"Perth should be in Super League"

[Wellsy4HullFC]

Bit of an interesting discussion on the BBC podcast with Steve Mascord of the SMH.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04tf66n

Basically saying the Aussies aren't doing enough to expand (internationally and nationally). Five years ago, you'd have said there's more chance of Perth joining the British system than Toronto, but look at them now. 

Could SL take advantage of this? It's very outside the box thinking, but these places have been in discussion for years and have all sorts in place. 

They once said Toronto was a pipedream...

[jim_57]

5 minutes ago, Wellsy4HullFC said:

Bit of an interesting discussion on the BBC podcast with Steve Mascord of the SMH.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04tf66n

Basically saying the Aussies aren't doing enough to expand (internationally and nationally). Five years ago, you'd have said there's more chance of Perth joining the British system than Toronto, but look at them now. 

Could SL take advantage of this? It's very outside the box thinking, but these places have been in discussion for years and have all sorts in place. 

They once said Toronto was a pipedream...

Thing is though, you could almost guarantee if Perth proved successful they would still jump at the chance to join NRL if offered.

Not sure the pros would outweigh the cons.

[Allora]

Steve Mascord............

He has lots of Fruity ideas but does not have to make them work or finance them.

 

[Allora]

The NRL has 2 or 3 Clubs that are being run and financed by the NRL.

Several other Clubs hanging on by the skin of their teeth.

Its hardly a time to bring new fragile wannabees into the League when some old clubs are bleeding out taking the NRL's money to prop them up.

Many on this board want to tell the NRL what they should do in bringing Clubs in and developing overseas Countries and playing a season opening game in England etc etc etc

Maybe we need to focus closer to home and let the NRL sort themselves out, they have plenty of problems of their own.

 

 

 

[JonM]

3 minutes ago, Allora said:

The NRL has 2 or 3 Clubs that are being run and financed by the NRL.

Several other Clubs hanging on by the skin of their teeth.

Its hardly a time to bring new fragile wannabees into the League when some old clubs are bleeding out.

Amazing to have a $2 billion tv deal and still not be able to make it work, particularly when you look at the ARU which only gets $50m per year from internationals and super rugby tv rights.

Qantas introducing the first direct Australia <-> Europe flights next year, from London to Perth. Still 18 hours in the air - makes it a non-starter, surely?

[Allora]

4 minutes ago, JonM said:

Amazing to have a $2 billion tv deal and still not be able to make it work, particularly when you look at the ARU which only gets $50m per year from internationals and super rugby tv rights.

Qantas introducing the first direct Australia <-> Europe flights next year, from London to Perth. Still 18 hours in the air - makes it a non-starter, surely?

I am not a Club Accountant.

http://www.footyindustry.com/?page_id=2001

I know that many Clubs are struggling.

Not sure what you are saying about London to Perth.

 

[JonM]

7 minutes ago, Allora said:

Not sure what you are saying about London to Perth.

You'll be able to fly back and forwards between Perth & London many hours quicker than in the past because no need to stop anywhere on the way (flights from Europe to Australia all currently include a stop somewhere in Asia.) Still too far to make it realistic though.

[Futtocks]

It is a very far-fetched idea from Mascord but, if the NRL continues to vacillate about expansion and the money is found, Perth might look at this as an option until things change back home. I doubt very much whether it'll be seriously considered, though.

[westlondonfan]

 If the NRL is going to financially support another club I think it should be in PNG.  With the level of interest that obviously is present there you would have another top level international team within 15-20 years?

[Guest]

15 minutes ago, westlondonfan said:

 If the NRL is going to financially support another club I think it should be in PNG.  With the level of interest that obviously is present there you would have another top level international team within 15-20 years?

Never going to happen I'm afraid as PNG is basically a 3rd world country with serious security problems. Plus PNG offers nothing in terms of opening up a new TV market. Same goes for Fiji as well.

The NRL should be looking at adding 2 new teams and maybe even re-locating 1 or 2 failing Sydney clubs to places like Perth, Central Coast, brisbane2, Christchurch and Wellington etc.

[Guest]

Perth are an absolute must for the NRL along with Brisbane 2 and a 2nd NZ franchise. I also think that manly should re-locate to the Central coast and St George-Illawarra should be permanently based in Wollongong.

[stewpot01]

John Kear has come up with this one. I think they have all been smoking something.I am rapidly becoming sick of the game as it is all about money now and little else.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/39039979

 

[redjonn]

I listened to the podcast and the word that came to mind for most of it was "poppycock".

All for being forward thinking and having a "grand" strategy but it needs to be within the confines of realism.    

Although the one sensible comment came from John Kear and I paraphrase,   its all very well having a forward thinking and grandiose strategy but its more important having a action plan, step by step to achieve a goal.

Of course identify potential expansion places but then focus on whatever is chosen with a single priority until achieved and then another area.  

If RFL are going to help anywhere it would seem to me priority to be at this stage would be the fact we have Toronto and Toulouse entering lower division. We should be focused on making that as a successful as possible before allowing attention to focus elsewhere.

As for Perth and other Aussie places if Mascord is right and their are people with lots of money that want franchise's then maybe they could look at creating another Aussie RL league. Then they may get some attention from NRL at the threat of another situation like not that long ago.   I have no idea but Mascord was saying their are people with very deep pockets.

[Wellsy4HullFC]

1 hour ago, redjonn said:

I listened to the podcast and the word that came to mind for most of it was "poppycock".

All for being forward thinking and having a "grand" strategy but it needs to be within the confines of realism.    

Although the one sensible comment came from John Kear and I paraphrase,   its all very well having a forward thinking and grandiose strategy but its more important having a action plan, step by step to achieve a goal.

Of course identify potential expansion places but then focus on whatever is chosen with a single priority until achieved and then another area.  

If RFL are going to help anywhere it would seem to me priority to be at this stage would be the fact we have Toronto and Toulouse entering lower division. We should be focused on making that as a successful as possible before allowing attention to focus elsewhere.

As for Perth and other Aussie places if Mascord is right and their are people with lots of money that want franchise's then maybe they could look at creating another Aussie RL league. Then they may get some attention from NRL at the threat of another situation like not that long ago.   I have no idea but Mascord was saying their are people with very deep pockets.

That was the other thought that came to my head also. If the NRL are only going to look after their own, others that want to be involved in the game are going to find new ways of getting what they want. There seems to be little compromise. 

If there are enough interested parties, if you can get a TV channel on board, if you can guarantee international club fixtures between ours and their competition, then maybe it could get off the ground. Yeah, it wouldn't be on the NRL's salary level, but as long as there's enough to go full time and have a high enough standard to play against the British clubs occasionally, it could attract fans.

[Oxford]

4 hours ago, Allora said:

The NRL has 2 or 3 Clubs that are being run and financed by the NRL.

Several other Clubs hanging on by the skin of their teeth.

Its hardly a time to bring new fragile wannabees into the League when some old clubs are bleeding out taking the NRL's money to prop them up.

Many on this board want to tell the NRL what they should do in bringing Clubs in and developing overseas Countries and playing a season opening game in England etc etc etc

Maybe we need to focus closer to home and let the NRL sort themselves out, they have plenty of problems of their own.

 

 

 

I wish we had the NRL situation over here I reckon we could cope with their problems and besides, telling the NRL to get off their backsides is half the fun!

[B rad]

5 hours ago, Allora said:

The NRL has 2 or 3 Clubs that are being run and financed by the NRL.

Several other Clubs hanging on by the skin of their teeth.

Its hardly a time to bring new fragile wannabees into the League when some old clubs are bleeding out taking the NRL's money to prop them up.

Many on this board want to tell the NRL what they should do in bringing Clubs in and developing overseas Countries and playing a season opening game in England etc etc etc

Maybe we need to focus closer to home and let the NRL sort themselves out, they have plenty of problems of their own.

 

 

 

They should be looking at relocating some of the struggling Sydney clubs to other parts of Australia. West Tigers in West Australia sounds good to me.  Too many Sydney clubs polluting the market there. They should never have got rid of the Perth Reds for more Sydney teams.

[JCrabtree]

I did an interview with Steve yesterday and he shared his thoughts on expansion, both on a global scale and along the M62.

The full video is in the link to this piece on the World Club Series: http://quaysnews.net/index.php/2017/02/21/world-club-series-future-uncertain/

(The location was Harry's bar in Wigan for anyone trying to guess.)

[jim_57]

6 hours ago, Allora said:

The NRL has 2 or 3 Clubs that are being run and financed by the NRL.

Several other Clubs hanging on by the skin of their teeth.

Its hardly a time to bring new fragile wannabees into the League when some old clubs are bleeding out taking the NRL's money to prop them up.

Many on this board want to tell the NRL what they should do in bringing Clubs in and developing overseas Countries and playing a season opening game in England etc etc etc

Maybe we need to focus closer to home and let the NRL sort themselves out, they have plenty of problems of their own.

 

 

 

The NRL is a multi-billion dollar bussiness, they have more than enough resources to 'multi-task'.

The only reason the NRL isn't expanding is cash hungry clubs crying poor even after getting more than the salary cap in their yearly grant. It's all just self interest and short sightedness. If clubs 20-50-100 years old honestly can't survive under the current circumstances than it is time for new blood and natural selection.

[The 4 of Us]

First step already happened. Aren't Southern Orcas shareholders in Bradford? 

[haskey]

I have travelled from Manchester to Sydney (must admit never to Perth) and the travelling is horrendous, kids bawling at all times on the flights. Having a 3+ hour stop over in the  risky middle east ie Dubai,Abu Dhabi etc. From home to hotel is a 24 hour experience. You arrive drained and it takes a couple of days for your clock to correct itself.

No doubt if you travel business class it might be slightly better but at a hell of an increase in cost. I accept that it is easier from London, but don't forget us northerners need to get to Heathrow.

Logistically it is a non-starter.

Also I note that John Kear says it is no further from Dunedin to Pretoria in South Africa than it is from England to Australia, It is a good 2000 miles plus from Manchester to Perth.

So get your facts right Kear

 

[DitheringD]

Too many people with too many dreams, the NRL can never do enough in a lot of peoples eyes.

I would like to know what these guys were smoking though when they came up with this idea, the South Pole is only a further few hours south from Perth why not think even more out of the box and introduce the first professional franchise from there! It is not as if SL has successfully expanded any further South of Sheffield!

I have no doubt Perth will be the next franchise introduced into the NRL along with a second team from Brisbane, too much sense in it for them not to be. I assume this will be the NRL's bargaining chip for when it sits down in a few years time to negotiate it's next TV deal, which could fetch billions of dollars.

[John Rhino]

1 hour ago, haskey said:

I have travelled from Manchester to Sydney (must admit never to Perth) and the travelling is horrendous, kids bawling at all times on the flights. Having a 3+ hour stop over in the  risky middle east ie Dubai,Abu Dhabi etc. From home to hotel is a 24 hour experience. You arrive drained and it takes a couple of days for your clock to correct itself.

No doubt if you travel business class it might be slightly better but at a hell of an increase in cost. I accept that it is easier from London, but don't forget us northerners need to get to Heathrow.

Logistically it is a non-starter.

Also I note that John Kear says it is no further from Dunedin to Pretoria in South Africa than it is from England to Australia, It is a good 2000 miles plus from Manchester to Perth.

So get your facts right Kear

 

I've done the same distance too, and in business class. The thing to remember is speed (ie a non stop flight) and any amount of luxury has no effect at all on jet lag. It wouldn't be pleasant for home or away teams with the need to train for weekly games - unless Perth stayed here the whole season 

[The Future is League]

18 hours ago, Wellsy4HullFC said:

Bit of an interesting discussion on the BBC podcast with Steve Mascord of the SMH.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04tf66n

Basically saying the Aussies aren't doing enough to expand (internationally and nationally). Five years ago, you'd have said there's more chance of Perth joining the British system than Toronto, but look at them now. 

Could SL take advantage of this? It's very outside the box thinking, but these places have been in discussion for years and have all sorts in place. 

They once said Toronto was a pipedream...

The NRL are not interested in expanding out of Eastern Australia. Insular is the word to describe them

 

[Wellsy4HullFC]

If you could make an NRL 2 with the clubs that are trying to get in, what would it actually look like?

 

Perth Pirates 

Wellington Orcas 

Christchurch 

Brisbane Brothers 

Central Coast Bears

Central Queensland Crushers 

PNG Hunters

Ipswich Jets

Fiji

Adelaide Rams

 

When you look at the list, you realise just how much potential there still is to expand in Australia.

[Guest]

5 hours ago, Wellsy4HullFC said:

If you could make an NRL 2 with the clubs that are trying to get in, what would it actually look like?

 

Perth Pirates 

Wellington Orcas 

Christchurch 

Brisbane Brothers 

Central Coast Bears

Central Queensland Crushers 

PNG Hunters

Ipswich Jets

Fiji

Adelaide Rams

 

When you look at the list, you realise just how much potential there still is to expand in Australia.

You could also possibly add teams like Hobart which has a population of 250,000 and Darwin and cairns which have populations approaching 200,000. Maybe even a South African franchise.