There’s been a lot of discussion lately about the possibility, or the inevitability, of NRL expansion over the next couple of years.
For the record, I’ll state that I’m in favour of rugby league expanding into South-East Queensland, most probably based in Logan, and also into Perth.
The other areas being tossed up as potential expansion candidates include PNG, the Central Coasts of Queensland and NSW, Adelaide and Wellington.
Of those remaining areas, I reckon that only the two Central Coast teams have any prospect of admission in the next round of expansion. The remaining bids are long range at best (Adelaide, Wellington) and pie in the sky at worst (PNG).
But there’s one idea I’ve been kicking around in my head for a while. It’s an idea that I reckon at least deserves a little discussion. It’s the concept of a “Bush” team – the CRL Bushrangers.
Bare with me on this!
There’s been a lot of talk about protecting the “heartland” of rugby league. I personally believe that by putting a team into SE Queensland you’re in large part doing that, and it’s important to include a “sure money bet” into the first round of expansion.
A team based in SE Queensland seems to be that “sure money bet” in that it’s a growth area; it means an extra Queensland game every week, something broadcasters are sure to be attracted to, and it’s very much rugby league “heartland”.
Contrast this with admitting a team from the Central Coast of NSW. I can’t help but think that doing so would be a reshuffling of the deck of Sydney chairs. How many extra supporters would the game likely gain by putting a team in Gosford? I’d argue that it would be very few.
I’d further argue that the growth potential would be fairly minimal, and that there’d be little gained in terms of additional advertising potential for broadcasters, given the proximity to Sydney.
The bush, however, has been chronically under serviced by rugby league for years. The question is, how do you look after the bush, and is there any growth potential? My proposal is a reasonably simple one, yet I feel that it addresses some significant issues.
The CRL Bushrangers (or whatever you want to call them) would be dressed in the traditional maroon and yellow of the CRL Country teams. In fact, with the impending (and overdue) loss of the City/Country fixture, the “Bushrangers” could wear the same jersey.
The team could have all of their facilities based in Sydney, and rotate their home games through the various grounds around the bush. Dubbo, Parkes, Tamworth, Wagga, Bathurst, Orange and others all have grounds that, with a little investment, could sustain a couple of games every year, and would have strong potential for crowds consistently exceeding 15,000.
Furthermore, the home team could get to the ground a couple of days ahead of their opposition, get some training in on the ground, run clinics, sign jerseys, shake hands and generally help develop the game in the bush.
Growth of the game would be achieved in places like Wagga where AFL is extremely popular, and through the bolstering of flagging interest elsewhere. A couple of games every year would provide a small but significant boost to the economies of some struggling regional centres, and games could be tied in with other events to potentially create week long festivals.
Broadcasters could tailor their offerings to show games weekly into the bush, and this would create an additional revenue stream through advertising. Finally, it would give the administration of the CRL a legitimate and important reason to exist, and provide revenue to develop juniors outside of the city.
I also believe that their would be significant pride in playing for the country team for any player that happens to come from one of the regional centres in which a game is held.
Surely, if we’re going to take bids from places like Wellington, Adelaide and Central Queensland, a country NSW team would have to make at least some sense, and be worthwhile of more than passing thought?
Whad’ya reckon? Would it work? What could be the potential problems? Would you be someone who supports them?
Darwin Knights Fan
Guest
Pete, I think you have a very credible idea here and would love to see it pitched to the new commission. P.S. Dont forget we in Darwin love league too, Darwin Cyclones for entry in 2020.....
CentralWestFan
Guest
Personally I feel that the Central West of NSW could support a team in the NRL.My thought would be to base team in Orange as thats central to Dubbo,Mudgee,Lithgow,Bathurst,Cowra,Parkes,Forbes etc Theres such a huge talent pool in the central west that its possible to see a competitive team in the NRL that could win matches and ruffle some feathers of established clubs.There is enough young talent to form a strong side without the need for imports from other clubs and country players are bred tougher than city rivals.
Pete75
Guest
As I said in the column Paul, I think it would make most sense to base the team in Sydney.
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
Pete75, Im not sure the level of skill is that different, and to be sure the Country team will be playing their hearts out, as they are playing for contracts. Yewonk, I like all sorts of footy, understand all of them and arent really biased towards one or the other.
Paul
Guest
I think an important factor when considering where to place teams is the location itself. Can u imagine Todd Carney or Benji Marshall wanting to live in New Guinea or Orange or Ipswhich, i dont think so, Young blokes on big Dollars want to live where the Action is, Sydney,Brisbane, Perth maybe, Melbourne (weather sucks but all else is good/)
paulmerlo
Roar Rookie
While the idea of each country macth being an event in a country town, maybe we could get the same effect by getting NRL clubs to take regualr season games to country areas (and also to places like Perth, Wellington, Hobart, etc). Each club can play a game in one of these neutral areas (except maybe for Wests and Dragons, who have split home grounds). that'd be 14 games in country or non-NRL areas. Surely Penrith could play one of their lower drawing matches in Dubbo or Bathurst or Lithgow as an exmaple.
yewonk
Guest
ian you are an enigma and i have absolutely no idea where you come from.
Pete75
Roar Rookie
Ted, That's a ridiculous statement.
ted
Guest
The towns could sure use the cash injection of having an NRL club play however you have to weigh up the economic benefit against the social impact that the NRL players would have on the town pre & post game......their track record on tour is pretty shameful.
Boris
Guest
Agreed about the need to make it an event in each town leading into games. Pete you are slowly convincing me that this would have a decent chance of success.
Al
Guest
I think it's a great idea! The amount of talent to come out of the bush is waiting to be tapped, and really who cares if the crowds aren't huge to begin with, they will grow and so will the capacity of the venues with it... It's something that the nrl would benifit from in the future if they put their hands in their pockets now for... I'd even go so far as to back them to be behind the tigers for my second team... Well done pete -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.
Pete75
Roar Rookie
Sounds dangerous! Players of vastly differing skill level on the park at the same time is never a good idea. I can't see too many clubs willing to risk their million dollar investment on some park in Bathurst to a 40 year old Lionel whose only goal is to take off someone's head so he can tell his mates down the pub...
Pete75
Roar Rookie
Ian, "Getting reliable crowds of 12 000 out of that is a pretty big ask, especially if they are playing, say, Melbourne or Townsville" I'm not sure I agree. I think that fans would be interested enough in having their own team in the "top flight" that their opposition would be largely an irrelevant factor in determining crowds.
Pete75
Roar Rookie
Fair point but there's a couple of things to consider. I'm not proposing to just plonk a team into the bush and hope for the best. This expansion team would be one that is aimed at development of the game in the bush. To that end, some of the grounds on which you intend to play would need upgrading. We're not talking state of the art facilities here - erecting a couple of stands to get the capacities up to around 15,000 would suffice. I know my original article stated 20,000 and I reckon from time to time that would be possible if the conditions allowed. That said, I'm not sure that crowds of even 10-15000 would be a disaster nor, if consistent, would they make such a venture non-viable. With regards to a home base, I'm not sure you actually need one in the bush. I think it would be naive to suggest that even the biggest regional centres could sustain a full-time team, and I think that would be recognised by the fans. You'd need to make each game an "event" in the week leading up, but I'm certain that, with the will, it could be done.
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
Bring back the Amco Cup, with country rep teams playing the NRL sides in a preseason tournament.
code 13
Guest
Trial matches - there should be 3 weeks worth of games in a Pre Season Cup with at least 6 spread around regional NSW and 4 spread around regional QLD. Country round - there should be a round with 3 games played in rural NSW - one in the South, one in the Central West and one in the North and two games in rural Queensland - one in the South and one in the North. City vs Country should remain in addition to a Queensland City vs Country match would be held at 2 of those country round locations but the players would be selected from the Under 20's Comp, State Comps and regional groups. The purpose of these games is to celebrate bush football but to also give local players a chance to be seen by numerous NRL scouts. Also regional country group games would be played akin to tradition Country Rugby League carnivals.
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
Yeah, I'd run with that idea. The Central West - Cowra, Parkes, Lithgow, Bathurst and Orange - has about 135 000 people in it. Getting reliable crowds of 12 000 out of that is a pretty big ask, especially if they are playing, say, Melbourne or Townsville. Wagga and the Riverina are about 250 000, and thats the "Barassi line" area, which means people there tend to like both sorts of footy. A long term difficulty with "co-locating" a side is that it may make it harder to set up a stand-alone team there. *shrug* maybe the NSW Bears, playing games at Gosford, Wagga, Orange, Dubbo and Port Macquarie, with sponsorship packages sold seperately to each of the regions.
Boris
Guest
I don't think it would work. There are some good points in the article but the reality is that most of the towns mentioned would not pull a crowd of close to 15000 and even if they could, they don't have a ground which could cater for this amount of people. The Waratahs played a rugby trial at Wests Leagues in Tamworth the other day and it was a sellout, but I don't think there could have been more than 5000 people. And Wests Leagues is the premier footy ground in Tamworth. It is simlar in other country towns. Also it would be hard to sustain a team with no real home base.
Soccerbot3000
Roar Rookie
Expansion into areas such as country NSW shouldn't be an all or nothing affair. How about a Sydney club signs a deal with a couple of major regional centres to pay 1 or 2 games there per year? Like Hawthorn have with Launceston. Do it right and you can grow your fanbase without alienating your core market.
AndyMack
Guest
Pete, that might just about be the best idea I have heard on this whole expansion saga. Regardless of whether the people from those towns actually support the new team or not, you will still get good crowds as they will get to to see the Broncos, the Storm, the Bunnies etc etc every second week (admittedly shared between a few towns). The big negative of setting up in Perth or somewhere on central coast of Qld is you are relying on people turning up every second week, something difficult in non-RL towns or just small population bases. Your suggestion deals with that problem quite well. I like it.