Western Australian government to support bid for an 18th NRL team

[The Rocket]

43 minutes ago, Dirkgee said:

Aussie Rules is the most popular sport outside of NSW and QLD but AFL does seem to be able to be even more popular to a larger degree than RL is in its own states. 

For example before the pandemic the AFL was the 4th most attended sports league in the world, with an average attendance just under 40,000. I went to Adelaide for a few weeks and no one knew anything about RL, it is completely an Aussie Rules city.

Funny how NRL averaged about 70 000 + more viewers per game over the year than fumbleball. Cumulatively that comes in at over 25 million more viewers for the year. And all that with a 16 team competition.

You wait till we go to 18 teams like them and get our international calendar sorted and a truly national competition when Perth comes in. Could easily be a 40 million viewer advantage.

n.b. New Zealand viewers aren`t even counted in our figures.

Edited November 1, 2022 by The Rocket

[RayCee]

NZ is the best place for the next expansion team but there doesn't seem to be a bid in place so that's off the table. Perth have gone to a lot of trouble to put a strong bid forward and it ticks many boxes for me. Adelaide could be an option somewhere down the line but behind a few others at the minute. PNG would be well supported but there would be some negative aspects that will delay that. The Central Coast would be good as a dual franchise with a Sydney club, like St G and Ill.

For me Perth now. NZ next and some encouragement from the NRL for a bid to be put together. A time frame would surely help potential bidders. 

[The Rocket]

12 hours ago, nadera78 said:

Yes, including the Bears and their ludicrous demands would be a terrible mistake - so it's likely V'landys is pushing for that to happen.

Criticise V`landy`s all you like but he pushed through the 17th team during the height of the pandemic when many would have said hold off. Some also argue that they chose the wrong new entrant but I suspect with so much uncertainty they`ve gone with the financially safe option this time. Redcliffe will be one of the richest clubs in the NRL, they are already only second behind the Broncos in terms of sponsorship, $10 m+ pledged.

With regards W.A.. V`landy`s lit a fire underneath Perth with his " why bother with rusted on fumbleball states " and then throwing out the teaser " bring back the Bears in Western Oz. It`s important to remember we most likely wouldn`t be talking about Perth if we didn`t have Redcliffe.

And I`d be very very surprised if the NRL aren`t in constant contact with the W.A. Gov`t. Communications something along the lines ` well show us how serious you are`. And now we got a working group, with Treasury, Venues West and the Premiers department involved. 

No doubt he`s made mistakes, but when you`re getting a lot done you`re bound to, the key is, keep moving forward. Fortune favours the brave.

[Sports Prophet]

32 minutes ago, The Rocket said:

Funny how NRL averaged about 70 000 + more viewers per game over the year than fumbleball. Cumulatively that comes in at over 25 million more viewers for the year. And all that with a 16 team competition.

You wait till we go to 18 teams like them and get our international calendar sorted and a truly national competition when Perth comes in. Could easily be a 40 million viewer advantage.

Remember, that’s not exactly 70,000 more viewers, but 70,000 more views. Two very different things better explained where the AFL GF avg national audience outstripped the NRL GF avg national audience by 500k.

I like Perth as an 18th team. What Perth will not deliver is 100+ NRL standard players in 20 years like a NZII team will, so people shouldn’t be so sure it’s Perth just yet. In my opinion, players are the most important asset the NRL has. Expansion NZII produces playing stock that invites opportunity for further expansion, moreso than Perth can dream to do in 50 years. NZII also offers far better TV opportunities than Perth does.

Favouring Perth is the drastic increase in corporate activity with WA the biggest economy in Australia since the pandemic.

From my most recent discussions, the WA committee are positive about the Bears partnership and for now looks to be the favourite option for any submission to the NRL.

I agree with Martyn. Perth should be its own franchise.

Edited November 1, 2022 by Sports Prophet

[Dirkgee]

28 minutes ago, The Rocket said:

Funny how NRL averaged about 70 000 + more viewers per game over the year than fumbleball. Cumulatively that comes in at over 25 million more viewers for the year. And all that with a 16 team competition.

You wait till we go to 18 teams like them and get our international calendar sorted and a truly national competition when Perth comes in. Could easily be a 40 million viewer advantage.

n.b. New Zealand viewers aren`t even counted in our figures.

True, but AFL blows NRL attendances out of the water. I don't know why Australian Rugby League fans don't show up to games when the product is so good. 

This forum has poked at Australians not showing up for international games but I believe domestic attendance also needs to be higher.

[EggFace]

10 minutes ago, Dirkgee said:

True, but AFL blows NRL attendances out of the water. I don't know why Australian Rugby League fans don't show up to games when the product is so good. 

This forum has poked at Australians not showing up for international games but I believe domestic attendance also needs to be higher.

This year has been pretty good for NRL attendances.

[The Rocket]

8 minutes ago, Dirkgee said:

True, but AFL blows NRL attendances out of the water. I don't know why Australian Rugby League fans don't show up to games when the product is so good. 

This forum has poked at Australians not showing up for international games but I believe domestic attendance also needs to be higher.

Look mate, think of it like a cult, it`s important to remember that. They have this siege mentality of us against the world, or certainly us against the non-fumbleball states. The fear that their geographically isolated game, only played in one small corner of the world will die out one day.

And @Sports Prophet as far as 70 000 viewers/ views, who cares, a certain number of them will be unique viewers and many millions over the year. GF viewing audience difference - the advantage of having a truly national competition with minimum two teams in every capital city.

5 minutes ago, EggFace said:

This year has been pretty good for NRL attendances.

And fumbleball crowds have been on a slow decline for about 15 years.

[Ragingbull]

1 hour ago, Balmainboy said:

Rather PNG to be honest. 

Will never happen.  They would need a lot.more than just domestic talent to be able to compete in the NRL. You won't get many Ozzies leaving the lifestyle  Sydney or Brisbane to go live in Port Moresby.

[Copa]

11 hours ago, Davo5 said:

What are their demands ?

Reading that article it does state playing upto 6 games at North Sydney Oval which is way too many,I’d cap it at 2 with Manly being an  obvious one.

North Sydney oval is a rubbish ground for modern NRL. It’s suitable for cricket and AFL. The North Sydney Bears are living in the past.

[Copa]

10 hours ago, Martyn Sadler said:

There is a good case for the Bears to return and to play it's home games on the Central Coast with a couple each year at the North Sydney Oval.

But Perth has to be a standalone club, not a joint venture.

Perth's return to top-level competition is long overdue.

After that, the candidates have to be Adelaide, Christchurch, Gosford (ie the Bears) and Port Moresby.

I was raised on the Central Coast and we had very little to do with who we called “Sydney people”. We didn’t relate to them at all. Kuringai Chase National Park, Brisbane Water National Park and the Hawkesbury river are the natural barriers between Sydney and the Central Coast region.

The Bears home ground is actually near Sydney harbour, an 80km drive away.

I guess I’m trying to say the Bears in Gosford would still feel like a Sydney team playing on the road for many central coast locals.

[Copa]

5 hours ago, Dirkgee said:

For example before the pandemic the AFL was the 4th most attended sports league in the world, with an average attendance just under 40,000.

Average attendance isn’t the same as most attended sports league.

Major League Baseball, for example, has over 2400 games per season, and gets huge numbers to attend over a season.

[Tosh]

5 hours ago, Balmainboy said:

Rather PNG to be honest. 

PNG’s problems are far deeper than just the lack of genuine NRL standard players for any potential NRL side to draw upon.

You’ve got to factor in the high crime and poverty rates and the fact that PNG is a 3rd world country which will no doubt trigger a lot of woke people but unfortunately these are all undeniable facts.

[Tosh]

10 hours ago, Martyn Sadler said:

I completely disagree. After the Bears' departure, Manly are the only Sydney club north of the Harbour Bridge, where most of the wealthy people in Sydney live.

If Manly moved, it would leave all the northern beaches to rugby union and AFL.

It's important that Manly is a strong club with a modern stadium.

Of course with the bears no longer playing out of the north Sydney oval in the NRL the manly sea Eagles are vital for the NRL to have a presence in the northern Sydney region.

I was talking about the time shortly after the end of the super league war in which imo the bears should have represented the north Sydney region in the NRL and the sea Eagles should have moved to and represented the central coast region.

I would have also relocated the balmain tigers to Brisbane and merged them with the Queensland cup side East’s tigers now currently known as the Brisbane tigers. I would have also merged the bulldogs and magpies clubs to form the western bulldogs eventually playing out of a new stadium in Liverpool but that’s for another discussion and topic.

[Omott91]

13 hours ago, Davo5 said:

What are their demands ?

Reading that article it does state playing upto 6 games at North Sydney Oval which is way too many,I’d cap it at 2 with Manly being an  obvious one.

I believe this is a separate bid completely separate from what the Bear's are proposing.

Which is great because the Bear's shouldn't be allowed anywhere near the 18th licence.

[Omott91]

12 hours ago, Martyn Sadler said:

There is a good case for the Bears to return and to play it's home games on the Central Coast with a couple each year at the North Sydney Oval.

But Perth has to be a standalone club, not a joint venture.

Perth's return to top-level competition is long overdue.

After that, the candidates have to be Adelaide, Christchurch, Gosford (ie the Bears) and Port Moresby.

Sorry but completely disagree apart from your points on Perth.

There's no strong argument that the Bear's returning would add any value to the Nrl. V'landys has already said the Sydney market is saturated. There isn't the corporate $$ in Gosford either. Never going to happen.

There's minimal presence of Nrl in Adelaide and Png is a 3rd world country with major societal issues so basing an Nrl team there wouldn't ever work.

If Perth is no.18 then Nz2 and south west Brisbane will be the choices if they expand further.

Edited November 2, 2022 by Omott91

[Tosh]

8 minutes ago, Omott91 said:

Sorry but completely disagree apart from your points on Perth.

There's no strong argument that the Bear's returning would add any value to the Nrl. V'landys has already said the Sydney market is saturated. There isn't the corporate $$ in Gosford either. Never going to happen.

There's minimal presence of Nrl in Adelaide and Png is a 3rd world country with major societal issues so basing an Nrl team there wouldn't ever work.

If Perth is no.18 then Nz2 and south west Brisbane will be the choices if they expand further.

Queensland is a tough sell unfortunately as any further and future additions to the NRL from that state will be seen by some as not proper expansion even though it has a large population and large future projected growth especially in south East Queensland.

Not to mention the fact that RL is the #1 code in the state. For me south east Queensland could easily accommodate another franchise in either the city of Brisbane or the western corridor covering the cities of Logan and Ipswich.

This could potentially give you a nice spread of teams covering the largest population centres with the Brisbane broncos, Gold Coast titans, moreton bay dolphins and then either another city of Brisbane team or Ipswich/Logan team along with the North Queensland cowboys.

[Sports Prophet]

2 hours ago, Copa said:

I was raised on the Central Coast and we had very little to do with who we called “Sydney people”. We didn’t relate to them at all. Kuringai Chase National Park, Brisbane Water National Park and the Hawkesbury river are the natural barriers between Sydney and the Central Coast region.

The Bears home ground is actually near Sydney harbour, an 80km drive away.

I guess I’m trying to say the Bears in Gosford would still feel like a Sydney team playing on the road for many central coast locals.

My experience on this is very contrary to yours. Having lived there myself including school and post schooling years, the club with the highest majority of support was the Bears.

[Sports Prophet]

2 hours ago, Copa said:

Average attendance isn’t the same as most attended sports league.

Major League Baseball, for example, has over 2400 games per season, and gets huge numbers to attend over a season.

AFL’s overall attendance is equally light years ahead of any other sports league as their avg attendance figures are.

[Copa]

1 hour ago, Sports Prophet said:

My experience on this is very contrary to yours. Having lived there myself including school and post schooling years, the club with the highest majority of support was the Bears.

I was raised, and mostly lived, in what was then Gosford shire in beachside communities.

Rugby league is popular and many people supported Sydney teams, but they were always Sydney teams.

The Bears felt even more foreign back then before the Mooney Mooney Bridge was constructed.

Locals never identified Gosford shire as a part of Sydney.

If the central coast gets a team, they deserve one with a central coast identity.

North Sydney oval is only a bit closer to Gosford, as the crow flies, than Roosters home ground. It’s a 100% Sydney team that’s just over the northern part of Sydney harbour.

Central coast identity debates aside, I wouldn’t trust the Bears. I suspect they’d slowly undermine everything to eventually be back in their historic form.

Edited November 2, 2022 by Copa

[Tosh]

8 hours ago, RayCee said:

NZ is the best place for the next expansion team but there doesn't seem to be a bid in place so that's off the table. Perth have gone to a lot of trouble to put a strong bid forward and it ticks many boxes for me. Adelaide could be an option somewhere down the line but behind a few others at the minute. PNG would be well supported but there would be some negative aspects that will delay that. The Central Coast would be good as a dual franchise with a Sydney club, like St G and Ill.

For me Perth now. NZ next and some encouragement from the NRL for a bid to be put together. A time frame would surely help potential bidders. 

The last thing the NRL needs is another dual franchise like that of the st George Illawarra dragons.

either have it in one location or not at all as all this trying to be all things and pleasing everyone ends up being a complete mess and pleasing nobody.

[Sports Prophet]

1 hour ago, Tosh said:

The last thing the NRL needs is another dual franchise like that of the st George Illawarra dragons.

either have it in one location or not at all as all this trying to be all things and pleasing everyone ends up being a complete mess and pleasing nobody.

The way society apparently loves it these days  

[Tosh]

1 minute ago, Sports Prophet said:

The way society apparently loves it these days  

Exactly.

Thats why where fuc#ed.

[The Daddy]

Norths bring nothing to the table and I have no idea why they're getting involved with Perth. I've even heard that they may facilitate a NZ2 bid. 

I can only imagine that the NRL or PVL is pushing this onto Perth for political reasons, otherwise it just doesn't make sense 

[Tosh]

22 minutes ago, The Daddy said:

Norths bring nothing to the table and I have no idea why they're getting involved with Perth. I've even heard that they may facilitate a NZ2 bid. 

I can only imagine that the NRL or PVL is pushing this onto Perth for political reasons, otherwise it just doesn't make sense 

They’ve admitted they’ll talk to anyone and everyone.

I guess the bears officials will say that they bring the name, tradition, 10’s thousands of fans and $15 million in pledged investment.

[Hull Kingston Bronco]

 

Really interesting to see the Govt. reference growing female sports participation as one of the rationale for engaging in this, with the NRL being on the leading edge in terms of "men's" sports building a women's competition. This is a key aspect in why its important for us to lean into the women's game, and build it up. Aside from being a good thing in itself, it ticks a lot of boxes for government and related bodies funding decisions.