A perfect mix of suburbia and modern day for maximum attendence success

Now that is the first sensible reading of the situation. For all the North vs South (incidentally we in NZ were placed in the South in the NBL All-Star game...I mean some one clearly doesn't know anything about real sporting allegiances!) stonethrowing, there really are massive differences between the Northern and Southern cities. Melbourne is particularly suited to the pseudo-American model of sport...where the clubs aren't actually franchises but they effectively fill that niche in regard to where/who they appeal to in the pursuit of economic viability. But Adelaide and Perth are still cities with largely a pooling infrastructure, where it's plausible to get support from every other Australian Football fan...to share the city's allegiances as it were, with a few limitations along the everyone hates Port (even Port these days ;)) lines. Yet the Northern cities are not one city, despite the fact that centre of Brisbane anyway now is ruled by a single entity. The Broncos are obviously an attempt at this. And while it has been effective I bet it's also pushing a healthy swathe of fans away, particularly now that Brisbane is struggling to get into the finals these days. And this is despite Oikee's constant praise for the one-city model, which drives up crowds but probably hinders growth into at present casual fan markets. Auckland/Wellington and I count them Northern for various reasons but in some ways it should be considered a third category, something like Boston to continue the Mason-Dixon paradigm, which is Northern, but also Eastern. Now Auckland has probably failed to follow a one-city one-club mindset the worst out of all Australasian cities as the Blues have perenially struggled to pull good crowds. And Auckland particularly needs Australasian-wide comps to get a good enough contest out of their opponents in anything other than Rugby, whereas for a long time Brisbane got enough out of its own comps, apart from pre-Origin parity in terms of cattle with the NSWRL and actually performed poorly in commonwealth-wide comps in general. And Sydney...well try telling two different Sydneysiders to throw their allegiances behind the one team, even if you had four of them to choose from and you'll be perpetuating the AFL-haters who think that's the main thing holding back the supposedly main football rival to the NRL. And this is what led to the evolution of district (not the invention as it was an Auckland Rugby Football Union idea originally, but didn't last too long over here) football...which necessitates home field advantage any given Saturday, which means all teams even one-club cities need it to compete. There are massive issues with this...like having finalists to-be mastering winning on the grounds which the finals will be played by virtue of playing more on these grounds etc.

Not necessarily. Super Rugby has had the effect of losing Rugby in NZ many fans, many of whom no longer go to the NPC as well. Now in this situation you have a pay TV monopoly, so it may still have gone this way. But rationalisation is not just a dirty word because of the Super League, it actually is a massively fraught concept too. It really comes down to whether you want expansion or whether you want inflation in terms of growing crowd sizes. Expansion almost always necessitates the temporary or sometimes chronic loss of crowds...and that's often because expansion grows TV audiences if done right (think the AFL's two city model). To increase crowds you really need to get more people more involved...as opposed to consolidating forces in massive stadiums. For example what is Rugby League doing to increase women's interest in the game...and you can't tell me referees wearing pink is going to do this!

We might be hillbillies?

:) Yes, very nice Floyd, mate you wont catch me out, trust me, i know to much. Brisbane has what is called the knowleadge corridor. Universities 4-5 of them i think all bunched around the Hospitals and Mining overseas students have direct access as well. DR Ian Frazier, (you heard of him) the guy who invented the worlds first Cervical Vaccine works at the Mater Hospital reseach Centre. Griffith Uni, QUT has one at St Lucia again on the ferry service line and the other UQ right in the Botanical Gardens at Brisbane, Shafston College is on the river. Then you have one in Toowoomba University of Southern Queensland. Central Queensland Uni which is based at Rocky and has 5 other centres. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Queensland_University Gatton has the agricultural UQ centre, again recognised as the best in OZ. http://www.uq.edu.au/gatton/ We might be hillbillies, yet at least we are educated hillbillies. :)

I got carried away responding to Andy above, anyone would think you need to travel to the end of the earth to see events. Talking about Thai, i dont know if i should say this here with Andy watching, i could upset him. But just a few hundred metres around the corner from where i live CC is the Thai Royal. Yes Andy, right here in hillbilly country, voted this year as Australia's best Thai Restaurant. They have previously won awards the last 5 years or so(best BYO, best Thai queensland and what-not), this year they took out the big prize, i am hooked on Thai food. Every Friday i need my Thai, like a drug. :) P.S if you get a chance to try that Blue Sky Townsville brew by 2 blokes producing this best micro i have ever tried, do yourself a favour CC. Very nice drop, but too strong for me as i like to have a few, so a little bit heavy at 4.5 percent. I like me Gold at 3.5, i can drink alot more of them.

If you had looked you would also notice you have to cross those fugly bridges as well. I can pop down to surfers, watch the v8's and Indy, go for a swim in world class surf, pop into Pat Rafter's and watch world class tennis, nip over to Eagle Farm and Doomben or while at the coast watch the Magic millions and pop in for another dip at World Class Surfers beach. The Hockey club in Brisbane(a world class field built on the Brisbane River for Hockey, i can stop and watch as well as stop at their world class Clubhouse with award winning dining. I can watch Worldclass, Football Union and League all at a world class Stadium at Brisbane Suncorp. To top that all off and put the cherry on top, shortly once they build the Milton Ferry terminal, i can access all these events by a ferry service or boat.. Oh, and when i am done i can travel from the city to my hillbilly town only stopping at 1 traffic light. If i need to catch a plane home, i can hop on a train that drops me off at the airport steps from the city, direct line. ? What else you got, anything cutting edge. :) Even the Gold coast has the worlds tallest residental building, and soon to have the worlds tallest spire. Come on, give me something wannabe Melbourne diehard. And your point is. ?

You can say what you want about our great game but buddy we dont have to put up with your obviously envious view of melbourne.While your there doing sweet FA in your quaint redneck town.Ill fill my spring and summer with a trip to Australias 2 biggest horse races,then i mosey down to the Island for one of the worlds premierbike races,watch the champions trophy in Hockey,hop on over to the G to watch the biggest test day in world cricket,then slip over to Melbourne park to watch one of the 4 biggest tennis tournaments in the worl and Ill finish off by watching the Formula ! grand prix.This finishes just in time for Australias premier football competition to commence.While im doing this Ill look for those 2 ugly buildings.Probably wont notice theres a lot going on in the most livable city in the world

Oikee, sounds like Brisbane is really going places. Who knows? There's talk that you might even get a university some time soon. Big country towns need that kind of thing, for learning and stuff.

Hell Oikee what the. I misskeyed spectator and it came up specatator.String me up,hang me from the nearest yardarm.Perhaps I was pretending to be Italian ,whatsa matter.It's a nota righta. BTW just between ourselves and no one else,the correct spelling is grammar.Sssh now. NB I am currently drinking a wonderful ale with my Thai meal.Thomas Cooper's 150 years Celebration selection.All the good SA spellers drink it LOL.Wonderful body,a sweeter brew and a distinctive nose.

Look, spot on CC, but your spelling and grammer is Atrocious mate. I dont know what you are drinking lately but mate, change back to your old brew, you made more sense. Melbourne is propping it's hopes on expats, much like it sells itself as a city, by shouting to the world. Brisbane is the new Asian central, stop trying to kid yourselves. Queensland goes un-challenged as c ity that holds a code as their national code close to our hearts. This has not happened over nite,? it took 30 years with the involvement of indigenous players and complete "giving in" to this culture by queensland residents, otherwise it would not have eventuated. This took 30 years, not expats retired to the goldie. If anything we find that shallow, i still do as the baldy dude, ?? hold on, gee i have had a few, highest paid dude, look, honest i have forgotten his name. ??? I give up, anyhow it is a culture bought not earned.

Missing the point!!,when you have explicitly stated expansion into AFL states like WA and SA are involved,was a good move by the AFL.Which indeed it was. If that is not shipping coals to Newcastle,I don't know what is exactly .i think you missed your very own point TBH. And new supporters came on board with Warriors,Canberra,Gold Coast,they are hardly suburbs.The illawarra region and the St George area encompass a large region.How the hell is that confined to a suburb. or Newcastle for that matter. St George ,South Sydney,Parramatta,Canterbury have fan base stretched every which way.There is a big contingent of Dragons supporters living in melbourne ditto Brisbane.Bulldogs fans in many places. Yes the RL code has a lot to do with memberships compared to the AFL.Hell they started ages ago Most of GWS memberships came from Canberra,not Western Sydney.The GC memberships are one thing,the crowds and continuing crowds, the real issue.The money wasted on Folau,is another one for the books. That is a nonsense .GC is a developing area for the AFL and a franchise created.There are a stack of Melburnians living there. You guys keep on bringing up the huge memberships and specatator base of the AFL,either naive enough or ignoring the fact that code is a religion in Vic. And it is equally very easy for AFL people to lecture rl followers(of long standing) on the inner workings of their clubs and localities,as if somehow we have no idea of our local environment.. Have you heard of the saying firstly fish where the fish are. I suggest you delve a litt;le deeper into the SL story,and you may get the reasoning.

Expansion teams will drain the lifeblood out of AFL for the next 10 to 20 years. 18 teams is over the top for a non international code, way over the top. As international codes now inject millions, 10 of millions into the economy as been proven and why Melbourne has pushed the sports capital agenda so hard, international codes continue to gain momentom. Look no further than the Italian dude, bigger than any AFL player, Man U. Not to mention british Irish lions who bring a 15 thousand supporter group from Britian. Look, you can bury your head in the sand, refuse to admit that other codes are now the biggest market mover since Google went global. Melbourne has been found out, you have been conned mate. As i posted on another blog, they have 2 buildings on the top 20 fugly list, and they should have alot more. They are not Europe, or even England for that matter. York is a world class city. Middle England has been voted most beautiful area in the World, the Yanks voted them this, and they have some amazing areas. Here is some more looks at the fugly stick that is Melbourne, what country would ever want these in their enviroments. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/melbourne-airport-a-dogs-breakfast-says-matthew-guy/story-fn7x8me2-1226298624313 Comepare that to a worldclass winner of a world award for only 63 million spent. same as the Gallery, Goma, that only cost 120 million. http://goarup.com.au/our-projects/kurilpa-bridge.html Have alook mate, you have been conned.

Again you miss the point, why keep shipping coal to newcastle? Expansion brings in new supporters, Syd Swans, Brisbane Lions both got over 25 k in members, financial success is cyclical with on field success, but members are a better indication of off field success. GWS and GC both got 10 k members this year which by NRL standards equates to middle of the road. The real point was look at Collingwood, Carlton, Essendon, Richmond and Hawthorne most of their supporters dont live in those areas, but each have WELL over 40 k in members. They arn't confind to a suburb of their origin because of rationalisation of grounds, no new franchises in developing areas in hart land territory and aggressive membership drives. NRL clibs like St.George, Rabbitos, Manly, Canturbury and Para should be in the same position. But arn't for these very reasons, its easy to come up with the usual excuses, transport etc. But if famlies dont want to go to the game because of facilities then you have a problem.

Rationalisation of clubs was tried before and ended up a complete and utter failure.It was called Super league. NRL is in a different position to the AFL was 30 years ago,check the story from 1995.They now have a lot of money available,an overseas team in their comp.. The only aspect I would agree is that of rationalisation decisions on Stadium Centralisation.But as previously mentioned geography and transport infrastrucure in this city, are completely different to those of Melbourne. To simplify things ,just by saying Melbourne can do it,so can we,is fraught with danger. You only have to look at the transport layout for the G and Etihad compared to ANZ and the SFS. We have a team by the name of the Sydney Roosters,whose home stadium is the SFS,centrally located.The crowds? How many times have they had a sellout? And when the likes of Souths play Nth Qld,is teh ANZ stadium half full? Sobering questions to say tthe least. Illawarra already had a team in the ARL,and struck financial difficulties,meaning a merger with st george was a natural progression. In fact the resultant merger and loss of the Illawarra and St george identity, meant some fans tossing the game in.It happened with the wests and Tigers merger.It happened when Souths and the Bears were removed from the comp.I have met some of these people,during my travels and by public statements. To use your argument flies in the face of Newcastle coming into the comp.Many of the locals had Sydney teams they followed prior.The result has been an outstanding success.And ditto Canberra.So the argument that people already following a team in far distant Sydney,will not support and become members of a new franchise does not ring true.Sure there will be those who don't . Try the warriors.Many of their fans were Raiders and Manly followers because of Meninga and the strong NZ influence. In fact I believe the Raiders were the first expansion team of any code.The demand was there,surveys were done. The early days of the Swans were hardly promising,poor crowds and nearly going broke on a couple of occasions.Thank SL for a decent lift. Brisbane bears and Mr Skase,yeah great advert for expansion.GWS jury is out,money being thrown around like confetti.It's how the money is spent,not how much. The others in AFL strongholds,so nothing surprising. The AFL have been smart I concur ,but one can only be smart with the resources behind it and indeed an I..C.I suggest now the NRL has its house in order,watch this space over the next 5 years.

Someone has to cater to the poorer fans. Rugby leagues best work is done with communites who dont have millions to spend. Should we just throw that away. You need to build strong structures throughout the whole areas, not just pick and choose the best and let the rest rot. Rugby league gets right into these areas, the heartlands and supports whole communities. Catering to the rich is all well and good, but the underbelly and results of this underbelly is for all to see, go have a look at South Africa. That is a perfect example of class ridden society right there, pray god we never go down that path.