists to improve the level of rugby league exposure without being detrimental to local leagues. Also there is no direct competition with the NRL.
The 3pm timeslot also offers the NRL the opportunity to sell the rights to this competition to TV networks. An annual revenue stream of around $2-3m would help offset some of the costs involved with administering this competition.
I think it also offers a lot of potential, especially to regional free to air networks that want local products that align with their local viewers interests.
Structurally the competition would have a salary cap of $250K per club to develop a base team (funded from the competitions TV rights revenue). NRL clubs would loan players outside of their top 17 each week to these clubs for match fitness or development.
The wages would be paid by the NRL clubs for those players, however all other costs would be managed by the NSW Cup teams. This would allow NRL clubs to build larger squads without having to pay all of the additional costs which go with this.
The benefit of this to the NSW Cup is that they would be able to capitalise of the profile of any NRL players dropping back into this competition from a marketing perspective.
The NRL would also provide an additional $250k annual grant to each club to pay for development officers and local promotions in their regions.
This should be funded from the Independent Commission and is critical to ensuring that the profile of this competition and rugby league in general remains strong in regional NSW.
Without getting caught up in the detail, the clear strategic benefit of this proposal is that there are now clear pathways from grassroots to the NRL, there is a re-connection with our regional rugby league competitions and most importantly, a viable competition which can support the NRL and ensure that our product – the NRL – remains the best it can be.
Rob C
Guest
Eric, Your point is valid regarding having a lopsided competition although this could be easily fixed if clubs had their own areas and were compensated for any logistical issues by the NRL (much like QLD Cup). The cost factor is not incurred by the NRL Clubs. This would be managed by the NSW Cup teams. The only costs to be incurred by the NRL Clubs would be for the wages of players that have been loaned to these clubs. It would cost the NRL Clubs more to have these games at their own venue as they would have to incur all costs and would get negligible return in revenue as Sydney people do not care about the lower grades. They attend football for the main event. I am a member of the Dragons and I see this every home game. No body watches the under 20’s. They all turn up for the main game. There is no way that this competition will ever return to the main day. NRL Clubs removed it for a reason (too costly). If nothing is done about giving it some credibility than it might as well be dismantled altogether as it will nether serve any real purpose. Cheers, Rob
Rob C
Guest
Not a stupid idea. Not sure about a draft, but compensation in the way of a transfer system is a good idea. This is because some clubs have no incentive to develop juniors and have a reputation for stealing talent from other clubs like Canberra and the Dragons (have strong junior bases). In this way the clubs that are developing players are able to be compensated for time and money spent on players that other clubs are to benefit from. Great idea for the under 20's competition. Don't know if it should be used for the other junior grades though.
Eric
Guest
Rob C, Your model for the NSW Cup is an excellent idea for Country rugby league and the people will turn up. And why not? It would be a great sporting and social event for all in attendance. The excitement of inter-regional rivalries would be immense as all battles would be fought within a carnival atmosphere. At kick-off, it's war. By the final whistle, friendships are made that will last a lifetime. But, I feel your proposed competition would become lop-sided with most graded players aligning with the City clubs to remain in or as close to the NRL loop as possible. How many former Parramatta and Penrith lower graders will run out for Riverina? Would young blokes from Ryde or Wentworthville bother trialling for Far North Coast? And would a 1st Grader dropped for being late to training have a dig playing for Central West? Your idea would cost alot more than mine. More board members, officials, compulsory ground improvements, security etc. As for my proposal, all the resources are present and we will be back to 3 grades at the footy. And I emphasis that if you haven't made it to the NRL by age 24, you move onto QLD Cup, Jim Beam Cup or local A-Grade.
Peter Byrne
Roar Rookie
Rob, I can't help but feel that the current angst regarding the NSW Cup is at least, in part a self-fulfiling prophecy fueled by perception. For each coach who claims an "over-reliance" on Toyota Cup players how many available Qld or NSW Cup players did he overlook during selection? Has he kept an eye on these players? If not, why not? It's this general ignorance of 2nd teir open age players that seems to reflect an incorrect perception that their level of football is substandard "Park Footy", that Toyota Cup is the real "second teir" competition and that you are "washed up" if you haven't made First Grade by 21. This perception has a lot in common with the searing prejudice against the UK Super League. I find it hard to agree with the pervailing perception as very little has changed in this level of football other than the fact that many "Reserve Graders" now put on a different jersey on the weekend to represent their NRL club's feeder. I really challenge the idea that NSW Cup now has a noticeably lower standard than the Premier League or Reserve Grade competitions that came before it... how could it? It's made up of precisely the same pool of players minus a couple of the teenage prodigies. Was Wentworthville 2009 worse than Parramatta Premier League in 2007 and 2008? The only difference was the colours they wore. One of the things that is wrong with this debate is that people like Phil Gould and others in the media, who seem to be the main protagonists in this, are really in no place to comment on the standard. Gould himself has said on several occassions that he doesn't watch "Reserve Grade-standard" football and he constantly refers dismissively to "Park Footy" - I doubt that he's ever sat through a Super League match. I'd be surprised if any of the journalists telling us how there's a crisis in the NSW Cup takes even the slightest notice of the competition let alone specifically point out its shortcomings. Let's change the attitudes and re-calibrate our expectations and perhaps we'll find the perception won't stand. I do concede that there may well be problems at the moment related to the salary cap and which of those NSW Cup players are available for NRL selection and which aren't. NSW Cup already has a cap as well as a number of standalone clubs as feeders and we need to either look at how the cap is spread between an NRL club and it's standalone feeder to ensure maximum player availability. Perhaps we could look at discounts for dual-registered players? The reality is that club finances will dicatate that the standalone feeder clubs and joint ventures are here to stay - they are a benefit for NRL clubs and diversifies the base of those investing in the development of players - so let's make it work. I agree wholeheartedly that the NSW and Queensland Cups have great commercial potential (as does the Toyota Cup) that is yet to be realised and this will not be achieved by moving them to NRL game day or allowing Toyota Cup to swallow them. You need only to look at the relative popularity of the television broadcasts on Fox and ABC Brisbane for these competitions to see the potential in a competition with a less structured style of football, played by traditional, local teams playing at boutique suburban grounds with the regular NRL guest star. However, I wouldn't bring in too many regional sides as these should stick to keeping their CRL Groups strong. Cheers PB
Reggie Jackson
Guest
As a fan of the NFL, is there any way that a draft out of Toyota Cup could work? (just an idea, don't shoot me because you think it's a stupid suggestion) If Toyota Cup was raised to 21 or 22 years old and players couldn't play NRL until they were old enough,if there was a draft, it would see the best young players going to the weaker NRL teams with some sort of compensation was given based on which Toyota Cup teams players came from. As you were talking about depth, players that remained undrafted could be hot property for these NSW Cup teams to chase. Again just an idea and I know it sounds stupid, but keep an open mind.
Rob C
Guest
Eric, I don't agree that raising the age of the under 20's and Jersey Flegg will solve this problem. If the NSW Cup is left to decay there will still only be 1 effective team for each club to support its first grade team. If this is full of senior players then there will be no opportunities for the young players to come through the grades. The QLD Cup should not be thrown into the same category as NSW. This is a well-run competition. It has its own identity, own market (predominantly regional / suburban) and has a reasonably strong competition player and supporter base. The main reason the NSW Cup deteriorated was due to this competition being directly supported financially (pegged) by NRL Clubs. The current clubs do not have the financial muscle to carry a second team. In QLD this has not been the case. QLD Clubs have built their own brands and revenue streams. It is this approach which I support as it helps re-connect with our grass roots competitions. In our regional markets we are currently struggling big time due to the lack of direction given to this. I honestly believe that a revamp of the NSW Cup with its own identity (clubs especially) and own income streams with teams strategically placed in both regional and suburban markets will help re-connect and grow rugby league. It has to be done properly much like the under 20’s competition when this was launched. If it has the right people running this it will be successful and NRL will have a strong second division competition to drop players back into for match-fitness and skills development. This will also help deter kids from playing AFL / Rugby or Soccer as we will have NRL heroes playing weekend rugby league in regional markets. This is a massive selling point for this competition and I think it is a must to truly reconnect all the dots from seniors to junior footy. As I stated in this article, there is an opportunity to sell the rights to this competition to regional TV networks if it is marketed right. An annual grant of $2-3m would offset a lot of the direct costs associated with this competition with local sponsorships and gate takings covering the rest. This would develop a strong following in a number of regional markets where rugby league is loved (unlike a Sydney centric market) and would be successful. I hope you are reading this David Gallop because as Phil Gould stated, rugby league will lose its credibility as the strongest rugby league competition in the world if we don’t soon fix this player depth issue. This is the most cost effective means of achieving this while also serving a number of the IC’s soon to be strategic goals for grass roots development. (I hope they are anyway).
Dogs Of War
Roar Guru
100% agree. It would also mean that NSW Cup/QLD Cup etc still exist with a higher quality of player available if NRL clubs decide to hold onto some older players but whom are not required for First Grade. Not to mention financially most clubs can't afford to run a proper reserve grade setup these days.
Eric
Guest
Nothing can save NSW Cup / Reserve Grade / Premier League / First Division. In quality, it's comparable to the Metro Cup Reserves 15 years ago. Raise the Toyota Cup age to U/23's and bring back Jersey Flegg U/20's. If you haven't made it in the NRL by 24, it's time to head to the QRL, Jim Beam Cup or your local A Grade.
Dogs Of War
Roar Guru
Phil Gould covered this very well today.... http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/codes-socalled-leaders-found-wanting-as-woes-mount-20100417-sler.html Currently due to the TV deal, it's hard to structure the game as it should be, as most clubs want to save money and outsource the lower graded out to other clubs so they save on costs. So really I can't see a lot happening until that TV deal is renegotiated, at that point there will be an IC, and a better idea of what costs clubs should be expected to bear. Probably expand the guys under the salary cap to 35 players, with a injury list (sort of like the NFL do), could work to bring more parity between clubs. Toyota Cup needs to be raised to 22/3yrs old, rather than the 20yrs old that exists currently.
oikee
Guest
Agree with your post. Hopefully things will change big time after 2012, next t/v deal. NRL clubs need to inject more money into state comps. The storm are doing this already i see. They had a host of under 20 talent playing in the NSW cup comp. Rugby league is in stagnet mode for the next 2-3 years. Shame really.