The Great Dane

Rep footy isn't comparable to club footy for a number of reasons, and frankly I think you know that. A one off special event is always an easier sale than a biweekly commitment. BTW, I live in Canberra, and it's not close to a sell out unless they've flogged 10k seats cheap in the last few days. Which isn't impossible mind you, I just haven't heard about it yet if it's happened. Edit; I just checked Ticketek, there's no way that it's close to a sell out. Not yet anyway.

No stress, I wasn't having a go mate.

Ignorance is bliss. The support base is only on the Eastern Seaboard because everything south of Goulburn and west of Bathurst has been neglected by the establishment in Sydney for basically all of the sport's existence. If investment was made into other markets you'd see growth, just like the AFL has in the north east and RL in Canberra and Melbourne. Until that happens the sport will have no significant traction. Furthermore, there're multiple entities across the country interested in investing in the sport that have been shut out by the NRL that could have used the NRLW as a foot in the door, WA being a great example of one that isn't on the Eastern Seaboard. You also failed to address the actual point that I was making, but whatever. If there was any real value to the existing brands then the NRLW, AFLW, W-league, etc, etc, sides wouldn't be averaging crowds roughly 1-5% the size of their male counterpart's depending on the sport. Their social media engagement, ratings, etc, etc, would all be significantly higher as well because the supporters of those brands would support the team simply because it's carrying the brand. They aren't, why? Because 95-99% of the pro club's supporters don't care about the women's product regardless of the brand, and never will. As such it's a niche product that will appeal to a niche audience that can exist regardless of the men's audience. I also never suggested that the NRL should set up 10 brand new franchises, in fact I suggested quite the opposite, so again you are dodging the actual point that was made. Cronulla probably shouldn't be in the NRL, let alone the NRLW, but that's an aside. Under no circumstances, no matter the league or sport, is it necessary to have two Southern Sydney sides in the same national competition. There simply isn't the market for it, and as such in the long run their presence will do more damage than good just like it has done in the NSWRL/ARL/NRL. Taking all that into consideration, their prior investments into women's RL are pretty irrelevant frankly.

It has happened in soccer (Canberra United), basketball (WNBL), and a few other sports. In those sports that have independent clubs and shared clubs, the independent women's club's tend to be the most successful once you take away the subsidies that the others get from their club's men's team's operations. In saying that, both business plans have their pros and cons and it's definitely a horses of courses situation. In saying all that I totally agree with you that the NRLW will almost certainly never have an independent club. The NRL will pay lip service to it, but I doubt it'll ever actually happen.

Sure, but if the NRL demands of new expansion clubs that they field NRLW teams then those NRLW teams aren't in locations without without NRL teams are they.

Why should they not have the right to build their own legacy instead of being forced to ride on the coat tails of the men's clubs? Signing up to be an NRL club's women's team is signing up to eternally be the after thought opening act, and it shows in the variation between the support of women's and men's teams.

Maybe, but Cronulla, Bondi, Kogarah, and Balmain/Campbelltown probably wouldn't be in most national competitions, or at the very least not all of them. In RL you'd probably ideally spilt Sydney into 4 or 5 regions each with a single representative- north, south, east, and west, or inner west and outer west. That split was totally achievable in the NRLW, and the only reason it didn't happen is because of myopia and self interest. To give you an analogy; it'd be like a supposedly national competition in the US that has the five boroughs of New York represented but no teams in LA, Chicago, and Dallas.

Nobody is asking for perfection, just for a little more effort than the bare minimum.

If you were starting a 10 team NRL from scratch today it would look something like- Sydney x2 Brisbane x2 Melbourne Perth Adelaide NZ Regional x2 Now in the NRLW's case that probably wasn't going to be feasible, especially with the impact of covid, however the goal still should have been to get as close to that as possible. There also should have been a hard cap on the amount of Sydney clubs as well (probably 4-5), and there's no way that they should have ever been allowed to represent 50% of the competition at any one time. Myth. If it was true the NRLW teams would be significantly better supported than they actually are. The NRL sides don't have a monopoly on popular existing brands either. The NRL would have got a ridiculous amount of publicity if the Bears and/or Newtown were given NRLW licenses for example, and there're plenty of other famous clubs and brands from around the country whom will/should never get a run in the NRL that the NRLW could have been the perfect format for as well. We'll never know because 99% of them were effectively barred from bidding. Doesn't give them a divine right to an NRLW license.

Yeah if the NRL had any intentions of the NRLW being anything more than a glorified publicity stunt then they would have capped the percentage of the competition that could be from Sydney at any one time, and the licenses would have been open to tender. Unfortunately self interest and myopia rules the day in RL.

If the other teams had the depth in a position like the Raiders do in the front row then they’d do it as well. They might not realise it now, but at the point that those guys are in their careers it’s a win-win for them as well. Even if they don’t cement at spot at the Raiders they’ll be a known quantity, with a good record, and lots of NRL experience that they probably wouldn’t have got under other circumstances. In other words, even if they don’t land a permanent spot at the Raiders they are being set up to land a spot somewhere else.

I wouldn't. Ricky will keep cycling him and the others like Guler, Lui, and Horsburgh through giving them game time and keeping them match fit, but he won't really commit to one of them really cementing a starting spot until Soliola retires or some of the other guys move on. The pack's more flexible that way, and it's easier to replace guys that are injured or suspended.

Going to the Roosters would be the biggest mistake of his NRL career. They'd chew him up and spit him out as soon as the next best thing comes along. If he truly wants out of the Broncos and he's smart then he'd try to get in with a team like the Knights, up and coming team, good culture, and don't have a brutal, dodgy, corporate attitude like the Roosters. The Knights and other teams like them, would be patient with him and nurture his game as he builds into a better player, the Roosters would be looking to replace him with the next best player that comes cheaper as soon as they sign him.

Burleigh already have beaten their first grade side, and if given the opportunity they could beat a few of the other teams in the lower half of the NRL as well! Many of the other better teams in the Qld cup and NSW cup could beat weaker NRL teams as well if given the chance, because in reality there isn't that much of a difference in standard between your top Q and NSW cup teams and your bottom of the table NRL sides. And just because I say they could beat somebody doesn't mean that they'd necessarily be convincing in doing so, or that they'd necessarily have a better win-loss ratio over their opponent. Let's put it this way, if Burleigh can beat the Titans, then they'd probably finish somewhere between 7th and 10th in your average year of Super League, but they'd definitely "shock" a few of the stronger SL clubs along the way.

I agree that many of the NSW cup sides wouldn't be out of place in the SL either. With the exceptions of Ipswich, CQ, and the Hunters, all the Qld cup sides are reserves for NRL sides as well, so maybe stop talking about things that you know nothing about.