Should the NRL expand to Christchurch?

Correct.But the waratahs are also a major code in sydney ,the heart of ru in Asutralia,and they would be happy with 22,000 on a regular basis.Rugby league is popular in Australia and yes some grounds have empty seats,but is not the religion that ru is in NZ.It is reasonable to suggest that if a sport is a religion,there should be no or few empty seats. I have not read anywhere on this thread the suggestion that ru fans will suddenly switch to rl.The only thing I have read is rl offering an alternative,to those who like both or maybe like rl.Repeat no one has suggested rl will take over in NZ or ru fans will switch.Please refrain from making those assumptions. Morgan you tend to go overboard on your analysis of interpreting peoples posts.' To your Christchurch comment,who knows what the situation will be 10 years down tthe line,that city may be an ideal spot for a 2nd NZ team and then again it may not.You do not take into account what sort of grants anyway the NRL is likely to provide for new expansion teams. Making a fuss about Peachey LOL;the subject was brought up about the Sharks playing in Taupo,and Peachey was assisting as his wife came from that area.She is a NZedder.ABFan made the comment about being in a development squad.At last reports this is in an rl thread. what the hell has kids coming through ru development and no doubt they are talented got to do with @ expanding rl b) having a 2nd team in NZ C) Peachey playing for a Kings county development squad when his wife comes from the area.. Please advise where I stated that rl are average players when they switch to union.I am really interested to see where I made that statement or are you making things up on the run again.

that's because the S14 is rapidly falling out of favour in NZ; the ITM Cup (formerly the NPC) and Ranfurly is going gangbusters, especially in TV ratings and drawing decent crowds, especially given that they have Thursday night games !!

why are you making a big fuss about peachey in nz? obviously he's not good enough to play amateur rugby in nz no matter how good he was in league. end of story. your quick to point out nrl players are average players when they switch to rugby. have you actually seen the kids coming through nz rugby with all the best athletes in nz playing 1st rugby? im sure king country have alot of exctiting players coming through the waikato, thames and taupo.

empty seats in nz for super 14 just like many empty seats in the nrl in nsw and queensland but is league a major sport in nz? when you read comments on here i thought all you had to do was for the warriors to play and be shown on tv and 4million kiwi fans will switch from rugby and follow league as its the most entertaining sport ever on this universe. the same amount of fans watched the warriors in wellington and waikato a couple of years ago and we all know what happen to those stadium contracts! the pheonix a-league had the same crowd in chrischurch last year. should we put an a-league team there too?

Please! I see empty seats at S14 games in NZ,on Tv match highlights in this country.The stadiums are hardly brnmming over with spectators.Anycase at this stage a 2nd NZ NRL team is too early.Australi is the first priority.I have no doubt a 2nd team will happen there. I think 22,000 for a warriors v roosters game in Christchurch was hardly scraping the barrel.

AB Fan.Peachey has a dreadful ability of attacking from the fullback position,and beating a miriad of players.Safe under the high ball and evasive,even at 36.Maybe attributes too much for the King Country team to handle.He had this other dreadful habit of bringing people through the gate at the Sharks. A real gentleman and a credit to rugby league.I hardly think he is trying to make a career there in ru,just guesting.

I agree. I refuse to pay for Foxtel. I only watch the NRL, some Union, and NFL. Not enough to justify spending the sort of money for foxtel that could be better spent elsewhere.

"other nz super 14 teams played after 9.30 if they are shown live from australia. just like the nrl." I'm not sure of the point you're trying to make. Isn't this exactly what I just said?

i know you canters love your crusaders. other nz super 14 teams played after 9.30 if they are shown live from australia. just like the nrl.

there have been many suggestion through the years by australian teams/states to join the npc and i can tell you it was in the papers in nz many times through the 80's, 90's and even a couple of yeas ago. nz doesn't hate everything aussies but they want to beat the aussie at any sports particilar rugby. many kiwis living here will only support the all blacks even if their kids have been born here. we use to have t-shirts back inthe days that said "we only support two teams. the all blacks and anyone playing against australia", back to topic. i don't think there shouldn't be a second team in nz. anyone here who watched and witness the warriors near demise in the beginning when the nrl almost too their license away from auckland when they were losing fans stay away and even now when they are a chance to finish in the top two their games still has heaps of empty seats. christchurch will not support league and same as wellington the local derby your talking about like the bulldogs/eels in australia doesn't exist in any sports in nz other than rugby. we have had the nrl games in wellington and waikato in the past and we all know how that end up. if your not getting fans to watch a league rivaly between the kiwis and kangaroos in nz then you won't get them for club games.

NRL matches on Sky start at 9.30pm on Friday nights. NZ-based S14 matches start at 7.30pm, but the S14 matches in Australia start at 9.30pm. I personally would rather watch an NRL game at half nine on a Friday, than an Aussie-based S14 game not involving the Crusaders.

so all non warriors games all start up at 9.30pm on sky tv? i think your find most super 14 games in nz start later than 9.30pm and still rates better than the nrl.

Postscript: The King Country officials were less than impressed by his rugby abilities. He's been relegated to a development team -- at 36 years!! Guess you're never too old to learn!!:-)

Republican. If what you say is true then its a shame, but then I can't find any information on the web to support what your saying? Please provide further details about the plans that the various Australian states had to incorporate a team into the NZ competition. Other then that your totally wrong For starters NZ gets no favours from Australia in anything. A kiwi living in Aus gets no benefits they do not earn themselves. An Australian living in NZ gets all the same rights and privileges that any other NZ citizen is entitled to. I'm not sure where you get this idea that New Zealand absolutely hates everything Australian from because its far from the truth. Finally back to sport. I'm not sure your fully aware of how the super-14 came about but it started with a club competition called the super-6 which was basically a trans-Tasman competition between Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, NSW, Queensland and Fiji. This competition gave no benefit to NZ but it was a way that NZ could help strengthen it's Australian rivals. New Zealand does not want a weak Austrlian rugby union. We want a strong Australian competition because there is nothing nice about watching Australia lose by 30 points to the All Blacks. Finally there is nothing stopping Australia's rugby talent from pitching their services to NZ provincial teams. Most Kiwis playing league in Australia do not play for the Warriors and the same applies for the A-league (phoenix). NZ rugby could do more to help the Australian rugby union out but without an invite by the ARU it's unlikely to happen and the ARU has no interest in asking for help.

Please go and research the Wallabies' 1978 tour to New Zealand and the 1979 Bledisloe Cup. New Zealand rugby has been propping the Wallabies up for the past 30 years.

Djorbinson. You are in denial here. Yes is the answer, the ACT along with NSW and Qld have indeed flagged this concept with NZRU at varying times, who would not have a bar of it I believe. The fact is, pure and simple, NZ benefit greatly from their relationship with Australia and not just in sport. This is often at our own demographic expense. The benefit gleaned is never reciprocated or indeed appreciated in fact it is NZers that do most of the 'hating' I assure you. NZ could.be far more benevolent in respect of helping develop the game of Union here, especially by strengthening our domestic scene, because lets face it, the game is in trouble here as you correctly stated, lacking a strong domestic culture and national profile, certainly compared to NZ who are the benchmark of the game internationally. I believe NZ are driven by an insular parochial fear of Australia, it is in their collective DNA and so any benevolent hand extended on their part in respect of their hallowed Union is highly unlikely. This game is afterall, a rarity in as much NZ dominate Union globally and so covet it accordingly. Aust being larger and a sporting powerhouse globally is a threat and any sort of aid in this respect would quite possibly compromise their long standing Union status; who could blame them really. Conversely, Australia continue to foster NZ sporting talent and interest across the board, by ever increasing memberships to our Leagues etc. This Kiwi attitude I speak of has also been evidenced by their incessant protests over the years at any talk of Australian Super expansion - to no avail however. Cheers

Bearing it all I assume.Good story nonetheless,keep plugging away.Just on pure determination alone, the Big Bad bears should win the day and be back on the road again.

Central Coast Bears Bid in Rugby League Week today 2 page spread..

That is correct at 36 years of age Peachey is playing for a few months,and at the same time continuing to promote rl in this country to the aboriginal community.There are many instances of retired rl players,giving ru a go.He also guests in the NSW country for rl clubs to assist them in promotion work,as do a few other former NRL players. BTW Peachey's wife comes from that area in NZ,and he is pushing for the Sharks to play there. In fact his presence playing ru over there is a good marketing tool for the Sharks.At 36 he still has a lot going for him,and may show some of the ru boys over there his atacking prowess and open field running and evasive skills. I also love it.

I love this -- David Peachey goes over to Taupo to help bed down the details of the Sharks' `home' games at Taupo and ends up agreeing to play RU for King Country in the Heartland Championship!!