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Rugby league’s heartland in Australia has always traditionally been Sydney/NSW and this is where the NRL has its roots.
For over a century, Sydneysiders have watched their local teams battle it out with other nearby districts, whether it be the North Sydney Bears against Manly, Parramatta Eels against the Penrith Panthers, or the Sydney Roosters against the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
But is league’s traditional heartland disadvantaging the NRL’s scale and growth?
As it stands, we have nine Sydney teams (including the Dragons), one regional NSW team, one ACT team, one Victorian team, three Queensland teams and one New Zealand team. There are simply too many teams within a close proximity to each other, which is diluting the potential for greater support of cubs.
So do we maintain these heartland teams, or do we merge, relocate or remove some in order to expand the game?
Both actions have significant pros and cons, however a decision has to eventually be made in order to ultimately continue the game’s growth.
Merging, relocating or removing particular teams risks alienating the support from a club’s traditional fan-base, and as a result you may lose fans. It is a pretty big gamble, but it can have many benefits if executed correctly.
On the flip side, maintaining these teams may cause detrimental outcomes in the long-term.
Are nine Sydney-based teams really sustainable in the future? The Wests Tigers and St George-Illawarra Dragons are already reliant on NRL funding and support, and without the approval of the Woolooware Bay development, Cronulla most likely would be too.
Also, the NRL is perceived as being an East Coast competition.
Melbourne and Sydney are somewhat heartland areas of football in our country, yet there are only two A-League teams based in each of these cities.
Even the AFL better manages itself on a national scale than the NRL, despite having 10 teams based in Melbourne. The code has two South Australian teams, two Western Australia teams, two Queensland teams and two New South Wales teams. The NRL doesn’t have any teams on the West Coast or in South Australia.
This is how I would like to see the NRL in the long-term:
Brisbane Broncos
North Queensland Cowboys
Gold Coast Titans
Newcastle Knights
Central Coast Bears
(Either the Central Coast Bears should be added and cover the Central Coast and Northern Sydney, or Manly should expand their territory.)
Sydney Roosters
South Sydney Rabbitohs
Illawarra Dragons
(The Dragons should entirely be based in Wollongong. I would prefer it to be known as the Steelers, but I doubt it would.)
Western Suburbs Magpies
(De-merge with Balmain. Penrith would be relocated or removed and it would cover a much larger area of Western Sydney.)
Canberra Raiders
Melbourne Storm
New Zealand Warriors
Central Queensland
Adelaide Rams
West Coast Pirates
Wellington Orcas
Cronulla Sharks
(As a Sharks Fan, I would personally want to retain the Sharks in such an competition.)
Parramatta Eels
(To cover the Sydney’s inner west.)
Unfortunately, it seems unlikely the NRL will address the issue of too many teams within Sydney in the near future.
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