Sports Prophet

I don’t think there is a better candidate

I just don’t find anything newsworthy in a club delivering minimum services of a “professional” club that aims to bring in paying spectators. If I missed similar stories of other clubs delivering minimum services, I would be dismissive. The remaining Broncos fans are a committed breed, that’s for sure. This minor update won’t see any lost ones returning.

Would they really? I’m not even sure there is a story here. All they have said as far as I can tell is. 1. You lot will sit over here next year. 2. There will be food and beverages available on the day. 3. Kids can pass the ball at a few holes or at our mascots Dusty and Buck.

Play zone and food truck/s. This is a “groundbreaking strategy” which I expect will result in a return of 5k fans and an on field standard worthy of SL promotion.

Frankly, I don’t think there is any suitable club to move. Every Sydney club has their own strength and value to the competition.

Manly won’t go anywhere and the NRL would do anything to stop them.

You are probably right. A PNG club will be a huge financial burden. But then again, if the return on investment is a reasonably grown player pool, then perhaps the investment is worth it. If there was a joined PNG and Aus national government strategy to part finance a club for 10-15 years, it would probably be worth a shot. Give the club plenty of time to become sustainable. Biggest difficulty I see would be contracting the 15 or more non nationals they would require to be competitive for the first 10 years. If I was one of the Bears faithful, I would be making the best business case possible for a return to the CC, none of this country or joined WA nonsense.

I would think a relocation is the only way CC gets a club. Not a forced one either.

Sure. Both ways. It’s just this being a RL forum, it’s far more parochial for RL. In saying that, I think the anti AFL brigade is stronger among NRL communities in NSW and Qld, than the anti NRL brigade in communities in SA, NT and WA. I find people in WA and SA that if they don’t like RL, then that’s about it, there is no hate, they just don’t care about it. Vic is very parochial and the Storm have done a marvellous job in a volatile market. They have built a club which in 2022 is very much part of the Melbourne fabric. Equally the Swans in Sydney and to a lesser degree, the Lions in Brisbane.

RL has a tremendous amount of popularity in the country towns of NSW and Qld. No more or less fanatical than AFL in rural areas of the other states. NT is definitely an AFL state as is the Tiwi Islands. There is a reasonably strong Australian Rules league with NT clubs flooded with Aboriginal players. Teams in their entirety almost. I don’t think there is any correlation that you can say favours either AFL or NRL to suit any side of the discussion.

I thought you were insinuating that because UK is smaller than PNG that this means PNG can fit many more people. Debating the population of PNG hills are not the hills I will be dying on, I tell you.

Sure, that would be plausible. I don’t disagree.

In no way does PNG have the same infrastructure to support such a high density living capacity as the UK. But, PNG has 17m, sure, I can believe that. I’m just a little like some of the others that question an 8m increase in such a short period. I don’t care if there is 7m, 17m or 77m.

I don’t think WA opens up a valuable time slot at all. The only obvious extra slot is an east coast 6pm Sunday KO. Not a slot that is prized by sports. NZII however opens up both Saturday and Sunday east coast midday KO’s and a second more favourable option for the 6pm Friday time slot. I still feel that NZII’s strongest case is that there will be an immediate increase in NRL playing talent. Throw a team in Perth, you might get 5 NRL players in 15 years. Throw a team south of Auckland, you will get 55 in the same period. Of course that’s an estimate, before anyone wants to start an argument on hear like the PNG thread. Commercially, there is no argument. Perth hands down. Maybe there is a swift push to 20, Perth, Port Moresby and NZ. I would really love to see PNG added. It would be a fantastic cultural addition, amongst many other favourable outcomes.

Tell them there will be an impromptu SOO taking place in Moresby. That’ll get them all down there.

I don’t think being twice as big as the UK qualifies a country as being big.

A great read and if nothing else, confirmed everything I thought about Nathan Brown.

Well said. You had more patience than me.

Every national population statistic is an estimate. I don’t understand why people are picking on @Eddie’s use of the word estimate.

Unsurprising for the membership culture in Vic, but a very good achievement all the same.

Great insight!

Yeah, I questioned that point too. A quick search to my go to crowds website set me straight... a very good resource I might add. https://afltables.com/rl/crowds/parramatta.html What evidence were you using to say Melbourne are the second most attended Rugby club of either code @Pulga?

I think MZ is ripe for the picking. With union slumped in a five team Super Rugby competition, it doesn’t leave much viewing opportunities, although kiwi Super Rugby teams play the most enjoyable RU to watch. Anything else is a horror show to my eyes. With a product as big and powerful as the NRL, a second team in NZ right now is the perfect timing. In saying that, the power players for a Perth franchise are very confident of their chances for club number 18 and fortunately their vision no longer involves the Bears.

My thoughts exactly

Personally, I am a little different. I spent 13 years in the UK, so watching week to week AFL passed me by. So when I returned, the game had markedly changed. Coaches were flooding the defensive half with almost the entirety of their team to spoil scoring opportunities of the opposition. As a result, clean movement of the ball became very, very difficult as soon as it hit the floor. There are the rules too, where (despite what many AFL haters will let you believe) tough ball acquisition was one of the sports most redeeming features. Many of the bravest feats I have seen in any code have been in AFL and many would not occur today because the laws prevent them from happening today. As @Dirkgee put it, there is the chance that some of my frustration is perhaps down to the fact there has been change. I’m certainly open to the idea that I might be getting grumpier as I get older