The Redcliffe Dolphins

[Tosh]

Because of the fast growing population of both Brisbane and the whole south east Queensland region you could also easily make a case for another Queensland NRL franchise be it a genuine Brisbane based franchise or one that covers the Ipswich&logan area.

I still think the NRL missed a trick just after the super league war ended with the rationalisation of Sydney/metro teams by not relocating the balmain tigers to Brisbane and linking up with the east Brisbane tigers.

The Brisbane tigers could have been huge playing out of suncorp stadium and potentially having thousands of tigers(balmain) fans based in Sydney attending away fixtures against other Sydney/metro sides.

The east Brisbane tigers now Brisbane tigers are also a very wealthy asset rich club.

[The Partisan]

From memory promises were made to the Brisbane Rugby League clubs by the Broncos back in '87/88, but they were not held or at least did not end up being what was promised.   

As a current Brisbane based Dragons supporter and Titans member, I'll be getting along to a few games and possibly even sign up for a membership package.   Just keen to see the game grow in SEQ and beyond. 

As for an 18th team - Perth gets my first vote with NZ II getting the nod next.  Wouldn't bother me if reversed. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Anita Bath]

It will be interesting to see how many they  draw to the games at redcliffe.

 

Brisbane Roar football moved from suncorp out to redcliffe and are now moving back…lost a load of fans. Folks in brisbane dont travel out to redcliffe, particularly for evening games.

Its not a great location for fans not wanting to drive. Its a 30+ minute walk to the rail station. The photo in this thread shows the main stand….the rest of the ground is uncovered so afternoon games can be unbearably hot and during storms (common at times in SEQ) you get drenched.

I can see them playing games against teams like warriors and canberra there but Suncorp will be their main ground for all the big teams.

[The Future is League]

11 hours ago, Tosh said:

Cairns is far too small of a market and is already considered to be NQ cowboy territory.

As for NZ2 it should most definitely be a Christchurch based franchise playing out of the new 30k stadium with maybe no more than 2 home games taken to other cities/towns in the South Island.

Cairns has a population of 160,000 and over 170 miles away from Townsville

[Whippet13]

10 minutes ago, The Future is League said:

Cairns has a population of 160,000 and over 170 miles away from Townsville

Cairns is just a provincial town, 160K population is way too small for an NRL franchise.

I think Perth has a population of c2 million and growing.

[Jparrish]

20 hours ago, Omott91 said:

Should be at Suncorp every game.

Look at Penrith panthers, Cronulla sharks, Parramatta, West tigers at Leichhardt.  Atmospheres are 100x better than when clubs play at their own purpose built stadiums 

[pahars]

11 hours ago, Tosh said:

Evidently not.

like I said before I’m led to believe that the Brisbane RL competition was very tribal and the creation of the Brisbane Broncos effectively killed the competition.

I guess it would be something similar to how fans over here would react to mergers like hull fc and KR or cas, wakey and featherstone etc.

Unfortunately it needed to happen. The Victoria Football League had expanded in to Sydney, Brisbane(ish) and Perth and had an Adelaide team on the way. If Australian rugby league hadn’t found a way to at least combine NSW and QLD audiences in to one comp it would have been completely left behind. 
 

Some were excited by a Brisbane team full of origin players, lots begrudgingly accepted it as good for the game and some were very angry but can hopefully be tempted by the Dolphins being the anti-Broncos. 

[The Future is League]

1 hour ago, pahars said:

Unfortunately it needed to happen. The Victoria Football League had expanded in to Sydney, Brisbane(ish) and Perth and had an Adelaide team on the way. If Australian rugby league hadn’t found a way to at least combine NSW and QLD audiences in to one comp it would have been completely left behind. 
 

Some were excited by a Brisbane team full of origin players, lots begrudgingly accepted it as good for the game and some were very angry but can hopefully be tempted by the Dolphins being the anti-Broncos. 

They certainly had some very good crowds by any standards in them days, and the crowds are good now.

With luck the rivalry with the Dolphins will only help the game in Brisbane, and hopefully the Titans can get their act together.

[Tosh]

5 hours ago, The Future is League said:

Cairns has a population of 160,000 and over 170 miles away from Townsville

That’s tiny.

Cairns are about 4-5 places behind other potential franchise bids and that’s even if they’ve shown interest in applying to join the NRL.

[Tosh]

5 hours ago, Jparrish said:

Look at Penrith panthers, Cronulla sharks, Parramatta, West tigers at Leichhardt.  Atmospheres are 100x better than when clubs play at their own purpose built stadiums 

Leichardt oval is a dump and shark park is too small and outdated.

[Tosh]

8 hours ago, The Partisan said:

From memory promises were made to the Brisbane Rugby League clubs by the Broncos back in '87/88, but they were not held or at least did not end up being what was promised.   

As a current Brisbane based Dragons supporter and Titans member, I'll be getting along to a few games and possibly even sign up for a membership package.   Just keen to see the game grow in SEQ and beyond. 

As for an 18th team - Perth gets my first vote with NZ II getting the nod next.  Wouldn't bother me if reversed. 

 

 

 

 

 

How are the dolphins being received in Brisbane?

Do you think they will achieve similar crowds to what the crushers got in their 1st season playing in Brisbane?

[The Future is League]

2 hours ago, Tosh said:

That’s tiny.

Cairns are about 4-5 places behind other potential franchise bids and that’s even if they’ve shown interest in applying to join the NRL.

Its not far behind Townsville population wise.

Name the other potential NRL franchise bids excluding NZ.2 and Perth?

[The Future is League]

10 hours ago, Anita Bath said:

It will be interesting to see how many they  draw to the games at redcliffe.

 

Brisbane Roar football moved from suncorp out to redcliffe and are now moving back…lost a load of fans. Folks in brisbane dont travel out to redcliffe, particularly for evening games.

Its not a great location for fans not wanting to drive. Its a 30+ minute walk to the rail station. The photo in this thread shows the main stand….the rest of the ground is uncovered so afternoon games can be unbearably hot and during storms (common at times in SEQ) you get drenched.

I can see them playing games against teams like warriors and canberra there but Suncorp will be their main ground for all the big teams.

It will be indeed interesting for games played in Redcliffe with a population of less than 50,000

[GUBRATS]

47 minutes ago, The Future is League said:

It will be indeed interesting for games played in Redcliffe with a population of less than 50,000

So the NRL have given a franchise to a town the size of Leigh ? 

[eal]

The Dolphins squad looks very poor for next season, there isn't a single marquee player on the roster and many have turned them down. The really should have been given another year to recruit before entering the competition as not enough players come off contract in one off-season to really recruit a competitive team. I think long term they will do well but in the short term it is going to be a struggle on the field. 

Regarding the name, I'm guessing they feel it is best to ditch Redcliffe as fans of rival Queensland Cup teams won't get behind anything named Redcliffe. I think this is short-sighted as none of those fans are going to be fooled by a team called the Dolphins and actual fans of Redcliffe are annoyed that the team has dropped Redcliffe.

[Tosh]

1 hour ago, The Future is League said:

Its not far behind Townsville population wise.

Name the other potential NRL franchise bids excluding NZ.2 and Perth?

 

1 hour ago, The Future is League said:

Its not far behind Townsville population wise.

Name the other potential NRL franchise bids excluding NZ.2 and Perth?

Exactly. That’s why there’s no need for another small city NRL team from the sparsely populated North Queensland region.

potential NRL bids include NZ2, Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane jets, Brisbane firehawks and central coast.

[The Future is League]

9 minutes ago, Tosh said:

 

Exactly. That’s why there’s no need for another small city NRL team from the sparsely populated North Queensland region.

potential NRL bids include NZ2, Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane jets, Brisbane firehawks and central coast.

Where would the Brisbane Jets and Brisbane Firehawks play out of?

[Anita Bath]

42 minutes ago, The Future is League said:

Where would the Brisbane Jets and Brisbane Firehawks play out of?

Suncorp……They are desperate to maximise use of the stadium so would have more than one game per week their.  A thursday/ friday night game with another on Saturday night/sunday evening.

With Queensland Reds attendences falling they could move back to the redeveloped Ballymore.

[Anita Bath]

1 hour ago, GUBRATS said:

So the NRL have given a franchise to a town the size of Leigh ? 

But it has a railway station.

[GUBRATS]

51 minutes ago, Anita Bath said:

But it has a railway station.

That'll help the residents of Redcliffe get to the game then 

[The Daddy]

4 hours ago, GUBRATS said:

So the NRL have given a franchise to a town the size of Leigh ? 

Does every thread have to be derailed into some sort of Leigh debate? Geez

[AB90]

9 hours ago, The Future is League said:

Its not far behind Townsville population wise.

Name the other potential NRL franchise bids excluding NZ.2 and Perth?

I imagine Brisbane 3 and NZ 3 will be higher up the bids list than Cairns.  

[bobbruce]

14 hours ago, GUBRATS said:

So the NRL have given a franchise to a town the size of Leigh ? 

Yes and then told them to drop the Leigh part and play most of your games at old Trafford. 

[The Future is League]

15 hours ago, Anita Bath said:

Suncorp……They are desperate to maximise use of the stadium so would have more than one game per week their.  A thursday/ friday night game with another on Saturday night/sunday evening.

With Queensland Reds attendences falling they could move back to the redeveloped Ballymore.

The jets or the firehawks?

If that was the case you would have 3 or 4 NRL clubs playing out of Suncorp

[The Daddy]

I would actually be in favour of them being named Brisbane Dolphins