Why did I choose these teams? Firstly, I’m a lifelong Tigers fan and don´t see how forced mergers or relocations have any positive long term effect; also most would agree that the return of the Bears on the Central Coast as a must. (Yes, I see the contradiction but the Bears to the CC is not a forced relocation, they’re happy to go)

The Sunshine Coast has a population of approx 260,000 and the Toowoomba region approx 120,000.

As for the new NSW teams, I’ve grouped together towns that are approx an hours drive from each other. Up north, Grafton/Coffs Harbour (90K), Armidale/Tamworth (100K), Port Macquarie/Taree (120K) and Ballina/Lismore (90K). Out west, Bathurst/Orange has 80K, add in Dubbo, Forbes and Parkes (although all more than an hrs drive from Bathurst) you can call on another 70,000 people. If you take into account Townsvilles population of only 150,000, it’s not inconceivable (with TV money thrown in) that these areas could sustain a fully professional second tier RL team.

Remember we are talking 2 separate leagues here. The new clubs I’ve mentioned are not meant to compete against the likes of the Broncos week in week out.

Other areas discussed previous (Darwin, PNG) I don’t think would work.

 

Structure

First 10 rounds all teams play others from their leagues once.

Comp is then split into 3 - Elite (8 teams), Promotion Chasers (6; NRL One bottom 3 / NRL Two top 3) and Premier (8).

The Elite and Premier League teams then play another 7 rounds to complete the home/away for a regular season of 17 games.

The Promotion Chasers play teams from their original league once more (previous result carried over) and teams from other league twice. This gives a regular season of 18 games with the top 3 qualifying for the next seasons NRL League One. Add in the bonus of the Promotion Chase Champs receiving an Elite League position for following year (no matter ladder position after first 10 rounds) to encourage longer term planing and investment.

 

The 3 leagues can have finals series of 5 or 6 (Elite), 3 (Chase - top team straight to GF) and 4 teams (Premier). This allows the 3 leagues respective GF to be played on consecutive weekends (Premier first) providing a nice build up to the Elite Final. This comp structure can easily be expanded to 24 teams (3x8) in future to allow further expansion into Adelaide or Perth or wherever.

 

At the start of the season, the 2 leagues will operate at significantly different salary cap levels, although the NRL League Two clubs could have an A League style ´Marque Player´ arrangement for senior players. To help even things out (if need be) in the Promotion Chase a European football ´loan´ type system could be put in place, whereby the 8 Elite League clubs nominate say 2 players that they will allow to go out on loan to NRL League Two clubs who qualify for the Chase (max 2 players each). These players could be sent out to prove themselves or regain lost form and kickstart/reinvigorate their careers without having to go down to playing reserve grade or ´park´ football at Metro/Qld Cup level (or whatever they’re called these days, I currently live in London and it’s hard to keep up with everything from here). This could avoid senior players sitting on the bench, getting little game time, waiting to head to Eng/France to finish their careers.

 

A max of 21 games (finals included) for the whole season would allow the necessary breaks for Origin and Internationals and allow a knockout Cup competition to be played during these breaks. All matches could be played at lower ranked clubs home grounds where possible. I’ve no doubt that any major club playing a real (not pre season) match at Coffs Harbour or Bathurst or Toowoomba etc would be a massive occasion.

 

The TV rights could be sold as 2 packages (regularly done in European Football) to help finance the extra costs. League Two/Promotion Chase/Cup Comp/Internationals as one and Elite/Origin as the other. With 6 TV Networks (including Fox) surely this is possible.

 

If this all sounds to complicated trust me its not, here in Europe there are some weird and wonderful competition structures in place. People get used to them very quickly.

Scotish Football has a top 6 season ending series in which all previous results are carried forward (???).

Discuss, I await your feedback.

With all due respect,as soon as you mention the words "2nd tier",your idea is frought with danger. Fans do not want their team in a 2nd tier comp. Fair enough if you are looking at 2 conferences or divisions of equal standing. That is OK, but the 2nd tier stuff is a recipe for disaster in Australia.The way to go is to expand the comp in addition to established recognisable clubs. Very similar to the AFL model.

mto:

Not normally one to participate in blogs but thought you guys would like to get your teeth into this idea. This is a comp format that some workmates and I came up with in the dark old days of ´96 / ´97. I’ve modified to suit the current climate.

 

NRL League One

Manly, Roosters, Melbourne, Dragons, Cronulla, Warriors, Parra, Wests Magpies,

Brisbane, Newcastle, Canberra

 

NRL League Two

Cowboys, Rabbits, Gold Coast, Penrith, Dogs, Balmain Tigers, Bears (Central Coast), Sunshine Coast, Toowoomba, NSW Cent West, NSW North

 

Why did I choose these teams? Firstly, I’m a lifelong Tigers fan and don´t see how forced mergers or relocations have any positive long term effect; also most would agree that the return of the Bears on the Central Coast as a must. (Yes, I see the contradiction but the Bears to the CC is not a forced relocation, they’re happy to go)

The Sunshine Coast has a population of approx 260,000 and the Toowoomba region approx 120,000.

As for the new NSW teams, I’ve grouped together towns that are approx an hours drive from each other. Up north, Grafton/Coffs Harbour (90K), Armidale/Tamworth (100K), Port Macquarie/Taree (120K) and Ballina/Lismore (90K). Out west, Bathurst/Orange has 80K, add in Dubbo, Forbes and Parkes (although all more than an hrs drive from Bathurst) you can call on another 70,000 people. If you take into account Townsvilles population of only 150,000, it’s not inconceivable (with TV money thrown in) that these areas could sustain a fully professional second tier RL team.

Remember we are talking 2 separate leagues here. The new clubs I’ve mentioned are not meant to compete against the likes of the Broncos week in week out.

Other areas discussed previous (Darwin, PNG) I don’t think would work.

 

Structure

First 10 rounds all teams play others from their leagues once.

Comp is then split into 3 - Elite (8 teams), Promotion Chasers (6; NRL One bottom 3 / NRL Two top 3) and Premier (8).

The Elite and Premier League teams then play another 7 rounds to complete the home/away for a regular season of 17 games.

The Promotion Chasers play teams from their original league once more (previous result carried over) and teams from other league twice. This gives a regular season of 18 games with the top 3 qualifying for the next seasons NRL League One. Add in the bonus of the Promotion Chase Champs receiving an Elite League position for following year (no matter ladder position after first 10 rounds) to encourage longer term planing and investment.

 

The 3 leagues can have finals series of 5 or 6 (Elite), 3 (Chase - top team straight to GF) and 4 teams (Premier). This allows the 3 leagues respective GF to be played on consecutive weekends (Premier first) providing a nice build up to the Elite Final. This comp structure can easily be expanded to 24 teams (3x8) in future to allow further expansion into Adelaide or Perth or wherever.

 

At the start of the season, the 2 leagues will operate at significantly different salary cap levels, although the NRL League Two clubs could have an A League style ´Marque Player´ arrangement for senior players. To help even things out (if need be) in the Promotion Chase a European football ´loan´ type system could be put in place, whereby the 8 Elite League clubs nominate say 2 players that they will allow to go out on loan to NRL League Two clubs who qualify for the Chase (max 2 players each). These players could be sent out to prove themselves or regain lost form and kickstart/reinvigorate their careers without having to go down to playing reserve grade or ´park´ football at Metro/Qld Cup level (or whatever they’re called these days, I currently live in London and it’s hard to keep up with everything from here). This could avoid senior players sitting on the bench, getting little game time, waiting to head to Eng/France to finish their careers.

 

A max of 21 games (finals included) for the whole season would allow the necessary breaks for Origin and Internationals and allow a knockout Cup competition to be played during these breaks. All matches could be played at lower ranked clubs home grounds where possible. I’ve no doubt that any major club playing a real (not pre season) match at Coffs Harbour or Bathurst or Toowoomba etc would be a massive occasion.

 

The TV rights could be sold as 2 packages (regularly done in European Football) to help finance the extra costs. League Two/Promotion Chase/Cup Comp/Internationals as one and Elite/Origin as the other. With 6 TV Networks (including Fox) surely this is possible.

 

If this all sounds to complicated trust me its not, here in Europe there are some weird and wonderful competition structures in place. People get used to them very quickly.

Scotish Football has a top 6 season ending series in which all previous results are carried forward (???).

Discuss, I await your feedback.

 

Very complicated... the reason RL works is that it is a simple sport run failry simple in the end. The way I see it there are two options for RL in Australia to go, both effectively expansion.

1. Have what we have now, expand the comp to 18 teams with one sydney team doing a relocation to CC. Maybe down the track go to 18 teams. As it is teams do a conference typw thing anywhat where they don't all play each other twice rather have pools of teams they are lumped in.

2. The ESL metod. 3 year franchising with two National League division below with P&R, this allows teams that are serious about being in the top flight to show their worth and also gives the fans an opportunity to truly show their worth. The idea is to effectively have at least two fairly equal divisions when it comes to palyer depth and skill but at the same time gives financially and infrastructually struggling clubs the chance to regroup.

For mine at the moment I am in favour of #2... but I'll pass further judgement in 3 years time when we see how the first franchise system worked.

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I know we are going over old ground once again!

Option 1 is the way to go, with perhaps a longterm strategy for 20 teams is realistic. The other option is frought with the dangers of distance in Australia when a club is demoted. 

 

 

ROOSTER:

I know we are going over old ground once again!

Option 1 is the way to go, with perhaps a longterm strategy for 20 teams is realistic. The other option is frought with the dangers of distance in Australia when a club is demoted. 

That is very true Rooster... I think either could work with some smart planning. But as I said Franchising I like the concept and will wait to see how things go in the UK and make further judgement in 3 years.

But like you say its old ground... maybe this topic needs a rest and we concentrate on what is shaping up to be a great finals series in both countries and a wonderful world cup.

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I am puzzled that their appears to be no TV coverage of the world cup to Russia and nearby states!? I'm sure Russia had a well developed domestic comp.Has the game faltered in this part of the world? Any light on this?

Totally agree. I think culling clubs is a big no no. Relocating clubs is I believe the way to go. If we keep those clubs we also keep the existing fan base and gain new ones when we move into new localities. Everyone is talking about moving clubs out of sydney and bringing the total number of sydney clubs down to 5 or 6.(if this said before i apologise just want to give my two bobs worth) Well dont create new clubs move them to areas of possible growth. The positive to this will be the away games because the support for them will still be there. Look at the Lions (not to sure about the swans) there name still exists and so does the fan base and they also picked up new supporters along the way. Move the excess sydney teams to the areas of expansion, perth, adelaide, cc, wellington, sunshine coast, ipswich. Something we dont want to do is go back to the old superleague war which still has set us back to this very day.

ROOSTER:

I am puzzled that their appears to be no TV coverage of the world cup to Russia and nearby states!? I'm sure Russia had a well developed domestic comp.Has the game faltered in this part of the world? Any light on this?

The russian comp is still going, the finals were last weekend and their cup championships a few weeks... No surprises with it being Loko being champions.

They are now switchig to their Euro med campaign agaonst Lebanon and Serbia.

So as far as I understand not all the European countried have done their deals, Germany is still in Negotiation as I ma sure other countries are. If russi has not been secured yet they may be in the same boat as Germany and still negotaiting. As far as I know its a couple weeks away... which is important for me as I live in Germany and want to see these games. 

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Apparently there were about 10,000 players a few years ago. Is the game growing or shrinking? I know that Australian adminstrator Jeff Carr visited Russia in recent times. I'm a bit perplexed at so little news or development of the game given the good player numbers a few years ago.

Established NRL areas ,particularly in QLD, do not require existing Sydney club relocations. A dead club such as the North Sydney Bears can  be easily given life again on the Central Coast! The future QLD clubs ie: Sunshine Coast Dolphins are a good addition as they are in a growing RL area and given the right framwork ie) like the Gold Coast Titans,will be an instant & immense succes! To dilute the Sydney clubs is not the way to go as David Gallop has learned that the support for RL in the North Sydney area is now gone!

Expansion with more teams with appropriate names ie{ West Australian Magpies can give life back to the lost & famous Wests Sydney Magpie moto. Let the West Tigers become the Balmain Campbelltown Tigers.(this way you still keep the supporter base ) and give the Magpies their place in the sun!

ROOSTER:

Apparently there were about 10,000 players a few years ago. Is the game growing or shrinking? I know that Australian adminstrator Jeff Carr visited Russia in recent times. I'm a bit perplexed at so little news or development of the game given the good player numbers a few years ago.

Yeah its still about the same but Ukraine now have come into their comp and are playing and looking to go semi pro. Their team is Legion Kharkov XIII. There is news about them its just that its all in Russian, and in Australia the RL media only care really about themselves as do most Aussie Fans and in England RL struggles to get media attention itself let alone any international! Ditto in France. Basically most media moguls have gone to the private/Public schools and love their Union and that's all they poush.

Classic axample is on the weekend Challenge Cup Final, great game fast and had momentum switching several times through the game, who did the Telegraph in the UK report on it... two Union Jurnos (Martin Jhonson and Brian Moore) who of course bagged the living hell out of it... even to the point where Union Fans were comming on the replies section and complaining that the whole things just getting overboard and boring the Unionites bashing the Leaguies.

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You have pinpointed the problem with media coverage RL has, but I believe when home truths such as the French example in WW11 are given voice,many Union affiliated people will go to RL out of decency and principle. But the dillemma is how to get these truths & many past examples out there to the general public!

ROOSTER:

You have pinpointed the problem with media coverage RL has, but I believe when home truths such as the French example in WW11 are given voice,many Union affiliated people will go to RL out of decency and principle. But the dillemma is how to get these truths & many past examples out there to the general public!

Yes and no, many Union people will come out and say that that was 70 years ago, whats it got to do with todat yadda yadda yadda... then say that the FFR XV didn't do enough to kill the sport off once and for all.

They are the attitudes in many circles that Rugby league has to deal with, and despite the prefessional era you just have to look at the Union in Australia, and Engalnd and many jurnos like Stephen jones and spiro who basically still live in 1895 with their views on the sport, life and the Universe.

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I believe it is essential to convey such past treatment when in discussion as this does explain the reason why an obviously inferior form of rugby has wider exposure and subsequently greater market. I have often pointed out that their is physically more action in a game of RL than Union and statistics can easily reaffirm this point.ie) amount of tackles in a game comparisons etc.

Bad call Rooster. If you cull those clubs you lose existing fan base and traditions that have been there for ages and those supporters will turn away. Look at the superleague war when they got cut or merged clubs. The crowd attendances went from 3million to 2 million in one season and we have just gotten back up to that level now. And now you want to go through all of that again? With all the clubs in sydney its a bit like inbreeding and to stop that you have to spread the genes out. But in your defence some areas may be able to raise there own teams like you mention with the sunshine coast dolphins. I think we will get to 20 teams eventually with all 16 teams there as well but it will take some work.