Touche.

Fez. I never said that I did know Brisbane. But I think we have different expansion strategies. To say I don’t know what I’m on about just because it doesn’t agree with you is stupid. My reasoning is to try and make every club well supported and a financial powerhouse.

Let’s go by your population theory and see where we get. Look at NQ. Right now, they have a population of around 500k. Compare the Cowboys and Broncos supporters per capita. Cowboys have an average home ground attendance of 14340. Thats 28720 people/1m pop. Broncos average attendance was 35032. Bris has a pop of around 2m, which makes it 17516 attendance/1m pop. Throw in the fact that there are alot of Cowboys supporters that travel from Cairns and Mackay each game, and I’ve heard even as far out as Mt. Isa. That’s pretty damn passionate when you also consider the success (or lack thereof) of the Cowboys.How many Broncos supporters are there that travel more than 2 hours to get to the games, let alone four. This is why we push hard to have every home game on a Saturday.
Based on this, you could say that RL is twice as popular in NQ as Brisbane. I really can’t believe that the Broncos don’t sell out every game to be honest. That’s what would happen if Brisbane were as crazy about RL as they always say they are.

If we take into account that by 2035 NQ will probably have doubled its population as well (and don’t think I’m making it up, you can find all this stuff on the QLD G’ment websites), that = massive support, but you don’t hear me saying that we should put a team in Cairns and Mackay do you, even though they could easily support it, and I would love the rivalries. But it would lessen the marketing value of the Cowboys, which would mean less exposure for sponsors, which means less money in the bank.
By 2035, Sydney will be around 6m. So 6 teams for them is quite enough.

While I have no doubt that Brisbane would have the supporter base to support 4-5 teams by then (if you want them to get 25000 per game), with the costs of running a club continually going up and only a finite amount of money in the place, I ask you what you would rather see: 2 powerhouse Brisbane clubs, or 4-5 average Brisbane clubs? I know what I would want if I lived there.

Also, what effect do you think that would have on the Qld Cup. It would take fans away from the Jets, Magpies, Dolpins, etc etc, as people would want to watch the NRL teams. This means less money for those clubs, therefore less money to develop the future talent and fringe NRL players. The QLD Cup would be a shambles. Not all future talent can come from the U20s. Some will have to spend some time in reserve grade.

I guess the point I am trying to make is that we want our 1st grade clubs to all grow and be well supported (I am talking all profitable and bringing in big crowds every week). To do that we need to think about how many teams we should have in one city, even if they have the population to support much more. We want a strong reserve grade competition so as the talent in the top flight is at its greatest. People shouldn’t be unhappy with having a reserve grade team represent them. We can’t all have national teams. We also want the game spread out all across the country, without having a diluted talent pool, so as we can expose it to as many people as possible. This means that places like Brisbane will just have to do with 2 teams. How you see this as a bad thing is beyond me.
Maybe I am looking at the big picture and you’re just thinking about your city (I’m assuming you’re from Brisbane). But I think for the greater good of the game, Brisbane should just have 2 teams. Otherwise you’re just being greedy.

You’re right I don’t know Brisbane. If thats the case, then put in Ipswich instead of Bris 2. What I was making the point about was that Fez’s model seemed to me like it would oversaturate SEQ and make it just like Sydney, which is definitely not what we want.

Are you kidding? How many teams in SEQ do you want? It’ll be like Sydney is now if you start oversaturating it. I agree with 2 in Brisbane and 1 on GC, but thats it. If the other areas want a team, they can go watch their local team play in the QLD Cup. People seem to think that we don’t need a feeder league and that every place should have an NRL team. This is how I think it should go:

1: Get new TV deal. Demand games get shown at the same time across the whole country (even if this means sacrificing a few extra dollars, it will be worth it in the long run regarding game development and building interest.

2: Perth (for obvious reasons)

3: CC Bears. They have the support and sponsorship. If it means a Sydney team fails, then so be it. We only want the best teams. An idea I have had about Sydney teams is that if they are on their last legs, the NRL should offer to clear theirs debts (or some of it) in return for them relegating back to the NSW Cup. This means that they can keep their identity, and the die hard supporters can still go to their games (only it won’t be in the top flight, but I would prefer to support my team in reserve grade than have them not there altogether).

4: Brisbane 2. The only reason they are not after Perth is that their bid is very young, and they need time to connect with fans, get sponsors, etc. At the moment they don’t even know where they are going to set up their base, so how can we expect them to be ready for 2013.

5: Second NZ team. In Wellington or Christchurch.

6: Adelaide: By this time, a team here should be sustainable due to the actions of point 1.

7: Central QLD: Only this far down due to lack of population.

Assuming we may lose 2 Sydney sides during this time, that gives us a 20 team comp that is more spread out. Further expansion could include a second VIC team, 2 more NZ teams (Well/C’Church, whichever misses out first time, and Waikato), and Darwin. Other regions that want a team should be urged to follow their local state league side, so the game can be grown at this level as well. Try to model the popularity of college football in the US, except obviously using state league sides, not universities.

Sorry to disappoint you mate but the CC Bears aren’t an NRL team, they are a bid. They may be in the future but this article is about current NRL teams. I for one am getting quite sick of CC supporters carrying on like they have already been awarded a license. We know you are there and have great support and will most likely get the next nod for expansion but stop trying to ram it down our throats, we already know.

Season ticket holders are known as “Full Ticketed Members”. Most clubs offer 3 or 4 game packages as a “membership” of sorts. This might be applicable if, for example, you live in Cairns and support the Cowboys, but can’t make all of there games because of the distance. Clubs also offer “Supporter Members” for something like $20, which doesn’t include game tickets, but you get some merchandise and get recognised as a member. This might be for those that live far away (supporter in Mt Isa follows the Cowboys might get this).

I think Phil Gould summed it up on the Sunday Roast. Talking about the penalty awarded to the storm in Rd 1 against Manly from the line drop out. All other team had got this in their head that they MUST kick from behind the line. What this did is made the kicker concentrate on where he was dropping the ball. The effect of this was that the ball generally only travelled 30-40m, not 50-60 like in previous seasons. This gives the attacking team an advantage (which they deserve for the pressure they put on to force the line drop out) in that the are closer to the line (say 20m out on the first tackle, instead of 35-40). So by being pedantic about it, it actually gives the team that deserves the advantage the advantage, which is what the rules are all about.

These stricter focuses will stop teams from cutting corners (like in the drop out and play the ball) and bring back the core skills of the game.

Maybe he did mention them but Finch ignored him. For all we know, Finch has a God complex and didn’t listen to anyone.

Sorry but Perth just doesn’t have the support yet for an NRL team. What I think the new IC needs to do is demand that the same games that get shown in NSW and QLD get shown in every state and territory AT THE SAME TIME as NSW and QLD. this will build some more interest, then in the next round of expansion (2017 or whenever it will be), put a team in Perth. This makes much more sense to me.

Noone wants a second hand team. I hate all this crap talk about relocation. If a Sydney team can’t keep up, they should either wither and die or take the smart option and relegate to the NSW Cup (at least then they’re still alive in some form). None of this relocation talk, it should never be discussed.

I think a second Brisbane team would help the Broncos enormously. They would have membership wars, crowd wars and sponsorship wars (if you think there’s not enough sponsorship money in Brissy to support 2 NRL team, even with the AFL, Rugby and A League, then you’re kidding yourself). All this so they can say that they are the better supported team. Obviously their local derbies would sell out so that gives both teams more money from that game. Once you start to put more teams in though, it becomes oversaturated and the derbies don’t mean as much (see Sydney). I can’t see any negatives of a second team in Brissy, but there can be only 2 teams, no more.

To say that the Broncos struggle to make money is ludicrous, they are the richest club in the NRL for heavens sake!

NBL needs to grow slowly and sustainably. It can’t try to compete with the big boys like NRL and AFL, because it never will. I think the current administration have got that idea. I would like to see these teams come in over the next 15-20 years:

Brisbane
Canberra
Newcastle
Hobart
Melbourne 2 (once Tigers are settled)
Sydney 2 (once Kings are settled)
NZ 2 (in Christchurch or Wellington)

Former Broncos CEO Bruno Cullen floated the idea last year that players who had been with a club for 5 consecutive years would get a 10% discount for the salary cap (ie for a player entering his 6th consecutive year at a single club, only 90% of their wage goes toward the salary cap), 6 yr players get 20% off, 7yr players 30%, 8yr players 40% and 9yr players 50% off. This was aimed to allow clubs to keep long serving players and encourage development. However, it was shot down by the NRL.

Really hopeful about the Cowboys young guns, especially Ray Thompson. This guy has enormous potential, and if he reaches it, the combination of Thurston and Bowen will only get stronger with his addition. The best thing is he is a local product. Bani won’t be in the side much longer, if he’s not replaced (probably send Topou on the wing and Ben Jones in centre, put Fai Fai Loa on the bench), then he will be out in round 6 when Winterstein returns. News reports are saying Dallas Johnson was just cramping up, so that is good news. I really feel the Cowboy’s have turned a corner, and will start to become a premiership force over the next few years.

Cowboys won’t win a game if Neil Henry keeps making stupid selections like Michael Bani and Ash Graham. They couldn’t tackle to save their life. Why he has not been sacked is beyond me. Although I like the fact Ray Thompson, Will Tupou and Tariq Sims are in the team.

Instead of having a team like this, as it would be very hard to fund and not able to provide a stable lifestyle for its players as you have pointed out, why not represent these areas in the lower divisions like the QLD Cup and NSW Cup. You could also have a Western Cup (that has teams from WA and SA), a Southern Cup (Vic, Tas) and a NZ Cup (obviously North and South Island teams). NT teams could participate in the QLD Cup as well. As has been mentioned above, NRL teams could play ‘exhibition’ matches each year in regional areas as well. I find it hard to believe that regional areas wouldn’t support teams in the 2nd Division Cups. These teams would be great for the development of the game, and once an area has a greater population base (therefore more sponsorship prospects), then they could bid for a team in the top flight.

Quick question (and I don’t mean this in any sort of derogatory way):
Why is everyone suddenly intent on calling the game “football” now, and get upset when you call it “soccer”? I just find it a little weird that people are intent on calling it football, and when you look at our national team, it’s called the socceroos. Is it something to do with trying to be more European?
After all, what’s in a name?

You’ll also find that hockey is also a truely national sport. While it doesn’t have a fully professional league and therefore is not followed by the masses, the AHL has teams in every state (including Darwin and Tasmania), and hockey has a very large junior participation rate.

You cannot compare these two batsmen. Yes the statistics claim Bradman is the greatest, but there is too much disparity between the game of the 1930s-40s and now. Bradman played on uncovered pitches, Sachin didn’t. Sachin had to face a much greater number of rivals and bowling techniques. Sachin had the benefit of modern day sports science and recovery techniques, not known in Bradman’s day. Bradman only had to focus on Tests, Sachin had one dayers. I could go on all day, but you can’t make a comparison. They play the same game but it is a very different game, if you know what I mean.

I really only think a couple of rule changes are needed to make Rugby League much more skillful and enjoyable.

1) Bring back real scrums.
2) Agree with reverting back to the 5m rule. This encourages a deeper style of passing and forces teams to make more offloads and create 2nd phase play (which is what Parramatta did in 09, and we all know how exciting that was to watch).
3) Introduce a short and long arm penalty (similar to union). A short arm penalty would be for minor offences such as offside and deliberately slowing down the play the ball, and would result in a restart of the tackle count or turnover (depending on which way the penalty went). A long arm penalty would be for the more serious offences like dangerous play. This would be like current penalties (ie. kick for touch).
4) Introduce a bit more common sense with regard to things like the grounding of the ball and tackling in mid air (if both players are going for the ball and one gets knocked over, then its fair play. Only if the are put in a dangerous position do they get a penalty).