Honestly I really like it.
1. We would still play the storm (and all other teams) just once per year
2. I am not sure how travel would impact most teams. As an example there would be more QLD derbies. Yes Canberra & Newcastle would travel more but I am sure that is weighed out by the savings in other place / the game is not exactly on its knees re money
3. Sure there will be years when comp would be uneven (like playing the panthers twice) but this would even out over time
Here is the article for those who can access it
Roosters supremo Nick Politis has outlined his vision for rugby league for the next decade, imploring the NRL to split the competition into two conferences, involving an 18th team in Perth and not Papua New Guinea.
Politis, speaking to this masthead inside the swanky Beverly Wilshire Hotel on Sunday ahead of his team’s match in Las Vegas this weekend, proposed what he believes is the ideal model the NRL should adopt and wants the game’s powerbrokers to ignore the government’s push for a team in PNG in the immediate future.
The Roosters chairman, who took his players and staff out for dinner at the popular Greek establishment Avra in Los Angeles on Saturday night, wants the competition split into two conferences - a Sydney conference and a national conference - as soon as the 18th team is introduced and not wait for 20 teams.
Politis wants the nine Sydney clubs in one conference and playing against each other twice. The remaining nine teams would form a national conference and also play against each other twice. The teams would then play against the rival conference teams once, creating a 25-game regular season. He says the structure of the finals series requires a lot more planning.
“We need to do it when we go to 18 teams, not wait for 20,” Politis told this masthead.
“Eighteen is perfect. We’ve got to do that. I think it makes sense. It’ll be great for the gate. Playing all the Sydney teams twice is better for us than playing the Titans or Dolphins at home. Revenue will go through the roof. You’ll get better crowds. It’s fair.
“They should fast-track it. Bring in the Bears in Perth. We can’t ignore Perth when you have the Premier [WA Premier Roger Cook] wanting to come into the competition. I met the Premier myself who said they have a lot of big businessmen ready to back them. I told [ARLC chairman Peter] V’landys and [NRL CEO Andrew] Abdo. Now they’re looking at PNG.”
The Australian government is in conversations with the NRL to bring in a PNG-linked team into the NRL. The financial benefits will be enormous for rugby league but it poses a logistical nightmare.
“You can’t have an Australian team linked with Papua New Guinea,” Politis said.
“It’s not going to work. PNG is its own country. For me, it makes sense for the [North Sydney] Bears to merge with Perth. That gives you another market for the TV deal and helps us focus on growing the sport across the nation. Eventually we should get to 20 teams, but Papua New Guinea should come after Perth. They should be patient over the next five to 10 years and spend money on developing players in the Pacific then look at PNG.
One suggestion is a PNG team could be based in Cairns to help attract players and develop an Australian fan base, but Politis believes that is not a good idea.
“You can’t have a team based in Cairns playing out of Port Moresby. Who’s going to want to do that? Guys over the age of 35 only signing for money? If you spend the next five or 10 years developing the players in PNG they’ll be ready for when you bring a team in.”
The NRL schedule has long been a bugbear of Politis, who doesn’t like the way the NRL creates its draw.
“It’s not a draw. Don’t use that word,” he said. “A draw doesn’t exist. We have a TV schedule. V’landys needs to fix it. We get back to playing a proper draw, not all over the place like it is now. That’s fairness.
“Now the top clubs play each other twice and the bottom teams play each other twice and we end up somewhere in the middle and get a close comp. Everyone says we’re geniuses, but we’re not. It’s engineered.”
While Politis was critical of the process surrounding the schedule, he sang the praises of the NRL under the leadership of V’landys and Abdo. He says it’s the first time that the clubs have felt like partners in the game.
Poll reveals how clubs really feel about the NRL’s Las Vegas expedition
“It’s the best I’ve seen since I’ve been involved,” the long-serving administrator said. “V’landys was correct; we are the game. We provide the product but before we were going broke because the people in the game had this anti-club attitude. Don’t give them money they’ll just blow it. It’s a major turnaround in thinking brought in by V’landys.”
