I just stumbled upon your video...as a Papua New Guinean..rugby league is a religion..you give us NRL license and that license belongs to the 11million people... Trust us....the rugby league is not just a game...but it is something we live and breathe with..
I 100% agree with that comment. The dedication of PNG fans isn’t what concerns me. In fact - it’s the reason why we don’t need a team there. Rugby League will be your religion with or without an NRL team, so we’re better off putting a team elsewhere to try and attract new fans
@@TheLeaguie I don't understand. are you saying that having a good fan based audience is bad for the NRL expansion?? I would think that the more excited an audience, the more attraction of getting any new fans as you concluded with your comments. I also think that PNG has a lot to do in terms of the ground work to get the best consideration from NRL Commission to accept its bid for 18th or 19th or 20th team going forward. So we see how it goes.
@@YouAdam2 What I'm saying is that the people of PNG will be Rugby League fans whether or not a new team is put there. From the NRL's perspective - putting a team there will not bring in any NEW fans. The fans would undoubtably be engaged with the club from the very start - but they're already rugby league fans anyway. Perth or NZ on the other hand would actually grow the sport.
@@TheLeaguie Agree a team there makes no sense it’s an Australian Competition funded highly by the Australian government and the NRL putting a team in PNG is only going backwards it will flourish more if the 3 new teams stay in Australia
Your country is to unstable to host a professional rugby team in the most premier professional code of league in the world. The murder rate is off the charts, civil unrest and chaos all the time. Just recently you had a group running around and murdering children. Although it would be good for PNG to apart of the NRL. It doesn't make sense being associated with a country with so much bad shit going on. We can play the kumals in test matches, and we can continue getting PNG players playing for feeder clubs over here in the meantime until such time PNG became a stable.
As a Kiwi, I definitely feel that a second NZ NRL team is the way to go. The rivalry between them and the Warriors would really grow the sport. Christchurch seems like the best place as Wellington already has the Nix as a non-union team.
mate, i think we can all tell you are very dedicated, intelligent and articulate in everything you do, i genuinely think you would be a great fixture on a big podcast or even a writing platform that isn't newscorp. any way keep up the good work mate, appreciate all the work you do.
Thank you so much mate, I’m genuinely grinning from ear to ear reading that. For now my focus is growing this channel but if any of the big podcasts take notice… I’ll be there with bells on 💚
I feel as though league is on a steady increase in the South Island mostly due to the Warriors resurgence and also the academy/pathways they set up down there. On a side note the secondary schools nationals held last year was won by a high school from Christchurch which was the first time in 20 or so years that a non Auckland school has won it. Good video from yourself and I agree with all your points.
Would agree with your summation here. PNG is a logistical nightmare, how much security would they need for home games, how are they going to attract marquee players - would you play there and move the fam to Port Moresby, et., Brisbane is saturated, a third team is going to take support from the existing two teams, Brisbane is a growing market for all sports but not at the rate needed for an additional NRL team. WA might be fertile ground, the previous team had support there, while a South Island team based out of Christchurch has limited potential, given the population and Rugby dominating in that region - Canterbury in the NPC and the Crusaders in Super Rugby. The AFL and NSL are expanding, the AFL into Tassie surprisingly among other plans and the NSL have a number of franchises putting bids in for additional teams, including a second franchise in NZ that apparent has been approved. Rumour has it the NBL is also expanding into Tassie, vaguely think the Devils had a decent following till they canned commercial television coverage, amongst other franchise lodging statements. About the only major sports not expanding, have no idea about the Netball since the previous contraction, are the BBL - though there are apparently various groups working on additional franchises, and Rugby Union which has just canned the Rebels after significant loses, something to keep an eye on with the Storm who might have the runs onboard but are apprently heavily reliant on NRL bailouts - that is speculation from various sources. Would go for a Perth based team as number 18th - even with the additional travel, though would prefer the Pirates - black and white - hell yeah, over moving the Bears over there. Weren't the Bears working on a franchise proposal out of Gosford a year or so back? Very nice stadium there, currently home ground for the Mariners in the NSL.
You mentioned the time slots that come with expansion but I wonder if the NRL looks to add one or two more games a season for additional TV inventory. Also, don't be surprised if a potential Perth side has some 8/9pm AEST kickoffs similar to what US sports do on the West Coast. I'd imagine with FNF in particular, the NRL would want to push the second kickoff back so the first game starts at 6pm AEST.
Yeah I like that FNF shout, it wouldn't surprise me at all. Especially considering the coverage on Fox and Nine continues around an hour after the final whistle anyway, so you might as well show that audience more games. No doubt as well the NRL would want to add more games, but to my knowledge the current deal with the Rugby League Players Association would prevent them from doing so. 24 games a season + potentially finals + internationals is a tough ask as it is. Thanks for commenting as always brother 🙌
@@TheLeaguie I'd like to see if you'd be interested in collaborating. I have an idea and would like to feature your channel. My email is in my channel description. I can fill in the rest of the details from there.
You may want to check your facts about the Kea. Firstly it is NOT the national bird of NZ the Kiwi is. And Secondly the people behind that bid aren't "League" people, the bid led by Tony Kidd really are.
Christchurch for me. Already building a new stadium. North/South rivalry. NZ deserve it. Play games in Perth to build support for future expansion. PNG? How would they be better than Norths or the Jets? Would require massive investment. It’s a political promise when we in Australia can benefit more in other areas given “cost of living” for $600M in political diplomacy. Can the NRL afford it? Can Australia afford it? Don’t think so. Not now. As a member of the Bears I’d love to see it but not if they play most games in Perth. It would dilute the brand. Brisbane Tigers. No. Merge Southport and Cronulla first. Both the Sharks and if you want a National competition it’s better to move some Sydney teams out. Controversial yes but the AFL has already relocated South Melbourne and Fitzroy and, while not a truly balanced comp, it’s better than the NRL. Great video mate.
Perth would work well I think because the NRL can at least have a little bit of competition to AFL in Perth. I feel like they should take at least 1 game to Optus Stadium just so they can have a big crowd at the game
Yeah agreed mate. I've seen so many people shoot down Perth as an option by dismissing it as 'AFL territory'. And sure - it is, but they seem to be forgetting that the most consistently successful team in the NRL era is based in Melbourne.
Agreed, double header at Optus with the “Perth Bears” playing someone and then another game afterwards. Maybe only in the first 2 years as it could take away fans from the bears.
Perth sounds the best option because it has the most population out of all the options..it needs to be a Perth based team tho..no one in Perth wants a token Perth team
Perth Bears for me. The return of a 1908 Foundation club plus the colours of the North Sydney Bears and the Perth Reds were virtually identical as both wore predominately red and black. The NRL will NOT admit another team in NSW having 11 already, 9 in Sydney alone, the NRL really needs a WA team to become a truly national competition. WA offers a new time slot for broadcasters, new fans and potential new sponsorships. The Bears would provide WA with a ready made fanbase on the East Coast, Bears fans will still have atleast 9 away games in Sydney to attend (Newcastle is only up the freeway) an established NRL pathways system with teams in the NSW Cup, S.G.Ball and Harold Matthews (mens), Tarsha Gale, Lisa Fiaola Cup (womens) competitions. Bears NSW Cup Frontrow enforcer Kurt De Luis (South Perth Lions) is a Perth product. WA has some talented players in their local competition like Joell Irvine (Joondalup Giants), Duane Butler (Fremantle Roosters), Paora Kemp (Fremantle Roosters), Kade McDonald (North Beach Sea Eagles) and the player pool would only become larger and stronger with NRL exposure. Bring Back the Bears 🐻❤️🖤🏈
I've gotta say, since making this video I've warmed a lot to the Perth Bears. If you're right about the local fans being willing to embrace it then its a win-win situation. To be honest, I'd be super happy with it simply for the fact that it isn't PNG
For geopolitical reasons, Papua New Guinea will probably get the gig. The folks up there are cray cray crazy for our great game so I reckon they deserve to win the bid. However, I hope New Zealand succeeds. Two Kiwi teams would generate a tremendous rivalry and Darby games would be next level passionate and competitive. As for Perth, well, it's rock solid AFL country and past tilts have failed.
But the PNG fans already being cray cray crazy is the exact reason why the game gains almost nothing by putting a team there. I just don’t see the sense behind it. As for Perth - it’s absolutely an AFL area… but the most successful team in the nrl era is from what’s even more AFL country. I reckon it’s unfair to say the western reds ‘failed’, they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time with the ARL and Super League combining. Definitely worth another shot imo
@TheLeaguie Yeah, you make some very strong points. The Western Reds were very poorly served by the whirl of events at that time. As far as I can see, there's strong points for all options. I hope the NRL choose wisely for Rugby League - the greatest game of all.
Being so crazy on league don’t they get a team on merit alone. It would also give huge benefits to the international side. Look at what affect the Dura has had playing in Super Rugby
To be fair most dolphins fans are former broncos fans (I know this because I’m from Brisbane), so I think most fans from PNG would become fans of the new club there if they ever formed one I think the issue is that the NRL is proposing that they play out of cairns, so at that point, what’s the point of having a PNG-based side?
For sure but from the game’s perspective, that still isn’t adding fans. It’s just moving fans from one club to another. So no net gain for the sport. The Cairns issue is also a problem. I just see too many avenues through which the PNG team could struggle
I agree that PNG shouldn't be in but not for the reason the guy in this video claimed. The real reason is that Port Moresby is one of the most dangerous cities in the world, a player with a family will never move up there with all the potential risk and crime. Players would have to live in a Covid style bubble which would not be worth it. Olam and Bai know this, PNG needs to develop rapidly to have a team there. Yes the fans are clearly there and they would sell out their stadium every week, but everything else just won't work. It's only being considered to mess with China. It's a damn shame too, 6 million people obsessed with Rugby League should have a team.
In order 18th North Sydney bears 19th Perth 20th Christchurch By 2030 21st Adelaide 22 east tigers ( south Brisbane lions) By 2040 23rd Darwin use png pathways 24th Hobart By 2050 This makes it a truly national sport If you space it out like this it is achievable Focus on building up the pacific league starting week after Super Bowl Teams pool a Australia NZ PNG Samoa Pool b Cook Islands Fiji Tonga USA Then lead into Vegas games
I like that spacing a lot, and I’ve always been a fan of eventually going to conferences, and having regularly scheduled international games. If the sport continues to grow the way it currently is, what you’re saying is just about possible.
@@TheLeaguie with some forethought patience and planning I don’t know why we can’t have it all People say not another team in Sydney but if you announce this road map of bears Perth Christchurch at the same time with a schedule for these three to enter the comp spaced out every 2 years between now and 2030 I think people will be ok with it Then you have a team every 5 years until we get to 24 teams and are a national game Which yeah we break up into two conferences of 12 top four of each conference go into play offs and winners of each conference have a Super Ball You’d probably have to randomise the conference each year and teams play each team twice from their conference 24 rounds shrinking the season allowing for the pacific cup and teams to rest The reason you randomise from year to year the conference Just so teams that travel to Perth from the east coast don’t have to do every year guaranteed and others never And it mixes up the match’s up and rivalries and prevents one conference from becoming stale or less competitive like how the nfc is not as good as the afc At the point of 24 teams you would randomly play 6 Sydney teams in one conference and 6 in the other you have 5 qld teams you put 3 in one 2 in the other than randomise the rest
The Warriors and League in NZ are in an interesting spot right now. The Wahs are growing their fan base and culture really well at the moment, so introducing a second NZ team right now would risk cannibalising the Wahs. On the same note, waiting too long to introduce a second team would risk interest dropping from new fans in NZ or the Wahs calcifying the market. I think the best path for expansion should be Perth, whether that be the Pirates or Bears is another can of worms, as team 18 locking in a 9th game for most rounds. Then in another 3 years, when the Wahs are in the goldilocks zone of excitement built and potential met, introduce a South Island/Christchurch or possibly even a Wellington team as team 19 and Brisbane 3 and Adelaide can fight to join them as team 20. Any expansion after team 20, as much as it hurts me to say as a Rabbitohs fan who nearly lost his team, should come from relocation of Sydney teams.
Agree entirely. Out of curiosity, which Sydney team would you move? To me - although I’m from the shire - it’d be the Sharks. They’ve got Dragons territory above and below them, and that junior base belonged to the Dragons pre-1967 anyway
@@TheLeaguie I could talk about this forever so I’ll put my tl;dr answer as The Tigers as first on the chopping (moving?) block. If we are looking at map borders and simple demographics, then the Sharks are the obvious choice. Funnily enough I am also a born and bred in the Shire, only moved away at the start of this year. From the conversations I have had with most locals, if Cronulla don’t have their own team, they simply won’t follow the game. It might sound insane to you and me but a lot of these people are club first, and the game is a distant second. Soccer participation in both the Sutherland Shire and St George is huge, if the NRL axed either the Sharks or Dragons, they would immediately seed that ground to Soccer. Honestly, I’m surprised the 3rd Sydney team in the A League was Macarthur and not Cronulla. The Dragons guarantee their safety by being the hybrid Wollongong team. If they fully commit to Wollongong and the greater Illawarra region, whilst still a relocation, it’s an extremely minor one compared to what every other club would face. They should obviously continue playing at least a few home games at Kogorah the same way the Bears want to at North Sydney Oval if they get the Perth Bid. As much as I hate Manly for what they did to the Bears, that was 20 years ago now, and they are THE northern Sydney team. Even if we whittled the Sydney teams all the way down from 8 (not including Dragons) to 4, Manly survive. The safest team of all is obviously Penrith, even without the current Dynasty they are the most geographically distinct team apart from Manly, covering the far west, which is basically a city onto itself. Souths and Roosters surviving simply as the foundation clubs feels cheap, even as a Souths fan, but they do have the longest history of both successes and failures, especially Souths having been expelled and reinstated. Ironically the thing that really saves them both, even in a hypothetical 4 Sydney clubs scenario, is their hatred of each other. The rivalry is a massive selling point of the game and both clubs have very distinct national brands with massive fan bases, even if the chooks fans never show up. We’re really splitting hairs now but it comes down to the non-Penrith west Sydney teams. The Bulldogs are a massive club and while they aren’t successful right now, they were consistently successful for most of their history. Geographically, they are in the heart of Sydney. Parramatta are very similar to the Bulldogs but less consistent whilst also having an even larger fan base (feel free to fact check that one it’s been a while). Parramatta is also a city onto itself more than any other part of Sydney. I would move the Sharks before considering the Eels and Dogs. That leaves the Tigers. Despite being a merger of 2 historic clubs, the Tigers are a small club in a geographically niche area. They are cellar dwellers on the field and a basket case off the field with no clear identity. There was a chance to build a new identity after the 2005 premiership, but the club never capitalised on that success. A move to Campbeltown would go a long way to try and move them up the pecking order, but even now they seem reluctant to do that. It’s not fair to their fans at all, but in a hypothetical like this tough calls would have to be made. So Tigers first, Cronulla second, and the Dragons committing more to Illawarra would get us from 8 and a half Sydney teams to 6. If 6 is too many Parra unfortunately as there are so many west Sydney teams, and if 5 is too many then the Dogs, leaving Manly for North Sydney (Sorry Bears) the Roosters for the Eastern Suburbs/Sydney City, Souths for… the South, and Penrith for the West, though I could easily be convinced to swap Manly for the Dogs as Manly really only have geography in their favour and Western Sydney is more than big enough for 2 teams.
@@benjaminwaters241 I definitely accept that line of reasoning - and I am purely looking at it from a demographic perspective. But to me, I'd just be massively concerned with what happens to Campbelltown in that instance. Especially with - as you point out, Macarthur FC now there. That's one of the biggest growth areas in Australia. It's a particularly Rugby League demographic. I'm not sure that's an area we can afford to not really cover. Penrith and Parra are too far away - and theres a national park separating it and the shire.
As a kiwi living in Auckland I don’t think NZ needs another team Just how the NBA only have 1 team that isn’t In the USA Toronto Raptors NZ needs all the talent it can get especially if a lot of our talent sign with Australian clubs a second team would just make in unfair for our club I think 18th Team should go to Western Australia Western Red Bears makes sense and another Team in Brisbane to be the 19th and a team in Cairns to attract PNG for the 20th makes more sense
I guess the idea would be that a second NZ team would help attract more prospects there away from union, thereby increasing the player pool and not disadvantaging the warriors. But you’re absolutely right in saying it could go wrong. They’d have to do it delicately
To be honest i think Perth should have a team ,as most teams are either in QLD and NSW and only 1 over the Barassi line which are the storms so we need more teams in other states its called the NRL not NSW&QLD RL and it should not be PNG as ive heard they have to many problems and the team wont be self funded an will only be supported by government funding but a other team in new Zealand? a good idea because as you said rugby league is growing in new zealand and if there is another team in new zealand it will make the game bigger but also will give new zealand fans a option to pick a team.
For sure, but those are the exact reasons why we don’t need to put a team there. Absolutely invest in grassroot talents and provide them with pathways into the NRL, but a first grade side there isn’t necessary to achieve that goal. We could put the team elsewhere and still benefit from the passion and talent that PNG has
Wellington’s small population concerns me. Townsville is the only smaller city with an NRL team - and it’s absolute heartland up there. The AFL clearly think there’s appetite for sport in Tasmania with the devils being announced there. But again, Hobart is a very small city. Adelaide would be a decent option for team #20 in my opinion. But typically when the NRL have taken games there, they haven’t done super well
Tasmania is ultra AFL heartland, there are literally no Rugby league competitions at all their. That wouldn’t be a problem if there was potential to grow the sport, but Tasmania has a population of 550k and the lowest growth in population in the country. There is is little to no potential there. That team would have to be propped up by the AFL at all times and wouldn’t be able to field (a significant amount of) Tasmanians ever. Wellington idk, pretty small city. Adelaide/SA, comparable to Tasmania, AFL/Australian rules heartland at its finest, but, in contrast to Tasmania, much bigger population and a growing interest in RL/growing number of registered league players. Indeed, potentially a decent option, but at the moment, probably not the best. Perth/WA is significantly larger in terms of population and probably more NRL friendly/tiny bit less strong on AFL.
@@LomuHabana On the note of Adelaide/Perth, I attribute a lot less weight to the 'AFL Area' point than most... because of the Melbourne Storm. The idea isn't necessarily to take over those cities... it's to have a foothold and a solid presence there which allows us to bring in new fans and new sponsors.
@@TheLeaguie Mate, I agree 100%. My point was Perth is a better option than Adelaide, mainly because of the higher population, but also because they have a lot of immigrants from Rugby countries (Union that is, but they might find League more appealing than the classical Aussie rules fans in those areas).
I respectfully disagree with your argument against having a png team in the nrl. You're almost saying that png has nothing to offer the nrl, the Australian spectator, and the rugby league world, other than the fact that we're fans. The nrl has room to grow in png, and the return on investments would be a net positive. There are huge talents and the game day experience will be exciting for spectators and teams. Rugby League or the nrl has a chance to solidify its presence in another country. Which will all the more benefit nrl long term.
Thanks for the comment, you presented it well. But something can bring benefit while still bringing significantly less benefit than the alternative options. The talent that comes out of PNG is undeniable. I do believe clubs (or the NRL itself) would benefit from investing into pathways there. But while having a first grade team there would help those pathways - I don’t see it as necessary. We could benefit from those pathways while also benefitting from the higher quantity of new fans brought in by a Perth or NZ team. Overall, that’s clearly the best result for the NRL
The 18th team in Perth would be nice as either The Pirates or The Bears as they would be the colours of black and white with a hint of red. Christchurch would make a good 19th team for a team on each island . PNG is already playing tier 2 Rugby League in the Queensland Intrust Cup. Another Brisbane Club is out of the Question. Ron Barassi has passed away and so should the line as I am sure both codes can expand.
Strongly sounds like it’ll be the Perth Bears - which I see as a huge win for rugby league in this country. Out of curiosity - if you’d have Perth and Christchurch as 18 and 19, with a third Brisbane team out of the question, who would be your Team #20?
@@TheLeaguie As weird as it sound , The city of churches of course Adelaide. After all it is call NRL as in National Rugby League and if you could not get bums on seats I would disagree with you and complete the story by having at least one club every state capital on the mainland.
Papua New Guinea is perfect for talent and fans, but they won't generate the finances to sustain the team. That's just reality. Perth and Adelaide have large populations to appeal to, so a lot of growth potential.
I expect the AFL may well have their 20th team in Perth (on a population, money and players source basis it probably makes the most sense) so there may be a lot of competition for the WA public interest and money
That may well happen - possibly even more so if we were to put an NRL team there (they may look to squeeze us out of there again). But if we take ourselves seriously, and back our product to win over fans, we shouldn't be making decisions based on fear of what the AFL may or may not do.
I believe there are 3 Christchurch bids out there so def huge interest. Perth should have its own identity and doesn’t need to be aligned to another Sydney club. The PNG bid would unite a very tribal country and the PNG PM has guaranteed the safety of players and fams. There are already lots of Aussies living safely in Port Moresby.
Perth pirates or convicts black and white or miners blue and gold to match west coast colours East tigers change south Brisbane lions play out the Gabba colour brown and yellow other animal types Singapore plovers Adelaide ravens navy blue and red and yellow trim like the crows Darwin crocs blue and orange Hobart blue younger blue and maroon Christchurch kea or paladins gold white black trim Bring back the bears I wold do all of these before png put the national in the national rugby league
Yes I am from Perth but come on, league could only grow more if a team is put in Perth or Chch, no idea why Brisbane is even an option and PNG would be ridiculously tough to work out
True - but the other bid doesn’t yet have a concrete idea of what their branding etc would look like, so there was less to go off in terms of covering them in this video
The choice for the 18th team will show as what the goals and ambitions of the NRL are and where the priorities lie. Perth: growing the sport in Australia, working on making it a national/nationwide sport and trying to come closer to the AFL. Overall maybe the best choice. Christchurch/2nd NZ team: continue to grow the sport in NZ, clearly there is a lot of potential there. Brisbane: on the surface a rather safe choice, maybe also to cement the dominant position of the NRL, considering the steady growth of AFL/Aussie rules, soccer and other sports in that area. Don’t think it is a smart choice. Will contribute very little. You already lined it out, Dolphins are sort of the second team there and creating another Brisbane NRL team at almost the same time doesn’t make sense. PNG: a very political choice, you already said it. Also a choice based on sentiment, they might think that PNG simply has to have a team because they are RL crazy. But also maybe flawed thinking. They might believe that having an NRL team there is the most important thing in order to be able to utilise the talent pool better. Classical NRL thinking and dead wrong. You need to invest in the overall football infrastructure there, in communities, create academies and make sure the youth and semi professional competitions and clubs are strong and competitive. So indeed, on all counts, a bad choice. So for me, either Perth or New Zealand, depending on the goals, ambitions and priorities of the NRL, with Perth being a my personal number 1.
Agree word-for-word with everything you’ve said there. Especially on PNG. If the NRL’s reasoning is that we need a team in PNG to benefit from its pathways, then we very much can have our cake and eat it. With a fraction of the money we’d need to invest into a franchise there - we can develop their pathways and have players come through the PNG Hunters
@@TheLeaguie spot on with your last point. The AFL is already doing it too, and has already recruited a player from PNG for the senior competition (Hewago Oea). The Port Moresby AFL and Niukick (Auskick for PNG) were genius moves. The NRL has to go down the same route. Forget the franchise, invest the money in youth programs and local competitions. Those efforts will bear really juicy fruits in a few years time, increasing the quality of both PNG Football as well as the senior NRL.
18th is a Perth bears teams, 19th should be southern keas out of chch and a adelaide or another vic team for 20th team as Storm have so much depth is crazy.
I think they 22 tames in NRL because this manes have two different divisions of 11. The tames who play a bye in each division played each other. This means, the NRL have 20 rounds and their top four top or top six division. In each division grand final will played the highest risking tames and the grand final of NRL play in Sydney. You for get and South Australia in will try have it Port Adelaide Magpies they were the black and white Prion bars the can fan base in Sydney the old Western suburbs Magpies
BRING BACK THE BEARS Lets take the emotion out of it, just financial speaking the Titans are a clear example of how little the away fan numbers can be from a manufacturered club. With the Bears you get 3-5k fans to Sydney games regularly. As far as memberships ? I can guarantee you as a Bears tragic in my 30s I'll be jumping over to Perth Bears should they come back and agree to 2-4 home games in North Sydney.
That’s the big advantage of having them be a reborn Sydney team. But Perth-based fans I’ve spoken to have said that it’d be super hard to sell a relocated Sydney club over there. They’re parochial over there, which would be my concern. You’ve got to balance those factors
@@TheLeaguieI travelled over for last years NRL double header, I wore my Bears gear and spoke to plenty of locals, I also attended a local 1st grade game between the Fremantle Roosters v South Perth Lions, plenty of people are in favour of the Bears coming over, most WA league fans just want a NRL team to follow. From what I’ve heard over the last few days the WA Govt, the WA bid and the Bears have agreed to terms, it looks like one game will be played a North Sydney Oval. An announcement on the successful NRL 18th team will be officially made in October.
Any more than one game at NSO, especially if it's a home game that would be in Perth otherwise would not go over well with Perth fans, we already dislike the East Coast a fair bit and sharing a team with Sydney would make us feel a bit hard done by
@@albertmiller2electricbooga897 have a look at manufacted clubs with no long term traditional fans i.e Titans they struggle , and other sports like Western Force, Macurther, GWS and GC suns. Your getting 100+ years of fans from the gate. You'll automatically get rivalrys like Manly, Tigers, Roosters that are close by. You'll also be guaranteed 5-10k additional memberships and away fans at away games in addition to a pool of youth players. North Sydney doesn't want to play across the world but you have to make do, the reality is Perth only offers a new TV market otherwise they'd give North Sydney or another Brisbane team the license.
@@albertmiller2electricbooga897 To me if they're going to have a home game at NSO, it's super important that magic round is an away game for them. Fans of rival clubs will be frustrated at the special treatment but strategically it's the right thing to do. You can't have a Perth team who plays only 10 of their 24 total games in Perth
Do we really need more teams in states outside of NSW and Queensland they will only have to be propped up using players produced in those traditional league areas and that will then reduce the talent pool available to the existing NRL clubs ? I dont believe the decision on PNG should have anything to with politics although they do produce players any selection needs to about practicality and sustianability not what may keep China at bay. For me the South Island of NZ makes more sense as NZ produces players and if a rivaly developed between the North and South island we could potentially have ourselves another state of origin in the future.
I like that reasoning behind the southern NZ bid. But I would say that putting teams in non-traditional league areas is the entire point of expansion. We put the Melbourne storm in AFL heartland 25ish years ago and now the likes of Su’a Fa’alogo and Dean Ieremia are coming from Victoria. But then again, it’s about the new fans, not necessarily new players. We only really get that by going outside of NSW/QLD
@@TheLeaguie you need 40 or 50 players to run a club not 2 in 10 plus years. Every time you insert a team into a non league area you have to relocate players which lessens the quality of the playing pool. If that reduces the quality of the end product you may end up losing the fans that you already have.
@@Davo-i1s To be honest I think you're stretching a little there mate. A guy like Cameron Munster moving away from QLD at a young age isn't going to make anyone stop following Rugby League. But by having a guy of his quality in Victoria, it'll make people there more inclined to follow and play the game. Kids there will grow up watching him, and be inspired to play league in the same way Fa'alogo watched Slater when he was growing up.
@@TheLeaguie I know what you are saying and it has merit but you are not taking just 1 promising kid. To field a team in the NRL along with the supporting structure you probably need at least 20 or 30 players, coaches support staff etc. if you add 3 teams in non league areas then you multiply that number with each one that you add. The danger. is if you keep diluting the supply chain you cant expect to maintain the game at the same level and that may cost you existing fans. In reality the new clubs will not only be looking for promising young kids their main targets will be established big name players that they can build their clubs around. Thats what the Dolphins did and they are in a strong league area producing plenty of talent of their own...
If the Bears get 1 game at North Sydney Oval then that's exactly what they were after all along. Can't begin the negotiations asking for only 1 otherwise you could end up with nothing.
PNG for me. Then Perth (Western Reds) not the Sydney Bears. Then a Pacific team, Darwin team, 2 more teams in Qld (South West and Country Qld), Country NSW. so that leaves 4 teams in Sydney and 1 team in west Sydney. Eventually drop another Sydney team and have a South Island from NZ.
You’d find extremely tough resistance dropping any Sydney teams, but you could technically do it. Which 4 would you leave? And would your west team be Parra, Wests or Penrith?
PNG is not ready for a team.they don’t have enough talent on NRL level to fill a whole team and I don’t see Australians and Kiwis leaving Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Gold Cost or Melbourne to live in PNG.
Here how I would do the 18th, 19th, 20th teams With both the Newtown jets & North Sydney Bears both wanting to partner with Perth to make WA team. I would go to both team and offer 18th license to bears to go to Perth in 2027 as Perth team make the most sense of all the options. With the 20th license i would give it to the jets to go to Adelaide in 2029 or 2030 as sooner or later they are going to have to go to Adelaide and with jets you get 4000 paying membership which gives them a chance to be successful and it expands the tv right area With the 19th license I would go to South Island New Zealand with either the bid of the Southern Orcas or South Island Kea bid Brisbane 3rd team and Papua New Guinea team can wait until the 21st and 22nd licences in 2035
I like a lot of that idea. Perth-residents I’ve spoken to though since making this video are very opposed to being given an old Sydney team like the Bears or Jets. That has me a bit concerned that it could be doomed from the start. Adelaide as the 20th team is something I don’t mind at all - but I do think we’ll stop at 20. Or at least, it’ll be a very long time before team 21. There was a gap of 16 years between the Titans and Dolphins. So we can’t have another 5 teams by 2035
North Sydney bears playing out of north Sydney and central coast When people say bring back the bears they mean to north Sydney Let Perth be a new fresh start
PNG needs infrastructure and stadiums built, South Island NZ will struggle to get numbers, Perth is best bet. Also a Central Coast team and Adelaide probably also better bets than PNG or another NZ team.
I’d sooner go Adelaide than Central Coast personally, because teams like Easts and Souths already have programs and take home games to that area. But 100% agree that PNG isn’t ready yet. And even when it is… I’m not sure they’re ever really going to be a good choice
Perth bears are great and they wouldn’t need to take any home games to Sydney as they will get 8 away games in Sydney a year. That’s 8 chances for bear fans in Sydney to fill their rivals stadium and out number them, like the warrior fans do with the titans on the goldy each season It’s unlikely that the bears would be able to play a game at north Sydney oval to begin with, as its not upto nrl standards.
Perth for me, but stand-alone. Nothing to do with North Sydney Bears. All mergers have been absolute failures. Different timezone which is ideal for TV audiences. Good stadium. Huge population to support just 1 team. For a 2nd team probably Wellington over Christchurch as its larger. Although you could have a Nth v Sth rivalry with Christchurch & Auckland - with the odd game at Dunedin (fantastic indoor stadium). No way should Albanese be giving $600m of tax-payers money to buy favours from PNG (to keep China at bay).
Yeah agree with pretty much all of that. In making a Perth team the NRL should look to make the decisions that make the Perth fans the most happy. Making their team the bears aims to keep a small portion of existing fans in Sydney happy. And on the taxes - good god yeah. They’re vastly overestimating the impact Rugby League can have in international geopolitics
I've also seen recently that Ipswich Jets have thrown themselves in the ring for a merger with the Perth bid, which I'm personally not a fan of. Perth Rugby League fans want their own team that will play their home games in Perth, not split with a pre-existing Sydney or Brisbane franchise where god knows how many home games would get taken out of that market, it just doesn't make sense. The other thing I don't like particularly from an SEQ perspective is that I genuinely feel like we could support 4 clubs here and I think Ipswich/Western Corridor should be one of them if that happens. I'd also love to see a bid for a South East Brisbane/Logan/Beenleigh/Gold Coast team to replace the Titans. The only real downside I can see to that is that you'd probably need a stadium deep in the Southern Suburbs of Brisbane or Logan to really appeal to that market without it eating too far into the Western Corridor market and that's a big financial commitment to an area that doesn't have a solid base to start from like the Dolphins had with Dolphin Stadium.
Perth Pirates is a bit cute for my liking. It’s the alliteration compared with how punchy the name is. It sounds like the name of a junior club - whereas West Coast Pirates sounds like the name of an NRL team
I just reckon with Wellington you lose that North Island v South Island rivalry that you’d get with Christchurch. The population of Christchurch is also nearly double Wellington’s - so those factors play a role
@@TheLeaguie Perhaps those south pacific teams should have their own comp. The other Australian footy comp, the AFL, doesn't have a NZ team, nor should it.
5 or 6 years ago I would’ve been a big advocate for Adelaide. But the last few regular season nrl games taken there got pretty poor crowds if memory serves. It’s also only an hour behind the east coast, so doesn’t necessarily open up a new slot
the Warriors should just be a part of the NZRL the NRL isn't really national, imo and also, it should be renamed to the ARL 32 teams, 2 conferences that change yearly, and 16 teams for each.
That’s… certainly ambitious. I can’t say I believe in hanging the warriors out to dry like that though. Their players would leave to play NRL. 32 teams is enormous. I think the goal is to get to 20 with 2 conferences. Play each team in your conference twice (18 games) and then 6 random teams from the other conference once (bringing it to 24 games)
@@TheLeaguie Is 28 teams, 2 conferences, 14 in each good or still too much we definitely need to think of expanding inside of Australia before we expand outside maybe we can do a Pacific Comp.
So a country where league is the national sport, a country where rugby is massive but league has a good foothold or a state a million miles from anywhere that is AFL mad. And the NRL wants Perth……sigh
That’s quite literally the point though… there’s no expansion value to putting a team in a place where rugby league is king and will continue to be king. The Melbourne Storm have been a success beyond even their wildest dreams - don’t dismiss an idea just because it’s in an AFL city
@@TheLeaguie so…rather than put a team in a place people living there actually will go to games and support the team place it somewhere three eastern state ex pats will support and rusted on AFL supporters won’t give it the time of day. If that’s the logic why not start a franchise in Russia. No one there’s even heard of league. Nothing but potential growth. Remember the reds and the rams, disastrous franchises. Growth can be found in countries in the Pacific where rugby is king but league can be appealing. AFL fans will never buy into league just like AFL never stands a real chance in QLD. The storm is a success in league states not in victoria
@@nerdycat2446 It's not fair at all to say the Rams were a 'disasterous franchise'. They didn't fail - they merely fell victim to the ARL and the Super League merging. As a franchise they were financially healthy. Both times we took origin to Perth in the last decade sold out the stadium. There's clearly an appetite there. I'd also dispute what you said about the Storm only being successful outside of Victoria. They've got 31,000 members, the vast majority of which would be local. That's a huge success in my book, and we can absolutely replicate it in Perth
@@TheLeaguie I wonder how many storm members were born in Victoria. There’s been one Victorian born storm player and his family is from NZ. Let’s face it the storm is a hybrid nz qld team, feeder clubs, players, all qld with a few kiwis thrown in. Melbourne has enough east state and pacific ex pats to make it work but does Adelaide or Perth. Rams, reds, western force and Melbourne rebels all failed. Let’s build the game in the pacific islands where rugby fans can appreciate league and junior development is possible. A Perth team will need league states and countries for all of its players and junior development. One off origin crowds or exhibition crowds don’t really count. Even Queenslanders turned out for an AFL grand final in Brisbane.
IT NEEDS TO BE FROM PERTH!!! AND THE NEXT SHOULD BE FROM ADELAIDE!!! It will then only make sense to call it the NRL! The NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE! Because only the AFL, Basketball, Soccer and Cricket competitions in Australia 🇦🇺 truly claim to be national competitions. NO MORE TEAMS BASED IN SYDNEY AND QUEENSLAND!!! PERTH WESTERN REDS!!!
To be fair, I don’t care so much about the geographical spread of teams. I care more about how many fans they can potentially bring in. But in saying that, I think Perth is the option that achieves that goal
Why are you guy's so racist? Maybe you guys are fearing us to be competitive at international matches? We're big fans of NRL so just give us the license. After all, your government has already committed to us being the 18th NRL Team so please shallow your own pride and ego Mr. presenter...
Not sure where you can point to ‘racism’ here. I quite literally said that PNG fans are the best fans in the world - and if you’ve watched my recent videos you’d know how much I love the international game. My logic is that I want to put a team in a place that will attract new fans. In PNG we’ve already pretty much maximised our number of fans. That’s all it is
@TheLeaguie I know but you have to support a PNG Team to be in the NRL coz it's really hard for our native players to follow the likes of Justin Olam and Marcus Bai even few of our players can play in the NRL with their current form. That causes our players to play in the Super League when called. That shows that you guys always turned a blind eye on us. Therefore, a team for us would make the game interesting to watch during test matches and world Cup. Otherwise, rugby league would always be a boring game to watch during World Cups fixtures and 4 nations test matches. PNG needs to be in the NRL so that we can raise our standards in playing during international matches between NZ, UK and Aussies. You guys have a lot of Fijians, Samoans and Tongans playing in the NRL that's why they are considered to be competitive during international matches just because they are exposed to the NRL standards of playing. I'm sure we can play grand final World Cup in the future if only we have exposure in the NRL. By the way, your Prime Minister will give us a birthday present during our 50th independence anniversary come 16 September 2024 by approving it's former colony the NRL bid. Chill... 😂😂😂
@@samsonsipa I would 100% support increasing the pathway programmes between PNG and existing NRL clubs - I think I mentioned that in this video. But in my opinion we can achieve that without putting a team there. An NRL team is one way to do it - but pathway development would be cheaper and potentially as effective.
Where would YOU put the NRL's 18th franchise?
I just stumbled upon your video...as a Papua New Guinean..rugby league is a religion..you give us NRL license and that license belongs to the 11million people... Trust us....the rugby league is not just a game...but it is something we live and breathe with..
I 100% agree with that comment. The dedication of PNG fans isn’t what concerns me. In fact - it’s the reason why we don’t need a team there. Rugby League will be your religion with or without an NRL team, so we’re better off putting a team elsewhere to try and attract new fans
@@TheLeaguie I don't understand. are you saying that having a good fan based audience is bad for the NRL expansion?? I would think that the more excited an audience, the more attraction of getting any new fans as you concluded with your comments.
I also think that PNG has a lot to do in terms of the ground work to get the best consideration from NRL Commission to accept its bid for 18th or 19th or 20th team going forward. So we see how it goes.
@@YouAdam2 What I'm saying is that the people of PNG will be Rugby League fans whether or not a new team is put there. From the NRL's perspective - putting a team there will not bring in any NEW fans.
The fans would undoubtably be engaged with the club from the very start - but they're already rugby league fans anyway. Perth or NZ on the other hand would actually grow the sport.
@@TheLeaguie Agree a team there makes no sense it’s an Australian Competition funded highly by the Australian government and the NRL putting a team in PNG is only going backwards it will flourish more if the 3 new teams stay in Australia
Your country is to unstable to host a professional rugby team in the most premier professional code of league in the world. The murder rate is off the charts, civil unrest and chaos all the time. Just recently you had a group running around and murdering children. Although it would be good for PNG to apart of the NRL. It doesn't make sense being associated with a country with so much bad shit going on. We can play the kumals in test matches, and we can continue getting PNG players playing for feeder clubs over here in the meantime until such time PNG became a stable.
Kea, national bird of NZ, are we perhaps forgetting the Kiwi ... you know the name that the NZ National team play under.
How have I never heard of the South Island Kea? That logo is stunning 😍
I love the fact that the name ‘Kea’ is Māori too. The more we embrace that culture in NZ the better imo
Why simplify the colour scheme though? I think the jersy colours look cool
As a Kiwi, I definitely feel that a second NZ NRL team is the way to go. The rivalry between them and the Warriors would really grow the sport. Christchurch seems like the best place as Wellington already has the Nix as a non-union team.
The Warriors already struggle though
I kind of like that single kiwi team appeal, with kiwis having to all get behind their one team
mate, i think we can all tell you are very dedicated, intelligent and articulate in everything you do, i genuinely think you would be a great fixture on a big podcast or even a writing platform that isn't newscorp. any way keep up the good work mate, appreciate all the work you do.
Thank you so much mate, I’m genuinely grinning from ear to ear reading that. For now my focus is growing this channel but if any of the big podcasts take notice… I’ll be there with bells on 💚
I would go nuts for a south island NRL team, that's my hood! Im a home-team-less nrl fanatic
I’d have Perth #18 and you #19 for sure. The South Island Kea look hot
I feel as though league is on a steady increase in the South Island mostly due to the Warriors resurgence and also the academy/pathways they set up down there. On a side note the secondary schools nationals held last year was won by a high school from Christchurch which was the first time in 20 or so years that a non Auckland school has won it. Good video from yourself and I agree with all your points.
18 Perth, 19 NZ2 and 20 Ipswich
Agree with this 100%. Although I’m willing to revisit ideas like Adelaide etc by the time we’re deciding the 20th team
18th team PNG
LOL Ipswich, would certainly also attract Logan supporters etc who might not want to travel into Brisbane
@@isaiahminiyo5216𝐏𝐍𝐆 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐝😂
@@isaiahminiyo5216 nah
Would agree with your summation here. PNG is a logistical nightmare, how much security would they need for home games, how are they going to attract marquee players - would you play there and move the fam to Port Moresby, et., Brisbane is saturated, a third team is going to take support from the existing two teams, Brisbane is a growing market for all sports but not at the rate needed for an additional NRL team. WA might be fertile ground, the previous team had support there, while a South Island team based out of Christchurch has limited potential, given the population and Rugby dominating in that region - Canterbury in the NPC and the Crusaders in Super Rugby.
The AFL and NSL are expanding, the AFL into Tassie surprisingly among other plans and the NSL have a number of franchises putting bids in for additional teams, including a second franchise in NZ that apparent has been approved. Rumour has it the NBL is also expanding into Tassie, vaguely think the Devils had a decent following till they canned commercial television coverage, amongst other franchise lodging statements.
About the only major sports not expanding, have no idea about the Netball since the previous contraction, are the BBL - though there are apparently various groups working on additional franchises, and Rugby Union which has just canned the Rebels after significant loses, something to keep an eye on with the Storm who might have the runs onboard but are apprently heavily reliant on NRL bailouts - that is speculation from various sources.
Would go for a Perth based team as number 18th - even with the additional travel, though would prefer the Pirates - black and white - hell yeah, over moving the Bears over there. Weren't the Bears working on a franchise proposal out of Gosford a year or so back? Very nice stadium there, currently home ground for the Mariners in the NSL.
You mentioned the time slots that come with expansion but I wonder if the NRL looks to add one or two more games a season for additional TV inventory. Also, don't be surprised if a potential Perth side has some 8/9pm AEST kickoffs similar to what US sports do on the West Coast. I'd imagine with FNF in particular, the NRL would want to push the second kickoff back so the first game starts at 6pm AEST.
Yeah I like that FNF shout, it wouldn't surprise me at all. Especially considering the coverage on Fox and Nine continues around an hour after the final whistle anyway, so you might as well show that audience more games.
No doubt as well the NRL would want to add more games, but to my knowledge the current deal with the Rugby League Players Association would prevent them from doing so. 24 games a season + potentially finals + internationals is a tough ask as it is. Thanks for commenting as always brother 🙌
@@TheLeaguie I'd like to see if you'd be interested in collaborating. I have an idea and would like to feature your channel. My email is in my channel description. I can fill in the rest of the details from there.
You may want to check your facts about the Kea. Firstly it is NOT the national bird of NZ the Kiwi is. And Secondly the people behind that bid aren't "League" people, the bid led by Tony Kidd really are.
Christchurch for me. Already building a new stadium. North/South rivalry. NZ deserve it. Play games in Perth to build support for future expansion. PNG? How would they be better than Norths or the Jets? Would require massive investment. It’s a political promise when we in Australia can benefit more in other areas given “cost of living” for $600M in political diplomacy. Can the NRL afford it? Can Australia afford it? Don’t think so. Not now. As a member of the Bears I’d love to see it but not if they play most games in Perth. It would dilute the brand. Brisbane Tigers. No. Merge Southport and Cronulla first. Both the Sharks and if you want a National competition it’s better to move some Sydney teams out. Controversial yes but the AFL has already relocated South Melbourne and Fitzroy and, while not a truly balanced comp, it’s better than the NRL. Great video mate.
Agree wholeheartedly with that. Very well said 💚
Perth would work well I think because the NRL can at least have a little bit of competition to AFL in Perth. I feel like they should take at least 1 game to Optus Stadium just so they can have a big crowd at the game
Yeah agreed mate. I've seen so many people shoot down Perth as an option by dismissing it as 'AFL territory'. And sure - it is, but they seem to be forgetting that the most consistently successful team in the NRL era is based in Melbourne.
Don’t use the name West Coast, use Perth or Western Australia
Agreed, double header at Optus with the “Perth Bears” playing someone and then another game afterwards. Maybe only in the first 2 years as it could take away fans from the bears.
@mackenzietoscan3602 just call it Perth not WA or West Coast. Makes no sence having a state vs cities
Perth sounds the best option because it has the most population out of all the options..it needs to be a Perth based team tho..no one in Perth wants a token Perth team
Perth Bears for me.
The return of a 1908 Foundation club plus the colours of the North Sydney Bears and the Perth Reds were virtually identical as both wore predominately red and black.
The NRL will NOT admit another team in NSW having 11 already, 9 in Sydney alone, the NRL really needs a WA team to become a truly national competition.
WA offers a new time slot for broadcasters, new fans and potential new sponsorships.
The Bears would provide WA with a ready made fanbase on the East Coast, Bears fans will still have atleast 9 away games in Sydney to attend (Newcastle is only up the freeway) an established NRL pathways system with teams in the NSW Cup, S.G.Ball and Harold Matthews (mens), Tarsha Gale, Lisa Fiaola Cup (womens) competitions.
Bears NSW Cup Frontrow enforcer Kurt De Luis (South Perth Lions) is a Perth product.
WA has some talented players in their local competition like Joell Irvine (Joondalup Giants), Duane Butler (Fremantle Roosters), Paora Kemp (Fremantle Roosters), Kade McDonald (North Beach Sea Eagles) and the player pool would only become larger and stronger with NRL exposure.
Bring Back the Bears
🐻❤️🖤🏈
I've gotta say, since making this video I've warmed a lot to the Perth Bears. If you're right about the local fans being willing to embrace it then its a win-win situation.
To be honest, I'd be super happy with it simply for the fact that it isn't PNG
For geopolitical reasons, Papua New Guinea will probably get the gig. The folks up there are cray cray crazy for our great game so I reckon they deserve to win the bid. However, I hope New Zealand succeeds. Two Kiwi teams would generate a tremendous rivalry and Darby games would be next level passionate and competitive. As for Perth, well, it's rock solid AFL country and past tilts have failed.
But the PNG fans already being cray cray crazy is the exact reason why the game gains almost nothing by putting a team there. I just don’t see the sense behind it.
As for Perth - it’s absolutely an AFL area… but the most successful team in the nrl era is from what’s even more AFL country. I reckon it’s unfair to say the western reds ‘failed’, they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time with the ARL and Super League combining. Definitely worth another shot imo
@TheLeaguie Yeah, you make some very strong points. The Western Reds were very poorly served by the whirl of events at that time. As far as I can see, there's strong points for all options. I hope the NRL choose wisely for Rugby League - the greatest game of all.
Being so crazy on league don’t they get a team on merit alone. It would also give huge benefits to the international side. Look at what affect the Dura has had playing in Super Rugby
To be fair most dolphins fans are former broncos fans (I know this because I’m from Brisbane), so I think most fans from PNG would become fans of the new club there if they ever formed one
I think the issue is that the NRL is proposing that they play out of cairns, so at that point, what’s the point of having a PNG-based side?
For sure but from the game’s perspective, that still isn’t adding fans. It’s just moving fans from one club to another. So no net gain for the sport.
The Cairns issue is also a problem. I just see too many avenues through which the PNG team could struggle
Justin Olman has said it.
Papua New Guinea is not ready yet to join the NRL.
Period.
Also, Markus Bai. Both of them played in the NRL and in AFL territory. I'd say they have more merit in their opinion.
I agree that PNG shouldn't be in but not for the reason the guy in this video claimed. The real reason is that Port Moresby is one of the most dangerous cities in the world, a player with a family will never move up there with all the potential risk and crime. Players would have to live in a Covid style bubble which would not be worth it.
Olam and Bai know this, PNG needs to develop rapidly to have a team there. Yes the fans are clearly there and they would sell out their stadium every week, but everything else just won't work. It's only being considered to mess with China.
It's a damn shame too, 6 million people obsessed with Rugby League should have a team.
In order
18th North Sydney bears
19th Perth
20th Christchurch
By 2030
21st Adelaide
22 east tigers ( south Brisbane lions)
By 2040
23rd Darwin use png pathways
24th Hobart
By 2050
This makes it a truly national sport
If you space it out like this it is achievable
Focus on building up the pacific league starting week after Super Bowl
Teams pool a
Australia
NZ
PNG
Samoa
Pool b
Cook Islands
Fiji
Tonga
USA
Then lead into Vegas games
I like that spacing a lot, and I’ve always been a fan of eventually going to conferences, and having regularly scheduled international games.
If the sport continues to grow the way it currently is, what you’re saying is just about possible.
@@TheLeaguie with some forethought patience and planning I don’t know why we can’t have it all
People say not another team in Sydney but if you announce this road map of bears Perth Christchurch at the same time with a schedule for these three to enter the comp spaced out every 2 years between now and 2030 I think people will be ok with it
Then you have a team every 5 years until we get to 24 teams and are a national game
Which yeah we break up into two conferences of 12 top four of each conference go into play offs and winners of each conference have a Super Ball
You’d probably have to randomise the conference each year and teams play each team twice from their conference 24 rounds shrinking the season allowing for the pacific cup and teams to rest
The reason you randomise from year to year the conference Just so teams that travel to Perth from the east coast don’t have to do every year guaranteed and others never
And it mixes up the match’s up and rivalries and prevents one conference from becoming stale or less competitive like how the nfc is not as good as the afc
At the point of 24 teams you would randomly play 6 Sydney teams in one conference and 6 in the other you have 5 qld teams you put 3 in one 2 in the other than randomise the rest
Love your videos mate, well done
Thank you brother, means a lot to read that 💚
As a Papua New Guinean, the Idea is purely Geopolitical. I agree with you
The Warriors and League in NZ are in an interesting spot right now. The Wahs are growing their fan base and culture really well at the moment, so introducing a second NZ team right now would risk cannibalising the Wahs. On the same note, waiting too long to introduce a second team would risk interest dropping from new fans in NZ or the Wahs calcifying the market. I think the best path for expansion should be Perth, whether that be the Pirates or Bears is another can of worms, as team 18 locking in a 9th game for most rounds. Then in another 3 years, when the Wahs are in the goldilocks zone of excitement built and potential met, introduce a South Island/Christchurch or possibly even a Wellington team as team 19 and Brisbane 3 and Adelaide can fight to join them as team 20. Any expansion after team 20, as much as it hurts me to say as a Rabbitohs fan who nearly lost his team, should come from relocation of Sydney teams.
Agree entirely. Out of curiosity, which Sydney team would you move?
To me - although I’m from the shire - it’d be the Sharks. They’ve got Dragons territory above and below them, and that junior base belonged to the Dragons pre-1967 anyway
@@TheLeaguie I could talk about this forever so I’ll put my tl;dr answer as The Tigers as first on the chopping (moving?) block.
If we are looking at map borders and simple demographics, then the Sharks are the obvious choice. Funnily enough I am also a born and bred in the Shire, only moved away at the start of this year. From the conversations I have had with most locals, if Cronulla don’t have their own team, they simply won’t follow the game. It might sound insane to you and me but a lot of these people are club first, and the game is a distant second. Soccer participation in both the Sutherland Shire and St George is huge, if the NRL axed either the Sharks or Dragons, they would immediately seed that ground to Soccer. Honestly, I’m surprised the 3rd Sydney team in the A League was Macarthur and not Cronulla.
The Dragons guarantee their safety by being the hybrid Wollongong team. If they fully commit to Wollongong and the greater Illawarra region, whilst still a relocation, it’s an extremely minor one compared to what every other club would face. They should obviously continue playing at least a few home games at Kogorah the same way the Bears want to at North Sydney Oval if they get the Perth Bid.
As much as I hate Manly for what they did to the Bears, that was 20 years ago now, and they are THE northern Sydney team. Even if we whittled the Sydney teams all the way down from 8 (not including Dragons) to 4, Manly survive.
The safest team of all is obviously Penrith, even without the current Dynasty they are the most geographically distinct team apart from Manly, covering the far west, which is basically a city onto itself.
Souths and Roosters surviving simply as the foundation clubs feels cheap, even as a Souths fan, but they do have the longest history of both successes and failures, especially Souths having been expelled and reinstated. Ironically the thing that really saves them both, even in a hypothetical 4 Sydney clubs scenario, is their hatred of each other. The rivalry is a massive selling point of the game and both clubs have very distinct national brands with massive fan bases, even if the chooks fans never show up.
We’re really splitting hairs now but it comes down to the non-Penrith west Sydney teams.
The Bulldogs are a massive club and while they aren’t successful right now, they were consistently successful for most of their history. Geographically, they are in the heart of Sydney.
Parramatta are very similar to the Bulldogs but less consistent whilst also having an even larger fan base (feel free to fact check that one it’s been a while). Parramatta is also a city onto itself more than any other part of Sydney. I would move the Sharks before considering the Eels and Dogs.
That leaves the Tigers. Despite being a merger of 2 historic clubs, the Tigers are a small club in a geographically niche area. They are cellar dwellers on the field and a basket case off the field with no clear identity. There was a chance to build a new identity after the 2005 premiership, but the club never capitalised on that success. A move to Campbeltown would go a long way to try and move them up the pecking order, but even now they seem reluctant to do that. It’s not fair to their fans at all, but in a hypothetical like this tough calls would have to be made.
So Tigers first, Cronulla second, and the Dragons committing more to Illawarra would get us from 8 and a half Sydney teams to 6. If 6 is too many Parra unfortunately as there are so many west Sydney teams, and if 5 is too many then the Dogs, leaving Manly for North Sydney (Sorry Bears) the Roosters for the Eastern Suburbs/Sydney City, Souths for… the South, and Penrith for the West, though I could easily be convinced to swap Manly for the Dogs as Manly really only have geography in their favour and Western Sydney is more than big enough for 2 teams.
@@benjaminwaters241 I definitely accept that line of reasoning - and I am purely looking at it from a demographic perspective. But to me, I'd just be massively concerned with what happens to Campbelltown in that instance. Especially with - as you point out, Macarthur FC now there.
That's one of the biggest growth areas in Australia. It's a particularly Rugby League demographic. I'm not sure that's an area we can afford to not really cover. Penrith and Parra are too far away - and theres a national park separating it and the shire.
As a kiwi living in Auckland I don’t think NZ needs another team Just how the NBA only have 1 team that isn’t In the USA Toronto Raptors NZ needs all the talent it can get especially if a lot of our talent sign with Australian clubs a second team would just make in unfair for our club I think 18th Team should go to Western Australia Western Red Bears makes sense and another Team in Brisbane to be the 19th and a team in Cairns to attract PNG for the 20th makes more sense
I guess the idea would be that a second NZ team would help attract more prospects there away from union, thereby increasing the player pool and not disadvantaging the warriors. But you’re absolutely right in saying it could go wrong. They’d have to do it delicately
Cool vid mate. Subscribed
To be honest i think Perth should have a team ,as most teams are either in QLD and NSW and only 1 over the Barassi line which are the storms so we need more teams in other states its called the NRL not NSW&QLD RL and it should not be PNG as ive heard they have to many problems and the team wont be self funded an will only be supported by government funding but a other team in new Zealand? a good idea because as you said rugby league is growing in new zealand and if there is another team in new zealand it will make the game bigger but also will give new zealand fans a option to pick a team.
Kea is not the national bird lol
Yeah honestly I have no idea where I got that one from. Maybe I saw that it was 'a national bird' and misread it... I have no idea lol
Papua new guinea would be great, because rugby is our number one game.That is why we want to expose some more grass roots talent's.
For sure, but those are the exact reasons why we don’t need to put a team there. Absolutely invest in grassroot talents and provide them with pathways into the NRL, but a first grade side there isn’t necessary to achieve that goal. We could put the team elsewhere and still benefit from the passion and talent that PNG has
I would love PNG 🎉
18. Perth
19. NZ2
20. Sth Brisbane.
Both the Broncos and Dolphins are based on the Northside.
Closest nrl side to the area would be the Titans
I get why Papua New Guinea why not one in Adelaide, Tasmania and Wellington
Wellington’s small population concerns me. Townsville is the only smaller city with an NRL team - and it’s absolute heartland up there.
The AFL clearly think there’s appetite for sport in Tasmania with the devils being announced there. But again, Hobart is a very small city.
Adelaide would be a decent option for team #20 in my opinion. But typically when the NRL have taken games there, they haven’t done super well
Tasmania is ultra AFL heartland, there are literally no Rugby league competitions at all their. That wouldn’t be a problem if there was potential to grow the sport, but Tasmania has a population of 550k and the lowest growth in population in the country. There is is little to no potential there. That team would have to be propped up by the AFL at all times and wouldn’t be able to field (a significant amount of) Tasmanians ever.
Wellington idk, pretty small city.
Adelaide/SA, comparable to Tasmania, AFL/Australian rules heartland at its finest, but, in contrast to Tasmania, much bigger population and a growing interest in RL/growing number of registered league players. Indeed, potentially a decent option, but at the moment, probably not the best. Perth/WA is significantly larger in terms of population and probably more NRL friendly/tiny bit less strong on AFL.
@@LomuHabana On the note of Adelaide/Perth, I attribute a lot less weight to the 'AFL Area' point than most... because of the Melbourne Storm. The idea isn't necessarily to take over those cities... it's to have a foothold and a solid presence there which allows us to bring in new fans and new sponsors.
@@TheLeaguie Mate, I agree 100%. My point was Perth is a better option than Adelaide, mainly because of the higher population, but also because they have a lot of immigrants from Rugby countries (Union that is, but they might find League more appealing than the classical Aussie rules fans in those areas).
I respectfully disagree with your argument against having a png team in the nrl. You're almost saying that png has nothing to offer the nrl, the Australian spectator, and the rugby league world, other than the fact that we're fans.
The nrl has room to grow in png, and the return on investments would be a net positive. There are huge talents and the game day experience will be exciting for spectators and teams.
Rugby League or the nrl has a chance to solidify its presence in another country. Which will all the more benefit nrl long term.
Thanks for the comment, you presented it well. But something can bring benefit while still bringing significantly less benefit than the alternative options.
The talent that comes out of PNG is undeniable. I do believe clubs (or the NRL itself) would benefit from investing into pathways there. But while having a first grade team there would help those pathways - I don’t see it as necessary.
We could benefit from those pathways while also benefitting from the higher quantity of new fans brought in by a Perth or NZ team. Overall, that’s clearly the best result for the NRL
The 18th team in Perth would be nice as either The Pirates or The Bears as they would be the colours of black and white with a hint of red.
Christchurch would make a good 19th team for a team on each island . PNG is already playing tier 2 Rugby League in the Queensland Intrust Cup. Another Brisbane Club is out of the Question. Ron Barassi has passed away and so should the line as I am sure both codes can expand.
Strongly sounds like it’ll be the Perth Bears - which I see as a huge win for rugby league in this country.
Out of curiosity - if you’d have Perth and Christchurch as 18 and 19, with a third Brisbane team out of the question, who would be your Team #20?
@@TheLeaguie As weird as it sound , The city of churches of course Adelaide. After all it is call NRL as in National Rugby League and if you could not get bums on seats I would disagree with you and complete the story by having at least one club every state capital on the mainland.
Papua New Guinea is perfect for talent and fans, but they won't generate the finances to sustain the team.
That's just reality.
Perth and Adelaide have large populations to appeal to, so a lot of growth potential.
I expect the AFL may well have their 20th team in Perth (on a population, money and players source basis it probably makes the most sense) so there may be a lot of competition for the WA public interest and money
That may well happen - possibly even more so if we were to put an NRL team there (they may look to squeeze us out of there again). But if we take ourselves seriously, and back our product to win over fans, we shouldn't be making decisions based on fear of what the AFL may or may not do.
Man you are underestimate PNG thats unfair.
We have the strongest domestic competition than this other bidders.
That feeds into my point though. I want to put a team in a place that will make rugby league strong there. Rugby League is already strong in PNG
I wish Darwin had a team, but it's too small. The game is followed alot up there. Call them Top End Crocodiles 🐊
UP DA WAHS UP DA KEA
I believe there are 3 Christchurch bids out there so def huge interest.
Perth should have its own identity and doesn’t need to be aligned to another Sydney club.
The PNG bid would unite a very tribal country and the PNG PM has guaranteed the safety of players and fams. There are already lots of Aussies living safely in Port Moresby.
Perth pirates or convicts black and white or miners blue and gold to match west coast colours
East tigers change south Brisbane lions play out the Gabba colour brown and yellow other animal types Singapore plovers
Adelaide ravens navy blue and red and yellow trim like the crows
Darwin crocs blue and orange
Hobart blue younger blue and maroon
Christchurch kea or paladins gold white black trim
Bring back the bears
I wold do all of these before png put the national in the national rugby league
Yes I am from Perth but come on, league could only grow more if a team is put in Perth or Chch, no idea why Brisbane is even an option and PNG would be ridiculously tough to work out
Just to let you know these actually Two South Island bidders .
True - but the other bid doesn’t yet have a concrete idea of what their branding etc would look like, so there was less to go off in terms of covering them in this video
The choice for the 18th team will show as what the goals and ambitions of the NRL are and where the priorities lie.
Perth: growing the sport in Australia, working on making it a national/nationwide sport and trying to come closer to the AFL. Overall maybe the best choice.
Christchurch/2nd NZ team: continue to grow the sport in NZ, clearly there is a lot of potential there.
Brisbane: on the surface a rather safe choice, maybe also to cement the dominant position of the NRL, considering the steady growth of AFL/Aussie rules, soccer and other sports in that area. Don’t think it is a smart choice. Will contribute very little. You already lined it out, Dolphins are sort of the second team there and creating another Brisbane NRL team at almost the same time doesn’t make sense.
PNG: a very political choice, you already said it. Also a choice based on sentiment, they might think that PNG simply has to have a team because they are RL crazy. But also maybe flawed thinking. They might believe that having an NRL team there is the most important thing in order to be able to utilise the talent pool better. Classical NRL thinking and dead wrong. You need to invest in the overall football infrastructure there, in communities, create academies and make sure the youth and semi professional competitions and clubs are strong and competitive. So indeed, on all counts, a bad choice.
So for me, either Perth or New Zealand, depending on the goals, ambitions and priorities of the NRL, with Perth being a my personal number 1.
Agree word-for-word with everything you’ve said there. Especially on PNG.
If the NRL’s reasoning is that we need a team in PNG to benefit from its pathways, then we very much can have our cake and eat it. With a fraction of the money we’d need to invest into a franchise there - we can develop their pathways and have players come through the PNG Hunters
@@TheLeaguie spot on with your last point. The AFL is already doing it too, and has already recruited a player from PNG for the senior competition (Hewago Oea). The Port Moresby AFL and Niukick (Auskick for PNG) were genius moves.
The NRL has to go down the same route. Forget the franchise, invest the money in youth programs and local competitions. Those efforts will bear really juicy fruits in a few years time, increasing the quality of both PNG Football as well as the senior NRL.
18th is a Perth bears teams, 19th should be southern keas out of chch and a adelaide or another vic team for 20th team as Storm have so much depth is crazy.
should also rename the warriors to northern warriors.
Has to be Adelaide IMO
I think they 22 tames in NRL because this manes have two different divisions of 11. The tames who play a bye in each division played each other. This means, the NRL have 20 rounds and their top four top or top six division. In each division grand final will played the highest risking tames and the grand final of NRL play in Sydney.
You for get and South Australia in will try have it Port Adelaide Magpies they were the black and white Prion bars the can fan base in Sydney the old Western suburbs Magpies
18th Perth, 19th South NZ, 20th Sunshine Coast, Another PNG team in the NSW Cup.
Sunshine Coast is one I haven’t rly heard discussed. What makes you favour that over the likes of Adelaide?
@@TheLeaguie QLD being more League orientated plus the population of the Sunshine Coast.
BRING BACK THE BEARS
Lets take the emotion out of it, just financial speaking the Titans are a clear example of how little the away fan numbers can be from a manufacturered club.
With the Bears you get 3-5k fans to Sydney games regularly.
As far as memberships ? I can guarantee you as a Bears tragic in my 30s I'll be jumping over to Perth Bears should they come back and agree to 2-4 home games in North Sydney.
That’s the big advantage of having them be a reborn Sydney team. But Perth-based fans I’ve spoken to have said that it’d be super hard to sell a relocated Sydney club over there. They’re parochial over there, which would be my concern. You’ve got to balance those factors
@@TheLeaguieI travelled over for last years NRL double header, I wore my Bears gear and spoke to plenty of locals, I also attended a local 1st grade game between the Fremantle Roosters v South Perth Lions, plenty of people are in favour of the Bears coming over, most WA league fans just want a NRL team to follow.
From what I’ve heard over the last few days the WA Govt, the WA bid and the Bears have agreed to terms, it looks like one game will be played a North Sydney Oval.
An announcement on the successful NRL 18th team will be officially made in October.
Any more than one game at NSO, especially if it's a home game that would be in Perth otherwise would not go over well with Perth fans, we already dislike the East Coast a fair bit and sharing a team with Sydney would make us feel a bit hard done by
@@albertmiller2electricbooga897 have a look at manufacted clubs with no long term traditional fans i.e Titans they struggle , and other sports like Western Force, Macurther, GWS and GC suns. Your getting 100+ years of fans from the gate.
You'll automatically get rivalrys like Manly, Tigers, Roosters that are close by.
You'll also be guaranteed 5-10k additional memberships and away fans at away games in addition to a pool of youth players.
North Sydney doesn't want to play across the world but you have to make do, the reality is Perth only offers a new TV market otherwise they'd give North Sydney or another Brisbane team the license.
@@albertmiller2electricbooga897 To me if they're going to have a home game at NSO, it's super important that magic round is an away game for them. Fans of rival clubs will be frustrated at the special treatment but strategically it's the right thing to do. You can't have a Perth team who plays only 10 of their 24 total games in Perth
A. K u spent faul ya. PNG must be the 18 NRL team. End of the story. Enough lo washim mipla nambaut
Do we really need more teams in states outside of NSW and Queensland they will only have to be propped up using players produced in those traditional league areas and that will then reduce the talent pool available to the existing NRL clubs ? I dont believe the decision on PNG should have anything to with politics although they do produce players any selection needs to about practicality and sustianability not what may keep China at bay. For me the South Island of NZ makes more sense as NZ produces players and if a rivaly developed between the North and South island we could potentially have ourselves another state of origin in the future.
I like that reasoning behind the southern NZ bid. But I would say that putting teams in non-traditional league areas is the entire point of expansion. We put the Melbourne storm in AFL heartland 25ish years ago and now the likes of Su’a Fa’alogo and Dean Ieremia are coming from Victoria.
But then again, it’s about the new fans, not necessarily new players. We only really get that by going outside of NSW/QLD
@@TheLeaguie you need 40 or 50 players to run a club not 2 in 10 plus years. Every time you insert a team into a non league area you have to relocate players which lessens the quality of the playing pool. If that reduces the quality of the end product you may end up losing the fans that you already have.
@@Davo-i1s To be honest I think you're stretching a little there mate. A guy like Cameron Munster moving away from QLD at a young age isn't going to make anyone stop following Rugby League. But by having a guy of his quality in Victoria, it'll make people there more inclined to follow and play the game. Kids there will grow up watching him, and be inspired to play league in the same way Fa'alogo watched Slater when he was growing up.
@@TheLeaguie I know what you are saying and it has merit but you are not taking just 1 promising kid. To field a team in the NRL along with the supporting structure you probably need at least 20 or 30 players, coaches support staff etc. if you add 3 teams in non league areas then you multiply that number with each one that you add. The danger. is if you keep diluting the supply chain you cant expect to maintain the game at the same level and that may cost you existing fans. In reality the new clubs will not only be looking for promising young kids their main targets will be established big name players that they can build their clubs around. Thats what the Dolphins did and they are in a strong league area producing plenty of talent of their own...
Solid bloke merch
4:28, yep, that should be the slogan when the western bears launch in 2027
If the Bears get 1 game at North Sydney Oval then that's exactly what they were after all along. Can't begin the negotiations asking for only 1 otherwise you could end up with nothing.
Tasmania
West coast pirates is my favourite or WA reds as a 2nd option.
Don’t mind that at all mate. But it’s looking now like it’ll be Perth Bears, which I’m warming to as well
PNG for me. Then Perth (Western Reds) not the Sydney Bears. Then a Pacific team, Darwin team, 2 more teams in Qld (South West and Country Qld), Country NSW. so that leaves 4 teams in Sydney and 1 team in west Sydney. Eventually drop another Sydney team and have a South Island from NZ.
You’d find extremely tough resistance dropping any Sydney teams, but you could technically do it. Which 4 would you leave? And would your west team be Parra, Wests or Penrith?
PNG is not ready for a team.they don’t have enough talent on NRL level to fill a whole team and I don’t see Australians and Kiwis leaving Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Gold Cost or Melbourne to live in PNG.
Adelaide!!
Perth should have it, because where will the play if PNG got NRL's 18th team, and Christchurch is prone to earthquakes.
Here how I would do the 18th, 19th, 20th teams
With both the Newtown jets & North Sydney Bears both wanting to partner with Perth to make WA team. I would go to both team and offer 18th license to bears to go to Perth in 2027 as Perth team make the most sense of all the options. With the 20th license i would give it to the jets to go to Adelaide in 2029 or 2030 as sooner or later they are going to have to go to Adelaide and with jets you get 4000 paying membership which gives them a chance to be successful and it expands the tv right area
With the 19th license I would go to South Island New Zealand with either the bid of the Southern Orcas or South Island Kea bid
Brisbane 3rd team and Papua New Guinea team can wait until the 21st and 22nd licences in 2035
I like a lot of that idea. Perth-residents I’ve spoken to though since making this video are very opposed to being given an old Sydney team like the Bears or Jets. That has me a bit concerned that it could be doomed from the start.
Adelaide as the 20th team is something I don’t mind at all - but I do think we’ll stop at 20. Or at least, it’ll be a very long time before team 21. There was a gap of 16 years between the Titans and Dolphins. So we can’t have another 5 teams by 2035
North Sydney bears playing out of north Sydney and central coast
When people say bring back the bears they mean to north Sydney
Let Perth be a new fresh start
The nz national bird is a kiwi
PNG needs infrastructure and stadiums built, South Island NZ will struggle to get numbers, Perth is best bet. Also a Central Coast team and Adelaide probably also better bets than PNG or another NZ team.
I’d sooner go Adelaide than Central Coast personally, because teams like Easts and Souths already have programs and take home games to that area. But 100% agree that PNG isn’t ready yet. And even when it is… I’m not sure they’re ever really going to be a good choice
Perth bears are great and they wouldn’t need to take any home games to Sydney as they will get 8 away games in Sydney a year. That’s 8 chances for bear fans in Sydney to fill their rivals stadium and out number them, like the warrior fans do with the titans on the goldy each season
It’s unlikely that the bears would be able to play a game at north Sydney oval to begin with, as its not upto nrl standards.
Perth for me, but stand-alone. Nothing to do with North Sydney Bears. All mergers have been absolute failures. Different timezone which is ideal for TV audiences. Good stadium. Huge population to support just 1 team. For a 2nd team probably Wellington over Christchurch as its larger. Although you could have a Nth v Sth rivalry with Christchurch & Auckland - with the odd game at Dunedin (fantastic indoor stadium). No way should Albanese be giving $600m of tax-payers money to buy favours from PNG (to keep China at bay).
Yeah agree with pretty much all of that. In making a Perth team the NRL should look to make the decisions that make the Perth fans the most happy. Making their team the bears aims to keep a small portion of existing fans in Sydney happy.
And on the taxes - good god yeah. They’re vastly overestimating the impact Rugby League can have in international geopolitics
I've also seen recently that Ipswich Jets have thrown themselves in the ring for a merger with the Perth bid, which I'm personally not a fan of. Perth Rugby League fans want their own team that will play their home games in Perth, not split with a pre-existing Sydney or Brisbane franchise where god knows how many home games would get taken out of that market, it just doesn't make sense.
The other thing I don't like particularly from an SEQ perspective is that I genuinely feel like we could support 4 clubs here and I think Ipswich/Western Corridor should be one of them if that happens. I'd also love to see a bid for a South East Brisbane/Logan/Beenleigh/Gold Coast team to replace the Titans. The only real downside I can see to that is that you'd probably need a stadium deep in the Southern Suburbs of Brisbane or Logan to really appeal to that market without it eating too far into the Western Corridor market and that's a big financial commitment to an area that doesn't have a solid base to start from like the Dolphins had with Dolphin Stadium.
Dont be selfish. Expand the game we love to your neighbours..
Intelligent fella
Haha appreciate it mate!
Southern Island of New Zealand. The Kea is certainly not the national bird of New Zealand.
Yep - not sure where I got that one from. I must have misread something while making the video. Still though - a great bid
More teams in vic to rival the Afl
I favour Perth Pirates. Dictch the west coast title. Melbourne storm isn't called Victoria storm.
Perth Pirates is a bit cute for my liking. It’s the alliteration compared with how punchy the name is. It sounds like the name of a junior club - whereas West Coast Pirates sounds like the name of an NRL team
Should be in Wellington mate
I just reckon with Wellington you lose that North Island v South Island rivalry that you’d get with Christchurch. The population of Christchurch is also nearly double Wellington’s - so those factors play a role
PNG 18th team way to go!
The NRL should be Australian teams only.
I’ve gotta say I really disagree. I’d want to keep it to South Pacific teams but the more we can grow the sport, the better
@@TheLeaguie Perhaps those south pacific teams should have their own comp.
The other Australian footy comp, the AFL, doesn't have a NZ team, nor should it.
Png are ever excited to have a team here we don't get then we'll be left for the rest of the time
If they did get a team it would probably be a joint team with Cairns, PNG and the rest of the islands, like how the "Dolphins" are a SEQ team
where the fucks the adelaide section, Rams, make it happen mate.
5 or 6 years ago I would’ve been a big advocate for Adelaide. But the last few regular season nrl games taken there got pretty poor crowds if memory serves. It’s also only an hour behind the east coast, so doesn’t necessarily open up a new slot
Leaving it later will make it worse, adelaidians are spiteful when left out of a good thing
You are a useless RUclipsr!!!
There a AFL city too much. I know because I'm south Australian myself and lived in Adelaide for several years and there no interest in NRL
the Warriors should just be a part of the NZRL
the NRL isn't really national, imo and also, it should be renamed to the ARL
32 teams, 2 conferences that change yearly, and 16 teams for each.
That’s… certainly ambitious. I can’t say I believe in hanging the warriors out to dry like that though. Their players would leave to play NRL.
32 teams is enormous. I think the goal is to get to 20 with 2 conferences. Play each team in your conference twice (18 games) and then 6 random teams from the other conference once (bringing it to 24 games)
@@TheLeaguie Is 28 teams, 2 conferences, 14 in each good or still too much
we definitely need to think of expanding inside of Australia before we expand outside
maybe we can do a Pacific Comp.
@@TheLeaguie maybe the NRL can expand if they axe 3 Sydney teams.
WA
Would you go with West Coast Pirates or Perth Bears?
@@TheLeaguie Bears , 100%
So a country where league is the national sport, a country where rugby is massive but league has a good foothold or a state a million miles from anywhere that is AFL mad. And the NRL wants Perth……sigh
That’s quite literally the point though… there’s no expansion value to putting a team in a place where rugby league is king and will continue to be king.
The Melbourne Storm have been a success beyond even their wildest dreams - don’t dismiss an idea just because it’s in an AFL city
@@TheLeaguie so…rather than put a team in a place people living there actually will go to games and support the team place it somewhere three eastern state ex pats will support and rusted on AFL supporters won’t give it the time of day. If that’s the logic why not start a franchise in Russia. No one there’s even heard of league. Nothing but potential growth. Remember the reds and the rams, disastrous franchises. Growth can be found in countries in the Pacific where rugby is king but league can be appealing. AFL fans will never buy into league just like AFL never stands a real chance in QLD. The storm is a success in league states not in victoria
@@nerdycat2446 It's not fair at all to say the Rams were a 'disasterous franchise'. They didn't fail - they merely fell victim to the ARL and the Super League merging. As a franchise they were financially healthy. Both times we took origin to Perth in the last decade sold out the stadium. There's clearly an appetite there.
I'd also dispute what you said about the Storm only being successful outside of Victoria. They've got 31,000 members, the vast majority of which would be local. That's a huge success in my book, and we can absolutely replicate it in Perth
@@TheLeaguie I wonder how many storm members were born in Victoria. There’s been one Victorian born storm player and his family is from NZ. Let’s face it the storm is a hybrid nz qld team, feeder clubs, players, all qld with a few kiwis thrown in. Melbourne has enough east state and pacific ex pats to make it work but does Adelaide or Perth. Rams, reds, western force and Melbourne rebels all failed. Let’s build the game in the pacific islands where rugby fans can appreciate league and junior development is possible. A Perth team will need league states and countries for all of its players and junior development. One off origin crowds or exhibition crowds don’t really count. Even Queenslanders turned out for an AFL grand final in Brisbane.
Bring on the Western Bears for WA. We are Rugby League mad over here.
IT NEEDS TO BE FROM PERTH!!! AND THE NEXT SHOULD BE FROM ADELAIDE!!! It will then only make sense to call it the NRL! The NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE! Because only the AFL, Basketball, Soccer and Cricket competitions in Australia 🇦🇺 truly claim to be national competitions.
NO MORE TEAMS BASED IN SYDNEY AND QUEENSLAND!!!
PERTH WESTERN REDS!!!
To be fair, I don’t care so much about the geographical spread of teams. I care more about how many fans they can potentially bring in.
But in saying that, I think Perth is the option that achieves that goal
Wow, I know a great deal of people don’t want PNG.
Why are you guy's so racist? Maybe you guys are fearing us to be competitive at international matches? We're big fans of NRL so just give us the license. After all, your government has already committed to us being the 18th NRL Team so please shallow your own pride and ego Mr. presenter...
Not sure where you can point to ‘racism’ here. I quite literally said that PNG fans are the best fans in the world - and if you’ve watched my recent videos you’d know how much I love the international game.
My logic is that I want to put a team in a place that will attract new fans. In PNG we’ve already pretty much maximised our number of fans. That’s all it is
@TheLeaguie I know but you have to support a PNG Team to be in the NRL coz it's really hard for our native players to follow the likes of Justin Olam and Marcus Bai even few of our players can play in the NRL with their current form. That causes our players to play in the Super League when called. That shows that you guys always turned a blind eye on us. Therefore, a team for us would make the game interesting to watch during test matches and world Cup. Otherwise, rugby league would always be a boring game to watch during World Cups fixtures and 4 nations test matches. PNG needs to be in the NRL so that we can raise our standards in playing during international matches between NZ, UK and Aussies. You guys have a lot of Fijians, Samoans and Tongans playing in the NRL that's why they are considered to be competitive during international matches just because they are exposed to the NRL standards of playing. I'm sure we can play grand final World Cup in the future if only we have exposure in the NRL. By the way, your Prime Minister will give us a birthday present during our 50th independence anniversary come 16 September 2024 by approving it's former colony the NRL bid. Chill... 😂😂😂
@@samsonsipa I would 100% support increasing the pathway programmes between PNG and existing NRL clubs - I think I mentioned that in this video. But in my opinion we can achieve that without putting a team there.
An NRL team is one way to do it - but pathway development would be cheaper and potentially as effective.