Opinion No need for Dolphins

[Roger the alien]

Change your name to Flipper!

John West

 

[The DoggFather]

John West

Even better lol

 

[foREVerA7X]

I don’t really see how it expands the game.. going to WA or SA would be more of an expansion or a second team in NZ say Wellington. Gold Coast is only down the freeway and they have always been a bottom 8 team throughout their history so they are not really picking up the overflow of talent from Brisbane that Dolphins would supposedly target.

Good luck I guess.

You could argue that the expansion to Melbourne has been a massive failure. They have failed to expand in Melbourne and all of their feeder teams have been QLD based and pretty sure they have had very little VIC born/bred players come through.

In terms of Expansion and growing the game in an AFL state, not exactly what I'd call a success. This is where the NRL have stepped in and allowed them the thrive...

 

[dogzofwar]

This is a good thing for us they have signed some bog average players which means we won’t get the spoon next year

 

[Bulldog1966]

Matterson is as good as gone to Benny and the Pilchards..superior money will win I reckon plus he knows their assistant Peter O'Sullivan from his Rooters days.

 

[NPC83]

You could argue that the expansion to Melbourne has been a massive failure. They have failed to expand in Melbourne and all of their feeder teams have been QLD based and pretty sure they have had very little VIC born/bred players come through.

In terms of Expansion and growing the game in an AFL state, not exactly what I'd call a success. This is where the NRL have stepped in and allowed them the thrive...

In terms of merchandise and ticket sales I think the NRL can say they have a footprint in VIC now but I agree in 20 years I don’t think Storm have developed local talent or expanded junior competitions. Might start hurting more if the dolphins are also competing for that same talent.

 

[NPC83]

This is a good thing for us they have signed some bog average players which means we won’t get the spoon next year

Should be in the finals next year mate no excuse with the roster we’ll have.

 

[bradyk]

Matterson is as good as gone to Benny and the Pilchards..superior money will win I reckon plus he knows their assistant Peter O'Sullivan from his Rooters days.

"Currently earning within the vicinity of $550,000 per season in gold and blue, should the Greenacre product ink on with Bennett and company, this figure is set to fall to around $500,000 per annum for the next three seasons."

We should be all over him at this price imo.

 

[Disposable Hero]

Give Qld another team and bring back the Crushers!!!

 

[dogzofwar]

Should be in the finals next year mate no excuse with the roster we’ll have.

You would like to think so though we weren’t expected to be last this year either.I won’t be holding my breath mate

 

[NPC83]

You would like to think so though we weren’t expected to be last this year either.I won’t be holding my breath mate

Agree we should not be last. Looking at our squad though we recruited some good players for this year but still a few roster imbalances. Next years recruitment addresses some of that so I’d be pretty pissed off if we were anywhere near the bottom 4.

 

[Roll the Bones]

12 to 14 teams. There's not enough quality players to go around, too many shit games as it is.

 

[Dognacious]

Does anyone else think there is clearly no need for a 17th team when all they are doing is stealing players from other first grade teams to make up their own which just dilutes the talent of the League?

If they were going to bring in extra teams it should be somewhere with at least some of their own players that don’t fit in the NRL at the moment. PNG or Perth are only options I see to grow the game. PNG would be very hard to attract non local players though. Also hard to guarantee quality of stadium and security.

Just seems like such a poor move by the NRL. The junior talent just doesn’t exist at the moment.

Never was a need for more teams, they are just diluting an already stretched talent pool. Its all about being able to bill Fox and 9 more for more games, once they eventually get an 18th team in. Until then there isnt even more games per week. So my shock is mostly that they got the 17th team, but have made no moves to get an 18th to actually benefit from the extra team/s financially. And we know everything they do is for financial reasons, not common sense.

 

[UndeadShadowMan]

12 to 14 teams. There's not enough quality players to go around, too many shit games as it is.

Agreed & have a 2nd division with 1 team getting promoted & relegated that way draw would be fair with everybody playing twice.

 

[TwinTurbo]

Expanding the NRL to 17 then 18 teams was part of the upgraded TV (Nine and Foxtel) deal, plus they pushed hard for the 2nd Brisbane team. Staying with 16 teams would have meant a reduced offer compared to the current deal. There was an extended term, until 2027. So the NRL had a big incentive to expand the number of teams, money wins out in the end, hardly unusual.

Always a Bulldog

 

[Greenmachine121]

South’s should go … those fuckin jerseys spew

 

[chisdog]

Does anyone else think there is clearly no need for a 17th team when all they are doing is stealing players from other first grade teams to make up their own which just dilutes the talent of the League?

If they were going to bring in extra teams it should be somewhere with at least some of their own players that don’t fit in the NRL at the moment. PNG or Perth are only options I see to grow the game. PNG would be very hard to attract non local players though. Also hard to guarantee quality of stadium and security.

Just seems like such a poor move by the NRL. The junior talent just doesn’t exist at the moment.

Relevant article even today from SMH 7-2-1982 about the admission to Illawarra & Canberra.

 

[KambahOne]

Expansion is the key to success for every sporting competition across the globe, because if your sport doesn't expand into new territories, another sport will. And as the above article was wrong, expansion doesn't see a dilution of current talent, but an expansion of the pool from which talent can be sought.

And imo there is enough quality talent for the number of teams we have, it's just not being coached/managed properly.

Example, Gold Coast Titans, look at that team on paper and it's at least a top 8 team. Todd Payten has turned the Cowboys into a top 4 side when they only recruited the unwanted Townsend and Dearden. Fitzy has the sharks on the up. The Tigers could have Jesus Christ and the 12 Apostles playing for them and they'd still be bottom 4 as they are a basket case in the front office. The Warriors have had more talent over the years than most clubs and have nothing to show for it. Hell the Bulldogs have enough talent to not be on the bottom of the table. And lets face facts, most of the bad shit that has happened to you guys over the past few years has been mainly self-inflicted.

Clubs struggle for various reasons, it's not just talent.

And the inclusion of the Dolphins is an absolute no brainer as they'll enter the comp as one of the richest and most supported clubs with a membership somewhere around the 40K, I think they own and maintain their home ground, they'll already have a huge TV following of anti Bronco RL supporters in QLD. The local derbies will rate their arses off and more eyes on the game means the NRL can charge more for advertising and there is low risk and close to zero outlay for the NRL.

Going back to 12 or 14 teams to make the game better was tried and it failed and it took the game decades to recover.

 

[CroydonDog]

Give Qld another team and bring back the Crushers!!!

New jersey though please

 

[Dingo]

Why should there be a shortage of players, not like they're supermen. More where they came from.