Brothers NRL bid

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Website: http://www.brothersnrl.com.au/

Would be called Brothers, allied with all Brothers clubs.

Play at least 8 games at Lang Park.

Play in traditional Brothers butcher strip with 87 Grand Final jersey as an alternative.

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I am completely sold that this bid must be the next Queensland side.

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[Titanic]

Signed-up, no matter how much it stuck in my throat ... I completely agree with your sentiments and those of the letter's author.

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I was lucky enough to have lunch with one of the big supporters of this idea. And he has a perfect response for any question you throw at him. I think the rest of the NRL supporters would welcome and be interested in this bid.

We know how hard it is to get supporters from scratch, especially with no real edge in Brisbane. The history, the tradition, the network of clubs and the mascot are edges.

We need a club that would rate on TV and we cant just go from 0-100 so easy.

Ill pass any interesting info I have in the future.

But I hope that Brothers Ipswich who currently back the Western Corridor can swing behind this bid, have a united bid.

It would also offer a united theme that isnt convoluted and artificial.

I also stressed how a rivalry with the Broncos must be nurtured and should never be assumed to develop.

[Titanic]

Just as an aside the "Brothers" brand is alive and well in PNG too although their roots are in "brothers from the Highlands regions" yet they are prominent clubs all over the country.

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Just as an aside the "Brothers" brand is alive and well in PNG too although their roots are in "brothers from the Highlands regions" yet they are prominent clubs all over the country.

Wow now that is interesting! Any new club needs to realise how hard it will be to field a new team, so they need to be able to play the international market to level the playing field.

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Brothers NRL bid boss shares his vision in Toowoomba

A GRASSROOTS focus and a unique organisation were topics of conversation as the Brothers NRL bid spearhead met with Brothers Toowoomba representatives in the Garden City.

The Chronicle revealed back in March last year that the Confraternity of Brothers was launching a bold bid for inclusion in the NRL should the league expand.

There are Brothers rugby league clubs across Queensland and the NRL bid would represent each of those entities.

Bid boss Justin Barlow met with representatives from Toowoomba's Brothers Juniors and Seniors Wednesday at the Mill St Tavern to run through details of the Leprechauns' push.

Barlow reaffirmed a potential Brothers NRL team would primarily play out of Brisbane but would also take up to four games per season to regional areas with a Brothers link, including Toowoomba.

He also said establishing an NRL team would give juniors a pathway to the elite level while remaining with the same overriding club and also help areas like Toowoomba develop better infrastructure for rugby league.

Barlow along with Brothers Juniors president Steve Betros and seniors counterpart Joe Hannant stressed a potential Leprechauns NRL team would work to benefit rugby league across the board in Toowoomba and not just their namesake.

"It's important to us to make sure that we get around to as many of the regional communities as we can to let them understand the depth of the strategy and I suppose engage them and work with them so that they can work with their local councils and local rugby leagues in making sure we can showcase the economic and social benefits of what we can bring as a potential NRL club," Barlow said of the purpose of yesterday's meeting.

Hannant thinks it would be great in terms of keeping promising talent in Toowoomba.

"We could actually keep some of these kids that are going away at 14 and 15 to go to school in Brisbane to train under the Broncos, or down to the Gold Coast," he said.

"We could quite literally keep these kids in our league, they could be playing A-grade and bringing the sport into the spotlight and then have the opportunity in a couple of weeks to be called up to an NRL side.

"I think that in itself is fantastic."

Betros thinks a Brothers NRL team would excite the next crop of rugby league stars.

"You can see how young kids associate with the NRL," he said.

"It provides that direct, personal link with the jersey that they're wearing through to the NRL level. We can see that really exciting our fan base, and our player base."

Barlow said Brothers would look to submit its bid to the NRL at the end of September and hopes the ARL Commission gives its much-talked about expansion the green light.

thechronicle.com.au

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BROTHERS NRL bid founder Justin Barlow says his organisation is ready to begin formal talks with the NRL as he prepares to address a Brothers Confraternity conference in Ipswich on Friday.

The three-day conference will be attended by delegates from more than 40 Brothers clubs from across the state.

The Brothers bid will draw on the vast reach of an established fan base and plans to play eight games in Brisbane and four in regional centres.

"We have in place an engaged and national fan base, and they just need to be mobilised," Mr Barlow said.

"Many people have said that is a romantic notion, but that is actually the biggest asset in driving your bottom line and commercial returns."

Many current NRL stars have played with Brothers clubs including Cameron Smith (Logan), Billy Slater (Innisfail), Daly Cherry-Evans (Mackay) and Sam Thaiday (Townsville).

"As a grass roots organisation we are producing enough talent. That is our base for developing into an elite organisation," Mr Barlow said.

"Now we are ready to start talking in a formal fashion to the NRL to get a bit of guidance on what their expectations are.

"We are still pressing ahead with our strategy of basing ourselves in Brisbane and taking games to fans in the regions.

"We've been in talks with plenty of regional councils and bodies to get their buy-in. We haven't engaged with Suncorp (Stadium) yet, but we are at the point where we can go ahead and start cementing those relationships."

Brothers Confraternity president Brian Roberts is backing the bid and says it will give many junior players a genuine pathway.

"We've got a lot of juniors who play for Brothers, including in Ipswich, and it gives them somewhere they can go.

"It is another opportunity for them to play at the next level and it gives something to Brothers clubs in areas that don't have an NRL side anywhere near them.

"The Brothers Confraternity agreed to the bid in principle at our conference in Toowoomba and will be updated on it at the conference in Ipswich on Friday."

http://www.qt.com.au

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Ipswich Brothers stick solid with Western Corridor bid

THE WESTERN Corridor NRL bid has received a major boost with Brothers Ipswich reaffirming its support for the bid team.

Brothers Ipswich's support for the Western Corridor bid is critical.

Brothers Leagues Club will provide the training and administration base in the initial years of the Western Corridor team's existence if it wins admission into the NRL.

Brothers Ipswich also will be under some external pressure from a Brothers NRL bid that is being officially launched in Brisbane this month.

The Brothers NRL bid was mooted only nine months ago, and little was known about it. But now that bid is about to have its official launch, so the QT contacted Brothers Leagues Club general manager Mark Hennelly to find out what the club's position was.

"We are not opposed to the Brothers NRL bid, but at this stage we are still supporting the Western Corridor bid," Mr Hennelly said.

"The main reason is that we see it as the perfect fit. We are located in Ipswich. We are in the western corridor. We are an established club with a big junior base and it makes sense to be associated with a bid from this area.

"Our arrangements are that for the first couple of years the Western Corridor team will train here at Brothers until they build a permanent training facility in the region, and then the 20s would be based here on an ongoing basis.

"We'd also provide some administration space and gym facilities."

Brothers Ipswich will host the 72nd confraternity of Brothers clubs conference from this Friday to Sunday, with more than 80 delegates from 40-plus Brothers clubs in Queensland attending.

Brothers NRL bid chief Justin Barlow will give a presentation to delegates. While backing the Western Corridor bid, Brothers Ipswich will keep their ears open when it comes to the Leprechauns' own bid plans.

"This weekend there will be more discussed and revealed, which could influence the thinking of our board," Mr Hennelly said.

"I can't forecast what our board would decide (in future). We'd certainly keep options open. We haven't slammed the door on anything or anyone."

All Brothers clubs, even though they are members of the confraternity, maintain their own autonomy.

Mr Barlow will sell the bid with vigour, but said he would not be exerting undue pressure on Brothers Ipswich.

"I don't want to steer anyone away from their own individual relationships," he said.

"Brothers clubs do what is best for their local community. We support that and we are not going to try and convince them otherwise."

Brothers Confraternity president Brian Roberts said he was aware Brothers Ipswich was supporting the Western Corridor bid and he said that was "their prerogative".

Western Corridor NRL bid team boss Steve Johnson said Brothers' support for the bid was vital.

"We want a unified pathway for our kids in Ipswich into the NRL," he said.

"We wouldn't want that pathway fractured by some parts of Ipswich taking a different path to other parts of Ipswich.

"It is very important that we all stay on the same page and we keep that path clearly focussed and direct, for our kids.

"Everybody attached with rugby league in Ipswich is on board with the bid. It is not being put up by the Ipswich Jets. The Jets are simply the public face of it.

"It is supported by the Ipswich community. Paul Pisasale is the bid patron and it is being fully supported by Ipswich junior and senior rugby league.

"We have a wonderful unified community and we all work well together in the best interests of rugby league in our city, and of our city in general."

http://m.qt.com.au/

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Are we witnessing the ultimate in Machiavellian strategy?

Have two bids, when it gets to the business end, UNIFY.

I see both concept as some what compatibible. Ipswich Brothers would be a massive asset to Brothers NRL.

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BROTHERS PROMO VIDEO

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The Brothers bid team say they would have 30,000 members if a NRL licence was granted



THE Brothers bid team say they would expect to pull as many as 30,000 members in the first year after they were given an NRL licence.

Bid team chief Justin Barlow said they want to draw on the 30 Brothers clubs in 17 cities to provide what he says would a unique pathway where a five-year-old can start at a Brothers club and progress to playing for a Brothers NRL club, helped along the way to become a “gentleman’’.

Barlow said he has major financial backers for their bid, which he said is at “investment point’’.

He said the investors, whose identity he would not confirm, understood the not-for-profit model for the proposed NRL club, which would be majority-owned by members.

A Brothers entry to the NRL would play at least eight home games at Suncorp Stadium and as many as four matches at regional grounds. Queensland bid rivals include the Brisbane Bombers, Western Corridor, Central Queensland and Redcliffe.

Former Origin player Matt Adamson goes over all of the weekends NRL action and the retirement of Broncos youngster Jharal Yow Yeh.
“We could put a team on the field in 2018 at a lower level or possibly 2018 at the NRL, which coincides with the new broadcast deal,’’ Barlow said.

“We will see what the NRL says. There may even be a two-tier competition, with, like with the English Premier League, promotion and relegation, and we can work with that.

“One of our key next steps is to meet with them and understand where they want the game to go.

“We can present an option where we can service Brisbane and we can service the western corridor, (regional Queensland) and Northern Territory.

“NRL teams play games (in the premiership in recent years in Cairns and Mackay), but we would not be working in the regional centres on a fly in, fly out basis.’’

The Brisbane bid team had a launch at a New Farm hotel on Thursday attended by former Brisbane Brothers international David Wright and the 1987 premiership captain Trevor Bailey.

Barlow updated a meeting of Confraternity of Brothers delegates at Ipswich last weekend on progress of meeting with regional councils and said they were cautious about protecting the integrity of the “Brothers brand’’.

Brothers clubs have 12,000 juniors and among Queensland currently starring in the NRL Brothers juniors include Cam Smith, Daly Cherry-Evans, Johnathan Thurston, Billy Slater, Sam Thaiday and Corey Parker.

“We are ready. We can really make up some ground,’’ Barlow said.

The team’s administrative base would be at the Brothers Grange licenced club in Brisbane with plans for three regional junior academies at Cairns, Rockhampton and one servicing young players at the Ipswich, Logan and Toowoomba districts.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/nrl

[Titanic]

“….. There may even be a two-tier competition, with, like with the English Premier League, promotion and relegation, and we can work with that."

who's a mind reader? … poor video made on iMovie but great concept.