Results 1 to 5 of 5
  1. #1
    Captain Toads's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    God's Country
    Posts
    2,813

    Default Where should the next expansion team be located?

    NRL Fans Survey: Where should the next expansion team be located?

    August 18, 2015 12:00AM


    Matt Parcell is an NRL quality player who’s turned out for the Ipswich Jets this year. Picture: Mark Cranitch Source: News Corp Australia

    WHAT do you love about rugby league? Where is the game letting itself down?

    Here is your chance to give your opinion on what you think of the current state of the game.

    We want to hear your thoughts on all the big talking points in the NRL.

    To coincide with the launch the 2015 NRL fans survey now, we quizzed our experts on a series of the big questions — today we ask: where should the next expansion team be located?

    Check out what Paul Malone and Chris Garry have to say — and take the 2015 NRL fans survey now!

    WHY IPSWICH MAKES THE MOST SENSE

    The NRL must expand for the next broadcast rights deal with Ipswich the only logical place to create the 17th team.

    A game every weekend at Suncorp Stadium almost makes too much financial sense for the NRL to understand.

    An Ipswich team would attract crowds of around 25,000 most weeks, twice the amount of Sydney clubs like Cronulla.

    The Broncos crowds may drop from low 30s to high 20s but again that is more than double most Sydney clubs.

    What is to lose? I tell you what, the thousands of new families who are moving west of Brisbane every year. The Ipswich region is the new western Sydney and a code needs to monopolise it.

    Anyone who watched the Intrust Super Cup knows there’s 10 players there who are NRL ready.

    Add three NRL rep stars, five of the best rookies, three Super League players and five NRL mid-tier players and a quality team is created.

    The NRL can also introduce just one club at a time. A bye week never killed anyone.

    — Chris Garry


    NRL boss Dave Smith takes in an Ipswich Jets game in at Cherbourg. Source: News Corp Australia

    COMMUNITY-BASED MODEL KEY TO SUCCESS

    There’s no arguing where the next expansion should come from, but the organisation which puts a second team from Suncorp Stadium into the premiership isn’t clear to me.

    I don’t believe there should be _ or will be _ an 17th or 18th team in the NRL for at least five years.

    The standard of the football in the games which the lower-placed team often play confirms that. Did you happen to see the round 20 stinker between Penrith and Canberra?

    To borrow a line from Molly Meldrum, the members of the ARL Commission should each do themselves a favour and watch it from go to woe (lots of woe) when the expansion issue ever gets to a vote.

    I’ve heard all the arguments about why the western corridor deserves a team, which would play out of Suncorp for at least five years.

    Whether the band taking in Beenleigh, on to Ipswich and then Toowoomba can produce enough corporate backing is something for the ARLC to decide.

    Rugby league is as its most engaging when clubs are community-based, so the argument from the Brisbane Bombers that a privately-owned bid is best would need to win over a good number of the vast demographic in the city who so dislike the Broncos to avoid becoming Crushers version 2.0.

    I really like the aspect of the Brothers bid that their team would play eight home matches at Suncorp and four at regional cities, but as we reported earlier this month bid team chairman Justin Barlow said publicly that he believes expansion is most likely to happen next in the second-tier Queensland and NSW Cups.

    The most likely way for a second Brisbane team in the short team is for an existing club to be relocated because of financial hardship. But those clubs, primarily Wests Tigers and Gold Coast, posses the convincing and just argument that as they were members of the 16-team competition which helped attract the $925 million free-to-air television _ and perhaps $1.6 million for all media rights _ they are eligible for enough cash to allow them to survive as they are.

    — Paul Malone

    Source: news.com.au/sport/nrl
    That last paragraph by Paul Malone is quite concerning to me. Especially when we hear zip on how the office is holding up. Lack of long term contract at Robina Stadium is one of the big issues, along with our training facilities and/or clubhouse. As it is, we're pretty well only a NRL Team on paper 'n nothing set on ground (physically).

  2. #2

    Default

    The only people who mention relocating the Titans are journos. I don't know why they keep bringing it up, they never did it to the Cowboys during their problem years.

    The NRL have only ever said we're staying where we are, we are one of the fastest growing cities in the nation and have one of the biggest junior bases in the country to draw from too. We just need to start winning at home to get back to where we were in our early years.

    The longer the stadium negotiations drag on the better imo. Means the NRL is serious about driving down the price.
    I'd rather they take the time to play hardball with Stadiums QLD over our stadium rent instead of having that chain hanging around our neck just to drag us down again.

  3. #3
    Administrator DIEHARD's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Brisbane / HK
    Posts
    39,139

    Default

    Perth and Brisbane.

    Unfortunately the state of our club and others is very unhelpful to expansion.

    Our game needs both these new clubs.
    PUT EM TO THE SWORD! SHOW SOME STEEL!

    Moejoe: "REMEMBER!!!! SLIP - SLOP - SLAP in the sun. Skin Cancer is a growing problem. It could happen to anyone!!"
    TITANS, DIEHARDS, WARRINGTON WOLVES, MAROONS, KANGAROOS, HONG KONG THUNDER

  4. #4
    Captain Toads's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    God's Country
    Posts
    2,813

    Default

    That's concerning part (to me), Diehard. Where a club's franchise is more likely to be relocated at this stage, before there's any real talk of further expansion. I just hope that something comes out of the members meeting tonight that can instill more confidence in our longevity. After all, we are currently owned by the NRL.

  5. #5

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by DIEHARD View Post
    Perth and Brisbane.

    Unfortunately the state of our club and others is very unhelpful to expansion.

    Our game needs both these new clubs.
    Agree with your stated expansion clubs and I was really keen on expansion and still am, however as you also say our club doesn't help the argument. When you see the players that we have bought perform at NRL level you quickly get the idea that there are not enough decent players around for two more teams. Once injuries weaken some clubs depth we get the situation of the last few weeks where some games are of a very poor standard.
    The pool of players up to NRL level does not seem to be getting larger either.


Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

ABOUT US

    Established in 2005 as the Gold Coast Titans official Chat Forum, we are now known as the League of Titans Independent Website. A place for fans of the Gold Coast Titans to come and touch base with other diehard fans.

QUICK LINKS

FOLLOW US ON

League of Titans designed and cutomised by Matt Glew