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As a Brisbane Broncos fan, it would be great to see the club develop a genuine rivalry in the NRL. It makes sense to set up another club in the city.
There’s enough talent in Australian and South Pacific rugby league to support two more NRL teams. And as Suncorp Stadium is an under-utilised world-class stadium, a new team could easily set up base there.
From a sponsorship point of view, a second Brisbane team makes a lot of sense. From many reports there are companies lining up to sponsor another local team.
The main problem is attracting enough fans to support another team. There is already an existing rivalry within Brisbane and this is a chance to capitalise on that.
Much has been said about the northern and southern suburbs rivalry, for instance, or the divide between Brisbane and the western suburbs/Ipswich.
However, naming a new club Moreton or Moreton Bay could capitalise on a growing, new rivalry between inner city Brisbane and regional Brisbane.
Moreton Bay Regional Council is a new council area formed in 2008. It’s located to the north of Brisbane and includes the previous regions of Redcliffe, Pine Rivers and Caboolture, with a population of 425,000 in the 2015 census.
In addition, many local residents would consider the Redlands council areas south of Brisbane, including the Southern Moreton Bay Islands like Russell and Macleay. And even parts of Brisbane ‘on the Bay’, like Wynnum and Manly to the south and Sandgate and Shorncliffe to the North, are considered part of Moreton Bay.
Even Ipswich, which is in the health district West Moreton and has a school called West Moreton Anglican College, despite being some 40 kilometres from the Bay, seems to consider itself part of the Moreton region.
Greenberg should look to expand in Brisbane. (NRL.com)
My plan for a new team would capitalise on this rivalry by making use of the existing regional facilities, attempting to bring together rugby league fans from north and south and potentially west of Brisbane to cheer for a team that represents their regions, rather than the inner city.
This new club could make arrangements to base itself at both Redcliffe Dolphins and Wynnum-Manly Seagulls Leagues clubs, with players coming from both teams, and fans and members being able to gain entry and cheer for their team at both clubhouses.
Training grounds for the new side would probably have to be chosen from between the above clubs, with my choice being Redcliffe as its facilities have recently been upgraded. Basing the club there will probably increase the chance of state or regional government funding.
There may also be some potential for Ipswich Jets to also get on board and supply some players to the new team. Admittedly, this link between Moreton and Ipswich is more tenuous and so may only work if one of the above two clubs was not amenable to this idea (and the Broncos may not be too keen on losing three of their five feeder teams).
As for the team’s name, I would choose to call it the Moreton Muddies. Mudcrabs are a famous south-east Queensland produce and are fairly representative of the region. Keeping a fairly coastal/aquatic mascot and logo is best, too, given the team represents a Bay region.
Club colours could be maroon and white, maroon with thin black stripes or maroon with pale blue (like Central Queensland or striped like North Brisbane Rugby Club). Other suggestions are Moreton Mudcrabs, Moreton Bay Manta Rays (for those who like both rhyming and alliteration) or the Moreton Dolphins.
The latter would be best to strengthen ties to the existing Dolphins club (if the team was not able to utilise facilities from the existing Seagulls or Jets clubs).
Lastly, Moreton Coast Crushers could provide a link to a previous club that had good support in the region (average crowds of 21,000 in the first year). However, this does not capitalise on the coastal nickname/mascot.
With the club having support across both sides of the river and potentially to the west as well, and with all of these areas having existing rail links to the inner city, playing out of Suncorp Stadium would make sense.
Trials and pre-season games could take place at Dolphin Oval, North Ipswich Reserve and BMD Kougari Oval, and even regional grounds like Stradbroke Island (which hosts a Queensland Cup game annually).
This new club would have immediate success, as instead of trying to convert casual fans or existing Broncos fans they could make use of supporters of existing, local clubs.
There are still many local supporters of Queensland rugby league who do not support the Broncos. They support local rugby league clubs, or support out-of-town teams like the Melbourne Storm, North Queensland Cowboys or Canterbury Bulldogs due to a perceived lack of representation, or issues with the Broncos’ structure.
This new club, if handled correctly, would easily gain attendances from fans who are looking for a new club, looking for more games in their region and are looking for a club that better represents them.
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