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The city of Brisbane is considered by many (generally Broncos supporters) to be the rugby league capital of Australia.
This strikes me as nothing short of ridiculous, considering there isn’t a game of rugby league played there just about every second week.
With this in mind, I am clueless as to what the NRL hierarchy is doing discussing the possibility of introducing clubs from Papua New Guinea, Perth or Wellington before, at the very least, a second Brisbane club.
Surely I’m not the only one who gets frustrated when there is an enormous uproar in Brisbane when they place thirteenth?
It seems the Eels, meanwhile, have been on the receiving end of consecutive wooden spoons without anyone batting an eye.
But with the support of the best part of two million people behind them, it really isn’t any wonder why the Broncos receive this treatment.
Being a one-city side in a rugby league mad city bodes well for the Brisbane Broncos. However, much of the rugby league community may view this as unfair, considering the advantages it offers.
First of all, can anyone remember the last time the Broncos weren’t playing on a Friday night?
Sure, it may be necessary for the NRL and Channel Nine to schedule their games on Friday nights due to their enormous supporter base in order to maximise ratings and profits from Queensland viewers.
But with the Broncos and their sponsors on one end of the spectrum receiving maximum exposure through playing just about every Friday night, there are clubs like the Canberra Raiders stuck on the other end receiving the opposite treatment.
In fact, throughout four seasons spanning from 2008 to 2011, the Raiders did not play a single game on a Friday night.
Finally, the one-thousand-and-twenty-two day wait had ceased, with the big game scheduled against none other, than the Brisbane Broncos.
And it looks as though history is set to repeat itself with the Raiders unseen on Friday night during the entire 2013 season.
Another issue that has risen from having a single club in Brisbane, is the fact that the Broncos are gaining some of the game’s most talented players simply by default.
This really shouldn’t be an issue for a lone club in a league crazed city – they have an enormous amount of grassroots clubs that are full of players who wish nothing more than to play for their beloved Broncos.
Yet in a growing trend in the NRL, players are returning to their home cities to play for the club they supported as a child.
We have seen throughout season 2013, that many of today’s players prefer to play as close to home as possible.
The likes of young guns Ben Barba and Anthony Milford, as well as seasoned veteran Cameron Smith, are prime examples of this trend.
It has been well publicised that due to family reasons, Barba, Milford and Smith have fought to return to their roots and play for the Brisbane Broncos.
Barba is the first to succeed, signing on for this season, while Milford has signed on to play for the Broncos in 2015.
Smith however, remains the least likely of the trio to return to Brisbane, but is still a strong chance to do so soon.
Any side with the calibre of these three game-breakers is near certain to at least be a top four side.
Couple them with seasoned Broncos such as Sam Thaiday and Corey Parker, and you’ve got a side that is likely to take out the top gong.
What some may not know, is that both Barba and Milford originally attempted to play for the Broncos, however were written off, the club not believing they had the potential to play first grade.
This allowed the Bulldogs and Raiders to swoop in, sign them, and pour time and money into their development.
Within the space of a few years however, both players had proven that they could not only be first graders, but they could be stars of the game too.
By this point, the Broncos’ interest in the players had intensified and soon enough, they wanted them back.
Personally, I would have preferred the two players to have signed with two different clubs, so as to even out the competition, and I think much of the rugby league community would agree.
Had there been a second Brisbane club, this would have been possible.
We can only hope that Dave Smith and co has not only considered these factors, but plans to take action into the foundation of a new Brisbane club as a result of it.
In the short-term, the new club may well be ridiculed for its lack of support, but hopefully the light at the end of the tunnel will be enough to take the chance.
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