The five expansion clubs that could replace the Titans

Ive read a few of your articles and bit my tongue but i cant anymore. This is a terrible article. It truly serves no purpose. Why would the NRL cut Manly, Cronulla and Canterbury to bring back the Bears? Ive read some crazy things on the roar but that takes the cake. And then you suggest bringing in Perth, Darwin, Adelaide (and more reasonably albeit an idea thats been said a million times before) and Central Coast as expansion teams with absolutely no suggestions as to how that would work in reality. I hope this article is an attempt at satire, otherwise i have no words...

I tend to agree. Nothing ever works on the Gold Coast. It’s economy is temperamental and it’s a transit/party town. I’m just concerned that if there’s no presence and the AFL got things right, the area and surrounding regions will become AFL territory.

This is the worst article I have ever read on the topic of expansion. Let’s just get rid of two of the biggest and most popular brands in the NRL in the Sea Eagles and Bulldogs. Great idea! I’m sure Channel 9 and Fox would like that move for their TV and viewership numbers! There is absolutely no support for the Bears to return. Their fan base was small fickle at the best of times (which were rare) and the proposal to replace Manly with Norths is ridiculous. At least Manly have a history of success and a support base Central Coast? History will repeat itself with this idea. Regions never work. Look at Illawarra and Campbelltown. You can probably include previous Gold Coast failings as well in this. You need teams in cities and Gosford is nowhere near city status. The Mariners in the A-League are going down the drain because of this problem. How can the author of this article overlook the Logan/Ipswich corridor? Or even Redcliffe? This is untapped rugby league heartlands. And was this article trying to make us laugh with Darwin? More people live in Kogarah and Rockdale combined than Darwin. The only redeeming aspect of this article was the call for NRL teams in Perth and Christchurch.

The Gold Coast is approaching a million people and is Australia's Largest City after the 5 mainland capitals. Its also larger than Newcastle, Canberra-Queanbeyan, Wollongong. The NRL cannot abandon the Gold Coast, especially when the AFL have a team, and the area is considered Rugby League junior heartland. A poor performing Gold Coast does restrict the introduction of a 4th Queensland team, which I assume would be based in Redcliffe, Ipswich or Brisbane.

Yeah I don’t know the detail of how an expansion team (Perth or Adelaide) might work long term, and probably nobody at the NRL does either. That’s why I think they’ll prefer to move more games there rather than take a big risk by attempting to place a new team in relatively hostile territory. The Storm are an on-field success in Melbourne but I’m not sure they exist independently in their own right as a profitable football operation - perhaps there are lessons to learned from the Storm but also some of that could just be dumb one-off luck (right players and coach) that’s not necessarily replicable for any new NRL expansion teams in WA or SA. Expansion seems to have popular support amongst NRL fans but less so amongst the NRL clubs and NRL administration who are showing more caution and looking to the bottom line.

If we use the Brennan example who's contract was recently extended Mary is odds on not to see his contract out. If we look at the coaches who have been terminated in the last 12 months I'd like to have the money in my pocket. Bad administration has cost some club's millions in pay outs. Hasler, Griffin, Barrett and now Brennan. Also the south's/ Brisbane fiasco probably probably wasn't cheap.

There are structural challenges. Sacking Cartwright didn’t overcome them and sacking Brennan won’t solve it either. As an expansion team the Swans got a leg up via the AFL draft system to help establish a competitive playing roster (over years) AND they had long term stability in coaching staff AND they valued character in addition to footy talent to help establish a lasting, professional club culture. The NRL has no draft system and no similar mechanism that can be applied to support the long term success of an expansion club... player movement is chaos and unlike the ALF there is leakage of talent to well paying Super League and Rugby Union. So how will the NRL make it work?

The NRL has its own history (Reds, Rams) and even recent AFL experience (Giants, Suns), which I’m sure is front of mind and very chastening when it comes to actually pushing the button on expansion. Experience shows that setting up outpost teams in non-traditional areas is a very risky and hugely expensive long term commitment. To work it really requires all clubs to by into the idea because they are the ones who are effectively underwriting expansion. If the NRL clubs are not on board then forget about it. I’m not sure any expansion team of any code set up in non-traditional area has achieved independent financial viability as a football operation other than perhaps the Swans, and they only achieved this after 20 odd years. Perhaps that’s the sort of timeframe to put on any expansion clubs - 20 years of annual losses. That’s a obviously a huge investment that you don’t take on lightly. Interesting to see where expansion plans end up. My bet is on one more Brisbane team which less risky with more certain benefits for broadcasting. As for the ‘footprint’ (the word Greenberg seems to love) I expect they’ll start playing more club games in Perth and Adelaide using chosen NRL clubs (as the AFL has services Tasmania in the past using Hawthorn and North Melbourne without locating a team there). Sending a couple of clubs to Perth and Adelaide a few times a year might give you say 5 or 6 games year in these capitals, and all of a sudden you have a ‘national footprint’. And all it takes is two or three games a year which is not a massive imposition on the chosen clubs - Hawthorn/North Melbourne seem to cope. And the big advantage is flexibility - you pull the plug on the ‘expanded footprint’ with far less pain than closing down a club.

Typo in the title, it should read “Adrian pokes bear with stick for fun”. A serious point though, why is the commentariat death riding the Titans? Struggling club dumps coach... after media death rides coach from beginning of season... this is not a new story for any team sport in Australia. The Gold Coast team is in the comp because the area represents a major market population for the NRL. The NRL needs to find a way to make this second South Eastern Qld “franchise” a success before repeating the failed expansion attempts elsewhere. Until the NRL has an approach, a model that can demonstrate success in the Gold Coast any talk of expansion fails the laugh test.

The Titans have Queensland talent (eg Brimson, Arrow, Wallace) but the coach wasn't up to it. The problem that the Suns have is Tony Cochrane, the AFL's equivalent of Trump.

Adrian, you've not made a case for anything. I'm inclined to agree with you on Gold Coast - been there, done that, waste of time. I think the only realistic expansion prospects are a 2nd Brisbane team, Perth and maybe a 2nd NZ team. There's a reason Norths aren't in the competition, and I don't see anything has changed to overturn the decision to get rid of them.

I'm sure he said he lived in Penrith. I may be wrong.

One of the problems is the NRL won't go into bat for refurbishing the suburban grounds. Their focus is on playing out of centralised grounds like ANZ, Allianz and now Bankwest. They are trying to model their game on the AFL playing grounds but it just doesn't work. Year's ago I thought it was a prerequisite by the NRL for the club's to upgrade their grounds to a certain standard but now they have got into bed with the current government that looks like going by the wayside and they are changing the ground rules. One problem is that some club's are flip flopping between 2 grounds and for some reason Sydney fans just don't like travelling. Once Allianz and ANZ are rebuilt and upgraded the NRL will bear pressure on the club's to play out of those grounds. They will deny it but I'm all in favour of suburban home grounds provided they are up to scratch. Newcastle are a good example and there are some nice boutique grounds like gold coast and Gosford.

Worse expansion article yet? It must be close...

Talking expansion is absolute crap. There are barely enough NRL standard players available now, let alone a growing fan base for any existing club Some rl fans must be subjecting themselves to the BEATTIE propaganda ,more waffle, take a look at his past record Each club needs to get their own environment in a positive framework and accordingly grow Kids are in the TECH SPHERE, YOUNG WORKERS surviving and setting up their future, MIDDLE AGE ditto and looking after the forementioned, after that GOLF is a great medium for choice. 2% of Brisbane's population attend a vital game ie a near full house 1% for an average game , don't see too many other clubs with anywhere near that level EXPANSION , definitely not a sound basis for the future of the game in this country

Darwin should definitely have a team...in the QRL.

Seagulls and Giants were based at Tweed Heads, that's the equivalent of an hours drive from my place and I live central Gold Coast. Chargers had money (one of the few at the time) and got flicked by the NRL to keep Brisbane happy. Titans went broke because accountants don't make enough money to own football clubs. People in Sydney seem to confuse sacking a coach and going belly up.

Were the first 3 as dumb?

The Titans sacked a coach didn't go broke. The Bears are dead and if you base being in the NRL on results the Bears are one of the few teams the Titans look good against. Stupid article written by someone who doesn't deserve to be read

Evidently they trouble him... he’s a genius!! As for the premise that bringing the long forgotten Bears back? Why stop there Glebe should slot straight into the writers plan. He seems really keen on lost causes