Tiger Sharks: the next great NRL club?

I think the best option would be a new team called the South-East Sydney Tiger Sharks. Their colours could be green, red, white, blue (two kinds) and black. We could build a row of stadiums right next to central station that get bigger in increments of 5000. We could wait til game day to decide which stadium they play in so that we get the 'atmosphere' just right. Another option is the Penrimatta Bulldogs or the Not-In-Sydney Storm Raiders. The possibilities....

Peeko.The overwhelming majority of fans at the Dragons v Shark's game were Shark's supporters.Against the Titans,(17,500) the gear steward was about the only Titan''s fan. Matter of fact I was surprised there were not more Dragons fans there,maybe their poor season start had spomething to do with it. I suggest some people read Bruno Cullen's comments about the financials of the Sharks and drew comparisons with some other Sydney clubs.It makes some of the relocation suggestions look rather puerile.For a start they have over 9,000 members more than Penrith the heartland of the game. And of course the 3rd biggest junior league in Sydney,which many simply ignore .

Serious? There is a big difference between members and supporters.... Don't believe that memberships directly indicate support base....

I disagree. Promotion/Relegation has never really existed in Australia like they do in European countries. I do not support it. Relegation was used in the term of moving Cronulla and Manly to the NSW Cup. Relegation would only work in Sydney. Promotion would not, if there was promotion, Newtown would be in the Comp right now and Parra would be out... Newtown is barely supported and hasn't been in the comp since 1983.. Would people around today even support a team that hasn't been around since 1983? The new generation of supporters? Answer is no..

While I agree with you on the need for expansion in the areas that you have mentioned. You have not mentioned why the current TV is so good. Alot of people all over Australia QLD and NSW , Western Sydney even and have Austar and FOXTEL to follow their team. A substantial amount of Canberra's crowd go their support their child hood team. Whether is be South, St George, Manly or Cronulla etc etc. I strongly believe in a relegation/promotion system between the NRL and a second tier team. This would be away of bringing in well financed teams from any location. Imagine a Perth bringing in a team via a second tier comp. With as little as 2 mill they would get promoted. Most NSW Cup teams run with a budget of 25% of this. This way a team that is struggling financially can come back the NRL if they can turn it around. Do turn the lite out like NORTHS , NEWTOWN is not smart at any level give their fans some hope. A decent 2nd Tier comp could help the next TV Deal.

Couldn't be further from the truth...

That polling is bs. Tigers are not one of the most supported clubs, a fact. Their only really get good attendances at Leichthardt and SFS during finals. Campbletown is just a delapidated stadium really. There are a handfull of Magpies members who are still around, but mostly are Balmain fans.. But still their membership is TINY. Tigers have just over 10,000. Dragons are third with 19,000 members, followed by the Bulldogs on 16,368 and Knights on 16,008. While Brisbane is first with 24,398 followed by the Rabbitohs on 23,968.. I can see the merit in what you were trying to say, but yeah, no.. When Balmain go bankrupt, does anyone actually expect the NRL to hand a license to the Magpies? NOWAY! IF anything, they'll see it as killing two birds with one stone.

The writing is on the wall for the Sharks and for Manly. They deserve to be relegated to the NSW Cup. I would suggest moving Manly to Gosford, 'Norther Eagles" type dealio, but tbh Central Coast Stadium is not good enough, neither are their attendances. The key areas for Rugby League are Perth, South East Queensland, NZ and perhaps Central Queensland. No franchise can be moved to Perth due to the exceptional hard work the WARL are doing to develop their Pirates brand. With NIB stadium undergoing first stages of development too, the Pirates should have a pretty good stadium when they are admitted. Now Brisbane: The Brisbane Bombers are 100% farcical and out of the question. The Bombers board are made up of broncos hasbeens that are bitter and want to make money, as their club would be half-owned by centrebet and their leagues club would be half a pokies area. Disgusting in my opinion. I reckon the promotion of South Logan Magpies/or Scorpians would create that derby feel, honestly. Most people travel from Logan to go to Suncorp anyways for matches, so admitting a team that represents Southern Brisbane Suburbs and Logan could tap into a pretty big supporter base. Also people from Logan cop a lot of flak from Brisbanites, so this 'resentment' could work well for developing that 'derby' feel you speak off. Souths Logan unwashed masses would get a hostile reception at Suncorp. Furthermore I believe Ipswich needs a team. Although this club is not extremely close to Brisbane like Souths Logan would be, it would still go a long way to developing a larger Qld rivalry and getting Qlders watching more NRL every weekend. Also Ipswich would probably play out of Suncorp for the first couple years, making sure it is used every second weekend and the train station from Ipswich finishes at Milton, where Suncorp Stadium is situated. Further credibility is added with the prospect of a future stadium being built in the massive booming area of where Ispwich meets Brisbane at Springfield Lakes... Population in that area will double and is already growing at white hot speeds. There is also the possibility of Central Queensland playing out of Rockhampton (and even sharing homegames with Mackay 3 hours to the south).. Heaps of councils have signed on for the CQBid and it would do quite well.. They are loyal League supporters with some of the best RL Schools and Colleges in the world. Qld honestly could do with 3 more teams, being CQ, Ipswich and one more in SEQ. And NZ could not get anymore obvious. Wellington Orcas are the next NZ team, solidifying the North Island as NZ League central... The 2013 NZ Warriors Wellington jersey for their game at Westpac Stadium is a protoype for a Wellington Jersey anyways, as Wellingtons Colour is Gold. http://static.stuff.co.nz/1363768099/144/8452144.jpg I would say maybe rename the sharks to White Sharks and move em to Adelaide but, honestly, Adelaide is the most hostile and opposite market in Australia for Rugby League, and in my opinion, it is not worth it. With recent talks and debates in Federal Parliament and on the back of big business (Gina Rinehart, Andew Forest (fortescue metals)) throwing around ideas of developing the North of Australia; Broome to Townsvilles etc; I honestly think that Darwin could be a goldmine as they are not represented in any major competition in Australia at all... and if the Coalition when in Govt persues the plan of basically 'building the North" then already having a team in Darwin presents significant 'first-mover advantages'. And theres every chance that it will develop into a booming population and economic area in the next two decades. We need to seperate what is fantasy from what is possible. And I believe Perth, Ipswich, CQ and Wellington are glaring opportunities for the NRL.. While Souths Logan Scorpians/Magpies (heritage clubs that did exist in the once powerful Brisbane Rugby League) and Darwin could be further stretches atm, perhaps becoming more prudent in the future.

Amen.

Did I not say '2- sure'??? Meaning 2 teams I agree makes sense.  Learn to read post carefully and interpret them correctly. It's going to save yourself looking silly with your infamous rants not to mention a considerable amount of time. 

If you looked at the crowd figures of wests and dragons v sharks over the last ten years you would see a different story. The reason the sharks had a big crowd on sat was because of a lot of dragons fans

The Brisbane council are begging, yes begging the NRL to get another team into Brisbane, what more do they need, einstein to turn up to tell them to put another team into Brisbane. The council are begging, yes begging for more teams. This amatuer code must be the only code in the world that is blind to expansion, the need for a derby. Blind.

Why would you merge an already merged club? According to Roy Morgan polling the two already merged clubs (Dragons & Tigers) are ranked 1st & 3rd for supporters. What they get through the gates is obviously affected by temporary fluctuations in on-field performance.

No evidence that Brisbane would prosper with derbies and culture. Even blind freddie can understand that just by adding 1 extra team in Brisbane will increase the code twofold, and introduce a cultue of them verse us, instead of the us verse nobody culture. Brisbane has 30 off thousand fans without anyone to shout at, or throw venom at because we dont have a derby culture. can you understand this? It is like putting the Wanderers into Sydney's west, now do you understand. Look, even just having 2 teams playing out of suncorp would increase the game. At the Moment we have 1, yes one a fortnight. This is madness, complete lunucy. To grow crowds you need someone on the opposite side, surely you must see this, surely. Look, you cant grow a derby with one team, does that make sense, BRISBNAE HAS ONE TEAM> Now if you cant see millions and millions of dollars, then i cant help you. It is like Man u and Man city, their is no derby without both teams.

Knee jerk reaction. The problems the Tigers are facing should not be long term, and in any case aren't much different to most Sydney clubs. Merging should only be considered when all hope is lost.

Why pick on just the Sharks? Penrith and Parramatta ane not doing their fair share in Western Sydney. The Western Wanders and what ever the Western AFL team is called have both got more members each than the Panthers and Eels have combined. If any teams need to merge here is the two.

Manly would ... Manly would do anything for a dollar.... Manly have played a home game at Gosford twice and I believe Perth twice and in the last 2 years.

Manly would ... Manly would do anything for a dollar.... Manly have played a home game at Gosford twice and I believe Perth twice and in the last 2 years.

Why would any Sydney team give up their home games to play at Shark Park?

Second Row is strong...... Cattle is not the problem IMO however Cronulla has a lot of issues.