NRL must expand or die - DT article

[Newtown]

June 29, 2017 7:17am
by STAFF WRITERS
Source: FOX SPORTS

BENNY’S HUGE EXPANSION CALL

IN a week where the Wests Tigers have again been picked out for a relocation push, Balmain icon Benny Elias picked up once more on the same drum he’s been beating for 25 years. Casting back on NRL360, Elias first broached the idea in the early 90s, with his 1992 book Balmain Benny detailing his push for the Tigers to lead rugby league’s expansion in a chapter titled ‘Why Balmain must move’.A polarising figure for many of the joint-venture’s current fans, Elias has long been an advocate for the game in Western Australia and has previously headed up the WA Pirates bid for an NRL berth with mining magnate Tony Sage.

The former Blues and Kangaroos hooker remains firm in his view that Perth is a market just waiting to be tapped by the NRL, and that his beloved Tigers are just one team that should be on the move. Following on from the suggestion a Sydney club must relocate, revisited by The Daily Telegraph’s Phil Rothfield earlier this week, Elias proposed a typically radical solution to the overcrowded Sydney rugby league market. I know Phil Rothfield said one club, but four clubs from Sydney should relocate,” Elias said. “We’ve seen what we do in Perth, we saw the enormous support we had the other night in Adelaide.

One hot day doesn’t make a summer and I’m conscious of that. “But if we do our due diligence very closely and accurately, you will see that this game is wanted by the whole country. Just have a look at State of Origin ratings. “ … What you don’t know is that there’s probably 40 companies over in Perth waiting to get a private box to watch the AFL. Why don’t we give them an alternative? “Put a bit of competition there. Bring our great game over there and be a real nemesis for AFL.”

 

[mike]

This is just a riduculous argument, there just over 400,000 people in Canberra and Newcastle, and 600,000 in Gold Coast and in North Queensland there is even less. In Sydney we have around 5,000,000 and the fastest growing city in Australia, and the Tigers have the close to the biggest area in Sydney. So who in there right mind would want to disenchant this region into following another sport.

What percentages of those populations are consistent rugby league viewers/participators though? Id wager soccer is the dominant sport in Sydney and nine clubs is far too many to be sustainable.

Disagree. I don't see soccer getting 82,000 to a game in Sydney and Rugby League gets this regularly. More than sustainable. Soccer would be third behind AFL and just above Rugby.

 

[stryker]

This is just a riduculous argument, there just over 400,000 people in Canberra and Newcastle, and 600,000 in Gold Coast and in North Queensland there is even less. In Sydney we have around 5,000,000 and the fastest growing city in Australia, and the Tigers have the close to the biggest area in Sydney. So who in there right mind would want to disenchant this region into following another sport.

What percentages of those populations are consistent rugby league viewers/participators though? Id wager soccer is the dominant sport in Sydney and nine clubs is far too many to be sustainable.

Disagree. I don't see soccer getting 82,000 to a game in Sydney and Rugby League gets this regularly. More than sustainable. Soccer would be third behind AFL and just above Rugby.

Actually they do. Of the top 15 crowd attendances at ANZ, soccer already has 3 of them and only 1 includes the socceroos. Granted League is the ruler there with 9 due to SOO and GF attendences being so strong, however the SFS figures make interesting reading for mid level capacity crowds. Of the top 15 attendences at Allianz, 7 are from soccer with 4 of those being club matches.

 

[diedpretty]

So (according to Buzz on 360 last night) the poll DT ran attracted 7000 responses.
Over 80 % agreed that a team should be cut.
Around 32% selected WT as the team to go.
Agree completely that this should be implemented immediately on those figures Buzz.

So the poll figure was slightly higher than the unforgivable horrendous crowd figure at Campbo on Friday. Hmmm wonder if the DT will take themselves to task for such appalling numbers.

 

[Harvey]

Benny failed to disclose a conflict of interest in that Tony Sage has offered him financial reward for getting him an ownership of a NRL club. I would not be surprised if this was the driver behind the poor leagues club deal he brokered which basically sent Balmain broke.
Both he and Sage have a history of sending companies broke while taking a healthy salary and leaving investors broke.
If it looks like a crook, sounds like a crook and smells like a crook, what do you think it is?

 

[mike]

This is just a riduculous argument, there just over 400,000 people in Canberra and Newcastle, and 600,000 in Gold Coast and in North Queensland there is even less. In Sydney we have around 5,000,000 and the fastest growing city in Australia, and the Tigers have the close to the biggest area in Sydney. So who in there right mind would want to disenchant this region into following another sport.

What percentages of those populations are consistent rugby league viewers/participators though? Id wager soccer is the dominant sport in Sydney and nine clubs is far too many to be sustainable.

Disagree. I don't see soccer getting 82,000 to a game in Sydney and Rugby League gets this regularly. More than sustainable. Soccer would be third behind AFL and just above Rugby.

Actually they do. Of the top 15 crowd attendances at ANZ, soccer already has 3 of them and only 1 includes the socceroos. Granted League is the ruler there with 9 due to SOO and GF attendences being so strong, however the SFS figures make interesting reading for mid level capacity crowds. Of the top 15 attendences at Allianz, 7 are from soccer with 4 of those being club matches.

Rugby League gets these regularly. No contest. The real threat to Rugby League is AFL and always has been. Soccer is just boring on TV and that's where the money is. The only sport that comes close to Rugby League is AFL. Sydney has a 5mil population and growing and can easily support 9 teams. This is just DT crap.

 

[stryker]

What percentages of those populations are consistent rugby league viewers/participators though? Id wager soccer is the dominant sport in Sydney and nine clubs is far too many to be sustainable.

Disagree. I don't see soccer getting 82,000 to a game in Sydney and Rugby League gets this regularly. More than sustainable. Soccer would be third behind AFL and just above Rugby.

Actually they do. Of the top 15 crowd attendances at ANZ, soccer already has 3 of them and only 1 includes the socceroos. Granted League is the ruler there with 9 due to SOO and GF attendences being so strong, however the SFS figures make interesting reading for mid level capacity crowds. Of the top 15 attendences at Allianz, 7 are from soccer with 4 of those being club matches.

Rugby League gets these regularly. No contest. The real threat to Rugby League is AFL and always has been. Soccer is just boring on TV and that's where the money is. The only sport that comes close to Rugby League is AFL. Sydney has a 5mil population and growing and can easily support 9 teams. This is just DT crap.

Sydneys population is growing due to people who couldnt give a stuff about league. Crowd numbers are going down not up. Sydney needs to realise the city has evolved and rugby league is not king anymore. 5 million population and clubs are not turning profits, grounds are near empty on game day…terrible look for all stakeholders of the game.

 

[mike]

Disagree. I don't see soccer getting 82,000 to a game in Sydney and Rugby League gets this regularly. More than sustainable. Soccer would be third behind AFL and just above Rugby.

Actually they do. Of the top 15 crowd attendances at ANZ, soccer already has 3 of them and only 1 includes the socceroos. Granted League is the ruler there with 9 due to SOO and GF attendences being so strong, however the SFS figures make interesting reading for mid level capacity crowds. Of the top 15 attendences at Allianz, 7 are from soccer with 4 of those being club matches.

Rugby League gets these regularly. No contest. The real threat to Rugby League is AFL and always has been. Soccer is just boring on TV and that's where the money is. The only sport that comes close to Rugby League is AFL. Sydney has a 5mil population and growing and can easily support 9 teams. This is just DT crap.

Sydneys population is growing due to people who couldnt give a stuff about league. Crowd numbers are going down not up. Sydney needs to realise the city has evolved and rugby league is not king anymore. 5 million population and clubs are not turning profits, grounds are near empty on game day…terrible look for all stakeholders of the game.

Sorry but total rubbish. Rugby League is still king in Sydney and will be for the forseeable future. The only threat to that is AFL. People do give a stuff, ratings prove it. 9 teams easy, in fact I'd like to see 10\. Sydney is where it is at, forget the hype about elsewhere it's just BS. Again the DT trying to bash WT when in fact it is most likely in 2018 to make a profit.

 

[stryker]

Actually they do. Of the top 15 crowd attendances at ANZ, soccer already has 3 of them and only 1 includes the socceroos. Granted League is the ruler there with 9 due to SOO and GF attendences being so strong, however the SFS figures make interesting reading for mid level capacity crowds. Of the top 15 attendences at Allianz, 7 are from soccer with 4 of those being club matches.

Rugby League gets these regularly. No contest. The real threat to Rugby League is AFL and always has been. Soccer is just boring on TV and that's where the money is. The only sport that comes close to Rugby League is AFL. Sydney has a 5mil population and growing and can easily support 9 teams. This is just DT crap.

Sydneys population is growing due to people who couldnt give a stuff about league. Crowd numbers are going down not up. Sydney needs to realise the city has evolved and rugby league is not king anymore. 5 million population and clubs are not turning profits, grounds are near empty on game day…terrible look for all stakeholders of the game.

Sorry but total rubbish. Rugby League is still king in Sydney and will be for the forseeable future. The only threat to that is AFL. People do give a stuff, ratings prove it. 9 teams easy, in fact I'd like to see 10\. Sydney is where it is at, forget the hype about elsewhere it's just BS. Again the DT trying to bash WT when in fact it is most likely in 2018 to make a profit.

Ok well if you are correct than everyone is too fat and lazy to leave their houses and attend games. Unless its a SOO or finals game. Tests in Sydney dont even draw crowds anymore.

 

[oldprop]

This is just a riduculous argument, there just over 400,000 people in Canberra and Newcastle, and 600,000 in Gold Coast and in North Queensland there is even less. In Sydney we have around 5,000,000 and the fastest growing city in Australia, and the Tigers have the close to the biggest area in Sydney. So who in there right mind would want to disenchant this region into following another sport.

Some very good points here tigertail. There are only 4 teams in western Sydney.

 

[Tigertail]

This is just a riduculous argument, there just over 400,000 people in Canberra and Newcastle, and 600,000 in Gold Coast and in North Queensland there is even less. In Sydney we have around 5,000,000 and the fastest growing city in Australia, and the Tigers have the close to the biggest area in Sydney. So who in there right mind would want to disenchant this region into following another sport.

What percentages of those populations are consistent rugby league viewers/participators though? Id wager soccer is the dominant sport in Sydney and nine clubs is far too many to be sustainable.

Sure soccer is the dominant sport , but not only in Sydney , in all over Australia, however apart from the Broncos in Brisbane , how many of these teams outside of Sydney can get a crowd over 30,000\. I say none.

 

[Tigertail]

This is just a riduculous argument, there just over 400,000 people in Canberra and Newcastle, and 600,000 in Gold Coast and in North Queensland there is even less. In Sydney we have around 5,000,000 and the fastest growing city in Australia, and the Tigers have the close to the biggest area in Sydney. So who in there right mind would want to disenchant this region into following another sport.

Some very good points here tigertail. There are only 4 teams in western Sydney.

Yes and with most of the growth in population in the west, maybe if they are looking to reduce the sides in Sydney, look towards the inner clubs, really how are South and Easts not merged , start up a new club and get rid of both of them. Then the Sharks who are up and down like a yo yo, never really attrack good crowds on a regular basis , maybe they should be merged with the bulldogs, the bullsharks sounds good.

 

[Byron_Bay_Fan]

This is just a riduculous argument, there just over 400,000 people in Canberra and Newcastle, and 600,000 in Gold Coast and in North Queensland there is even less. In Sydney we have around 5,000,000 and the fastest growing city in Australia, and the Tigers have the close to the biggest area in Sydney. So who in there right mind would want to disenchant this region into following another sport.

Some very good points here tigertail. There are only 4 teams in western Sydney.

Yes and with most of the growth in population in the west, maybe if they are looking to reduce the sides in Sydney, look towards the inner clubs, really how are South and Easts not merged , start up a new club and get rid of both of them. Then the Sharks who are up and down like a yo yo, never really attrack good crowds on a regular basis , maybe they should be merged with the bulldogs, the bullsharks sounds good.

What the Shire with Kebab land combine? They were at each others thróat a few years back. You could not find a pie shop in Belmore and tabouli I believe is banned in the Shire. They will be smashing each others' cars up.

 

[TCL]

Sydney is growing and sure many that are arriving don't know about football. But we are going to be no chance of winning them over if we are not representing our code in their communities.

Imo the reason why afl has grown in Sydney isn't just the swans or gws it is how the code presented itself to jnr's. When mine were younger they were at the schools giving lessons, setting up, coaching and refing matches. Giving away footballs, tickets and the like. They included the girls and then the families.

My son was playing league on weekends and afl at school. He asked why they didn't have league at school I couldn't answer.

They presented the sport as a step up from soccer but not as ruff as league.

 

[colmcd]

All that proves is out of all the Sydney clubs, WTs fans buy the DT the least, therefore we are the smartest.

Hell yea. The DT is absolute toilet paper. I am sorry that the SMH doesn't get more of a following, they are average but look top notch compared to the TELE.

"There should only be 4 Sydney teams. North, south, east and west."

Stuff that. Our city spreads north, west and south. Maybe we should just fire everyone at WT, abolish Easts as a team, then get everyone wholesale over to us. Have Mitchell Pierce play in the same team as his dad.

 

[Basil_Tiger]

I can't understand why the Central Coast is being ignored,back in the mid 1960's when Penrith & Cronulla got the nod it was being discussed as a future growth area,IIRC Northern Districts said at the time they would include the CC in its area if they got a start in the NSWRL 1st division.
50 years later and still nothing,if not the Bears then someone should base a NRL Team there,ridiculous.

 

[everett8]

Rugby League needs to spend more money and time at grass roots level.

Children also need to be graded on their weight and size to keep skinny children interested.

To see what the AFL does at school levels compared to NRL is world's apart. AFL continues to give and send out quality players to the school and not some unknown NRL players the children can not identify with.

I agree Sydney can not support 9 clubs plus the Central Coast should not be ignored.