It seems I hear the phrase, “Not enough talent” for expansion in the NRL a few times every weekend.
I also read a lot about how Trent Barrett at the Bulldogs hasn’t got the personnel to challenge more. While this may be true regarding expansion, the roster is not the reason the Bulldogs are bottom of the ladder.
Perhaps the best, albeit most painful way for a Bulldogs fan, to prove this argument is to rake a comb over the current Bulldogs squad and see what kind of talent we’ve got (pre-Jackson injury) at the bottom of the ladder.
Dallin Watene-Zelezniak
Dallin has performed well enough for Penrith and New Zealand in the past, but seems to drop balls and miss tackles for the Bulldogs. He’s certainly shown enough to suggest he could be a much better player with the right coaching.
Nick Cotric
No doubt about his quality. But having broken into the NSW and Australian teams at Canberra, I’m sad to say playing for the Dogs will put his rep career on hold.
Will Hopoate
While Hopoate is entering the tail end of his career, he has shown in the past just how talented he can be at Origin level and in the past few years has been one of our more reliable players.
Corey Allan
His State of Origin debut last year showed just how much talent Allan has and I hope to see more of that this season.
Tuipolotu Katoa
Admittedly, one of our weaker players on paper and despite showing some good signs, if Jayden Okunbur, Nick Meaney or Christian Crichton were fit he would be back to reserve grade.
Jake Averillo
Everyone talks about his talent, and I think next to a more experienced half or in a stronger squad we could see something special from him.
Kyle Flanagan
Performed well, if not outstandingly, at the Roosters throughout a strong season. Like Jake, he would do better with a stable veteran in the halves with him. If we hadn’t bought him someone else would have and he would likely still be playing first grade.
Jack Hetherington
Disciplinary record aside, he’s one of our most consistent forwards and would be a shoo-in for most clubs.
Sione Katoa
Our next Achilles heel, showing signs of promise but not nearly dangerous enough or fast enough to be a quality hooker.
Dylan Napa
Perhaps past his best but his past record shows how good he was at his peak.
Dylan Napa. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
Adam Elliott
One of our most consistent performers and would be one of the first players chosen each week.
Corey Wadell
While Corey has been a bit inconsistent, with a bigger pack around him, he could offload more and show a bit more skill.
Josh Jackson
No doubt here about talent, and if Jackson were at a top four club, I doubt he would have fallen out of Origin favour.
The main problem for the Dogs is that in the back row, Elliot, Jackson and Wadell are all similar back rowers. None are big tackle-busting danger men but rather solid workhorses. Having three in the same team is only great if your other forwards are more aggressive.
Others
Luke Thompson, Jackson Topine, Renouf Atoni, Ofahiki Ogden, Lachlan Lewis, Nick Meaney, Raymond Faitala-Mariner and Jeremy Marshall-King.
Thompson has a great record in the UK and has shown glimpses of quality that can only grow if he stays injury-free.
Jackson Topine is clearly a talent of the future, given what we’ve seen in just two games. Ogden is a decent player off the bench and I wouldn’t be surprised if a coach like Craig Bellamy brought a lot more out of him.
Same with Lewis – so much passion, great kicking game and enough energy to fill a case of red bull every week; I would love to see him developed better than he has been, because he could be a top-quality half one day.
(AAP Image/Darren Pateman)
Meaney might not be the best outside back but he is one of our most reliable and certainly would slot in well in most teams behind their super stars. RFM was also one of our most dangerous players and we are missing him in the forwards more than we probably know.
Finally, as much as JMK shows glimpses of talent, he is not quite good enough to play hooker or half. Wish we’d brought his brother over instead of letting Souths nab him.
No matter what negativity I read about the talent pool, I genuinely think most of these players would be performing much better at another club and most of them are not below NRL quality.
On paper, the Dogs should be competing in every game and winning a lot more. Whether it is coaching, club culture gone sour or poor management (though likely a combination of all three), the Bulldogs roster isn’t the main problem.
I’m not sure how I would turn it around, but a bit more experience in the spine would be a good start.
Going back to the original question, there is enough talent for 16 teams and that the blowouts are due to other factors. However, adding more teams to the NRL might stretch that pool even thinner.
Instead, I prefer the idea of a two-tier system. It allows expansion while also not overcrowding the top division with mediocre players. A further boon is that more teams could have a chance of joining the NRL first grade comp.
Aside from seeing a couple of new clubs like a second Brisbane team and a Papua New Guinea team, it would also offer a chance for a team like the North Sydney Bears to have a way back in.
Joseph Suaalii (Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images)
A second division would also mean the talent issue would no longer matter, as you’d have perhaps 12 top division teams with the best players, while young or fringe players battle it out at the lower level.
A quality coach could develop a young squad and if they are promoted, use the financial boost the NRL would be obliged to give to retain that talent. You could have a top-tier team loan development players to the second tier like soccer in Europe and provide a much better development path.
Adding more teams and having a lower tier might seem more expensive at first, but it would allow for a lot more televised games, including the very attractive relegation and promotion battles that gain high ratings in England.
Then there would be the bigger fan-base having teams not only from new teams, but you can guarantee more Bulldogs fans would be watching if we were battling for promotion than drowning at the bottom end of the table playing meaningless game after meaningless game.
What’s more, the games in each tier would be more competitive and hopefully blowouts would be much rarer. Not to mention the idea of a knock-out comp where both tiers as well as the Intrust Super Cup teams and regional teams.
Imagine if Dubbo or Coffs Harbour got through the early rounds and had a chance at playing an NRL team?
Nothing would raise interest in grassroots rugby league more than a competition like this and this would bring back a lot of people who have stopped watching the game for various reasons.
A lot more needs to be discussed about a two-tier competition, such as how the finances would be divided, which teams would be allowed in and what the promotion and relegation system would be like.
Yet, for now, it is absolutely best way forward for rugby league in Australia.
Roarers, let me know what you think of the potential introduction of a two-tier competition.
Kent Dorfman
Roar Rookie
"The riches & biggest win, and are expected to win year in, year out." - no salary cap, so they will always be the top.
Brett Allen
Roar Rookie
I'm assuming you are trying to make a point
Dunning Kruger
Roar Rookie
The "not enough talent" trope is nonsense. There are plenty of talented blokes ready for a shot. I think the reality is there is not enough talent in coaching and development ranks.
Lance Boil
Roar Rookie
There are too many losers and not enough winners. The current unique state based and regional structures of rugby league mean something to many involved.
Paul
Roar Guru
we both know how hard it is to develop a competitive NRL squad and that has to be even harder when the squad starts in second division then moves up a grade. Teams would struggle to find decent players willing to play 2nd division ( and decent coaches), which means if they get promoted, they have to try and find guys on the market who could make the competitive immediately. This will likely see Clubs paying overs for guys past their prime and also see those same Clubs stay up for maybe a season or two then drop back down.
Steve
Guest
Gold Coast, Newcastle, Wollongong aren’t on your list and are all a tad bigger than Darwin, Hobart and Canberra
zonecadet
Roar Rookie
a scond tier would be like the World Club Challenge games during the 1997 Super League season with the English clubs giving us all an idea what that would be like. As I recall even the Hunter Mariners had little trouble beating them.
zonecadet
Roar Rookie
Yeah, I kinda knew that reading all the hype about the 'mighty Wolfpack', but obviously forgot. Still, no other sport does it and from your comment it seems it's not working out in the UK. I would reckon if say, the Bulldogs dropped down a division, that would be the last you'd see of them. Or a few other Sydney NRL teams for that matter. Some of them draw pretty shabby crowd numbers, can't imagine how even those people would turn up to Second Division games.
BeastieBoy
Roar Rookie
Get 3 more teams now and introduce a conference system. Brisbane Team, Central Coast & Wellington NZ. Start a centralised NRL Talent Identification group and bring 12 UK players out. It works for Canberra. They have the skills. Just have to get them fit. Look at American College and AFL players who don't make the cut. Bring back the U20s comp. Introduce League into Rugby Schools. They have taken on AFL. Why not League? Having the extra teams will mean more Revenue for the game.
Tim Carter
Roar Pro
The English Superleague does it. Last year the Wolfpack had to fold, bringing Leigh up. Leigh were the side to last go up (two seasons ago); they struggled then, and they're struggling now.
zonecadet
Roar Rookie
Unlike Soccer, which is the only other sport I can think of that has promotion and relegation. Not one contact sport does it anywhere. I could be wrong though.
Greg
Roar Pro
I dont like promotion/relegation. Not enough money in the sport for a strong second tier to survive. I used to think there was enough talent for expansion. Not just in Australia but in raiding the UK and NZ and pacific rugby as well as someone seriously looking into pathways for PNG. But i believe if we persist with these foolish new rules the rise in injury rates means there wont be enough talent to sustain 16 clubs.
Kent Dorfman
Roar Rookie
English soccer has the depth in club / player numbers, the top six is because of no salary cap.
TIGER
Roar Rookie
No doubt there is a big void between teams in the NRL. Tier one Storm, Panthers, Roosters and Souths. Tier two Canberra and Parra. The others are a week to week proposition. So in regard to your article, I would say that there is already a 2nd tier structure happening. The fact is it's probably more like a three-tier structure. I believe that funding in a first and second division structure would be difficult to support. How about the idea that we play one full round - 15 games - and then play a top 8 and bottom 8 in separate sections. That becomes 22 rounds plus a finals structure where teams in the bottom 8 have something to play for. The draw can be set up over a two-year system meaning home and away games are equal. Even now after 5 rounds, the separation is obvious. As a Dogs, Broncos, Tigers, Newcastle or Cowboys supporter there could at least be some joy. This idea needs some tweaking but worth consideration.
Brett Allen
Roar Rookie
Having verticle divisions is a romantic idea, but it simply would not work in Rugby League, and more importantly in Australia. Australian sporting culture is very different to British & European sporting culture where they are, or near enough to, absolute meritocracies. The riches & biggest win, and are expected to win year in, year out. In the UEFA Champions League, England's four representatives almost always come from the Big Six, (Man Utd, Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal & Tottenham). Very few other EPL clubs get a look in. In the Premier League, mid level clubs like West Ham & Everton for example, see finishing in the top half of the ladder as a successful season, whilst smaller clubs like Fulham & Sheffield Utd see avoiding relegation & a fairy tale FA Cup run as successful. Lower division minnow clubs like Blackpool or Burton Albion see just getting promotion to the Championship as success, rarely even getting a sniff of the Premier League. There is no NRL or AFL club in Australia, or the A-League for that matter that sees anything but winning the title as a great season. In that sense, our sporting culture is more closely aligned with American sporting culture whereby it's a title or bust mentality. What would end up happening is that the two teams that get promoted every year, would in all liklihood go back down the next year, whilst the two teams that were relegated would simply outclass the teams in the 2nd division and come straight back up. Meanwhile, the haves at the top of the NRL would draw further away from the struggling clubs at the drop zone, because those struggling clubs could never make long term plans, they would forever be trying to pursue short term success to stay up, or get back up. No, our future as a sport has to be a closed league similar to the NFL, NBA, NHL & MLB.
Adam Bagnall
Roar Guru
Their is a second tier already in QLD and NSW. You're literally arguing for a competition that already exists
mach4
Roar Rookie
Lachlan Lewis should be given a chance at hooker, good speed. great defence and a third option with his kicking game.
Paul
Roar Guru
“but the salary cap here counters that a lot more effectively?” Really? One of the major complaints about the footy this year are the blowout scorelines. Teams coming up from a second tier comp will only make that worse. As for more development, etc, thanks to having a second tier, where is the money coming from for all this development? Where is the money coming from to make a second division even remotely competitive with a first division? Where should more grass roots development occur? In areas that are untapped, so how does having a two tier comp tap into WA, SA, Victoria, the NT or Tassie? This two tier competition is a good idea….. wait, it’s a pipe dream.
no one in particular
Roar Guru
It costs minimum 30 million a year to run an NRL club. Some of that comes from the NRL, it is up to the club to come up with the rest, which is up to 20 million. The Bears and Jets will need to find 20 million in gate takings, sponsorships, merchandise sales, leagues club grants, etc. And not just them, but every club in that situation. The corporate dollars just arent there. NSW Cup teams do not run a budget close to that And that greater income also gets shared with more teams And tv ratings in european soccer shows relegation games aren't as high rating as you believe
up in the north
Roar Rookie
I like the idea very much, I'd obviously need to see more meat on the skeleton of the concept, but boy it ticks a lot of boxes. I'm looking at a scenario from a Cowbies perspective and I'm seeing - htpothetically - the Blackhawkes winning the tier 2 comp' and based on last years results the Cowbies came 2nd last (from memory) they get relegated and the Blackhawkes step up a grade. There's massive speculation with my example, but as I wrote, more details and some support will get it to fly.