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Western Sydney has become the new blank canvas for sports administrators keen to project their visions of dominance of the 21st century Australian football scene.
To their eyes Western Sydney has it all. A huge, young, diverse population. Stadia to suit tastes large, small, round and rectangular. And enough indications of a collective consciousness to hint that a Western Sydney-wide sporting franchise could unify a huge and disparate region behind a single sporting identity.
It sure sounds good. A seething mass of sports-mad humanity – one of the best and biggest nurseries for junior talent in the country, ripe for the picking.
Mr Demetriou must have been licking his lips when he saw the population growth charts in some boardroom meeting in the mid-2000s – presumably next to the writing on the wall suggesting that a bigger TV contract next time around would require some big ideas, and big risks.
All those little Israels, just waiting for the right contract – or better yet, a well-paid Pied Piper.
The NRL must look on the AFL’s well-financed, brazen march into the traditional Sydney rugby league ‘heartland’ with a mixture of utter bemusement and simmering rage.
Of course, rugby league does have some major advantages and key assets out west.
Primary amongst these are the four huge, proud Sydney clubs which have forged powerful individual identities within the cities massive westward sprawl. Rugby league, from its inner-city roots, has been marching westward with Sydney itself since the very inception of the game.
Today, the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (est 1935), Parramtatta Eels (1947), Penrith Panthers (1967) and Wests Tigers (formed in 2000 by the merger of two of the original 1908 inner-western Sydney clubs, Balmain and Western Suburbs) boast some of the biggest crowds, membership numbers and junior nurseries in rugby league.
An obvious response to the AFL’s incursion into the west is to provide a collective regional outlet for these proud suburban identities.
One simple example which I believe the NRL should look very closely at is the Western Sydney Cup.
It would work a little like this:
Early every season, the NRL would schedule a three week window for a round robin between the four Western Sydney teams, with the rest of the competition continuing on independently.
The competition points from every game would count towards the NRL ladder.
But they would also count for the competition-within-the-competition – the Western Sydney Cup.
After a home game for each team over the first two weeks, the Cup would culminate in week three with a double header at Telstra Stadium – with Western Sydney bragging rights, prize money and NRL competition points at stake for all teams on the final day of the competition.
In essence this is an obvious extension of NRL’s existing ‘rivalry round’ arrangements. It would be easy to accommodate within the existing NRL season.
It would produce a series of already fiercely-contested local derbies, with an additional prize on the line. And it would be a boon for fans, clubs, sponsors, broadcasters and the NRL alike, as Western Sydney galvanised behind a three week gala of rugby league, with the local boys in the big-time fighting it out at home for what in time could become one of the game’s major prizes.
Imagine the buildup in Western Sydney towards a week three double header where after a few tight games in the early rounds, Parramatta squared off against the Dogs, and Penrith against Wests. Hayne and Hindmarsh against Barba and Idris, Marshall and Farah against Jennings and Coote. A series of promotions, clinics and events could be held in Western Sydney in the days leading up to the game.
And the final result likely unknown until fulltime of the second match of the double header, in front of a packed crowd at Homebush and a huge Friday night or Sunday afternoon TV audience.
This sort of event would be relatively simple to organise and would offer something that rival codes like the AFL – despite the dollars on offer and the rabid expansionary zeal – cannot hope to match.
A bit of wrangling over stadium contracts and member seating and you could even have it up and running next year – perfect timing a season ahead of the arrival of the AFL’s new kids on the block.
A project like this would be a piece of cake for one of the many visionary and accomplished CEOs already plying their trade at the western Sydney clubs. Over the past few weeks we’ve had all sorts of ideas about how rugby league can improve – lengthened seasons, shortened games, stand alone Origin weekends, etc.
The Western Sydney Cup would be one simple, non-radical change that works from within the fabric of the existing competition to deliver a major benefit for all concerned.
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