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<big>Brisbane Broncos could face some competition for the hearts of rugby league fans</big>
Peter Badel
The Courier-Mail January 27, 2011 8:28AM
The Broncos could be facing some competition for Brisbane hearts. Source: Mark Evans / News Limited
The Brisbane Broncos’ 23-year stranglehold on the Brisbane rugby league market is under threat.
A rival consortium is secretly formulating plans to become Queensland’s fourth NRL team.
The Courier-Mail reports a three-man consortium, including Thoroughbreds chairman Craig Davison, has begun due diligence into the formation of a second Brisbane team that would compete with the Broncos for the city’s sponsorship and supporter base, fueling speculation of a return to Brisbane for Wayne Bennett.
“We’re dubbing it the Battle for Brisbane,” Davison said.
The consortium’s push for NRL inclusion is the most significant challenge to the Broncos’ flagship status since the birth of the South Queensland Crushers in 1995.
The Crushers suffered a quick death in 1997 amid the Super League bloodletting but NRL boss David Gallop said yesterday Brisbane’s population could easily sustain a second team.
The Brisbane NRL bid team has been investigating options since Christmas.
It is separate to the NRL bids from Ipswich and Central Queensland, which has been the most vocal in the race to become Queensland’s fourth team.
The Brisbane NRL consortium, which hopes to clinch a licence to play in the 2013 season, will formally announce its bid as early as Friday.
Davison confirmed his involvement in the new entity amid speculation the Thoroughbreds, the high-powered businessmen who provide mentoring to Broncos players, are reviewing their ties to the club.
“If and when the Independent Commission takes tenders for NRL expansion, we’ll be in there fighting for that spot in Brisbane,” he said.
"We’re talking to a number of sponsors and they are excited about coming on board.
"We’ve spoken to David Gallop. He is very much aware of our plans.
"I was invited by the other guys around Christmas.
"There’s been a couple of months of planning in private and I’ve had to decide if I want to be on board.
“I’ve told the Broncos I’ll be doing it. I believe we’ve got a strong bid.”
Brisbane’s second team would play at Suncorp Stadium on alternate weekends to the Broncos, giving the city a weekly NRL event.
The consortium has designed an NRL bid logo and is negotiating to establish headquarters in Brisbane’s south.
Gallop confirmed he had spoken to a Brisbane bid delegate.
He said he saw merit in the proposal.
“I’ve spoken to (the bid team) and agreed to meet with them in the next couple of weeks,” Gallop said.
"There are a group of businessmen interested in an alternate bid to the Ipswich bid.
"We have said all along we would look seriously at expansion in 2011.
“With the strength of the game in Queensland it is pretty easy to see the merit of another team in Brisbane at some stage.”
http://www.foxsports.com.au/league/nrl-premiership/brisbane-broncos-could-face-some-competition-for-the-hearts-of-rugby-league-fans/story-fn2mcuj6-1225995240382" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Ribot will buy his soul back from the Devil & re-sell it in order to block a 2nd Brisbane team!!!
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The South Queensland Crushers should never have been kicked out in the first place. The same with the Adelaide Rams and Perth Reds.
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The South Queensland Crushers should never have been kicked out in the first place. The same with the Adelaide Rams and Perth Reds.
Blame Ribot - who News Ltd provided the Storm (as both CEO & co-owner) as a golden handshake for services rendered during the SL war!!!
All those teams were established before the Storm - & then were shut down to allow the Storm to enter a “unified” competition (and allow the Broncos to maintain their geographical monopoly)!!
News even purchased Ribot’s percentage of the Storm for big dollars from Ribot five years later - despite the club losing millions per season!!!
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I’m not against a team being in Melbourne either.
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I like the idea of another Brisbane team, but it takes away from Perth and CC’s chances.
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I’m not against a team being in Melbourne either.
I am!!!
Their grass-roots support remains negligible - and the salary cap drama was the best thing that has happened for them on that level due to the ridiculously envious anti-NSW bias that Melbournians are born with!!
But regardless of that failed concept - the Crushers & Reds came in to the comp in 1995 (when you were but a bub) - along with the Warriors & Cows!!
SL bought-out the Reds (who were in the best/most viable market to develop and grow the game) - they also brought in the Mariners to try to displace the Knights - and established the Rams (which was just about positioning - while they knew the club was unsustainable in such a small & insular market)!!
Then in 1998 they used so-called unification to frick the Crushers off (for the Broncos benefit) - shut-down the Mariners & Rams (as they were always unviable) - as well as the Reds - so they could transfer their quality players to a new Melbourne side that had not met any criteria for inclusion & would not be in existence today unless News Ltd hadn’t written off $30 Million of their debts since 1998!!!
I still blame Ribot & his vision of games in China!!
alien - until you understand business please don’t post on this matter again - as I’m getting to the end of my tether with this uneducated/ill-informed juvenile crap!!
PS - do you have any idea about which clubs their unjustified inclusion impacted on??? Have you heard of Wests, Balmain, Souths & Norths???
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I’m looking forward to see how this evolves. They have some pretty savy business people driving this and I’m certain they will recruit very strong financial support….
A second Brisbane Franchise will be the strongest option for inclusion and with the backing of the QRL, is pretty much a sure bet if the NRL chooses to expand.
From an NRL perspective, the real Battle of Brisbane is between Rugby League and AFL!!!
(plus this will mean more chance of Tiger games up here every year…) :slight_smile:
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I didn’t say there should be a team in Melbourne at the expense of foundation teams. Ofcourse it wasn’t done the right way. I hated Super League.
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I’m for anything that introduces a level of competition that area. The Broncos have had it far too easy for the last 20 years and having three clubs in SE QLD would be a start in evenly distributing the local QLD talent. While I believe Perth and CC are deserving of bids also, a second Brisbane side would be well supported by both business and fans.
Red, just noting your post about Melbourne, the fact that the Crushers and Western Reds were sacrificial lambs were disgraceful. Had they both been allowed to continue on, they would have become viable entities by now and we would have actually had a truly national competition. News could have had Melbourne anyway, didn’t see why two ARL clubs had to go under (not including Norths who were later screwed by the scumbags on the peninsula,) and a further four clubs had to merge (two foundation clubs and a club in existence since 1921,) in order for them to stay.
Whilst an avid Queenslander, Ribot is a blight on the game and should be summarily executed for his crimes against Rugby League.
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I don’t think a second brisbane team would be viable, purely for the fact that the broncos have had it all their way for so long. Every true brisbane person born and bred would be broncos. You wouldn’t have anyone sitting on the sides saying “I wish there was another team here to support because the broncos just don’t do it for me”. They might have all the financial backing and planning in the world, but they will not get the bums on the seats. Brisbane isn’t as big as Sydney and hasn’t been as “rugby league divided” for as long.
I’d rather see a team from Perth or Central Queensland. That is what will cause the Broncos to struggle. Time was every queenslander wanted to be a bronco, but with the cows and titans being more than decent teams, that’s where the bronco threat comes from. -
I don’t think a second brisbane team would be viable, purely for the fact that the broncos have had it all their way for so long. Every true brisbane person born and bred would be broncos. You wouldn’t have anyone sitting on the sides saying “I wish there was another team here to support because the broncos just don’t do it for me”. They might have all the financial backing and planning in the world, but they will not get the bums on the seats. Brisbane isn’t as big as Sydney and hasn’t been as “rugby league divided” for as long.
I’d rather see a team from Perth or Central Queensland. That is what will cause the Broncos to struggle. Time was every queenslander wanted to be a bronco, but with the cows and titans being more than decent teams, that’s where the bronco threat comes from.I think there is plenty of Anti-Brisbane supporters of Rugby League in Brisbane…. I am one of them!
The bums on seats will come from the anti-brisbane people; traditionalist from the surrounding region like Bribie Island/Redcliffe/Ipswich leagues, even the Sunshine Coast who are fed up with the Broncos and thier ignorant behaviour; supporters of ‘other’ clubs will adopt them as a second and long term first team; and Corporate Clients.
Dont be fooled by Brisbanes Crowd numbers. A good 1/4 come from the corporate sector who want to be involved in ‘top flight sport’…The challenge will be 35-40 NRL Standard Players, but with Melbourne focusing more on the Central Coast and South Coast Regions, there could be a spread of talent which could see medium to long term success through schools programs and junior development… I feel this will also gain alot of financial support from the NRL to help in the fight against AFL, and could be the first real blow Rugby League has made on AFL for quite some time…
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The Broncos burnt alot of bridges in Toowoomba & central Queensland during the Clydesdales days - where alot of promising kids were promised the world and then left on the scrap-heap!!
There is definitely an anti-Broncos supporter base to build from - but the aftermath of the floods means corporate pockets will be a bit strained for some time to come!
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While I would love to see a Central Coast team in the competition, I would put them behind Perth and another SE QLD team. Let the bears in if a Sydney club folds or moves, or in the next expansion move after this (whenever that may be).
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I would really like to see Perth and Adelaide come back.
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