Pacific bears

[Sports Prophet]

22 minutes ago, The Rocket said:

Mate we do not need any more NSW sides in the (Inter)National Rugby League.

The future is the Perth`s, the Christchurch`s, the Fiji`s, the P.N.G.`s, the Wellington`s et.al

Let the central coast be absorbed into an existing team`s pathways.

I can appreciate that opinion and I am certainly not saying CC is necessarily a better option than any of those other locations. I am not saying it’s worse either.

What I want to see are some fantastic bids to drive up the standards of any newly selected club and I think a CC Bears bid could have some very strong backing, support and it would be more immediately sustainable than any of those other cities you mention.

I would be happy seeing CC added with Perth and NZII for a 20 team comp.

[Damien]

I know it's a what if question but how strong would North Sydney now be in the NRL if they hadn't been forced to merge? The Manly merger certainly never worked out as intended.

They represent a fair size, wealthy area of Sydney, that now isn't represented, and a fan base who became alienated and followed other sports. Their crowds before the SL wars were considerably more than Souths, Balmain, Wests, Canterbury Bulldogs, Penrith etc and they obviously still have a bit of money and backing.

I understand clubs had to be cut etc but on the face of it I think it was a poor choice. I also understand why more NSW teams aren't desirable when there are completely under represented and non represented areas. For me we have to have Perth, NZ2 and even another Queensland team to get to 20.

Once we get that though and with Sydney growing is there a chance?..... In the new wealthy and powerful NRL, that seems to now appeal to a much wider base, I do think it would be interesting to see how they would go again though and if we would see a Souths style rebirth.

Edited March 29 by Damien

[rlno1]

4 hours ago, Worzel said:

Nobody likes Scott Penn. 

Safe Liberal seat

[rlno1]

1 hour ago, Sports Prophet said:

I lived there as well and can tell you N Sydney Bears were the overwhelmingly most popular NSWRL side. I standby my comments, it is a very good fit.

Unfortunately the Roosters want the juniors and Politis has alot of power. 

[rlno1]

6 minutes ago, Damien said:

I know it's a what if question but how strong would North Sydney now be in the NRL if they hadn't been forced to merge? The Manly merger certainly never worked out as intended.

They represent a fair size, wealthy area of Sydney, that now isn't represented, and a fan base who became alienated and followed other sports. Their crowds before the SL wars were considerably more than Souths, Balmain, Wests, Canterbury Bulldogs, Penrith etc and they obviously still have a bit of money and backing.

I understand clubs had to be cut etc but on the face of it I think it was a poor choice. I also understand why more NSW teams aren't desirable when there are completely under represented and non represented areas. For me we have to have Perth, NZ2 and even another Queensland team to get to 20.

Once we get that though and with Sydney growing is there a chance?..... In the new wealthy and powerful NRL, that seems to now appeal to a much wider base, I do think it would be interesting to see how they would go again though and if we would see a Souths style rebirth.

You just have to look at Souths to see how clubs can get their house in order from the 1990s. I have believe Norths and Balmain could have survived and thrived in todays climate remember the salary cap is covered by the grant. Clubs are way better managed today and tap into other forms of revenue its not about waiting for a leagues club grant every year as it once was.

[JonM]

Have we had any of the various articles about the Fiji bid on here? 

https://wwos.nine.com.au/nrl/news-2024-the-mole-exclusive-expansion-bid-fiji-government-bev-broughton/0f34e59f-9a16-4a0e-a7ce-ebab8999601b

[Sports Prophet]

8 hours ago, JonM said:

Have we had any of the various articles about the Fiji bid on here? 

https://wwos.nine.com.au/nrl/news-2024-the-mole-exclusive-expansion-bid-fiji-government-bev-broughton/0f34e59f-9a16-4a0e-a7ce-ebab8999601b

There is so much more to like about this than PNG.

[The Rocket]

On 29/03/2024 at 21:40, Damien said:

I know it's a what if question but how strong would North Sydney now be in the NRL if they hadn't been forced to merge? The Manly merger certainly never worked out as intended.

They represent a fair size, wealthy area of Sydney, that now isn't represented, and a fan base who became alienated and followed other sports. Their crowds before the SL wars were considerably more than Souths, Balmain, Wests, Canterbury Bulldogs, Penrith etc and they obviously still have a bit of money and backing.

I understand clubs had to be cut etc but on the face of it I think it was a poor choice. I also understand why more NSW teams aren't desirable when there are completely under represented and non represented areas. For me we have to have Perth, NZ2 and even another Queensland team to get to 20.

Once we get that though and with Sydney growing is there a chance?..... In the new wealthy and powerful NRL, that seems to now appeal to a much wider base, I do think it would be interesting to see how they would go again though and if we would see a Souths style rebirth.

I assume you`re are talking about a merger with the Central Coast, because the Bears` home ground problems are insurmountable and I severely doubt Bears` fans would travel in sufficient numbers across the bridge to Allianz to make that work.

Central Coast Bears, possible, but a long way down the list, maybe if the competition goes to conferences.

[Damien]

9 hours ago, The Rocket said:

I assume you`re are talking about a merger with the Central Coast, because the Bears` home ground problems are insurmountable and I severely doubt Bears` fans would travel in sufficient numbers across the bridge to Allianz to make that work.

Central Coast Bears, possible, but a long way down the list, maybe if the competition goes to conferences.

I was talking half hypothetically really, any stadium issues aside.

[eal]

The axing of the North Sydney Bears was a travesty. If it hadn't rained so much during 1999 the Central Coast stadium would have been completed on time and the Bears would have relocated most of their games to Gosford. Instead it rained cats and dogs all winter, the stadium was significantly delayed, and the Bears took on $4,000,000 of debt due to the delays. Sydney perhaps has too many teams, but North Sydney isn't one of them. Cronulla and St. George have a tiny footprint with little chance of growth, North Sydney had a bigger fan base than many of the teams that survived the cut.