When the NRL expands, Super League will suffer.

[Manfred Mann]

There is talk of the NRL expanding beyond 16 clubs in time for the next TV contract. It is not a certainty, but definitely possible for 2022. 

If that happens the likely new teams are, in order of likelihood, Perth, Brisbane 2 and Wellington.  I doubt that the NRL will add more than two clubs in its next expansion. But those new NRL clubs will require a combined playing roster of around 60 players. Where will those players come from?

The big problem with any expansion in the number of NRL clubs is the already existing shortage of quality players, especially in the spine positions. The only option would be for the NRL, with its superior salary cap and funding, to attract former NRL players back to Australia from the northern hemisphere. Players like Blake Austin, Lachlan Coote, Trent Merrin and Konrad Hurrell will be in high demand for the new NRL clubs, who will be able to outbid the English, French and north American clubs for talent.  Moreover, many quality English players will be recruited to NRL clubs, in the manner that Canberra and South Sydney have done. The immediate result will be a decline in the quality of the Super League game. Without the NRL imports and English stars Super League will be less attractive to watch.

What can Super League do to alleviate such a problem?

The player pools are limited in the heartlands, and cannot sustain even the current 12 Super League clubs. That is why there are so many imports from the NRL. In my opinion the only solution to the strains to Super League caused by possible future NRL expansion is to find new player pools in other parts of Britain and overseas. That is an argument for reforming Super League, with new clubs in the expansion areas. A  Super League club in London should become a necessity. Developing the game in other areas like Newcastle should be supported. France is another important development area, as is north America. Perhaps there are prospects in Eastern Europe (e.g. Serbia) and the Middle East if funding can be found. However expansion in the northern hemisphere is pointless without the proviso that these new clubs must have junior structures in place in order to join Super League. Toulouse does have such  junior structures. Ottawa is apparently planning that. But Toronto appears not appear to care. Toronto must be compelled to rectify that situation. The north American candidate clubs need to  work on recruiting rugby union and NFL reject players to rugby league.

New players pools outside the existing heartlands have to be found or else the northern hemisphere game will wither into a second rate feeder competition for the NRL

[Mr Plow]

Take time to develop new players. I think it’s important for Toronto and other North American teams to develop players but their main aim is to get to and establish themselves in SL

[Lowdesert]

42 minutes ago, Manfred Mann said:

There is talk of the NRL expanding beyond 16 clubs in time for the next TV contract. It is not a certainty, but definitely possible for 2022. 

If that happens the likely new teams are, in order of likelihood, Perth, Brisbane 2 and Wellington.  I doubt that the NRL will add more than two clubs in its next expansion. But those new NRL clubs will require a combined playing roster of around 60 players. Where will those players come from?

The big problem with any expansion in the number of NRL clubs is the already existing shortage of quality players, especially in the spine positions. The only option would be for the NRL, with its superior salary cap and funding, to attract former NRL players back to Australia from the northern hemisphere. Players like Blake Austin, Lachlan Coote, Trent Merrin and Konrad Hurrell will be in high demand for the new NRL clubs, who will be able to outbid the English, French and north American clubs for talent.  Moreover, many quality English players will be recruited to NRL clubs, in the manner that Canberra and South Sydney have done. The immediate result will be a decline in the quality of the Super League game. Without the NRL imports and English stars Super League will be less attractive to watch.

What can Super League do to alleviate such a problem?

The player pools are limited in the heartlands, and cannot sustain even the current 12 Super League clubs. That is why there are so many imports from the NRL. In my opinion the only solution to the strains to Super League caused by possible future NRL expansion is to find new player pools in other parts of Britain and overseas. That is an argument for reforming Super League, with new clubs in the expansion areas. A  Super League club in London should become a necessity. Developing the game in other areas like Newcastle should be supported. France is another important development area, as is north America. Perhaps there are prospects in Eastern Europe (e.g. Serbia) and the Middle East if funding can be found. However expansion in the northern hemisphere is pointless without the proviso that these new clubs must have junior structures in place in order to join Super League. Toulouse does have such  junior structures. Ottawa is apparently planning that. But Toronto appears not appear to care. Toronto must be compelled to rectify that situation. The north American candidate clubs need to  work on recruiting rugby union and NFL reject players to rugby league.

New players pools outside the existing heartlands have to be found or else the northern hemisphere game will wither into a second rate feeder competition for the NRL

Middle East?  FFS.

[Man of Kent]

53 minutes ago, Manfred Mann said:

New players pools outside the existing heartlands have to be found or else the northern hemisphere game will wither into a second rate feeder competition for the NRL

Too late? Look at the number of England internationals playing Down Under. 

[headtackle]

Agreed - it has already happened

Saying that as a result of the NRL ex-pats England is probably the strongest it has been in a good while.

Expansion is a risk to SL and the lure of playing down under must be pretty attractive. Doesnt work for everyone though and plenty of great players have stayed on these shores or returned very quickly. Would that necessarily change.

[Copa]

Inviting new teams with big £€$ backers will open up more opportunities for more players to develop through full time contracts. 

 

[Mr Frisky]

To be fair, if the NRL was reduced SL would also suffer as we would be flooded with a lot more journeymen Aussies and Pacific Islanders turning up taking slots UK players could have had.

 

[Oliver Clothesoff]

The NRL is already light years ahead from Super League and have been for a number of years, through their own brand building but also the mismanagement of Super League. 

I can’t foresee the gap getting smaller, if anything it will likely get bigger.

[Southerner80]

I don't feel SL needs to seek to compete with the NRL. Its actually a decent product right now is SL. 

Theres so much talent in Australia that there will always be surplus to help us fill out our teams.

For what it's worth the Canberra full back Nicoll Klokstad could easily have been playing here if he had not got the opportunity after being dropped by the Warriors. He's the type you want, young players, underrated. 

With a bit more mindfulness of player welfare and dropping say 4 games a season,  SL would be even better, tiredness has been noticeable in some post Easter games. 

Theres enough quality players to go round, particularly if Fiji can be developed more for RL. Fiji literally can be a back factory. And the wadge demands will be modest which is key as RL in the NH is not awash with cash and probably never will be. So we make the best of who can come in, and develop more good UK players too. 

[Just Browny]

We've been hearing about Perth, Brisbane II, NZ II etc for a long, long time now. If NRL expansion does happen, we can worry about it then. At this stage it seems as remote as a new stadium in Cas or Wakey.

[Big Picture]

3 hours ago, Manfred Mann said:

There is talk of the NRL expanding beyond 16 clubs in time for the next TV contract. It is not a certainty, but definitely possible for 2022. 

If that happens the likely new teams are, in order of likelihood, Perth, Brisbane 2 and Wellington.  I doubt that the NRL will add more than two clubs in its next expansion. But those new NRL clubs will require a combined playing roster of around 60 players. Where will those players come from?

The big problem with any expansion in the number of NRL clubs is the already existing shortage of quality players, especially in the spine positions. The only option would be for the NRL, with its superior salary cap and funding, to attract former NRL players back to Australia from the northern hemisphere. Players like Blake Austin, Lachlan Coote, Trent Merrin and Konrad Hurrell will be in high demand for the new NRL clubs, who will be able to outbid the English, French and north American clubs for talent.  Moreover, many quality English players will be recruited to NRL clubs, in the manner that Canberra and South Sydney have done. The immediate result will be a decline in the quality of the Super League game. Without the NRL imports and English stars Super League will be less attractive to watch.

What can Super League do to alleviate such a problem?

The player pools are limited in the heartlands, and cannot sustain even the current 12 Super League clubs. That is why there are so many imports from the NRL. In my opinion the only solution to the strains to Super League caused by possible future NRL expansion is to find new player pools in other parts of Britain and overseas. That is an argument for reforming Super League, with new clubs in the expansion areas. A  Super League club in London should become a necessity. Developing the game in other areas like Newcastle should be supported. France is another important development area, as is north America. Perhaps there are prospects in Eastern Europe (e.g. Serbia) and the Middle East if funding can be found. However expansion in the northern hemisphere is pointless without the proviso that these new clubs must have junior structures in place in order to join Super League. Toulouse does have such  junior structures. Ottawa is apparently planning that. But Toronto appears not appear to care. Toronto must be compelled to rectify that situation. The north American candidate clubs need to  work on recruiting rugby union and NFL reject players to rugby league.

New players pools outside the existing heartlands have to be found or else the northern hemisphere game will wither into a second rate feeder competition for the NRL

Northern hemisphere RL clearly needs a league which can be attractive to players who would otherwise be playing in the NRL or RU.  For that it needs a much higher salary cap than SL now has and for that it needs much more money coming in from TV, sponsors and spectators.

That isn't going to happen within the existing structure for the simple reason that no one in SL or the RFL is competent to bring it about.  It can only happen if and when someone comes along with something new and revolutionary which would have the fundamentals needed to generate that higher income.

[westside]

3 hours ago, Lowdesert said:

Middle East?  FFS.

Assuming he means homegrown players from Lebanon. Don’t know what’s so crazy about that. They have a big advantage over most emerging nations with a good national team that can be used to promote the game locally and attract investment.

[The British Lion]

Interesting reading, all of it. I have a couple of thoughts to share.

1. Perhaps the Aussies on the board could explain to me the need for a 2nd Brisbane club - how will that work vs The Broncos and their existing fan base? Where will the new fans come from (if not detract from The Broncos) - my apologies, just an innocent question without knoweldge. I'd love to know the why behind the what. Love it if theres a Perth and Wellington franchise.

2. Sounds like North and Southern Hemispheres need a very purposeful, strategic plan to develop new players of excellence.....as if they shouldn't be doing this anyway! Investment takes time.

3. I personally am itching for the game to deliver a vision and strategy for the future and where we are headed. The RFL for instance under Maurice Lindsay said Super League would deliver big city teams from Europe. Now we suddenly have interest from North America, and Serbia, Toulouse....Elstone needs to deliver a vision but its all a bit protective at the moment. 

My point - and I surely can't be the only one - Im bored of watching Warrington v Wigan 4/5 times a year, and Im a rugby league fan, paying spectator. I want to watch more varied fixtures, vs expansion teams, and traditional teams. And I want more internationals.

The global game needs to come together and help and invest in each other. The disparity in what autonomy the International Rugby League Federation has is very confusing....where there is no vision, the people perish.....

[Copa]

28 minutes ago, The British Lion said:

1. Perhaps the Aussies on the board could explain to me the need for a 2nd Brisbane club - how will that work vs The Broncos and their existing fan base? Where will the new fans come from (if not detract from The Broncos) - my apologies, just an innocent question without knoweldge. I'd love to know the why behind the what. Love it if theres a Perth and Wellington franchise.

Brisbane has 2.3 million people in one of the most RL loving cities on earth. Many of those people do not support the Broncos and I think any new club would target these people. 

It would give Lang Park a game every week and create more SE Queensland derby matches with the Titans, Broncos + the new team.

[Tommygilf]

It proves what I've said previously on other threads, the threat to Super League is not from expansion, its from the money men already in the NRL amd by extension RU. 

We have to grow and expand our comp"s commercial amd financial reach.

[dixiedean]

Not sure where the lack of players comes into it. It is purely a function of supply and demand. Pay people enough and they will emerge.

[The Great Dane]

4 hours ago, Copa said:

Brisbane has 2.3 million people in one of the most RL loving cities on earth. Many of those people do not support the Broncos and I think any new club would target these people. 

It would give Lang Park a game every week and create more SE Queensland derby matches with the Titans, Broncos + the new team.

I totally agree with what you have said, however I think it's important to stress the point that the group of people that don't follow the Broncos in Brisbane aren't just randoms that have shown no prior interest in RL, they are in fact a relatively large portion of the population that are massive RL fans but at the same time hate the Broncos with a passion and refuse to support them.

To create a hypothetical analogy that will hopefully help our friends on the other side of the equator to better understand, imagine that e.g. Manchester City didn't exist but all the people who are currently their fans were hanging around in Manchester without a team to support and refusing to follow United because they hate United, and you'd basically have a carbon copy of the situation that the NRL currently faces in Brisbane.

[The Parksider]

7 hours ago, The British Lion said:

Interesting reading, all of it. I have a couple of thoughts to share.

I personally am itching for the game to deliver a vision and strategy for the future and where we are headed. The RFL for instance under Maurice Lindsay said Super League would deliver big city teams from Europe. Now we suddenly have interest from North America, and Serbia, Toulouse....Elstone needs to deliver a vision but its all a bit protective at the moment. 

My point - and I surely can't be the only one - I'm bored of watching Warrington v Wigan 4/5 times a year, and Im a rugby league fan, paying spectator. I want to watch more varied fixtures, vs expansion teams, and traditional teams. And I want more internationals.

Excellent honest post in which you reveal just why people like to invent new clubs in their heads, or latch onto any hair brained scheme going. Of course the proposals for clubs in Ottawa, New York, Barcelona or wherever are always going to garner support and enthusiasm from the bored and fed up because the "idea" of something new excites them. It's when they start to turn the dream into a reality in their heads and dismiss the real world problems and issues we have that what becomes genuinely boring is the denial of reality and the invention of various fictions. It's the state of mind that the likes of Salesmen like Perez thrive on, he tells you he can deliver what you want, and you follow without much thought....... 

7 hours ago, Big Picture said:

Northern hemisphere RL clearly needs a league which can be attractive to players who would otherwise be playing in the NRL or RU.  For that it needs a much higher salary cap than SL now has and for that it needs much more money coming in from TV, sponsors and spectators.

That isn't going to happen within the existing structure for the simple reason that no one in SL or the RFL is competent to bring it about.  It can only happen if and when someone comes along with something new and revolutionary............................

You mean Mr. Perez don't you. he's the man who finds you guys easy prey because your bored with the game. Maybe Kayakman is bored with paddling his canoe and TWP excites him, fair enough. But the thing that always stinks in these threads is how those who invest in and administer our game here get demonised all the time as "Incompetents". 

The truth is there is a list of people who have great business skills and a great philanthropy towards Rugby League, these people actually deliver TV deals, and develop players at their clubs whom they work hard to keep stable in a very crowded sports market.

These are people actually keeping the game alive, keeping the player production line going, keeping the game on TV with actual paying contracts and you have the bone brained cheek to call that "incompetent"? Your "someone" has come along and has for the last three years showed us exactly what he can do (talk garbage) and show us what he cannot do:-

1. Get anyone in Canada playing Rugby League

2. Run a solvent club without having to draw heavily on a $Billionaire with an open wallet

3. Get any TV interest such that he ends up paying to be on TV.

There is your "new and revolutionary Messiah" The bottom line is we are where we are, and would be nowhere without the "incompetents" running RFL/SL. The good news is if you find it all too boring there's a myriad of alternative sports out there for you to go off and discover.

5 hours ago, dixiedean said:

Not sure where the lack of players comes into it. It is purely a function of supply and demand. Pay people enough and they will emerge.

Made up rubbish to support a dream,  but it's par for the course.

Players come from areas they have played RL traditionally for decades, they are kids who play at school because those schools play RL, and at junior clubs their dads run because they are RL fans, and they all watch their local clubs, and are inspired by the star players. The ones who are good enough the one or two per hundred are the ones that arrive in the pro-game and have to go through years of pro coaching to hone their skills to be able to deliver a good enough product to be able to charge fans to watch and TV companies to show. Your double the wages nonsense merely fits the dream.

They do not suddenly appear because they can see a massive salary in RL and say Oh I'll play that - it's nonsense.

These terrible threads and posts are all based on a dream of what RL could be which is fine. I do that. But the problem is when people start to believe it and become incapable of talking about their delusions, and can only fire off insults or make up soundbites to excuse the very very real problems our game has. As I say I can count 20 maybe up to 30 such people who congregate on here, but out of this bubble and across the game we have tens of thousands of fans who accept the game for what it is, accept the struggles for what they are and are not "bored" with it all. Yes we must struggle to keep interest in the game, but inventing messiahs, and disparaging people who do the hard yards and put in the effective money, isn't the way to do it is it?

[Omott91]

1 hour ago, The Parksider said:

Excellent honest post in which you reveal just why people like to invent new clubs in their heads, or latch onto any hair brained scheme going. Of course the proposals for clubs in Ottawa, New York, Barcelona or wherever are always going to garner support and enthusiasm from the bored and fed up because the "idea" of something new excites them. It's when they start to turn the dream into a reality in their heads and dismiss the real world problems and issues we have that what becomes genuinely boring is the denial of reality and the invention of various fictions. It's the state of mind that the likes of Salesmen like Perez thrive on, he tells you he can deliver what you want, and you follow without much thought....... 

You mean Mr. Perez don't you. he's the man who finds you guys easy prey because your bored with the game. Maybe Kayakman is bored with paddling his canoe and TWP excites him, fair enough. But the thing that always stinks in these threads is how those who invest in and administer our game here get demonised all the time as "Incompetents". 

The truth is there is a list of people who have great business skills and a great philanthropy towards Rugby League, these people actually deliver TV deals, and develop players at their clubs whom they work hard to keep stable in a very crowded sports market.

These are people actually keeping the game alive, keeping the player production line going, keeping the game on TV with actual paying contracts and you have the bone brained cheek to call that "incompetent"? Your "someone" has come along and has for the last three years showed us exactly what he can do (talk garbage) and show us what he cannot do:-

1. Get anyone in Canada playing Rugby League

2. Run a solvent club without having to draw heavily on a $Billionaire with an open wallet

3. Get any TV interest such that he ends up paying to be on TV.

There is your "new and revolutionary Messiah" The bottom line is we are where we are, and would be nowhere without the "incompetents" running RFL/SL. The good news is if you find it all too boring there's a myriad of alternative sports out there for you to go off and discover.

Made up rubbish to support a dream,  but it's par for the course.

Players come from areas they have played RL traditionally for decades, they are kids who play at school because those schools play RL, and at junior clubs their dads run because they are RL fans, and they all watch their local clubs, and are inspired by the star players. The ones who are good enough the one or two per hundred are the ones that arrive in the pro-game and have to go through years of pro coaching to hone their skills to be able to deliver a good enough product to be able to charge fans to watch and TV companies to show. Your double the wages nonsense merely fits the dream.

They do not suddenly appear because they can see a massive salary in RL and say Oh I'll play that - it's nonsense.

These terrible threads and posts are all based on a dream of what RL could be which is fine. I do that. But the problem is when people start to believe it and become incapable of talking about their delusions, and can only fire off insults or make up soundbites to excuse the very very real problems our game has. As I say I can count 20 maybe up to 30 such people who congregate on here, but out of this bubble and across the game we have tens of thousands of fans who accept the game for what it is, accept the struggles for what they are and are not "bored" with it all. Yes we must struggle to keep interest in the game, but inventing messiahs, and disparaging people who do the hard yards and put in the effective money, isn't the way to do it is it?

What we also shouldn't do is disparage those who are willing to try something different or dismiss the positive stories that surface because of your viewpoint. Perez is just like you in regards to you both wanting what's best for rl, albeit with wildly different opinions. 

[Harry Stottle]

11 hours ago, Mr Frisky said:

To be fair, if the NRL was reduced SL would also suffer as we would be flooded with a lot more journeymen Aussies and Pacific Islanders turning up taking slots UK players could have had.

 

Am I right in that in around 1971ish after Gt.Britain won the World Cup in '70 lots of Aussie clubs were offering big contracts to quite a number of British player's, the ARL as was at the time put a stop to the importing of player's from the RFL as it was deemed to be impacting on their player development, I've not dreamt that up have I?

[Toby Chopra]

4 hours ago, The Great Dane said:

I totally agree with what you have said, however I think it's important to stress the point that the group of people that don't follow the Broncos in Brisbane aren't just randoms that have shown no prior interest in RL, they are in fact a relatively large portion of the population that are massive RL fans but at the same time hate the Broncos with a passion and refuse to support them.

To create a hypothetical analogy that will hopefully help our friends on the other side of the equator to better understand, imagine that e.g. Manchester City didn't exist but all the people who are currently their fans were hanging around in Manchester without a team to support and refusing to follow United because they hate United, and you'd basically have a carbon copy of the situation that the NRL currently faces in Brisbane.

I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just genuinely intrigued by why some Brisbaners hate the Broncos, when they're the only NRL team in the city, and a relatively new one at that? 

Are they from other states? Or fans of former QRL clubs who think Broncos ruined the local league? 

The Manchester analogy doesn't quite work for me - lots of people round the country hate United, but they all support *someone* else, whether a big club or a small one. If you lived in Manchester, but didn't support any club, so not really that into football, why would you hate United? 

 

[Toby Chopra]

On the main point, I don't think we should be too worried if the NRL expands - that would be a sign of success for rugby league. 

And if it meant more UK players headed down under on big money contracts, that should be promoted as a good thing that can help drive up junior participation here. 

I've been involved in the UK American Football scene for many years, and I can tell you that one of the best recruiting and retention tools we've got for teens, is that new pathways are opening up for UK players to go to college in the states, and, maybe if things really went well, the possibility of a pro contract. 

We shouldn't think of NRL as a rival or a threat, it's the most powerful part of the global RL system and the better it does, the better we all will do in the long run. 

[The Great Dane]

1 hour ago, Toby Chopra said:

I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just genuinely intrigued by why some Brisbaners hate the Broncos, when they're the only NRL team in the city, and a relatively new one at that? 

Are they from other states? Or fans of former QRL clubs who think Broncos ruined the local league?

There're a bunch of reasons, to the point that basically every person you ask would have a slightly different reason.

The Broncos effectively murdering the BRL (and effectively destroying all the BRL clubs with histories as old and as storied as any NSWRL club) soured a lot of people, the brutal corporate nature of the Broncos turns a lot of people off, the fact that the Broncos have systematically undermined further attempts of the NSWRL/ARL/NRL to expand not only in Brisbane but in South East Queensland as a whole pisses a lot of people off, the key role they played in the Super League war ###### a lot of people off, the way that they take Brisbane and the fan base in Brisbane for granted annoys a lot of people, the way that they act as a law onto themselves and demand all sorts of things of the Queensland taxpayers irritates some people, the way that they basically murdered the Crushers gets some peoples panties in a bunch, honestly some people just hate them irrationally, etc, etc.

For only being 30 years old there's a lot more history there then you are making out.

1 hour ago, Toby Chopra said:

The Manchester analogy doesn't quite work for me - lots of people round the country hate United, but they all support *someone* else, whether a big club or a small one. If you lived in Manchester, but didn't support any club, so not really that into football, why would you hate United? 

And all of those people in Brisbane support someone else as well(the current incarnations of the old BRL clubs, QLD cup clubs, the Maroons, even other NRL clubs), I thought saying that they were "massive RL fans" made that pretty obvious...

However many (if not most) of those people have been calling out for another top tier Brisbane club to follow since the day that the Broncos were admitted, even if it's only so they have direct access to top flight footy in Brisbane other than the Broncos, and all of them could be converted into a fan base for a new Brisbane club pretty easily if the NRL and the new Brisbane club/s played their cards right.

[The Future is League]

15 hours ago, Manfred Mann said:

There is talk of the NRL expanding beyond 16 clubs in time for the next TV contract. It is not a certainty, but definitely possible for 2022. 

If that happens the likely new teams are, in order of likelihood, Perth, Brisbane 2 and Wellington.  I doubt that the NRL will add more than two clubs in its next expansion. But those new NRL clubs will require a combined playing roster of around 60 players. Where will those players come from?

The big problem with any expansion in the number of NRL clubs is the already existing shortage of quality players, especially in the spine positions. The only option would be for the NRL, with its superior salary cap and funding, to attract former NRL players back to Australia from the northern hemisphere. Players like Blake Austin, Lachlan Coote, Trent Merrin and Konrad Hurrell will be in high demand for the new NRL clubs, who will be able to outbid the English, French and north American clubs for talent.  Moreover, many quality English players will be recruited to NRL clubs, in the manner that Canberra and South Sydney have done. The immediate result will be a decline in the quality of the Super League game. Without the NRL imports and English stars Super League will be less attractive to watch.

What can Super League do to alleviate such a problem?

The player pools are limited in the heartlands, and cannot sustain even the current 12 Super League clubs. That is why there are so many imports from the NRL. In my opinion the only solution to the strains to Super League caused by possible future NRL expansion is to find new player pools in other parts of Britain and overseas. That is an argument for reforming Super League, with new clubs in the expansion areas. A  Super League club in London should become a necessity. Developing the game in other areas like Newcastle should be supported. France is another important development area, as is north America. Perhaps there are prospects in Eastern Europe (e.g. Serbia) and the Middle East if funding can be found. However expansion in the northern hemisphere is pointless without the proviso that these new clubs must have junior structures in place in order to join Super League. Toulouse does have such  junior structures. Ottawa is apparently planning that. But Toronto appears not appear to care. Toronto must be compelled to rectify that situation. The north American candidate clubs need to  work on recruiting rugby union and NFL reject players to rugby league.

New players pools outside the existing heartlands have to be found or else the northern hemisphere game will wither into a second rate feeder competition for the NRL

I think we are looking at least another 5 years before the NRL expands.

A majority of NRL clubs are insular and can't see the benefits of expansion

To many clubs have self interest and can't the see the benefits new NRL clubs in Perth, Brisbane 2 and Wellington would bring to Rugby League in the SH.

 

[dixiedean]

4 hours ago, The Parksider said:

Excellent honest post in which you reveal just why people like to invent new clubs in their heads, or latch onto any hair brained scheme going. Of course the proposals for clubs in Ottawa, New York, Barcelona or wherever are always going to garner support and enthusiasm from the bored and fed up because the "idea" of something new excites them. It's when they start to turn the dream into a reality in their heads and dismiss the real world problems and issues we have that what becomes genuinely boring is the denial of reality and the invention of various fictions. It's the state of mind that the likes of Salesmen like Perez thrive on, he tells you he can deliver what you want, and you follow without much thought....... 

You mean Mr. Perez don't you. he's the man who finds you guys easy prey because your bored with the game. Maybe Kayakman is bored with paddling his canoe and TWP excites him, fair enough. But the thing that always stinks in these threads is how those who invest in and administer our game here get demonised all the time as "Incompetents". 

The truth is there is a list of people who have great business skills and a great philanthropy towards Rugby League, these people actually deliver TV deals, and develop players at their clubs whom they work hard to keep stable in a very crowded sports market.

These are people actually keeping the game alive, keeping the player production line going, keeping the game on TV with actual paying contracts and you have the bone brained cheek to call that "incompetent"? Your "someone" has come along and has for the last three years showed us exactly what he can do (talk garbage) and show us what he cannot do:-

1. Get anyone in Canada playing Rugby League

2. Run a solvent club without having to draw heavily on a $Billionaire with an open wallet

3. Get any TV interest such that he ends up paying to be on TV.

There is your "new and revolutionary Messiah" The bottom line is we are where we are, and would be nowhere without the "incompetents" running RFL/SL. The good news is if you find it all too boring there's a myriad of alternative sports out there for you to go off and discover.

Made up rubbish to support a dream,  but it's par for the course.

Players come from areas they have played RL traditionally for decades, they are kids who play at school because those schools play RL, and at junior clubs their dads run because they are RL fans, and they all watch their local clubs, and are inspired by the star players. The ones who are good enough the one or two per hundred are the ones that arrive in the pro-game and have to go through years of pro coaching to hone their skills to be able to deliver a good enough product to be able to charge fans to watch and TV companies to show. Your double the wages nonsense merely fits the dream.

They do not suddenly appear because they can see a massive salary in RL and say Oh I'll play that - it's nonsense.

These terrible threads and posts are all based on a dream of what RL could be which is fine. I do that. But the problem is when people start to believe it and become incapable of talking about their delusions, and can only fire off insults or make up soundbites to excuse the very very real problems our game has. As I say I can count 20 maybe up to 30 such people who congregate on here, but out of this bubble and across the game we have tens of thousands of fans who accept the game for what it is, accept the struggles for what they are and are not "bored" with it all. Yes we must struggle to keep interest in the game, but inventing messiahs, and disparaging people who do the hard yards and put in the effective money, isn't the way to do it is it?

Not going to argue with most of that, as a lot of what you say is valid.

But it is as much about retention as finding new sources.

Merely to ask you this. If we were able to increase salaries in RL tenfold by some as yet unforeseen system, do you honestly think there wouldn't be more young players heading into our game? The ones who are good at many sports, who choose football for financial reasons. Kids tempted by Union. Those who go off to be plumbers or go to Higher Education instead? Kids from Academies who give the game up? 

I reckon there would.