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Broncos celebrate at fulltime from left Alex Glenn, Lagi Setu and Joel Clinton: NRL Rugby League Playoffs Round 2, Brisbane Broncos v St George Illawarra Dragons at Suncorp Stadium, Saturday September 19th 2009.
Queensland grassroots rugby league is stronger than ever; some of the greatest league players of all time have hailed from the Sunshine State; and Queensland won their fifth straight Origin series last year. Yet there are still just three Queensland teams in the NRL.
If any NRL expansion is to occur in 2013, Queensland should be where it happens.
There’s been talk about the prospect of a second Brisbane club entering the NRL in 2013.
Wayne Bennett, Shane Webcke and other Brisbane league heroes have dismissed the idea of a rival Brisbane club, fearing that a second team would threaten the Broncos’ fan base.
But with the Brisbane area alone consisting of two million people and counting, many would have reason to believe that a new club would actually rejuvenate and strengthen rugby league in the area, rather than hurt existing NRL and QRL clubs.
Yes, there have been failed efforts in the past.
The South Queensland Crushers attempt in the early 90s suffered due to unfortunate (Super League war) and premature timing. But the region’s population and economy has exploded in the last twenty years and the NRL is thriving.
Brisbane is a big city (for Australia).
It has partnerships in education, health and big business with most of northern Australia, and it’s the gateway to Asia and the Pacific. Furthermore, a constant flow of immigrants coming from the latter is boosting the already flourishing pool of Pacific Islander talent making their way into the NRL.
Queenslanders love their NRL. They’re hungry for it.
I know people who are/were devoted supporters of the Melbourne Storm. Not because they have any connection to Melbourne, but simply because their squad contains so many Queensland superstars.
Despite fostering the same inter-city rivalry as Sydney, those league fans living in Brisbane, the third largest city in Australia, have been limited to supporting just one team.
And since their inclusion in 1988, the Broncos have breezed through each year without a local derby.
But how tantalising is the notion of a Brisbane city rugby league rivalry not unlike the Roosters vs Souths, Sharks vs Dragons and Eels vs Panthers hit-outs that we all know so well?
This can happen. And 2013 is the time.
But maybe it could go one step further. With the overwhelming strength of rugby league in the state, surely the NRL could not only accommodate a second Brisbane side, but another Queensland team as well?
Several south-east Queensland teams including Ipswich, Toowoomba, Logan, Sunshine Coast, as well as central Queensland are also leading candidates to enter the NRL in 2013.
Central Queensland seems to be leading the race at the moment. The area the new team would represent covers Rockhampton, Mackay, Gladstone, Hervey Bay, Emerald and the surrounding areas, also known as Capricornia.
With a population of 200,000, an established leagues club, a 20,000 seat stadium promised by the Queensland government, economic growth ensuring corporate big bucks a plenty, almost 20,000 signatures on an NRL petition (expecting 30,000), and the undeniable dominance of rugby league in the region, central Queensland puts forward a strong case for their inclusion in the NRL.
For the NRL to become completely national it does need to spread into other states, but it’s no use putting a team in Adelaide or Perth, just for the sake of making it a ‘national’ competition, as suggested in the David Benuik article published on The Roar.
Any new club, whether through expansion or relocation, should have a strong junior contingent and rugby league fan base. You can’t just move a professional team in and expect it to work.
Expansion should happen where the game is popular and where it has been developing and growing steadily over the years, and shows the promise of continuing to do so.
Queensland can demonstrate this, Adelaide and Perth cannot.
I’m not saying that options in Adelaide and Perth shouldn’t be explored. But for now, I feel that Queensland should be the first frontier when it comes to expansion.
Forget relocation.
Merging teams is not the answer in spreading rugby league throughout the country. I still remember the outrage from Balmain and Wests supporters, who were forced into accepting the still horribly un-catchy team name of ‘Wests Tigers’. Consecutive plurals? What were they thinking!
If the merging path is pursued, the NRL will become as confusing as tracking the history of an NFL team. They started here, moved there, changed their name to this – confusing.
It also kills the identity and sense of belonging that is so important to any Australian following a sporting club.
New NRL franchises will be seriously looked at over the next few months. Central coast NSW, Papua New Guinea and Wellington NZ are others with an NRL bid, but Queensland teams need to be on top of that list of consideration.
In this state, rugby league is king. There’s even a street named after Israel Folau.
No, I’m serious.
Three teams are not enough.
Queensland can finally demonstrate the population and economic growth required to support the inclusion of new NRL teams in the state, and this can’t be ignored.
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