NRL expansion (Merged Threads)

[The Rocket]

9 hours ago, Sports Prophet said:

Western Venom sounds good to me

I still like Perth or W.A. Reds with the iconic Red Kangaroo as their emblem, also ties in with the red of the deserts over there.

[The Rocket]

5 hours ago, eal said:

PNG still sounds insane, essentially the plan is to build a compound where players can live, train, and play all in the same facility. I can't imagine signing up for that, sounds like a long term Covid bubble. 

If there is one saving grace from this madness that is the P.N.G. franchise it is that the NRL will own the multipurpose compound being proposed and it will include a hotel amongst other things, all paid for by the Federal Government I believe. 

If the Franchise folds or whatever this has to be worth money especially with the large mining operations and such operating out of P.N.G. these days and certainly something which is only going to get larger and provide further income for the NRL. So not all bad.

[Sports Prophet]

5 hours ago, eal said:

PNG still sounds insane, essentially the plan is to build a compound where players can live, train, and play all in the same facility. I can't imagine signing up for that, sounds like a long term Covid bubble. 

 

28 minutes ago, The Rocket said:

If there is one saving grace from this madness that is the P.N.G. franchise it is that the NRL will own the multipurpose compound being proposed and it will include a hotel amongst other things, all paid for by the Federal Government I believe. 

If the Franchise folds or whatever this has to be worth money especially with the large mining operations and such operating out of P.N.G. these days and certainly something which is only going to get larger and provide further income for the NRL. So not all bad.

I would doubt the NRL would be owners of any such compound and surely this $600m investment is for much more than building a compound and financing an NRL club. The Fed’ will be aiming to make huge infrastructure improvements in Port, likely including some sort of matched funding from the PNG government also. So the end product should be far more inviting than a glorified COVID bubble.

[The Rocket]

2 hours ago, Sports Prophet said:

I would doubt the NRL would be owners of any such compound and surely this $600m investment is for much more than building a compound and financing an NRL club.

That`s what I read and it would certainly be V`landys style to if not own the thing, then certainly to own parts of it.

This is not a one-way street in New Guinea, the NRL would be telling the Gov`t we are doing you a massive favour even contemplating a side based out of that country. Hence I expect they are demanding plenty of sweetners, having a stake or owning the compound maybe be part of that.

[eal]

I doubt even PNG players would want to play for a Port Moresby team if they're good enough to earn an NRL contract. Anybody who can get out of PNG does.

[The Future is League]

6 hours ago, eal said:

I doubt even PNG players would want to play for a Port Moresby team if they're good enough to earn an NRL contract. Anybody who can get out of PNG does.

It might help if the PNG team were based in Cairns and flown in on the mornings of match days and flown back after the game on the same day.

[Anita Bath]

There is no way the RLPA would agree to players flying in on the day of the game. 

[The Future is League]

1 minute ago, Anita Bath said:

There is no way the RLPA would agree to players flying in on the day of the game. 

Well not many Australian players will want to spend the day before a game there and certainly not want to spend the night there after playing a game.

[Anita Bath]

2 minutes ago, The Future is League said:

Well not many Australian players will want to spend the day before a game there and certainly not want to spend the night there after playing a game.

They will be on a plane straight after the game (like on other road trips) but not flying in on day of game. 

[eal]

I doubt many NRL players would want to live in Cairns, let alone put up with flying in and out of Port Moresby on game days. A PNG NRL side is about the stupidest idea the NRL could come up with.

[The Future is League]

16 minutes ago, eal said:

I doubt many NRL players would want to live in Cairns, let alone put up with flying in and out of Port Moresby on game days. A PNG NRL side is about the stupidest idea the NRL could come up with.

Hence why the NRL appear to be going cool on it and looking at putting a team in Perth and possibly another one in New Zealand.

[eal]

Perth, New Zealand, Central Coast, even Adelaide would be better than PNG. I think a QLD Cup side is the best level for PNG.

[Damien]

Well said:

 

[The Future is League]

2 hours ago, Damien said:

Well said:

 

The more i think about it the more i think about it that Perth will be the next NRL team, but just my opinion for what it's worth.

[The Future is League]

21 hours ago, eal said:

Perth, New Zealand, Central Coast, even Adelaide would be better than PNG. I think a QLD Cup side is the best level for PNG.

Don't the PNG Hunters play in the Queensland cup?

If that is the case put another PNG team in the NSW cup or whatever it's called nowadays, to improve their playing base.

[Anita Bath]

Its 2750 kms from port moresby to sydney, about the same distance as Manchester to Athens. Cairns is a mere 525kms from the PNG capital.

[eal]

6 hours ago, The Future is League said:

Don't the PNG Hunters play in the Queensland cup?

If that is the case put another PNG team in the NSW cup or whatever it's called nowadays, to improve their playing base.

They do, and most years they are mid-table at best.

[Sports Prophet]

On 29/06/2024 at 23:51, Damien said:

Well said:

 

 

On 30/06/2024 at 02:18, The Future is League said:

The more i think about it the more i think about it that Perth will be the next NRL team, but just my opinion for what it's worth.

The WA bid “consort” have been told by the NRL Expansion Committee they will need to raise $30m to support their bid.

That’s a pretty steep financial commitment up front, but I suspect the NRL are playing hardball for the WA Gov’t to stump that up as a holding deposit it the club fall on hard times.

Expansion bids will be required to outline their organisational structure, elite development programmes including established feeder club arrangements and secure sponsorship commitments to be successful. Everything you would want of a new club joining your professional comp.

With such a steep financial commitment requirement, I think the NRL have put the WA government and the WA bid in a bind. I don’t expect North’s have a lazy $30m lying around, but they will have some funds to throw in and will also have many of the other features required as noted above.

For some reason V’landys has a real hard on to “bring back the Bears”. Personally, most RL fans in WA already have an NRL club they support. By merging with the Bears you are effectively asking fans to change their support from one club, to another pre-existing club they do not support and maybe even hold a major dislike for them. A new brand (or return of Western Reds) is a clean slate and allows for fans to build immediate affection either as a local’s primary club or their secondary club.

[Damien]

7 minutes ago, Sports Prophet said:

 

The WA bid “consort” have been told by the NRL Expansion Committee they will need to raise $30m to support their bid.

That’s a pretty steep financial commitment up front, but I suspect the NRL are playing hardball for the WA Gov’t to stump that up as a holding deposit it the club fall on hard times.

Expansion bids will be required to outline their organisational structure, elite development programmes including established feeder club arrangements and secure sponsorship commitments to be successful. Everything you would want of a new club joining your professional comp.

With such a steep financial commitment requirement, I think the NRL have put the WA government and the WA bid in a bind. I don’t expect North’s have a lazy $30m lying around, but they will have some funds to throw in and will also have many of the other features required as noted above.

For some reason V’landys has a real hard on to “bring back the Bears”. Personally, most RL fans in WA already have an NRL club they support. By merging with the Bears you are effectively asking fans to change their support from one club, to another pre-existing club they do not support and maybe even hold a major dislike for them. A new brand (or return of Western Reds) is a clean slate and allows for fans to build immediate affection either as a local’s primary club or their secondary club.

I really don't get the Bears fascination.

[Sports Prophet]

13 minutes ago, Damien said:

I really don't get the Bears fascination.

They are a damned nuisance and I just have no faith in any of the figures they purport when they throw figures of 200k+ supporters ready to jump back in and support them as an interstate club.

Its not like the previous examples of mergers in RL have successful blueprints.

Edited July 1 by Sports Prophet

[THE RED ROOSTER]

TV will be the determining factor in any expansion bid. Perth being two hours behind of Sydney maybe there is a slot the NRL can exploit for TV bearing in mind the 6.00pm Friday game is not to everyones taste.

There is also a case for another side in the Brisbane area in the west around Ipswich, given that you could have a Queensland team Friday, Saturday and Sunday on TV.

Follow the money when it comes to expansion...

[Anita Bath]

10 hours ago, THE RED ROOSTER said:

TV will be the determining factor in any expansion bid. Perth being two hours behind of Sydney maybe there is a slot the NRL can exploit for TV bearing in mind the 6.00pm Friday game is not to everyones taste.

There is also a case for another side in the Brisbane area in the west around Ipswich, given that you could have a Queensland team Friday, Saturday and Sunday on TV.

Follow the money when it comes to expansion...

Unlike Perth, NZ2 and PNG another Brisbane based team would need a new stadium. A league regular season goes to end of April, Super rugby until June, Broncos and Dolphins, Wallabies, Origin men and women all use Suncorp. 

[The Rocket]

21 hours ago, Sports Prophet said:

For some reason V’landys has a real hard on to “bring back the Bears”.

It`s absolutely not true that V`landys is obsessed with getting the Bears back, he has made it clear several times that he likes the idea but at no point that it is a must have for the Perth bid.

On top of that several people involved with the Perth bid have made it clear that they would rather be a  stand-alone entity, but are sensible enough to see what the Bears can bring to the table.

 

21 hours ago, Damien said:

I really don't get the Bears fascination.

A lot of it is a media beat-up, V`landys has fuelled this because he knows it`s a headline grabber and a t no point has he said a must have.

Having said that if done right the Bears do have things they could offer a new team. They have existing full pathways, juniors, a League`s club and other businesses and are based in a wealthy part of Sydney with a large central business district that could provide sponsors. The socio-economic profile of the North Sydney region could provide that hipster type of fan-base that would get behind some sort of retro-team and as much as this type of fan is criticised we don`t have enough of that type of fan in the game.

All this working though depends on the Bears knowing their place in this proposed merged entity and getting the balance right in retaining those fans with out necessarily playing any regular season games at North Sydney oval. This could be tricky but if I think if done right could be done.

[Sports Prophet]

3 hours ago, The Rocket said:

It`s absolutely not true that V`landys is obsessed with getting the Bears back, he has made it clear several times that he likes the idea but at no point that it is a must have for the Perth bid.

On top of that several people involved with the Perth bid have made it clear that they would rather be a  stand-alone entity, but are sensible enough to see what the Bears can bring to the table.

 

A lot of it is a media beat-up, V`landys has fuelled this because he knows it`s a headline grabber and a t no point has he said a must have.

Having said that if done right the Bears do have things they could offer a new team. They have existing full pathways, juniors, a League`s club and other businesses and are based in a wealthy part of Sydney with a large central business district that could provide sponsors. The socio-economic profile of the North Sydney region could provide that hipster type of fan-base that would get behind some sort of retro-team and as much as this type of fan is criticised we don`t have enough of that type of fan in the game.

All this working though depends on the Bears knowing their place in this proposed merged entity and getting the balance right in retaining those fans with out necessarily playing any regular season games at North Sydney oval. This could be tricky but if I think if done right could be done.

V’landys and his hard on for a return of the Bears:

https://www.2gb.com/podcast/vlandys-says-north-sydney-bears-set-for-nrl-return/

https://thenightly.com.au/sport/nrl/national-rugby-league-chairman-peter-vlandys-impressed-by-perth-big-amid-premier-roger-cooks-persitence--c-14703708 

https://thewest.com.au/sport/rugby-league/australian-rugby-league-boss-peter-vlandys-says-perth-bears-is-his-ideal-partnership-for-new-club--c-14638680

He wants them in. I’m not opposed to having them in. I just think the only sensible place for them is Central Coast and they should to focus their energy on commanding the huge market from North Sydney to Tuggerah and drawing crowds of 20k in Gosford and playing 2-4 games annually down the highway at North Sydney Oval against Manly and any other of Tigers, Rooster or Bunnies which they draw a home game against.

[rlno1]

Nick Politis is the one who has said he would help to get the Bears back in.