So with talk of PNG placing a bid to be the NRL's 18th team in 2027, makes me wonder what better options there could be? Some say the West Coast Pirates, Central Coast Bears, Southern Orcas. I say why not go a bit more out there.
Perhaps the Western Sydney Unicorns, captain coach Brad Arthur with sons Jakob and Matt as co-vice captains. Or the Silverwater rats, team based out of Silverwater jail with inmates, there marquee signing could be Hayne if unsuccessful in retrial.
Any others you think should be added to the NRL, could add rivalries for us perhaps?
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I wasn't actually referring to you, but no dramas.
And I agree, I still don't know why PVL & Abdo haven't got Gus on the phone and said, "Hey, you know what you did at the Panthers, do you think you can do that FOR THE REST OF THE WORLD ???"
Pretty please.
Imagine if even half the clubs in the league had a youth development system like the Panthers, there wouldn't be enough clubs in the league to give them all jobs.
Thanks Brett - sorry, I thought you were having a shot at me. It appears that we are on the same page when it comes to program development and investing in junior rugby league.
Absolutely, the raw talent is there, it just needs devevloping properly.
Well i tend to agree Brett, gems like say Andrew Davey or Makahesi Makatoa who are at most at the moment fringe players are still first graders who have fallen through the cracks. With extra teams we will find them, but will we find 25 of them to fill a squad or other squads?
That is where pacific nations team would be amazing as it links to those Islands where NRL teams have gone before and can nurse them into NRL powerhouse.
12 games, easy. Bear in mind every week you'd have 2 games in the NZ timezone, one in either the western or central timezones, (if the draw was done correctly), one game in Brisbane, one game in Melbourne, so right there you've solved a lot of issues. I think we could make greater use of day games, particularly on Sundays like in the NFL.
So my weekly schedule would look like this, at least on normal weekends.
Note: I would also structure the league into two conferences with three 4 team divisions in each conference, with different broadcasters for each conference. Ideally, Nine would be the principle broadcaster for one & Seven the other, with Ten filling in the blanks and Fox Sports the default broadcaster as they are now. But that's another spiel.
Thursday night 1950 EST (as currently) Seven / Fox
Friday night 1950 EST (as currently) Nine / Fox
Saturday NZ game 1310 EST Sky NZ/ Fox
Super Saturday games 1500 / 1730 / 1950 EST (as currently) Cowboys & Perth home games to be played as the late game, unless scheduled on another day. Fox
Sunday NZ game 1310 EST Sky NZ / Fox
Sunday afternoon, three games played simultaneously 1500 EST with one on Nine / Fox
Sunday Night 1950 EST Seven / Fox
Monday Night 1950 EST Nine / Fox
Every club guaranteed at least one nationally televised FTA home games every season, ie TNF, FNF, SAF, SNF or MNF.
The North's Sharks based in Coffs Harbour. Cronulla gone.
Coffs already has the stadium and there are no teams between the Gold Coast and Newcastle, a region that is rugby league mad.
Tasmania. The team would be called the Tasmanian Brothers and all players would be required to change their name by deed poll to the same sirname. They would also all be required to look eerily similar.
Their NRLW team would be called The Tasmanian Maps.
🤣
I thought they already shared the same surname?
Ok so instead of writing a new blog i am going to list off options so far and my postives and negatives of both.
West Coast Pirates: The NRL want to live up to the name of the "national" rugby league. What better way to go national than to go to a fourth state. Perth has been a growing rugby league location for a while, with a junior teams already in force and a stadium (NIB Stadium). Do they have the financial backing? not sure, i am all for West Coast being in the NRL, players would be happy to move there, with only 2 AFL teams in WA and a Union team there is room for league team. Though is there an NRL nursery there to tap into around WA? That we are not sure about, having a team will help find out, but developing a quality junior system might not be great.
Central Coast Bears: It would be great to add some nostalgia into the NRL, bringing the red and black bears back into the competition. With Wyong, Central Coast and North Sydney Leagues clubs backing the club, a stadium, a junior system in place with both North Sydney Bears and Wyong Roos. Geographically i do not think is an issue though the NRL might as it is too close to Newcastle, the NRL seem more willing to go outside NSW for expansion. Which is a shame as you would rather a team that you know financially would hold their own instead of buying them and owning them themselves.
Southern Orcas: Now this is a great option, adding a new team to NZ while also addressing the pacific nations at the same time. Base them out of Wellington, play a game or two in Suva every year, give a team for the Pacific Nations to root for, a massive nursery to look over for talent in NZ, Fiji, Tonga and Samoa. Plus players are more inclined to move to Wellington than they are any of the Pacific Nations. Nobody would want to go and live in Samoa, Fiji or Tonga to play RL, but if you base it out of Wellington then it is more enticing.
PNG: Yeah god bless them but not realistic of a pledge. What would be better is for them to link with another team to be their feeder club. PNG financially is not viable, added in it is not the safest place to live, meaning it will difficult to attract players, plus with all due respect to PNG but there is more talent in the Pacific Nations than in PNG, the NRL would look to get a team to favour the Pacific Nations than a PNG squad. It is ambitious and give them credit for going for it, but they would be better becoming a feeder to one of the NRL teams, more so like NQ as they are closer.
Rouse Hill Rhinos.
It's a done deal.
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