'Horrible' state of grassroots league means only one club makes sense for NRL expansion

Were mandatory sense of humour bypass procedures for supporters part of the AFL's gloried history?

2017 - still if you are going to publish it... I find it lazy when anyone has a crack at another code of football, especially the way Rugby League & co carry on about a war. This was that - a crack at AFL. I would be doing the same if it was having a go at another code as well. It's just plain lazy and shows the insecurity. Your article was pretty good, but the NRL is going about it all wrong by declaring that a war is occurring for the heart and minds of QLD people. To me, it shows little faith in the game of League. IF the game is so good, then why are they worried about another code? To claim the AFL are trying to take over with stealth is indicating that they are more concerned about Australian Rules than the game of League. They also like to mention that posts have gone up on more grounds, not hard to put up 8 posts on a cricket ground. They (the NRL) have relied on things not changing, people not moving, i.e. they are stale. They should have looked at what the AFL has been doing for a long time, setting up other options for people instead of just one. Rugby (both codes) are growing quietly in other states, only because of the effort of some people saying this is a good game to try. They don't carry on like the NRL. I will leave you with this - would the NRL have been considering another team in Brisbane if not for the "threat" (as they say) of AFL?

Just to give you some context to PNG. Below is and exert of an overall projection of how widely accepted the sport is in PNG. It is Wikipedia though so stats might not be 100% accurate. “Rugby league is the most popular sport in Papua New Guinea. Rugby league also holds the title as the national sport.[1] About 50% of the population under-20 play rugby league.[2] Since 2010, the sport has been a mandatory part of the curriculum in all schools in Papua New Guinea.” Also to this i recently read an article from the ABC into Covid in PNG and they stated the demographic of PNG is 75% of the population is under the age of 35. There is however internet issues across PNG and they don’t capture a National data base so figures aren’t thought of, let alone be accurate. NRL are currently working with the governing body in PNG to identify and capture this information.

From PNG mate, I work there. National sport of the country of 10mil RL loving (crazy) people. Especially now that they have national women’s team. They play all year round. Having witnessed a regional nines tournament in some far flung village centre brings 76 teams to compete in just a men’s competition. They have more than 180k participants I can assure you. They rarely have competitions for anyone under the age of 16. So I’d be amazed at the numbers if they had junior competitions down to 7yo’s.

Found your post about questions for the AFL http://the81stminute.com/2017/08/19-questions-every-nrl-fan-has-for-the-afl/ Have you actually researched it (or is it just lazy journalism)? A journalist would/should give a balanced view, or seek answers. Or are you just NRL-centric (which is what I think is half the problem with the NRL)? 1. Points were first awarded to give an idea of who was dominating the game. They were counted later on to try and eliminate draws. For your information, Australian Rules football started on Rugby pitches, with some rules combined from Union & soccer and others "invented" for the new game. The point posts are a hangover from the corner flags when the game was played on a rectangular pitch. 2. The "fisting" is the handpass. Again used to separate it from other codes. So what. Rugby wants it thrown backward, NFL you can through it forward. 3. Play on with a loose ball, again a change in rules to separate it from other codes. It is a free kick if not disposed of properly when tackled. 4. "Up & about" because it is a fast-moving game, played on the biggest sporting field of all the football codes. 5. Umpire comes from a French word basically meaning a mediator between two others. 6. The All-Australian team recognises the best players of the year that would make a great team. It used to be the team that played Ireland. It's a bit like the EPL selected a team of the year from their leagues, they don't play anyone either. There is actually an International AFL cup which Australia doesn't participate in. 7. Sleeves off the jumpers came from Ruckman cutting them off to prevent the opposing ruckman from pulling the sleeve to keep him down. It flowed on from there. 8. The mascots have evolved over time. The Swan comes from the swans on Albert Park Lake where the Sydney Swans started as South Melbourne before moving to Sydney. The Cat came from a Cat crossing the ground in Geelong after a win. 9. State-of-Origin started to die when the VFL expanded to include WCE and Brisbane, then dropped of further with the SA teams. By the way, SOO is an Australian Rules Football idea that came to fruition because WA & SA were tired of VIctoria winning with players from WA or SA. Started in 1977. 10. Can't answer the points for a win, but NRL gets 4 pts for a try and only 2pts for a win, so it is not unusual. As for why 6pts, not sure, but why 4pts for a try (and it has changed over time) 11. Push in the back - protection & consistency. You can tackle without burying someone into the ground. You also can't push someone in the back to get a better position when it comes to getting the ball. 12. Melee - just another word for a "fight". It is again a French word for brawl 13. Clubs used to have cheerleaders, just moved on from that entertainment. 14. Bouncing the ball came in to stop players just running with the ball the whole length of the ground. Just another point of difference. 15. NRL doesn't outrate AFL overall, a game yes it does at times. Come finals time, AFL is consistently in front of the NRL. Actually look at overall season figures, not particular games. TV doesn't pay for just a game, they pay for the whole season. 16. Rubbed out = suspension 17. The ball is red, why is Rugby white? Maybe has something to do with it being a leather ball. Other colours are also used. 18. The ground is oval (not round) because it was a game invented to keep cricketers fit during winter. After a while, they realised that the ovals were not being used, so they adopted the oval ground, moving from the rectangular soccer/rugby pitches. Point posts come from the corner flags of Rugby and Soccer. 19. Racism has no part in society, and to think it is only in the AFL shows a blindness to every other part of society. Surprised you didn't mention more about the scoring. Before you go on about a point for missing, Australian Rules has only a 6.4m width to kick through for its major score, yet Rugby has the width of the field (at least 60m) to score. The conversion can then bounce through off the posts, which it can't do in Australian Rules Football. Just another point of difference. I do enjoy all codes, I grew up playing Australian Rules. I now play Soccer (that's another topic) I enjoy union (a family connection to Sth Africa and surname) and follow the Storm. I don't bag one to promote another unless someone is uneducated about another.

You could have a points system related to the cap. It is used in several leagues to stop teams from splashing the money to buy a team. Local juniors are given the least number of points, newly contracted players are the maximum. The longer they stay, the fewer points they are worth for the overall team. You could have a maximum of say 45pts on game day, which means that you could have a greater number in total, but must fit the cap on game day.

Where did you get the figures from? Combined registered players of League in NSW & QLD in 2019 was around 180K for 15+ in age. You can't tell me that there are more than 180K League players in PNG. Even PNG says there are 15K players.

Absolute worst idea Curtis.

And Toowoomba! Wouldn't want to have too much to drink and have to walk home from a supporters gig in the tight knit community to Beenleigh.

What do you define as a direct pathway?

Best is subjective. If it’s financial position the NRL are after then reddy is clear winner. If it’s participation then they aren’t. I’m not rubbishing any bid just pointing out larger catchment number based on statistical information. I can talk about both teams as Q cup sides, recent past history and how they run at Q Cup level. Tigers on field advantage has been aided by Storm undoubtedly. They haven’t managed convert that into premiership success though. Despite getting up to 7-8 Storm players each week (for the most part of the season) they sit 11th in the comp currently. Perception through the industry is that they are under performers and far less of an opinion on how the football club is run. Dolphins were built on the back of their junior base. Extremely successful through 90’s and early 2000’s. Widely known that they have gone backwards in junior development hence why they continue to buy in talent at the top level. A really well run club and well acknowledged. Head coach isn’t well liked, even within the club. Premierships in past 10 years Reddy 1 (with NRL affiliate players) Ipswich 1 (without NRL help) Easts 0 ( with NRL affiliate) Reddy and Easts have constantly had NRL help whereas broncos came (after the premiership) and left Jets, but they now have a partnership with the knights. No players drop back to Jets so it’s just a partnership that is in place to service the huge junior base. Which you imagine aids the Knights more than the Jets. Jets however with their coaching style don’t really create NRL players out of their senior program. Club at ISC level is run well on a shoestring budget. All bids have part of current staff but beefed up hired help. You’d imagine they run separate to the ISC program. Financial strength doesn’t always equate to on field success. The broncos won the 2020 wooden spoon as the best financial club. The Panthers (good financials) weren’t that good until they fixed up their pathways. To me, as someone that works in the industry. I’m less worried about how much you have in the bank and more worried about who works for the club and the strength of their pathways program. The business people can bring in the money on the back of how connected you are to your base area by bringing through local talent and having long term on field success. It’s why the Titans struggle for traction for years cause they did develop their area. Now they are starting to but we won’t see full benefits for a couple of years. For now they have to buy in outside talent or pay overs to buy back the farm. Looking at all bid teams who have previous experience in NRL and not just commercial side (the football program set up). Then from what I saw reddy seem behind the other two. All good though, we are looking at it through separate eyes. I can see why reddy makes a financially sound decision . Same with firehawks. Whatever the NRL decides their main metric is I’m happy for any of the three to get in.

No one can claim anywhere, you can't just plonk a team down and tell people to support them. Teams have to build their identity and supporter base through work, such as being active members of the community supporting community projects, sporting groups and other initiatives as well as wining on the field. It can't be done through words. So far the Dolphins have a massive head start in this in the Moreton Bay region and they are well known and respected in rural areas. Including those areas leading to the Sunshine Coast.

I suppose that Queensland could get used to holding up the rest of the table like Parramatta did for decades too

None of that points to the Jets based in Ipswich being the pick just because there is some info being waved around that there are a bunch or juniors that, if you believe the sudden rush of comments on the internet. will be over run by the AFL if the Jets don't get the bid or will never have a chance to make the NRL. There is a difference between junior pathways being rubbish at the moment and bids that are going to be highly competitive and well run as NRL franchises. The Dolphins and Tigers have show they can do that as best you can without actually being in the NRL. The Tigers have a massive advantage as they have been part of the Melbourne system which is the best at finding and developing kids in QLD. The Jets/Bombers have not show they can run anything like an NRL team, they can claim areas larger than the Jets, as well as areas they Jets are claiming.

That's the point, Redcliffe aren't claiming a 150km geographcal catchment as are the Jets just because of location. They're not even claiming the Northside. They have their identity that they will look to build upon in the greater and growing region. As for why SC residents would follow Redcliffe, I'm not sure they would but they have shown they are footy fans by the crowds at every game inc the NRLW State or Origin. If Redcliffe get to take a few games up there, naturally they will get bums on seats and maybe few more memberships if not just an afinity to the club that supports them. Post Covid, I'd like to see Melbourne continue to have a few of their home games there but Melbourne is their home and priority. It's more likely that the SC will be treated like the Central Coast with a few games now and then.

"HORRIBLE" state of grassroots league ?? Not sure on where you get your info from Bud, but at my grandsons club on the Gold Coast numbers in Under 6s, 7s, 8s & 9s are all up on last year. And they are playing again as of last week!

Redcliffe has no claim to Sunshine coast. Redcliffe claiming SC is even worse than Ipswich jets claiming Logan. Why would people on the Sunshine Coast support the Dolphins?

I don’t really have another example to compare it to as I’m not really familiar with other regional cities of that size. But having lived on the Downs for 3 years and played rugby in the Toowoomba comp for that time, the people identify more as ‘country folk’ than they would city slickers- even though their surrounds represent a small bustling city as opposed to a country town. Again, I’m talking more about the fabric of the society as opposed to the cosmetics. These people go hunting on the weekends, many of them are directly or indirectly employed by the agricultural sector. There is that much farmland within 45 minutes of Toowoomba that it’s not unheard of for farmers and farmhands to live in town and commute to their land. The same goes for those businesses and employees that work in the numerous industries that support and rely on the sector on the DD’s (such as transport and logistics). Point being; it’s a different sort of community to the one that’s found at Ipswich, even though their Centre’s may share some physical similarities.