That’s an interesting article. Both the NRL and AFL could easily start national second division competitions taking the strongest clubs from the state leagues and perhaps adding a couple from “foreign” regions.
The costs would not be prohibitive given the revenues of these two leagues and I think there would be huge benefits. Just looking at the NRL, there are almost a dozen bids/cities putting their hand up to join the NRL, more than it could ever accommodate. PNG Hunters, Ipswich Jets, Brisbane Tigers, Central Queensland Capras, Perth Reds, North Sydney Bears, Newtown Jets, Wellington and others have all expressed interest.
So why not accommodate them all in a second division? In time look to promote one or two or the clubs that prove themselves into the top division.
As for automatic promotion/relegation like European leagues, I think it could only happen if there was an established fullly professional second division that had been around for some time, and even then it’s a long shot.

Hi Nat, I agree that the state cups are doing a good job, but there is a real desire for a number of those clubs to be playing at an even higher level. In the QLD at a minimum we have Redcliffe, Ipswich, Easts and the Hunters all putting themselves forward to step up a notch.

I’m not suggesting that these games would be played as NRL curtain raisers, they would still be played at the local grounds, many of which are great boutique stadiums.

Ultimately it would be about raising the profile of the lower tier and providing a focus and opportunity for the ambitious clubs.

matth you raise some great points. I would allow NRL clubs to have their fringe/2nd tier players dual registered to Championship clubs, but also allow loan contracts.
NRL clubs could have multiple feeder relationships with clubs in both the Championship and the QLD/NSW Cups.
The NSW Cup would essentially revert back to a reserve grade competition for the Sydney NRL clubs that want it. The QLD Cup would remain a genuine statewide competition and I agree it would be important to keep the door open for the likes of Wynnum who might want to step up to the next level.

No I would have Championship games all played at the clubs home grounds, not as NRL curtain raisers.
I agree, sitting on the hill at Henson park is a pretty good way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Thanks Tony. I think you’re right, the ability to generate some revenue from TV is a big question. I think if the NRL is prepared to take a long term view, they could see returns. Having said that, beyond financial considerations there are also big benefits to the NRL to having a strong professional second tier, improved player development for one.

Where a player is born should not be the only consideration. As many have pointed out, people who are born in one place and move early in their life don’t necessarily feel loyal to their birth place.

Billy Moore was born in Tenterfield, NSW – should he have played for NSW?

I hadn’t heard about these rumours until I read your piece Michael…..

The forward pass idea is terrible, and would make it virtually impossible to throw a long pass at speed without being deemed forward.

Golden point is predictable and boring, I hope it is tossed out. There’s nothing wrong with a draw.

Queensland’s win by 1 point in Origin 3 illustrates why golden point is such a waste of time. That match was exiting because NSW had a chance to score points after Cronk kicked the FG. If NSW had scored a try and won the game on that final possession then Cronk’s decision to go for a field goal rather than the try line would have ended up being the wrong one. There is none of this uncertainty in golden point. There is no decision to make – almost every golden point match is decided by a FG.

No this is a terrible idea.

Queensland and NSW are states of Australia, so if you consider yourself to come from one of these states, it follows that you must consider yourself to come from Australia.

I realise that many people have divided loyalties because they have spent time in more than one place, but allowing this sort of thing is not the answer. Players who are in this position must decide one way or the other and stick with it.

Indidently, making rep criteria based one the place of birth is also a bad idea. Most people’s identity is derived from where they spend their formative years, not where they were born.

Allowing people to chop and change their eligibility for different levels of rep football just weakens the integrity of rep football.

Spot on about all the advertising. It ruins the jumpers. I made a quick count the other day and saw some teams have 6 or 7 commercial logos on their jersey – it is a joke. The AFL model is the way to go – 1 small sponsor on the front and one larger one on the back.

No I don’t like the idea that you can pick and choose your eligibility for different levels of rep footy. NSW and Queensland are parts of Australia so if you represent them you must be declaring your allegiance to represent Australia.

If we allow players to play for Queensland or New South Wales, and then turn around and represent another country, it will make a farce of representative football.

“It’s very simple: you play for the country in which you were born.”

Bad idea, many people are born in one place but spend their formative years somewhere else.

South Sydney have been playing at Homebush for a number of years and their crowds are no better than other side who play at local grounds. Last years Souths averaged 14,381 while the NRL average was over 16,000.

Maybe Richardson should just worry about increasing attendances for his own team first before thinking he has the answer for everyone else.

A second division is a great idea, for the NRL at least. There are at least half a dozen clubs / area vying to get into the NRL from all over the place. It’s the perfect time to create a national second tier – put all these expansion hopefuls plus a few others into a league and there it is.

The easiest way to get this up and going would be to just expand the Queensland Cup to include Central Coast, PNG and Perth. Maybe throw Newtown in for good measure.

It would be great to have some kind of promotion / relegation system in place, but it would be while before you could have an automatic system like in European leagues. Perhaps promotion could be based on results as well other things (supporters / finances etc). Superleague have some kind of 3-yearly review to allow lower division teams to still aspire to move up.

Most football supporters don’t want a draft, because they want to see local juniors come up through the ranks and eventually represent their local club. Look at the rosters of clubs like North Queensland, Brisbane or New Zealand – many or most of their players are from their region. Would the people of Brisbane be as supportive of the Broncos if there were hardly any Queenslanders in the squad? Maybe not, it would be a shame if that happened.

God what a pointless whinge this article is. If you don’t want to watch, good for you. No need to have a whine to everybody else about it.

It might work better on a challenge basis, with only the genuine Aus football states competing.

One game per year.

1st year Victoria Vs South Australia.
2nd year Current champion Vs Western Australia
etc…

There’s little point in including NSW or Queensland – there will be very little interest in watching these teams go around, and the players probably won’t want to take part in a second-rate match.

Poor old Tassie might have to sit out though, sorry!

Yes, the way to make it work is to have the teams as independent as possible – and yes some money from the top level would have to be used to support the second division.

This is already happening both the QRL and NSWRL subsidise their respective state cups either directly or through the NRL clubs (for Sydney).

I agree that no NRL clubs should be culled. That is one of the advantages of having a second division. If over time a club becomes unable to compete at the top division (a la Newtown), they can live on rather than fade away to obscurity.

Agree that a division 2 is the best way to organically grow the elite level of the game. The Queensland Cup should be strengthened to form the core of this second division, as it already contains a number of the clubs/areas that are bidding for inclusion in the NRL – Ipswich, Central Queensland, and Brisbane.

Central Coast would be capable of fielding a team in this league immediately – other candidates like Perth and PNG may need some time to assemble a club, but could be added in short order.

Does anyone know exactly how the players are selected? I understand that it is based upon votes, with one player per club – but how exactly? If it is just players with the most votes, how do they ensure the side doesn’t end up with 3 halfbacks for example?

I’ve been loving the big bash, and I think the change to club sides was the right move. State based sides are ok for relatively infrequent representative matches, but don’t really work for a proper league. One team per state is too limiting, and don’t reflect where the population lives.

I certainly agree that the names are by and large pretty stupid. What’s wrong with just calling the teams, Brisbane, Sydney, West Sydney etc and then letting nicknames develop over time – which is how most footy clubs ended up with their nicknames.

Expansion would be good, Canberra and Gold Coast would seem the logical choices. Geelong could be an option in time, but given Victoria already has 2 sides, I think it’s 3rd in line. Newcastle obviously has the population, but no suitable venue at the moment.

Perhaps some NZ sides could enter – Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington? They would bring their own player pool so wouldn’t dilute the existing sides.

If this games goes ahead it will generate huge interest!

Personally I’d love to see it. I can’t really agree with anyone who says there is “no point”. Of course there’s a point – to entertain the people watching and playing the game. What other point does any sport have?

So what if some players get injured? Players get injured in games all the time, it’s part of playing sport.

I’d love to see Cooper playing in the NRL, although it would be a shame for the Wallabies and Reds. I think in a few years time, NRL clubs will be able to offer significantly higher contracts than the ARU/Super Rugby teams.

This is a very interesting idea, and I like the sentiment. It would be great if there was a way for new clubs (or old clubs) to get into the top level of footy in some way.

However it seems very unlikely that we can go from a single closed division to 3 divisions of promotion and relegation in one jump. This sort of thing would have to be done gradually, I don’t believe it would work or be accepted otherwise.

The first step would be a national second division. As you mentioned there are heaps of clubs and areas crying out to play at a higher level. The easiest way to create a second division would be to expand the Queensland Cup. If you added the Central Coast Bears and Newtown Jets together with the existing 12 Qld Cup sides, you have the start of a national second division, which could be up and running at any time.

In a year or two, you could add a PNG side (who are currently intending to enter the Qld Cup in 2013) and eventually the Perth Reds.

This would give you a competition where all the existing NRL bidders are present (Ipswich, Brisbane, Central Coast, Central Queensland, Perth, PNG). It would also contain a couple of other traditional Brisbane clubs that have made noises about playing at the top level again (Redcliffe, Brisbane Easts). It would also have a team from the Sunshine Coast which is the largest Australian city without a professional football club in a national competition.

Perhaps in years to come, the second division might become strong enough to justify some sort of promotion-relegation system with the first. Maybe not automatic P&R, but something based on public support, facilities, crowds and finances as well as results.