NRL expansion (Merged Threads)

[John bird]

Looks like a PNG franchise and a Perth joint venture with the north Sydney bears are nailed on.

 

https://au.sports.yahoo.com/nrl-unveils-ambitious-expansion-plan-as-decision-is-made-on-north-sydney-bears-future-053121134.html

 

got to admit I’m disappointed and not sold on either of them to be honest.

[Damien]

The Perth/North Sydney joint venture is nonsensical. Perth do not want it and a city with a population of 2.5 million shouldn't be sharing half their games.

[John bird]

Just now, Damien said:

The Perth/North Sydney joint venture is nonsensical. Perth do not want it and a city with a population of 2.5 million shouldn't be sharing half their games.

If it’s actually happening then no more than 1 game against the manly sea eagles should be played at the NSO .

[John bird]

The western Australian government have apparently said that they would fully support a Perth NRL bid so I don’t see the need for the link up with the bears unless it’s being forced upon them by Peter V’landys.

[JM2010]

The only way I’d like to see Perth working with the Bears is if they are a feeder club for a Perth based NRL side

[John bird]

1 hour ago, JM2010 said:

The only way I’d like to see Perth working with the Bears is if they are a feeder club for a Perth based NRL side

This.

i feel sorry for the bears as they got royally screwed over by the northern eagles but they can’t be allowed to enter into a joint venture with Perth or any other NRL franchise bid for that matter.

[John bird]

Handing a franchise to PNG for geopolitical reasons is absolutely absurd.

I couldn’t think of 2 worse options and at the expense of the most obvious choice being a South Island NZ2 bid.

[JM2010]

If they want 20 teams, for me it has to be Perth, NZ 2 and maybe another Queensland team. If the NRL want to develop PNG they should try and set up a few feeder teams in PNG to bring players into the NRL

Edited May 13 by JM2010

[John bird]

43 minutes ago, JM2010 said:

If they want 20 teams, for me it has to be Perth, NZ 2 and maybe another Queensland team. If the NRL want to develop PNG they should try and set up a few feeder teams in PNG to bring players into the NRL

They should just introduce the various age grade groups into the Queensland competitions for the PNG hunters.

[JM2010]

39 minutes ago, John bird said:

They should just introduce the various age grade groups into the Queensland competitions for the PNG hunters.

Yeah that would work well. Any promising PNG players could be signed up by the Broncos, Dolphins, Cowboys etc

[John bird]

3 minutes ago, JM2010 said:

Yeah that would work well. Any promising PNG players could be signed up by the Broncos, Dolphins, Cowboys etc

The hunters have been in the Queensland cup for nearly a decade and amazingly this still hasn’t happened.

the silktails moved from competing in a NSW 3rd tier competition and into the NSW U21’s jersey flegg comp.

[JM2010]

1 minute ago, John bird said:

The hunters have been in the Queensland cup for nearly a decade and amazingly this still hasn’t happened.

the silktails moved from competing in a NSW 3rd tier competition and into the NSW U21’s jersey flegg comp.

There must be so much untapped talent in both countries. If the NRL is to expand these would be good places to find talent to help fill the teams

[Balmainboy]

Fan of PNG, not so on Perth Bears.

Believe the Bears will only get a few games in Sydney though which is better than half...

[Balmainboy]

Just now, Balmainboy said:

Fan of PNG, not so on Perth Bears.

Believe the Bears will only get a few games in Sydney though which is better than half...

But overall, just hope the NRL can get up to 20 teams succesfully. Always thought there's four other teams that deserve the three last places so someone needs to miss out unfortunately (NZII, PNG, Perth, Western Brisbane/Ipswich).

[Damien]

2 minutes ago, Balmainboy said:

But overall, just hope the NRL can get up to 20 teams succesfully. Always thought there's four other teams that deserve the three last places so someone needs to miss out unfortunately (NZII, PNG, Perth, Western Brisbane/Ipswich).

I know they say 20 but that always seems like a short term, next decade sort of goal. I'm sure once we get to 20 that 22 would be possible in the longer term, especially when you consider those you mention and factor in somewhere like Adelaide

[John bird]

9 minutes ago, JM2010 said:

There must be so much untapped talent in both countries. If the NRL is to expand these would be good places to find talent to help fill the teams

There’s so much untapped potential in the pacific that it’s actually tragic that the NRL doesn’t do more to develop it and not just in PNG or Fiji but the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia and Vanuatu are all countries with bigger populations than the likes of Tonga and Samoa combined.

[John bird]

10 minutes ago, Balmainboy said:

Fan of PNG, not so on Perth Bears.

Believe the Bears will only get a few games in Sydney though which is better than half...

PNG is a fantasy and potentially being brought in for all the wrong reasons.

team #18 should either be a standalone Perth or NZ2.

[John bird]

6 minutes ago, Damien said:

I know they say 20 but that always seems like a short term, next decade sort of goal. I'm sure once we get to 20 that 22 would be possible in the longer term, especially when you consider those you mention and factor in somewhere like Adelaide

Once you hit 20 any further expansion brings up the question of conferences and all that would entail.

[marklaspalmas]

I'd like to see Perth and NZ II.

I'm not sure how feasible PNG would be.

Another Queensland club seems logical.

There was talk of Norths linking up with some Central Coast club based at Gosford. What happened to that?

I assume Adelaide, Darwin, Hobart and Melbourne II are all non-starters at this stage?

[John bird]

1 minute ago, marklaspalmas said:

I'd like to see Perth and NZ II.

I'm not sure how feasible PNG would be.

Another Queensland club seems logical.

There was talk of Norths linking up with some Central Coast club based at Gosford. What happened to that?

I assume Adelaide, Darwin, Hobart and Melbourne II are all non-starters at this stage?

Northern eagles?

[Balmainboy]

7 minutes ago, John bird said:

PNG is a fantasy and potentially being brought in for all the wrong reasons.

team #18 should either be a standalone Perth or NZ2.

Fantasy could very well become reality quite quickly. I'm aware of the challenges but the upside is huge. Arguably more potential players in PNG than any other country in the world. 

[John bird]

2 minutes ago, Balmainboy said:

Fantasy could very well become reality quite quickly. I'm aware of the challenges but the upside is huge. Arguably more potential players in PNG than any other country in the world. 

There’s no need for a PNG NRL team when you could still achieve the same goals with the hunters and 2-3 junior grade teams and the possibility of adding a 2nd PNG team to the Queensland cup.

could also invest more time and money into the digicel cup also.

[Damien]

17 minutes ago, John bird said:

Once you hit 20 any further expansion brings up the question of conferences and all that would entail.

Not necessarily, it can still be done without conferences. You could even just go to 24 in time, with Melbourne 2 and Central Coast as well, and have the same number of games as now

I can see the pros and cons of conferences but people do talk about them with 20 teams too.

[Balmainboy]

24 minutes ago, John bird said:

There’s no need for a PNG NRL team when you could still achieve the same goals with the hunters and 2-3 junior grade teams and the possibility of adding a 2nd PNG team to the Queensland cup.

could also invest more time and money into the digicel cup also.

But the Aus gov won’t give the NRL £35m per year for ten years for that (but I do agree with your point on achieving the same goals). 

[NRLandSL]

3 hours ago, John bird said:

Handing a franchise to PNG for geopolitical reasons is absolutely absurd.

I couldn’t think of 2 worse options and at the expense of the most obvious choice being a South Island NZ2 bid.

Not just Geopolitical options. They have the biggest rugby league player base and fan base in the world. It’s incredibly deserved.