Taking game to Adelaide was a win win

Can you please provide an argument as to why Melbourne should be relocated. Everything about Melbourne being in the NRL (excluding the salary cap rort) is positive. Consider this: Rugby league never had a presence in Melbourne before the Storm (unlike Perth). Starting from a base of zero, they now have a reasonably good and ever improving domestic league, a strong SG ball side, a NSW Cup team and a NYC Premiership winning team. Not to mention the fact that they average over 15k a game which is better than the crowd in Perth for the one off just recently and most sides in the NRL. The majority of promotional work done in Vic is funded by the Storm. The ARL does not provide large amounts to development to this market (I am sure this is SL driven) and the Storm dip into their reserves to drive this bottom up development. This is why the Storm has had considerable losses over past years. If we exclude the additional football and promotional costs the club is doing well. In fact the club itself has just recorded a reasonable profit for the year. Melbourne currently has over 9k ticketed members which is better than all of the western suburb heartland clubs (exc Bulldogs). They have no leagues Club to prop them up and run a very smart business in my opinion. The final and most important note is that Melbourne has one of the strongest brands in the NRL and Australian sport. They are a very valuable commodity to the NRL and attract large TV viewing numbers when they play. If the NRL gets its act together and sorts out the free to air issues in Melbourne than in 5 years time I believe Melbourne will have a spectator base to rival the Brisbane Broncos (not speculating either when you consider their success to date with very little support from the league). Everything is there to gain from pushing Melbourne harder. As for Perth, it will be a success no doubt. I do think it will have its own hurdles to overcome mainly logistical (costs involved) and the level of established competition within its market. So please stop rubbishing the Storm. Without them the NRL would not have anywhere near the current revenues that it currently generates from its game. Clubs like Melbourne, Warriors, Broncos and other future non NRL expansion areas like Perth, Adelaide, PNG and NZ South Island are where league will significantly drive tv viewing numbers and commercial returns. Other areas like CC and CQLD may not have a large uptake in tv viewing numbers but will help drive commercial revenue through solidifying core markets and building / re-establishing rivalries within those markets (limiting the ability of other codes to gain a strong hold).

wrong. i have been espousing this veiw long before there was even talk of the Rebels. if anything, the Storm would actually help the Rebels and create some solidatirty amongst the rugby codes. My view is based soley on whats best for the NRL. Melbourne Storm RLFC are a joke and should be relocated at seasons end.

You only want the Storm to relocate because a new Union side is starting up in Melbourne GGs, we are not fools. Melbourne Storm RLFC is here to stay, live with it.

Melbourne ain't going anywhere King of the GGS,much as you like to espouse the wish for them to do so.The game would be a laughing stock if they did move and the NRL knows it.That is why a huge sum of money,time.Dos have been put in place to get the game a nicher market.That has been achieved despite the Waldron inspired salary cap rort. +.They will be in the next year or two a privately owned franchise.You heard it here first. The notion to ignore a city of 4 million,in preference for a city of 1.5m is farcical. Voss is no different from any media man whose remit is sport.All these guys(rl/ru/AFl/soccer) stand up for their own sport and criticise others when the opportunity arises.Forests have been denuded, with pages of print with their efforts.

Well done Adelaide. thats a good crowd. better then would have been achieved in Sydney - and that is the crucial point. As ive been espousing for the last 15 months - get rid of Melbourne and focus on Perth and Adelaide. Voss is a bitter sad little man. he is always bagging something - rugby, adelaide, the warriors. he talks of making the game globa, but then hinders its growth every chance he gets. I dont think Adelaide is ready for a team within the next 5 years, but after that i think its a realistic option. the rugby sevens has shown, that if you give it time to grow then the local public will slowly get into it.

Surprised me,as Voss is actually an exapansionist so bagging having a game in Adelaide which promotes the codes is not helpfull,and the type of attitude that prevails with some rl people ,keep it in Sydney and Brisbane. To get 10,000 plus there ,when the Sharks last year got about 8,000 at Hindmarsh,shows there is a fan base on which to grow the code.Remember Adelaide pop 1.25m.IMO they are not ready to have their own team,but 3 visits a year by other NRL clubs wouldn't be remiss. I suppose taking a game to Christchurch where they go 20,700 was a waste of time.Fair crack of the whip,some of these so called rl commentators and media types, need to look outside the square.Promote ,grow or wither and die. The I.C.cannot come quickly enough for mine.

I'm not against taking the occassional game on the road, but the other side of it is that the local home supporters get one less game. I would have thought it is a bigger priority for Sydney clubs is to shore up their local support base. How does it help to sell memberships and build a more loyal following (who attend matches) if a number of home games aren't even played at home?

Trust me. NRL clubs have no idea how to promote anything. You barely hear about Raiders games in Canberra! Bugger all radio or TV ads...they could try letterbox drops...but they dont. You get occasional TV ads...occasional. So for 10,000 to show up in Adelaide with bugger all promotion is not bad at all. Why a smart person like Voss would criticise this I dont understand. Adelaide is Australia's 5th biggest city - thats 1.1million hearts, minds and wallets to convert to league. Some nitwits are talking about the NRL opening shops in PNG or the tiny town of Rockhampton - baffling! Talk about preaching to the converted! The NRL needs a team in Perth for 2013...but anywhere else can wait in my opinion.

You would hope to get 10K. There should be enough ex pat league followers willing to turn up. Plus the novelty value for non- ex pats. Siliar to getting a crowd to a Super Rugby game in Melbourne up to now, or Perth until 5 years ago. question is do you have enough to turn up week in and out to support a team. The Storm have done it in Adelaide, so you'd hope PErth and Adelaide could.

For a state with media so far up the AFLs clacker to attract 10k to a game when they don't have a team ... Is great!! Shows strong support. I don't believe you can build a junior base without a first grade team in the state. Get NRL to sa, watch the kids try and replicate the stars and within two years it will gain more speed.

AFL is king in Adeliade, but it was a good sign attracting 10K to the game. I wouldnt read too much into it though. A second team in Brisbane and a Central Coast team is needed before anything else.

I must say the game was promoted pathetically in Adelaide. Nothing in the media and I only found out about the match 2 days ago. If they want to play NRL games here they need to do better. Doesn't help the local media only reports on AFL, cricket, and a little soccer.

Adelaide Rams would have had a strong following if they stuck around, may even have some home grown players by now. Time to give it another go. Good support in the 2 years they played, even when they were the 2 years the Crows went back to back premiers in the AFL and of course hogged the media limelight.

Also agree with Mitch about Vossy, he should keep his opinions to himself, doesn't he realise he hurts the code coming out and saying these things? What a deadset dope.

Something to build on, well done Doggies. Pity the stadium looked like a construction site though. Maybe all the teams in Sydney that don't get big support for certain out of towners should plan ahead and move these fixtures around to regional areas and interstate or off shore, pretty certain plenty of places would love to have a game played in their backyard and you'd think the local governments would be all for it. Also good to see that the Cowboys will be playing the Broncos in Alice Springs in a trial next year. Back to Adelaide though, I've always thought there was a support base over there, some of the crowds the Rams got during the War were excellent and their team was garbage on the pitch, I'm sure with a new franchise and a decent team they would definitely draw support. Something for the NRL heads to think about over the next 10 years I suppose, if they know how to think that is, or Rupert lets them think for themselves ;)

Yep