Operation Expansion: NRL (Part 1)
June 27th 2009 00:46
But in recent times what have we gained from expansion? Or more importantly, what have we lost? And what have we to gain or lose in the future?
The upside of the ‘stead as we go’ approach had been, up until that time, a streamlined competition with fierce rivalries and tribal loyalty among the teams’ supporters. This tribalism, brought on by the strict district law enforced by the NSWRL, fostered the distinctive character, colours, and traditions of that particular area to be adopted by their respective team. Meanwhile, the streamlined competition of eight, ten and later twelve teams, saw sides spread evenly over Sydney with local derbies and traditional rivalries sparking passion and contention into each round.
As the game steamrolled into the 1980’s however, there seemed to be a growing need and pressure placed upon the concept of expansion, something that the NSWRL and other bodies had resisted for so long. With that said, it is fair to say that it was unprecedented when the Steelers and the Canberra Raiders joined the big league in 1982.
For the first time since 1909, teams from outside Sydney contested in the game’s premier competition. Despite the NSWRL’s brave progression, the Sydney competition would prove to be the testing grounds for the effects of expansion, positive or otherwise. It did not take long.
After only two seasons since the inclusion of the Steelers and Raiders, the game’s longstanding traditions were shaken when the code’s oldest surviving club, the Newtown Jets, along with fellow foundation club, the Western Suburbs Magpies were omitted from the premiership. Both suffering financial difficulties, the two clubs were given the axe causing an outcry from longtime fans.
In the months that followed, the supporters of the Magpies mobilised and took the matter to the NSW Supreme Court in an effort to reinstate the proud club. Their attempt proved successful and Wests were readmitted, but the game had already lost one of its most traditionalist clubs in the most tragic of circumstances.
Despite the axing of the Jets however, the motion of expansion picked up pace when the Raiders reached the NSWRL Grand Final in only their fifth season. But if the demise of Newtown had set a precedent, then the BRL was about to pay the ultimate price for the cost of expansion.
The 1988 season saw the inclusion of three new teams as the league went a step further to introduce sides from Brisbane, Newcastle and the Gold Coast. No longer was the NSWRL only a Sydney based competition. It now overlapped with other traditional league territories.
The formation of the Brisbane Broncos tore and contorted the very fabric of the Brisbane premiership. Through acquiring the cream of the BRL crop, the Broncos diluted what was left of the Brisbane premiership and drove a stake through the heart out of the NSWRL’s main competitor. To receive one team in the game’s top league, Brisbane had to forsake their own competition and its traditions as the BRL suffered reductions in crowds and marketing revenue. As the Broncos thrived and their marquee value increased, the BRL was reduced to a ragtime establishment, which saw its history and traditions lost on a new generation of fans. Most prevalent was the demise of the Valleys Daredevils, the BRL’s equivalent to the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
With the BRL and regional rugby league succumbing to the expansion efforts of the NSWRL, the main league remodeled itself into the ARL and pushed ahead with the inclusion of four new teams. With two new Queensland teams, along with sides representing Western Australia and New Zealand, the ARL morphed into a far more profitable entity. What was gained was a more national competition that would promote professionalism and attract lucrative advertising revenue. But what was lost?
With the number of teams competing exploding to twenty, the ARL chief executive, John Quayle, hypothesized that a war of attrition between the clubs would prevail as the game moved into the new millennium. This proved to be the ultimate price of expansion.
One thing that this recent history tells us is that tradition and tribalism are the first casualties of rigorous expansion. As the architect of the game’s push to be recognized as a national competition, the remaining Sydney clubs now faced similar hardships as did the BRL.
When the NRL was formed in the fallout of the Super League War, there were a total of eleven Sydney sides competing in the top league and with a total of twenty teams in the competition, the hypothesized ‘war of attrition’ had come into being.
The NRL’s dreaded selection criteria saw the axing of the Gold Coast Chargers and the Adelaide Rams, but its scope was directly aimed at reducing the number of Sydney sides in the competition. In the years that followed axings and merges were paramount as the tradition and tribalism of the Sydney competition was rattled to its core.
The game saw its traditional clubs dissolve or merge as the NRL pushed ahead with its expansionary ways, leaving some loyal fans feeling betrayed and heartbroken. However, despite the sacrifice of some of Sydney’s oldest clubs, the top grade still sees nine teams out of sixteen emanating from the big city and the NRL is now faced with the same dilemmas as it did in 1998.
The question now is who will be next to go and from all of this what will be gained and what of the game’s traditions and tribalism with be lost?
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