It's too soon for an 18th team... but the NRL should still expand

I've always thought why not Tasmania? I can promise you now, that if Melbourne didn't get in from the Super League war, people would be saying the same thing about a adding a team there now. The Storm have been a success and a greater success for rugby league in general. We shouldn't be scared about a lack of grass roots, and be brave and build. I don't think people realize how powerful a sport could be if it reached every corner of Australia.

South Australia & Tasmania aren't really viable. Tasmania STILL doesn't even have an AFL franchise, so I'd doubt there'd ever be an NRL one there! Perth is the only realistic option with the large kiwi/PI & east coast states migrant population base.

Here's the thing ... NRL stands for National Rugby League. It's focus should be just that. It's not the NRL's job to develop the game in other countries (even New Zealand). Everything you say about domestic games sounds good, Hairy, but you are falling off the giant elephant on the even bigger turtle's back (Terry Pratchett book reference there) in regards to the other countries. Some points: 1. these countries don't have league clubs so there is no retail commercial base for such a club(s). I live in Redcliffe; the Dolphins stadium is part of a leagues club there and they have a shopping mall as well. Big commercial base there; 2. lower cost of living. $20 at the gate to watch a game in Fiji, Samoa or Tonga is an absolute fortune. $10 is maybe pushing it which means you need stadium capacity to allow more people in and only Fiji MAY have that capacity (and only around 25,000) in Suva and then there is stadium infrastructure (including lighting and TV broadcast facilities); 3. fielding a merged Islander team will pose its own cultural problems which is why PNG needs to be considered separately from the other Island unions. PNG needs to go it alone, in any case; 4. the days of TV broadcasters paying top dollar for rights is disappearing. The broadcast landscape is changing. I stopped TV years ago; everything is streaming now on my laptop. Can't remember the last time I watched FTA; 5. the IRL is there to develop the game internationally. The NRL should be helping the IRL (if they can sort out their bad blood); 6. I think Tony Kemp in NZ made the suggestion that a second NZ NRL team should be affiliated with the champion Crusaders Super Rugby side. There is merit in that suggestion; whether its feasible is another matter. (Actually, NZ RL should be taken under the umbrella of NZ Rugby, the way things are going over there); 7. NRL sponsorship deals have already fallen foul of NZ anti-gambling laws. This is another challenge to be considered; 8. NRL needs to look domestically (Perth, South Australia and Tasmania) for future expansion. Queensland is slowly being expanded to death

broadcasters are also charities, they willingly give money to leagues that get minimal viewers.

I reckon your maths is a bit rubbery Hairy. All up, the NRL would need to have 930 contracted players to fill 31 squads of 30 players. Sure some would come from existing Clubs, but all up, the NRL would have to sign on another 420 guys Of these, 510 would be a part of the tier 1 salary cap which currently stands at $158 million. Unless the players agreed to a substantial paycut, there's no way the NRL will be able to help fund another 420 players on even a minumum wage, let alone a decent package to reduce the difference from tier 1 to tier 2. You're also making a huge assumption broadcasters are going to stump up $60 million for 2 games per week of tier 2 football. Unless the product is as good or close to the same standard as tier 1, they might not be interested at all, or would only broadcast if they had to pay may a million or two a year.

"Keep in mind, most of the players are already on NRL contracts". I'm not real sure what you mean by this. There are presently 510 guys on contract, including those who will be signed by the Dolphins. Agreed some will come from other Clubs, but ultimately there will be 30 new contracts across the NRL. Every player in the NRL has to have a contract that is ratified by the peak body, but the terms of the contract, including the salary, are negotiated by the Club, who then has to pay the player. My issue is where that money s going to come from when the number of players on contract increases by around 420.

The simple answer to who funds it is easy, The NRL can add to it as well as pay tv Fox/Kayo & FTA tv, Clubs could also lease their players to NRL teams until the NRL clubs sign them full time so country clubs can get a return on developing their players. Then there is sponsors & some teams who might get some healthy crowds. Being a development & stepping stone for NRL players NSWRL North Coast Dolphins – (Coffs Harbor) New England Razorbacks – (Tamworth) Newcastle Knights (2) – ALT – Hunter Miners Central Coast Centurions Manly Sea Eagles North Sydney Bears South Sydney (2) – ALT – Glebe Dirty Reds Newtown Jets Balmain Tigers Western Suburbs Magpies Parramatta Eels (2) – ALT – Wentworthville Currawongs Canterbury Bulldogs (2) – ALT – Mt Pritchard Mounties Penrith Panthers (2) – ALT – St Mary’s Saints St George Dragons Illawarra Steelers Western Rams – (Bathurst) Canberra Raiders (2) – ALT – ACT Colts Riverina Bulls – (Wagga Wagga) Victoria Thunder Tasmania QLDRL PNG Hunters Darwin Destroyers Cairns Pride Townsville Blackhawks Mackay Cutters Central Queensland Capra’s Sunshine Coast Falcons Redcliffe Dolphins Norths Devils Fortitude Valley Diehards Western Suburbs Panthers Eastern Suburbs Tigers Wynnum – Manly Sea Eagles Souths – Logan Magpies Ipswich Jets Toowoomba Mustang Burleigh Bears Tweed Heads Seagulls Adelaide Rams West Coast Pirates NZRL Hawaii Kaiviti Silktails Pacifique Treize Nuku’alofa Apia Akarana Falcons Counties – Manukau Stingrays Waikato Stallions Bay of Plenty Lakers Wellington Orcas Canterbury Bulls Otago Whalers

Hairy, I commend you for putting a lot of thought into this . I’m all for a second tier national competition but I feel it may be a little political as in QRL v NSWRL . I’m a member of a club that was competing in NSW cup . They turnover about $50 million plus per annum and normally generate a $2 million plus profit every year. They put in about $1 million into their local team . They were a feeder club to an NRL side wanting them to change their colours to the NRL club and also wanted to take over their club group . It never eventuated and they parted ways. Some of these larger clubs are a little bit greedy in wanting to control things . To me it would be very difficult in get some of these clubs to agree on anything as self interest is their prime focus . My feeling is any 2 nd tier national competition cannot be aligned to NRL clubs and that’s where the problems may lay .

Good post GB. When you look at the amount of money that Redcliffe had to front up it’s so so hard for any club to break into the main NRL competition or even a lower tier . You look at the wealthy clubs in NSW cup like North’s , Mounties and Blacktown the rest are feeder clubs to the richer NRL clubs and are only there to supply players . Outside Metro area there is only a handful of rugby league clubs that have their own licensed clubs and are reasonably self sufficient . Not sure outside Redcliffe in Qld what clubs have money . If you look at EPL most clubs are self sufficient or are owned by wealthy foreigners . We just don’t have the money to run a 2 tier style competition that can support itself and secondly we just don’t have the crowds . No broadcaster is going to fork out another $100 million plus for second tier which not many people will watch .

Hairy, are you sure you aren't Cousin Itt from The Addams Family? That idea is something that Uncle Fester would have come up with when he had one of his light bulb moments. That's what you get when you stick your fingers in an electrical outlet. The idea of running a second-tier (i.e. semi-professional) Trans-Tasman Trans-Pacific rugby league competition has as much chance as getting off the ground as a hippopotamus with butterfly wings! As for adding Japanese or American teams... that idea is right up there with playing the GF at the North Pole. Then perhaps Santa can referee the game and best decide which team is naughty or nice? Franchises playing in a semi-professional second-tier competition could ill afford the expense of interstate, much less international travel. The cost of transportation, accommodation, training, equipment, uniform and staff costs would be exponentially prohibitive. You couldn't cover those costs in a chook raffle or a community fete fundraiser. Where do you think this money is going to come from to fund poorer Pacific nations? Does the NRL have to foot the bill? As for the idea of creating a club along racial lines, i.e. Australian Indigenous, I think that is fraught with danger and open to racial bigotry in both directions. Does that mean non-indigenous players will not be allowed to play for this side? I played for the Redfern All Blacks for 2 years and right up until first-grade they had a non-indigenous (Anglo-Australian) HB. The players, coach and supporters loved him as he had played through the lower grades for the club but by the time he was due to progress to first-grade they tapped him on the shoulder and advised him to move on. That only indigenous players would be picked for first-grade. Not a good look I can tell you. To discriminate on the grounds of race for any reason is not something the game should endorse or tolerate. Indigenous kids get plenty of opportunities as it is and there is already a thriving indigenous state and interstate competition. Why undermine that? As for heritage clubs like the Newtown Jets and the North Sydney Bears, those days are gone. There isn't a sufficient junior base to support teams in this area. What little there is go to the Rabbitohs, the Roosters or start to spill into the territory for the Tigers and the Bulldogs. Sydney inner-city cannot support any more teams! As for NSW Country, where are the boundaries? Where do they train? Where will they play? How do semi-professional players support themselves and yet manage to travel inordinate distance to train and play? Like the majority of teams on your list mate it may be a good idea in principle but in practice it has as much chance of getting of the ground as that Hippo I mentioned.

If it’s about expansion? How is any suggestion about another team in the Sydney region a good one? That makes zero sense.

I enjoy reading pieces about the future of the NRL because those taking the time to write, have the games best interest at heart. The problems with all of these pieces happen when it comes to talking about revenue and this article is no exception, There's no numbers mentioned, which is fair enough, but there's also no mention of where money will come from to pay players and what financial test will be applied to each Club to assess viability in the short and long term. The NRL salary cap this year was $9.9 million per team or $158.4 million for all 16 teams. In order to make the second tier competitive, their salary cap has to be close to the first tier in order to build a competitive roster. There's no point them only have a million bucks to spend per year, then expecting them to step up when they get promoted, buy another 8.9 million dollars worth of players and hope they can be competitive. Let's assume the second tier teams all have salary caps which are 67% of the top tier. In other words, they will each get $6.33 million dollars. If there are 14 teams in this second tier comp, that equates to another $92.86 million the NRL has to find each year. I can't see any way the NRL can generate enough interest in the sport that sponsors or broadcasters are willing to come up with a quarter of a billion dollars every year unless the product is absolutely red hot and right now, the top tier of the game is anything but that. I think, for the next few decades, the NRL needs to limit itself to modest expansion, perhaps to 20 teams, reduce the number of matches and manage it's budgets well so only quality footballers make the grade and they are paid appropriately.

Go to 32 teams like the NFL.