Welcome to the club Redcliffe, it’s not going to be easy.
By the end of this week, a Redcliffe-based bid is set to become the competition’s 17th team – and 34th club in the history of the NSWRL, ARL, Super League and NRL.
Bid organisers will then turn it over to the community to determine their next major steps, including an official name to go with the Dolphins logo before joining the competition in 2023.
Since James Giltinan admitted nine clubs to mirror their rugby union counterparts in 1908, Redcliffe’s entry will mark rugby league’s 12th round of expansion.
And from Annandale in 1910 to the second attempt at a Gold Coast franchise in 2007, there will be plenty of pundits who will say the Dolphins will have a difficult time making an immediate impact.
That’s because rugby league’s storied efforts to grow have never been simple – on or off the field.
Be it St George’s entrance in 1921 coming 13 years after they were first cleared to join but ran short of players, or Canterbury, Manly and Parramatta pushing for years before finally getting a side.
“It was about the population spread (in the early decades),” historian Terry Williams told AAP.
“They weren’t worried too much about the pace of expansion. It was just a natural progression.
“And they were fairly resistant to sharing the pie around.
“For instance when Marrickville wanted to enter in 1912, they had a fairly strong district but I think people realised the implications of it.
“Because even back then there was a cartel running the game.”
Turf wars over district rules were also a factor but not as much of a concern, even if Western Suburbs did famously thank Parramatta in 1947 for leaving them the Sydney suburb of Rookwood, an area geographically dominated by a cemetery.
The game has changed immensely since then, going regional in 1982, to Queensland in 1988 and national in 1995 before Super League altered the game’s path again.
All bar the lucky few still share a similar story on the field.
Of the new teams that have entered as single entities since Annandale in 1910, 17 of 21 have suffered a losing record in their first season.
Brisbane, Auckland and Melbourne are the only teams to start well, with the Western Reds also going 11-11 in 1995.
The average wait for a premiership has been 20 years, with the Storm again the only team to lift the trophy in their first couple of seasons.
But even that came at a time when the competition was contracting rather than expanding out of Super League.
Nine clubs have come and gone without even winning a title, while the Warriors and Gold Coast are still battling to end their wait at 27 and 15 seasons respectively.
Even making the finals is no easy feat early on, with an average wait time of seven years.
“There were always plenty of good footballers around, but there always seems to be a dearth of decent administrators and coaches,” Williams said.
But with Wayne Bennett as likely coach, the Dolphins should have some chance of avoiding that issue.
“If you get the balance right, as Melbourne have shown from day one, it’s possible to succeed,” Williams added.
“It wasn’t like they signed a star-studded team and they’ve never picked the eyes out of team.
“Brisbane are a different story because they have a star team and Canterbury still made a final in the second year.”
There’s also no doubt life is a little easier for new teams entering now.
Redcliffe’s maiden year will look nothing like what Canterbury went through in 1935, where they didn’t have a home ground, trained in a cow paddock and twice conceded more than 85 points in a game.
Instead of relying solely on local talent, the Dolphins will have a fair crack at more than 100 current players who become free agents on November 1.
They already have a strong history in the Queensland Cup, and a firm training base in Redcliffe that they claim will be equal to what the Broncos have at Red Hill.
Likewise, the club has $100 million in assets, insistent they are the best option to become the first side to enter the NRL in 16 years.
“The Dolphins are NRL-ready and can start tomorrow,” bid director Terry Reader said in a statement.
“The Dolphins have a detailed 100-day plan ready to initiate as soon as we are awarded an NRL licence to ensure we can be highly competitive from what could be our very first season in 2023.”
Monorchid
Roar Rookie
I wish the new franchise all the best and hope it has a competitive first year. But I also hope that Redcliffe has a top class administration team. These are heady days and it's easy to get carried away. Saying that their training base will equal what the Broncos have is a bit of a stretch. I'm a Broncos member, and what they have now since they acquired the old Ithaca TAFE property across the road from the club house is absolutely magnificent. Redcliffe's club house looks a bit tired to me although I haven't been there for about 12 months. Also citing what Redcliffe has in assets doesn't translate to hard cash. And they'll need a lot of it. For example, the Broncos' annual turnover is roughly about $50 million, and they do make a profit each year, but it's not huge. Several NRL clubs seem to be constantly in the red, and I can still recall the NRL had to own 4 of its own teams for a while.
Dionysus
Guest
As someone who earns their living constructing plans and executing them, I can confirm that plans rarely last very long before they get botched and any plan that doesn't get botched up to some degree was probably overly slack in the first place. That said, the only way botch up quicker and bigger than a plan that fails on day one is to not have had a plan to botch up in the first place.
Opposed Session
Roar Rookie
KCR - yeah I vaguely remember that as well. It’s meant to be a condition in ISC participation agreement that NRL clubs has to have 2 affiliation system. Q cup history of 1 affiliation model hasn’t been great.
BillV
Guest
I’d prefer if there was eg a number of NRL players from this area, who a a group signed up to play for their home team in a couple of years time. If Redcliffe is this spawning ground that ex-Redcliffe juniors return home to, to support, that would be a great thing. I fear this is not the case, and the crowds will be cheering on predominantly NSW players, like they do at the Gold Coast.
KCR
Roar Rookie
I think that they will probably have 3 QLD cup feeder teams. Obviously Redcliffe will be one, I had heard the Capras are another. Pure speculation for the 3rd team but I could see either the Melbourne Storm or the Broncos dropping a team to the Dolphins and picking up Ipswich and really doing some good work with the talent out west and gaining a presence in that region.
KCR
Roar Rookie
I hear that all 3 bids were in talks with the Capras. I am sure that I saw an article somewhere stating that the Dolphins were in talks with them. The only one I can find is CQ today don't know how reputable it is.
Nat
Roar Guru
Because the QRL is still a feeder comp to the NRL. Recliffe have had affiliations with a few clubs: Easts and Broncos and currently Warriors. If they kept all the NRL players that came through the doors they would be competitive tomorrow but that's the way the system is set up. To use your example, the Panthers NSW Cup team wouldn't be competitve in the NRL because the best are playing up. There will be a good portion of local representation but they still need to buy marquee players to be competitve. Let's not be naive, how many clubs have more than 50% local representation? Qld is local enough to get started and it will provide another pathway for Qld kids.
Opposed Session
Roar Rookie
Not much chance of them not having a local team I reckon. Falcons are locked into Storm for next couple of years I think. Storm with the netball team on the SC also probably won’t be in any hurry to give area that up. Plus I believe there was a quiet push that a combined Storm / SC NRLW team was their next move. Storm NYC and development was based on SC 2016-17. Plus their recruitment staff have been based at SC stadium since 16. So it’s a hard press to capture the SC. Souths, Cronulla and Warriors I think we’re committed to a home game a year up there also for the next couple of years (that was pre-covid). Broncos are in a considerable push to get into SC with jack reed and Matt Gillett running lots of development programs up there.
BillV
Guest
What doesn’t match up, for a region that has been granted a place in the National comp, presumably based on being a league heartland, is that most every comment suggests they really will have little if any local representation. How does a current current QRL State League team need to rely near 100% on imports to then falsely show how good they are on the field? From a Panther’s perspective, the Dolphins will become another Storm, in that they will be following a team that represents their region solely by the colour of jersey they wear. To me, that doesn’t equate to the right decision being made. Wally Lewis couldn’t build a team around him at Tweed. What chance does Munster have?
Rellum
Roar Guru
They should try and get the Falcons and Devils and Capras as their teams. I would like them to not field a team in the QRL but I can't see that happening.
Opposed Session
Roar Rookie
Yeah capras (and hunters) are least experienced team in Q Cup so they could do with some experience to help the young talent they have. They were in most games this year and got beat on experience.
Nat
Roar Guru
I hope it is the Capras, they need it. Plus, I have family playing for them, I might scam some tickets! :stoked:
Opposed Session
Roar Rookie
Nothing yet but there’s only Ipswich and Capras without a proper affiliation. Hunters also but no NRL club would send players for 3 hr international flights with 2 hrs customs etc every second weekend. Ipswich have a partnership with Knights but no affiliation just get coaching upskilling and a couple of players get a NRL preseason. So I’d say it would have to be Capras, otherwise a reserve grade NRL team is too big an advantage in Q cup if they don’t have a second club.
Nat
Roar Guru
I can see Bennett doing a Newcastle in his first few years. Buying older, value based forwards and a good half then building a young group around them. Any word on which other Q Cup teams they might align with?
Nat
Roar Guru
That's a bit simple Bill. There are a lot of issues that took the Broncos to the bottom but talent wasn't one.
TA
Guest
Clubs like Cowboys, Storm, Warriors and Titans started from nothing, Redcliffe are already half way there so I don`t think they will struggle for too long. I would bet they make the finals before the Cowboys do.
BillV
Guest
The biggest worry was the 2021 that offered football of the poorest quality from any team outside the top 5 or 6 for the entire season. How does spreading the talent to a 17th team improve the game overall? It doesn’t. If Brisbane can’t produce enough talent to make up one team, doesn’t take rocket science to know they won’t be producing enough to fill two.
Andrew01
Roar Rookie
Losing record doesn't mean what it once did. The Titans made the Finals this year with a 10-14 record. A 41% winning record made the finals in 2021. it is hard to fathom. In 2020 The Sharks finished 10-10 and in 2019 the Broncos were 11 - 1 - 12. With teams becoming weaker with the talent spread to an extra team, whose to say that won't become common place?
Opposed Session
Roar Rookie
Rarely does a new team become consistent from the get go. Broncos were a state team playing as a club side and the Storm got the cream of multiple clubs that were closed down in the super league era. Even with instant success and winning the 99 premiership the Storm coach was gone after round 7 in 2001. End on 2002 saw another coach removed due to poor performance. The Titans are an interesting case for expansion and one you’d study if you were Redcliffe. They assembled a fairly strong roster but one that didn’t have a lot of shared experience. They had signed some good talent but most of them came from different clubs. Very little combinations or shared playing experience. Additionally there didn’t seem a focus on local talent or development. You wouldn’t say they’ve been a beacon for consistency. Before Holbrook took over the Titans had the league worst (only just marginally worse than Knights) of 42% of their players play 20 games or less. In comparison over the same time period, the Storm are League best at 20% players at 20 games or less. The mindset is different. The Storm are giving you 20 games to succeed whereas the Titans are giving you less than 20 games for you to fail and be replaced. Finding the balance between wanting to hit the ground running and being consistent for years to come is one the Dolphins must navigate. I look forward to seeing how they put their squad together.
GoGWS
Roar Guru
What was that famous line from Mike Tyson about plans? ‘Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth’. Something like that. So a detailed 100 day plan is great but it’s all about rubber hitting the road, and how you respond if things don’t go to plan. Two NRL teams in Brisbane does seem like a no brainer, and probably about 20 years overdue.