Opinion NRL has to decide on expansion or relocation writes Paul Kent

[GrogDog]

Northern and southern conference with a second tier comp reviving old clubs like North Sydney bears plus fielding new teams in certain areas like PNG and a new Brissie team. Each one is made up of around 10 teams who play eachother twice (home and away). Top 5 finals series in each conference and the winner of each conference then plays off in the major prize. Wooden spooners in each conference gets relegated to the second tier comp. Bring back reserve grade so players don't need to retire before their time anymore and can pass on experience to the younger blokes coming through.

 

[gee333]

if there is to be expansion, i doubt it would include a forced relocation unless a club volunteered to do so. location wise, another team from queensland such as ipswich (very strong juniors etc) plus a perth team (purely for tv timezones from nz to wa) would be strategically the smartest move...

 

[Otis]

Do you support this team?

Of course I do. For 44 years

 

[N4TE]

If you're going to put a team in redcliffe why not just give redcliffe dolphins the licence.. they are cashed up, have a long history, and the people from the area already have a connection to them. You would also get a heap of ex players including juniors perhaps switching their Nrl team allegiances to the dolphins since they once wore the jersey themselves.. remembering brisbane Broncos have no junior setup in brisbane, only affiliate arrangements with other local clubs. ... I personally think you're better off cutting a team and then starting a new team in Brisbane.. relocation might work for Perth

Probably a more sensible idea actually.

 

[BELMORE]

Why is it going to take so long? Aren’t the NRL flush with cash? Can’t they get consultants to do it in half the time?

 

[Bulldog_4_Life]

Wests to WA would make sense, they wouldn’t even need rebranding, Ideally the sharks would also get the flick but they just lucked out with that development and a lot better off atm so their probably out of the picture. Manly are probably next in line and so they can move to Adelaide. Also, Titans to Brisbane.

How are we meant to produce more quality players when we base almost all our teams in 2 states, why would a youngster grow up supporting the NRL when they only get one game a year in their state? Short term loss for the long term gain. If we can start producing quality players across the country then we suddenly have enough talent to expand to 18.

Also it would be great if it happens under the current administration, whoever makes the decision to relocate teams will undoubtly be the subject to a lot of abuse so if Greenturd could volunteer to be the sacrificial lamb on his way out then that would be great, thanks Todd.

Of course this is all wish full thinking as the only way it could happen would be for the NRL to put their hands in their pockets which we know won’t happen.

 

[TwinTurbo]

Of course this is all wish full thinking as the only way it could happen would be for the NRL to put their hands in their pockets which we know won’t happen.

I don't think it's a matter of not puting hands in pockets, more that relocation costs so much that their pockets aren't anywhere near big enough.

Go Dogs

 

[jpneves]

It’s funny now how a lot of these guys now want what basically superleague was all about. Very hard for the NRL if you move or punt Manly (as much as everyone hates them) you lose all of north Sydney West Sydney clubs all have either strong backing from leagues or juniors. I believe there is 2 ways? You go to 20 teams of 2 conferences. Each team plays each other once 19 rounds or only play within conference and have 18 rounds we have byes for rep matches (this can bring back tests in the middle of the year tours etc/pacific islands play off during these rounds plus origin. Top 5 play off and winners play off in a Super Bowl type match
The conferences would change every year determined by previous years results with points accrued and for and against determining a ‘ranking’ for next season. So you would still potentially play each club home and away within every 2 years
Conference trophy’s and gf awards can be named after immortals who currently don’t have a medal trophy named after them eg Fulton, Meninga, Johns etc

Or we go to a premier league and a second tier comp with promotion relegation.

In regards to players I think the talk of not enough players would push junior development plus bring players back from superleague. With a slightly shorter season we could potentially bring back an end of season tour kangaroo etc 4 nations and world cups wouldn’t be a burn out for players

You bring a Perth team, second Brisbane,second nz team and central coast.

 

[TwinTurbo]

It’s funny now how a lot of these guys now want what basically superleague was all about. Very hard for the NRL if you move or punt Manly (as much as everyone hates them) you lose all of north Sydney West Sydney clubs all have either strong backing from leagues or juniors. I believe there is 2 ways? You go to 20 teams of 2 conferences. Each team plays each other once 19 rounds or only play within conference and have 18 rounds we have byes for rep matches (this can bring back tests in the middle of the year tours etc/pacific islands play off during these rounds plus origin. Top 5 play off and winners play off in a Super Bowl type match
The conferences would change every year determined by previous years results with points accrued and for and against determining a ‘ranking’ for next season. So you would still potentially play each club home and away within every 2 years
Conference trophy’s and gf awards can be named after immortals who currently don’t have a medal trophy named after them eg Fulton, Meninga, Johns etc

Or we go to a premier league and a second tier comp with promotion relegation.

In regards to players I think the talk of not enough players would push junior development plus bring players back from superleague. With a slightly shorter season we could potentially bring back an end of season tour kangaroo etc 4 nations and world cups wouldn’t be a burn out for players

You bring a Perth team, second Brisbane,second nz team and central coast.

I like all of that except the 2 conferences. No matter how smart the process is one conference will inevitably be weaker than the other. My view is that every team plays every other team, once a year. That's 19 rounds, plus State of Origin 3 rounds plus at the same time 2 test matches (without Australia) featuring NZ Maori's, Tonga, PNG and Samoa. With the view of getting 2 of them (Tonga & PNG look likely) into the NRL in a couple of years, all of them are less flight time than Perth. So for a couple of years we have 22 rounds then we go back to 24 full rounds.

The killer is the NRL has to lease at least 2 private jets that have facilities for player recovery in the first year and then 2 more in the second year. There will be a lot of flying and having players fly commercial after a game is horrible for rehab and recovery. Without it will lead to more injuries and longer recovery time, just ask the physios about recovery after NZ games. If I was a club and the NRL suggested Perth that would be my first question "Where's the private jet?"

Go Dogs

 

[blueyedsamurai]

I'd like to see an Adelaide and Perth teams make a comeback.

 

[Howard Moon]

God that's a heinous logo... but I agree

 

[blueyedsamurai]

God that's a heinous logo... but I agree

I think thats just fanart

 

[jpneves]

I like all of that except the 2 conferences. No matter how smart the process is one conference will inevitably be weaker than the other. My view is that every team plays every other team, once a year. That's 19 rounds, plus State of Origin 3 rounds plus at the same time 2 test matches (without Australia) featuring NZ Maori's, Tonga, PNG and Samoa. With the view of getting 2 of them (Tonga & PNG look likely) into the NRL in a couple of years, all of them are less flight time than Perth. So for a couple of years we have 22 rounds then we go back to 24 full rounds.

The killer is the NRL has to lease at least 2 private jets that have facilities for player recovery in the first year and then 2 more in the second year. There will be a lot of flying and having players fly commercial after a game is horrible for rehab and recovery. Without it will lead to more injuries and longer recovery time, just ask the physios about recovery after NZ games. If I was a club and the NRL suggested Perth that would be my first question "Where's the private jet?"

Go Dogs

At the end of each season conferences would change rated by a full ladder after the ‘Super Bowl’ final
So then rate the ladder with for and against determining level points and if still level tries determine the higher placed side (so a full ladder determines the conference)
Winners of conference stay to defend
Odd placed teams go to one conference evens go to other

 

[Rodzilla]

perth sharks sounds good, especially because perth has sharks

 

[Raysie]

Here's an out of the box idea, what if Rugby League went from a 13 man a side game to a 9 man a side game? All of a sudden there's plenty of talent to share across a much larger amount of teams. You could cut 4 players from each team, freeing up 64 players. You could go from 16 to 22 teams covering more of QLD, WA, SA, another VIC and NZ team and then even throw in another regional NSW team.

Maybe the issue this whole time is that each club needs too many players.

 

[Berries]

You ***** take it too personal, he was going to write that article regardless about the shittest club that happened to be at the moment. We are just the shittest club by far as he wrote the article

 

[steve_mortimer]

Relocating a club won’t work. If expansion is done, two completely new identities need to be considered.

My big beef is the amount of games that get played out of ANZ stadium. It’s by far and away the worst stadium in the entire country yet there is an incredibly large scale of games played out of it. It’s a soulless dump of a stadium that creates no atmosphere. The NRL need to understand that Sydney clubs are best suited to 15-25 thousand seat suburban stadiums. 12,000 in one of those stadiums is better than 22,000 in ANZ.

Rugby league participation levels have dropped significantly since the end of the Super League war and of late, the cracks of dwindling participation levels have been covered by a sharp rise in registrations in the female game.

The NRL also have to stop ripping at the fabric of the game. Taking Origin to Perth and Melbourne is simply a cash call. Nothing more. League will never break into the AFL markets so why focus on an area you will never succeed in?

A second Brisbane side would be a breath of fresh air on so many levels. The only obstacle would be to ensure that News Limited don’t strangle them like they did The Crushers 20 years ago.

 

[steve_mortimer]

Maybe the issue this whole time is that each club needs too many players.

When I was referring the Brisbane Second Division comp in 2009, there were the following grades....

Under 20’s: 1 comp
Under 22’s: 1 comp
Open 4: A Northside comp and a Southside comp
Open 3: As above
Open 2: As above
Open 1: As above

You had a total of 10 comps running.

In 2019 you have the following

Open 1: 2 comps
Open 2: 2 comps
Open 3: 2 comps

So, essentially, you have almost halved the senior grades participation levels. Less grades ensures a smaller player pool to rely on.

Even more worrying for the Brisbane junior comp is the fact there is only 1 grade each for under 17’s and 18’s this year. 14 teams in both age groups which equates to around 300 players at under 17 and 18 age group playing the game in a city of over 2 million people.

When I started refereeing in 1994, there were 12 comps in under 17 and 18 age levels. Now we are down to just 2 comps over the 2 age levels. 1,500 participating players down to 300. So how does the game allow this to happen over a time frame when the city has doubled in population?