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The ARL Commission is expected to negotiate a much improved television broadcast deal in 2013. They had better squeeze every last cent out of the networks with the number of expansion bids currently wanting to join the NRL.
The list of Perth, Central Coast, Central Queensland and PNG bids has recently been joined by a bid from the Ipswich Jets.
David Gallop suggested last year that a second Brisbane team was an option and he mentioned the Ipswich-Logan corridor in South West Brisbane as a possibility. Ipswich has since gone alone with their bid with no mention of Logan, and their bid has highlighted an important and often overlooked factor in the expansion discussions.
How important is a second Brisbane team to the NRL, or alternatively, how important is it to let the Broncos continue to have their monopoly on Brisbane?
Reasons to leave Brisbane to the Broncos:
Well, if it ain’t broken, don’t try to fix it. Whatever your personal feeling for the Broncos, (disclaimer: I live in Brisbane and am a Broncos fan) there is no denying their worth to the NRL competition.
They have the biggest NRL crowd average with over 30,000 every year and they rate extremely well on TV in Brisbane.
How damaging would it be for the game to dilute the NRL’s biggest and most successful club?
The Broncos do have advantages over other teams. They have the largest junior nursery to choose from and the biggest corporate support that allows them to legally pay third party payments to players outside of the salary cap.
But should we not leave them to be the great success they are and instead set goals to try to bring the rest of the completion us to the high standard they have set?
The Broncos have won six premierships since they entered the comp in 1988, more than any other team, but they have only won one in the last 10 seasons as the stricter policing of the salary cap (Melbourne Storm debacle aside) has made the NRL an ever increasingly tighter competition.
Also, the Broncos missed the finals this year for the first time since 1991 and in recent years they have limped into the finals in seventh or eighth spot and were simply canon fodder for the top teams.
Leave Brisbane to the mighty Broncos, expand elsewhere and sit back and watch the game grow.
Reasons to put a second NRL team in Brisbane:
The population of Sydney is 4.5 million and there are nine Sydney teams (10 in NSW). Brisbane’s population is two million (and growing fast) and there is only one Brisbane team.
While a second Brisbane team would no doubt weaken the Broncos, both Brisbane teams would still enjoy advantages over other NRL teams as stated above.
A second Brisbane team would allow Australia’s best rectangle field stadium in Suncorp Stadium to be used every week. Even if the Broncos avg crowd was reduced it is very likely the accumulative crowd figures with two Brisbane sides would mean more bums on seats.
The NRL could also schedule local Queensland derby’s between the two Brisbane teams and between each Brisbane team and the Gold Coast, Cowboys or even a potential Central Qld team.
Most importantly the NRL would have a second Brisbane timeslot to sell to the networks for all future TV broadcast deals. Even with a fixed schedule the NRL could schedule a Brisbane team on FTA every week into the lucrative Brisbane market.
And while some Sydney fans would rather see anyone win a grand final than a rival Sydney team, Qld fans don’t see it that way. We all love the Maroons, and if our Qld side doesn’t win, we automatically support all the other Qld teams, (all of Qld is supporting the Titans to win the 2010 premiership).
A second Brisbane team will be well supported by all Qld fans against any Sydney team.
Brisbane can easily handle two or even three teams. The Broncos are a great success so let’s double that success with a much needed second Brisbane team.
The problem with the Ipswich Jet’s bid:
Despite recent cash flow problems due to the delay in the construction of their ‘Centre of Excellence’, the Titans have been and will continue to be a success story for the NRL.
Ipswich shares some similarities to the Gold coast; for example it is a proud independent town on the outskirts of Brisbane.
However, the Ipswich Jets have a long history in the local Brisbane completion with long standing rivalries with other Brisbane teams. There is no reason why anyone in Brisbane would stop supporting the Broncos in order to support a new Ipswich team.
The Ipswich Jets will support Ipswich, not Brisbane, and despite the recent phenomenal growth in Ipswich it is still at least 25 years from having the same population of the Gold Coast today. Even a combined Ipswich/Logan team still leaves 80 per cent of Brisbane to the Broncos.
I imagine the NRL would like to see a second Brisbane team resemble the big brother – little brother situation with the AFL teams in Perth, the West Coast Eagles and the Fremantle Dockers.
Unfortunately, the Broncos – Ipswich situation would be akin to the Adelaide Crows – Port Adelaide Power situation where most Adelaide fans do not support Port Adelaide due to their history in the local Adelaide competition.
A second Brisbane team needs to represent as many people of Brisbane as possible and not be tied to any existing QRL team with its history and rivalries.
The Brisbane River splits Brisbane neatly in two; you’re either a Northsider or a Southsider. A second Brisbane team should boldly stake a claim and represent one side of the city.
For example, the ‘Southern Brisbane Centurions’ would represent everyone south of the Brisbane River all the way to the Gold Coast. Even if initially only half of the South side of Brisbane are seen as potential Centurions fans that is still 500K people, which is the magic number some use as the minimum population required for a new team.
Time would allow all Southsiders to slowly loosen their support for the Broncos and start supporting their local team in the Centurions.
The north side of Brisbane still guarantees the Broncos an area of one million people.
While all current bids have their pros and cons, what matters is what the ARL Commission decides on expansion.
If the Perth bid is first in line due to the potential for the all important TV broadcast dollar, then a second team in the Rugby League loving third biggest city in Australia may be too good to ignore.
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