NRL expansion a matter of numbers, not feelings

"Adding a second Brisbane team is not the right idea, as in reality all it will do is split the current Brisbane Broncos fan-base". I don't believe this. Brisbane's metropolitan area is half e size of Sydney's but only has 1 team versus Sydney's 8, there is EASILY room for another team. On top of that I'd like to see PNG with a team in the comp, as well as Perth, Adelaide, and maybe another in the Wadonga area.

Bears forever, Manly Never.

I'd love the idea of PNG playing but just need to determine what money the nrl would make through TV? How big is foxtel in PNG or would they need to get on a free to air channel?

What about a PNG side in....they have the money and the support base of well over...8 million....their junior development is well over 50,000 kids playing...just need the right path way

Adelaide doesnt give you the same beenfits of perth. Perth gives you the timeslot to fit in well broadcast to the eastcoast, so when we have the next TV deal, whoever it is with the NRL will be in better position to bargin. they got rid of the first and last rights from news....that and that only is worth suffering through channel 9 for 5 years...noone seems to get that....news giving that up in this deal was massive for the NRL's future. in terms of expansion....if a 2nd brisbane team is going to cannibalise the broncos...why did we get 22k to a storm v bulldogs trial match in february this year....as for putting the team in a stadium out in ipswich...not going to work...whose going to pay the $100 million to build it...definitely not the state govt. so if they went the ipswich/logan path you build the clubhouse/training ground out there and play out of suncorp...i think the better option is Brisbane Brothers..playing 9 games out of suncorp and 3 rural games each year (say Mackay,Cairns and Rockhampton) plus a couple of trials up in the NT and Outback QLD.....also gives the first chance in QLD to play for a junior club and rise all the way through the ranks to the NRL (the way it used to be back in the BRL days) Epiquin, mate ive agreed with 99% of what you had to say..but your logic of gold coast is only an hour from brisbane so why dont they all go down is like saying why dont people form western sydney go and watch the rabbits vs roosters game....

I don't think it's a bad idea. I'm not sure if as many Brisbanites would get behind it as some of the other bid teams based on it being a relocated Sydney team but it would probably generate some interest and fans from Sydney. And I don't think the Bears were a very strongly hated team up here like Manly from before the Broncos era (I could be wrong, that was before my time). They could base themselves out of Wests Brisbane (Fatty Vautin's old club), they wear the red and black hoops like the Bears but are called the Panthers. The Burleigh Bears on the Gold Coast in the Queenland Cup also wear the same colours and have the same logo. I wonder if the NRL missed the trick back in 2007 when they could have called the Titans the Gold Coast Bears and based them at Burleigh (which is not far from Robina)? The Central Coast Bears bid was stronger back then and they seemed the next cab off the rank after the Titans, but now not so much, and this might have worked for them.

look at the storm they have a really strong core of loyal supporters about 14,000 members I agree with a second nz team but what Sydney rl clubs have to do is market more aggressively to get supporters to become members

In Brief sounds like he lives in Melbourne!

the giants posted 7 k yesterday it was more like 3500. rl only needs perth and in the future maybe ten years time we will have teams in png 2nd bris and wellington. I would add two new teams in 2018 then two more in 2022. talking about crowds in the last two years rl club games have beaten the swans on numerous occasions eg gws v swans and swans v Collingwood. by the way souths v bulldogs on good Friday will get close if not better 50k.

Brisbane Brothers has a nice ring to it. haha

That's what the Brothers are trying to do

100% agree. I have Broncos' season membership and will stop going to my 1-2 Reds games (cos I love Lang Park and generally like all football codes) and go to 1-2 Brothers games if they are admitted. I reckon a lot of people who are at those games just for a night out will do the same.

An observation from a Union follower in Perth.. Since the inception of the Force Junior numbers in WA have been growing at a higher rate than prior to their inception. Admittedly there has also been significant population growth in this time too but I believe that the Force have had a significant influence in this growth. This year we've seen 5 local union players 'make the grade' with the Force squad, up from one or two in previous years. Another made it into the Rebel's squad . It's taken 9 years to get this far, and will probably take another 9 to build that total to ten. One of them is arguably Wallabies material. Some of these talented guys would most likely of hung up the boots or been happy playing local 1st Grade if it wasn't for the Force, rather than uproot and move East. Of the other (non WA players) in the squad, some of them probably wouldn't have got a shoe in at any other Aussie team and thus lost to Australian Rugby but if you look back at their form in the past few weeks they really have helped raised the bar of the Australian Conference. All this adds up to a better quality local Super competition, better local Rugby competition, better choice for Wallabies selectors and better games for the fans. In 20 years Perth is going to be home to close to 3 million people. Even if only 10% follow league that's still 300,000 NEW people to market to. With a bit of marketing the NRL should be able to grow it to significantly more and as importantly, grow the player base from which the NRL teams can choose. The NRL needs to make the investment that the ARL has done with the GC and GWS, and that the ARU has done with the Force.

What about the Brisbane Bears in the old North Sydney uniforms. Anyone?

It would be great to know where all the people commenting are from as there seems to be a lot of bias. I'm from Brisbane and I love league, don't support the broncos, did support the Crushers and would likely support a new team as long as it isn't a Sydney relocated team and plays out of Suncorp. If Adelaide and perth can support 2 afl teams in smaller markets than bris we can certainly have 2 league teams. Their are only positives out of it (derby rivalry, weekly exposure keeps other sports at bay, stable footing, sponsors). The comments of cannibalisation is a joke and must come from someone who doesn't live in Brisbane. A second team would grow both bris and 2nd bris numbers. I'll finish with my ideas for expansion: Short term >Bris 2nd team (no brainer) >Perth (like any investment you have to be prepared to spend time and money to make it work) >Any other area as long as long as it's a relocation Mid/Long term >Nz 2 (Wellington or South Island) this provides more opportunity for nz juniors to stay in nz rather than joining an aus club and will also help expose the comp to more quality Polynesians that only currently consider rugby >Adelaide as we need to grow this market. This will cost us good money but is important in the long term to help generate more tv dollars. My vision is that by the time nz and Adelaide are coming in we need to have consolidated or lost 2 Sydney teams to bring the number of teams in Sydney to a more manageable number. Total team numbers would be 18. Honourable mention but not big enough yet goes to PNG and Cent Qld. Expansion is a necessity but needs to be done in stages with a big bank roll. Most importantly with our eyes on the future not the past. Thoughts?

ANZ initially got good crowds,in the very early years,then rectangular code fans gradually realised ,it was not up to the mark for rectangular games,just lacked closeness to the action,and certainly from high up hopeless . Anycase the games between the Woods and Swans have been decreasing t the very same venue. You stated categorically"that it will be delivering larger club AFL games than any NRL club games all season". You make this statement with the season not 1/4 the way through.If you had stated most,I would not have argued.None of us know what crowds will eventuate for the NRL at ANZ. during the remainder of the season.How do you know what Suncorp will get? You leave yourself open,as you did with NRL TV contract estimates.Get on your soapvbox at season's end about crowds if need be.

Another good crowd again today at Adelaide oval -47K... Both Port andCrows have around 40K members... They'll decent crowds and lots of away fans... It's not the same as Homebush 108K which was a 'let's go and see the new stadium' crowd. How many NRL games crack 50k? .. I hardly think it's an extravagant claim...especially responding to people who write Adelaide off as unimportant with comments like 'where's Adelaide'...

There are nine teams in the NRL from Sydney. That is three too many. The Sharks and West Tigers look the likely ones on form to go, and that is to go NOT relocate. A third side, the Dragons should play out of Wollongong not Sydney. This would open the door for a Perth side and Adelaide (we keep being told it is the national Rugby league).

There are nine teams in the NRL from Sydney. That is three too many. The Sharks and West Tigers look the likely ones on form to go, and that is to go NOT relocate. A third side, the Dragons should play out of Wollongong not Sydney. This would open the door for a Perth side and Adelaide (we keep being told it is the national Rugby league).

Nowhere near as boring as people who read a headline then take the time to scroll to the comment window and provide a throwaway line that clogs up a thread of (mostly) thoughtful discussion based on an issue that the game is clearly confronted with. Just a heads up, you're on a sport opinion site. Pretty simple, don't like the look of an article... move on!