Eccleshill Rhino wrote:What would Batman want with rugby league
Its obvious there are too many teams in Sydney - you only have to look at the crowds - which given that virtually every other game is a game against another Sydney side are disappointing - not one Sydney club averaged even what the Rhinos did in 2008 - not brilliant for a national sport in the biggest city. Would it not be better to reduce the number and improve the quality?
no, as you would lose hundreds of thousands of fans to the sport. you cant just get rid of teams that have been here for years and have the support of hundreds of thousands of fans. yes, there is some work to do, but the city is well covered and every team has a place in the nrl. for the record, last seasons sydney crowds are as follows:
Wests Tigers - 16,386
Bulldogs - 15,352
Souths - 14,644
Sydney Roosters - 13,970
Manly - 13,694
Parramatta - 13,528
Cronulla - 12,965
St George Illawarra - 12,596 (only half a sydney team)
Penrith - 10,899
Quote:The obvious places for expansion are South Sea Islands - could they not have a team like the West Indies in cricket made of the best players from Somoa, Fiji, PNG and Tonga - let's face it there would not be a shortage of players nor youngsters coming through.
the only reasonable option there is png, and it wouldnt be possible within the next 20 years. it is a 3rd world country, and port moresby is one of the most dangerous cities in the world. the governement has promised a png team money, but in a country such as this they wont throw what little money they have at a sports team when there are so many other problems.
also, it seems as though some people from these forums think that all the polynesian players in the nrl have actually come from tonga and samoa. for the record, there is no players from these countries in the nrl, which is quite sad really. all polynesians in the nrl were raised playing rugby league in nz or australia. it is a shame that we have ignored these countries for so long, but the biggest shame is that we continue to ignore the talent from png and fiji, although png players have had their problems with visas in australia. so no, a south sea island team would definately not work.
Quote:The other place is NZ especially if you want to knock union of its perch.
yes, southern nz is a must. lets capitalise on the feel good that rugby league currently has in nz. people are waking up and realising the bore that rugby union is.
Quote:So reduce the teams in Sydney say Cronulla, Roosters, Penrith and have a team based in PNG and another team in NZ.
sydney wont lose any teams, nor should it. but we will expand. im guessing central coast and perth, but would prefer south nz in place of central coast. perth will be successful.
Quote:The other positive it would even up the international comp a little more especially if the South Sea Island played as one team - not sure is tribally that is possible? A Tri Nations of Australia, NZ and South Sea Island side would be worth watching
maybe a pacific island team would work once every 4 years in a series v nz, but in the mean time we need to work on giving individual nations test matches in their home countries. not heritage teams playing sydney like we have had in recent years. make it a hell of a lot harder to switch nations, or not at all, give all countries meaningful rep matches mid and post year, and we are on our way to becoming a very successful international sport.
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