NRL to expand to a 20 team comp ?

[The '47ers]

Two things 1) You must not have been paying attention .. and 2) A team that hasn't won a trophy since 1923 ... is not a rival ..

1922, so it's actually even worse

 

[manly al]

Not so much having a hate for the Bears , more the case that any new aspiring franchises simply do not want an outside entity or brand imposed or transferred on them Bears or other groupings . Even the Central Coast . Bears still have a side in the Reggies i think so still have some presence in the main scene . Must have retained some semblance of a junior comp , in any case one of the real growth areas in Sydney seems to be in the Nth west region further reducing a Nth Sydney influence a bit .

 

[ElectricEagle]

They already have an established following and business links to generate corporate dollars. So it's a win, or at least in the box seat for a future franchise. It's the franchise most likely to succeed on it's own two feet.

And another team nearby is a godsend for us. In true Manly fashion, I hate crossing the harbour, hate travelling to Parramatta, or going past St Ives. if I need to travel north. Just a hop over the spit and we can go to a game.

Lets face it, the North Sydney area has been largely ignored by Manly. Manly have had 20 years give or take to make a dent in the juniors and haven't landed a shot. They wouldn't be eating in to our fan base because most of their die hards will be on the Roosters or Souffs. If it screws either of them then I'm all for it!

 

[Blake]

I think its pretty obvious what needs to happen next.
We are flushed with talent at the moment, so its only fair that Manly & Warringah split into two teams.
Warringah can call north of Narrabeen Bridge home and play out of Rat Park.
They will obviously immediately sign the Turbo's as their marquee players to build a team around.
If they need any more inspiration to build tribal rivalries, they can talk about the lockdowns of 2020, where the unclean masses south of the bridge were not permitted to set foot in the glorious north.

 

[Cameron]

One thing is for sure any region that takes on the bears can not trust them. At first chance they are going to move the expansion team back to sydney.

just heard an interview with the chairman Dickson and his attitude was he doesn't care if they are the perth bears or Pacifica bear but they have to be red and black have the bear logo and play 3 games at the toilet north Sydney oval.

It was the same with the northern eagles they wanted to back door manly for the license. As far as I'm concerned Norths lost any right to hold an NRL license in 1999 we the went insolvent and failed to pay the players who on receive 17c in the dollar owed.

For me it's anyone but the backdoor bears

 

[Harmless27]

The AFL have used a much better roots development systems across the country than the league for decades now. Even as a kid growing up in Sydney in the 80’s there were local kids AFL competitions. I doubt even today that the league has local junior competitions across all states. From what I understand we are miles behind in this department.

I couldn't agree with you more.

So - I live in Inner Melbourne (but went to School at St Augustine's across the road from the hallowed Brookie).... I have a 5 year old, a 3 year old and a 1 year old.

My 5 year old is a giant (120cm, 26kg, and LOVES competition) and so we are looking into getting him started in team sport.

I have pulled together 3 options so far for the winter ahead:

• Soccer (his preference). 10 x 1 hour classes on a Saturday morning (or after school) for $270. multiple options within 5 kms of us in the city. (Little Kickers)
• Rugby league (to my wife's disgust). 4 x sessions for $69. These sessions are run in OCTOBER ONLY, and are a 25 km drive from us (via Melb Storm)
• AFL (god help me). 10 x 90 minute sessions for $95 running concurrent with the AFL season. Jersey, ball, and a bunch of discounts/tickets etc (Auskick)

Honestly - it isn't even worthy of conversation.

The thing with the AFL is that they have total alignment in the organisation. Top to bottom, across the country. They have a single minded view of the strategy and they execute exceptionally well.

Soccer is totally broken at a national vs state level

This is not about having enough teams or enough marketing dollars..... it is about having a big enough audience - the bigger the audience, the greater the marketing exposure,m the greater the $$$ revenue.

It ALL starts and ends with kids.

The NRL needs to expand its market - not by having more teams where people already WATCH the frikkin sport - they need people who DON'T watch the sport to become interested. THAT is growing the game and growing the revenue.

If 99% of queenslanders already watch the NRL, what good does another team do? It doesn't add marketing revenue.

Another NZ team..... ok - maybe that is fair. A pacifika team...... ok maybe. But how many NON-RL fans do they expect to convert? Or are they just giving existing fans their own team to watch?

Sorry, this has gone too long and I am all over the shop.... - but the answer to me is simple - expand your non-RL watching audience. You can only do that by either:
1. Entering NEW markets
2. Winning the junior battle
3. Re-engaging lost fans

 

[bob dylan]

The game is just about dead out here in the country, not that the nrl care. In Junee Laurie Daley is fighting hard to keep our senior sides alive, like most towns we have good junior numbers but the kids bail out as teenagers.

They have decided bush footy doesnt matter and as long as the nursery of islander kids keeps coming through the metro areas they will be OK. Newsflash - the next generation Laurie Daley's or Peter Sterling's will never be seen on a footy field.

If they dont save the "breeding grounds" there will be point have 20 NRL teams.

 

[Woodsie]

The game is just about dead out here in the country, not that the nrl care. In Junee Laurie Daley is fighting hard to keep our senior sides alive, like most towns we have good junior numbers but the kids bail out as teenagers.

They have decided bush footy doesnt matter and as long as the nursery of islander kids keeps coming through the metro areas they will be OK. Newsflash - the next generation Laurie Daley's or Peter Sterling's will never be seen on a footy field.

If they dont save the "breeding grounds" there will be point have 20 NRL teams.

I just read that Rusty Crowes team the Axemen have folded ...