Operation Expansion: NRL (Part 2)
June 27th 2009 00:57
Surely the clearest option seems to be the Central Coast. A rugby league heartland, which some people believe unreservedly, should be the destination of the leagues next team. Other proposals on the table also include the addition of a fourth Queensland team, either from Central Queensland, the Sunshine Coast or a second Brisbane team or one from nearby Ipswich. A second New Zealand team has also been raised, along with the proposal of a local government backed team from Papua New Guinea. Moreover plans are already underway for the addition of a team representing Western Australia to be included into the top league by 2013.
With the current financial situation, all Sydney clubs are feeling the stain and succumbing to debt. The most desperate situation is placed upon Cronulla. The Sharks are tittering on the edge of oblivion and like the Newtown Jets in 1983, are asset rich, but cash poor.
The long term solution for the Sharks surely would be to re-locate. An option explored earlier in the year when they attempted to move games from the Shire to Blue Tongue Stadium in Gosford, only to be opposed by the NRL. But would relocation be the answer for Cronulla?
Firstly, the Sharks are located in a small and reclusive area of Sydney. Outside of that area however, would the Sharks name alone be enough to insight passion and tribalism into another area? The same can be said for Manly-Warringah, with one exception; the Sea-Eagles have a history of success. Can the same be said of the Sharks? Since their inception in 1967 the boys from the Shire have been lackluster to say the least, and to date have never won a premiership. Moreover, the club itself has fallen into financial difficulty time and time again, usually scraping out of trouble by the skin of its teeth. So the most pressing question of all when it comes to the relocation of the Sharks resonates loudly; who would want them?
In actual fact, despite fracturing the supporter base of the Sutherland Shire, to lose the Sharks from the premiership would be a godsend for the NRL. To take the Sharks out of the equation would open the door for an expansion side to fit nicely into the sixteen team structure, without the NRL attracting negative attention by forcing a team out. Furthermore, with the absence of the Sharks, the scope of the Dragons would envelop the area between south-east Sydney and Wollongong. Undoubtedly St. George Illawarra would be greatly strengthened by the Shark’s absence.
If the Sharks were to go however, then it seems likely that the new incarnation of dormant North Sydney, the Central Coast Bears, would take their place. The same could be said of the Bears too however. Who would want them? In their ninety year history in the big league, the toothless Bears only won two premierships, their last coming way back in 1922. In recent times however, have the Bears done enough to justify their re-admission?
Analyzing their last decade in the premiership, the Bears faired reasonably well and fielded a very talented and formidable side at various stages. Beyond their demise as the losing partner of the doomed Northern Eagles, the Bears have also fared well in the NSW Cup, the NRL’s equivalent to reserve grade, finishing with the minor premiership in last year’s season. The Bear’s scope extends further as well as they also own the Burleigh Bears and the Tweed Heads Seagulls whom field sides in the Queensland Cup. In recent times in particular, the Burleigh Bears have dominated the competition appearing in four grand finals in the past decade, winning two of them. The Bears willingness to expand into the Central Coast close to their demise should also be taken into account.
If fortunes favour the NRL and the Bears are admitted in the Sharks place, eight teams from Sydney will still compete in the premiership. If expansion is the set course for the NRL, then the premiership will see eighteen or maybe even twenty teams. Learning from the lessons of the past however, any more than sixteen teams would dilute the talent and marketing values of the competing teams. Super League even proclaimed that a fourteen competition would be most advantageous. But what is an optimum number of Sydney teams if the competition remains at sixteen?
Complicating matters is the diversity of Sydney itself. No team could easily be compared with another, with each one representing a unique slice of the city’s demographic. Further reason as to why tribalism amongst the NSWRL’s traditional teams existed so strongly. Coupled with this is the fierce rivalry between, not only the teams itself, but the areas and fans that they represent. If the hostile relationship between the Bears and the Manly-Warringah Sea-Eagles is anything to go by, then surely the same would apply to a Parramatta-Penrith partnership or a Roosters-Rabbitohs union. With that being said, the NRL seems content with letting the issue of mergers rest as they promote relocation with financial incentives.
In the struggle of deciding where next to expand, while at the same time reducing the density of Sydney clubs in the premiership, relocation seems to be the most optimal solution for the National Rugby League.
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