The ideal model for NRL expansion is relocation

the suns are the gold coast, the lions are brisbanes team which formed from a merger from the brisbane bears and fitzroy lions in the 90's

New York City (well East Rutford, New Jersey) has 2 NFL teams the Giants and the Jets

Their support base had risen past 45% in membership in 2017/2018, the highest of all the teams last year, which has a lot to do with their form, which would be the same for teams who are also travelling well, but this is something else. In regards to the Greater Western Panthers (Named after the Great Western Highway) and the role they would play, Its moreso cutting down home games in penrith to make them more valued As well as inclusion to major areas in country towns that need pathways to NRL One game a year in bathurst isnt enough But its a great start, other nrl clubs should also covent a similar approach to areas that have limited access to live nrl matches like darwin which cowboys and parramatta frequently visit

This is incorrect, there are plenty of players not getting a chance to play 1st grade this year, trent hodkinson, who was getting dropped to lower grades And he was NSW halfback when they won the series, he only got to play this year, coz dugan and moylan were injured Segeyaro also dropped, and is keen for a PNG Hunters to acquire a license, NRL site had a news topic about how many high profile players that were not playing in their 1st grade side, due to the depth being too good, until injuries get them the called up, Wests tigers forward pack is full of low profile players, other than lawrence, matalino and packer yet they are extremly formidable and also Corey Thompson coming from the UK super league is futher evidence that they are talented players available from overseas too There should be enough quality players and talent to spread around 20 Clubs Penrith ISP team could rival parramattas 1st grade side on current form And Norths bears and surrounding talent in that central coast region would already beat most nrl sides This stortage of players and not there is enough quality is a myth that clubs want you to believe, so the money handed out by tv rights stays in 16 teams instead of spread over 20, which if was expanded to include perth, adelaide, PNG, CC, and More games in brisbane, would be close to doubling the tv rights deal These nrl clubs bickering between each other is narrow minded

Yet their TV presence is very small footprint. I find it ironical they average 30,000 which is great. Yet no one watches them on TV. TV audiences in Melbourne for the Storm are much stronger than those for the Swans in Sydney. Any reason for this ??

@Clipper I'm saying if New York had 9 NFL team (they only have one) they would only get about 10 to 12 thousand a game. NY is 5 times the size of Melbourne. My point is AFL crowds are freakish because of Melbourne. 9 teams all pulling massive crowds.

@Clipper I'm saying if New York had 9 NFL teams (they only have one) they would get about 10 to 12 thousand a game. NY is 4 times the size of Melbourne. My point is AFL crowds are freakish because of Melbourne. 9 teams all pulling massive crowds week in week out.

Then try 4,same effect.

Side stepping(Clips excuse for receiving facts) LOL, we are just not intruding to serve it up to code,such is your want. Of course you don't mention TV ratings,that would be telling, hey what. Yet you were quite prepared to post here to push your AFL crowd agenda.As if one should be surprised. There are 9 NRL clubs in Sydney.None of them in anyshape or form have a modern rectangular stadium ,compared to the oval SCG.I wonder what the attendance would be if the SCG was half a hill or even further away from the action, or having a few years of poor form. The Eels will have one next year, even then capacity will be less than the SCG. The facts are (and you still find it difficult(crowds and Tv ratings form part of a code's popularity. Let me give you some other facts.in 2003( after 21 years) Swans ,membership dropped to 21,270 that would include old South Melbourne fans also.And no doubt still does. The Storm this year (20 years)are now as at 18th April is 22,941 and growing . When they play in Grand Finals their Tv ratings in Melbourne exceed those of the Swans in Sydney when they play in a G/F. 89K after 35 years ,"is not too bad ".Glad you don;t work for a TV station.Think you need to check on Pay TV in Sydney for the NRL and AFL. The Red's crowds prior to Super league were well in excess of a few thousand, iso you are wrong,15,000 would be considered reasonable today, in view of the fact Perth's population has almost doubled since 1995.In fact WA people seem to be more accepting of the NRL than Melbourne was/is. It' doesn't have to get the crowds the Swans get ATM(until of course they have a few bad years).Their Perth stadium holds about 22,000,their junior numbers have been growing continuously, and they will be beaming games live back to Sydney and Brisbane. Ch7 is your code' official station, they chose the CG ATT. We have to put up with 2nd hand treatment from ch9.It works both ways. And the extremely poor form of the NRL's biggest fan base the Eels,has not helped Sydney's ratings, which ironically are up overall,as are crowds, participation at junior and senior level and revenue.

You can't seriously compare Perth or Adelaide to Sydney - they're at least 1/4 the size!

ah, the side stepping due are at it again. No where did I mention ratings - the whole point is that the Swans get double the attendance of any NRL team, yet the Storm have yet to pass the worst performing AFL team in Melbourne, the logic is that a NRL team in Perth may get a few thousand, but it is unlikely to do as well as the Swans. By the Way, 7/4/18, the ratings for the Swans game was 89k - not too bad - around half of what NRL games in Sydney get, although it's hard to get the ratings as they haven't made the top 20 much lately (admittedly the Commonwealth games haven't helped)

Yeah the Suns, they play out of Carrara

I think you can tell by very low Swans TV ratings in Sydney that most of the Swans crowds are Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide expats looking for an AFL hit. I would say the same thing about the Melbourne Storm too.

@AR Put 9 AFL teams in Perth or Adelaide or Sydney and watch them get 12,000 a game at best. Put 9 NFL teams in New York, LA or Dallas and watch them get 12,000 a game at best. AFL crowds are freakish because of Melbourne. NRL crowds in Sydney are pretty good with 9 teams in one city.

Another good reason why relocation of s sydney team works for perth/adelaide/darwin Is it would have a junior base feeding it, until it was strong enough to create and be sustainable to grow in that particular city As i said again tigers brand is already strong, and playing group would only need to play upto 10 "home" games in perth, and 1 in Liechhardt and another in Campbelltown, whilst having games away in sydney vs sydney teams, so support can come from both cities Melbourne storm had most of their playing group from outside Victoria, and now 20yrs later they are now producing juniors But adding teams from QLD, should be "new" franchise or graduate from the qld isp Like redcliffe, ipswich or Png Hunters, relocation would not work as there are already strong clubs in lower grades that could compete given the chance to acquire an NRL license, they already have a strong junior presence. Where WA,SA or NT would not in comparison Relocation is a must for those cities

You’ve hit the nail on the head there Nat Being an eastern stater that has lived in Perth for last 10 years, it has to be their “own” team otherwise it won’t work. West aussies hate everything that comes from the other side of the nullabor so relocation of a Sydney side wouldnt work. There are plenty of expats (kiwis, poms,South Africans and eastern staters) who are starving for league over here and we all come from different club supporter bases, so the pirates would be my second team, but I’d be there every game just to watch some decent footy. But my kids on the other hand would be with them from the beginning and that is the key for success of a new franchise, the next generation of supporters. In this mad afl state, that is where the nrl can’t come in half arsed and have to be in it for the long haul and do it properly. In my 5 yr old sons class at school there are 3 out of about 14 boys who are league kids and guess what, they are all playing Oz kick. The afl were in there class the first week of school!!! The nrl have to promote the game whole heartedly, which they aren’t doing. There was hardly anything promotion wise before the double header at the beginning of year and they got just under 40000 people there, so the hunger for league is here, it just needs to be fed. The best promotion, ( which was unintentional) was when it was announced that nrl would be played at the new stadium before afl - the locals went feral!!! They wanted the eagles and dockers to play a trial before the nrl so that they could claim they were first to play on it. It will be a hard slog for the nrl in wa but with further exposure like SOO next year and more games during the season support will grow. A lot of afl supporters are disgruntled with how much the rules have been watered down in the past few years and how soft it has become so there is opportunity to convert what would have been considered rusted on supporters previously.

...and Peter Beattie presenting the trophy to either the Western Crows or the St George Dragonflies.

Qld seems to have gone a little quiet on hosting the Grand Final. It only took a couple of years on to show that the Broncos and Cowboys would not be dominating rugby league into infinity as first forecast. Two Sydney teams playing the G/F at Suncorp, far more likely at and you'd have less locals turning up than a Commonwealth Games closing ceremony.

Not just Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide too. And excellent in Sydney as well.

League crowds are underwhelming compared to AFL but much better than soccer crowds, which are in freefall.