NRL NRL Expansion

CWC said:
Do we have the pathway for 2 teams yet? Don't want to pull the trigger too early and we end up like Aussies in the Super Rugby, way too many teams and everyone sucked, they dissolved the Rebels last week....
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If the leaked documents are to be believed the NRL is going to target NZ with a whole heap of cash and resources (just when rugby is going skint and wont be able to compete too!)
 
www.theaccnz.com

📰 Warriors coach says no to New Zealand NRL expansion

Warriors coach Andrew Webster is firmly against the NRL bringing in a second New Zealand franchise any time soon after bid teams emerged from Christchurch.
www.theaccnz.com www.theaccnz.com

Webby shot it down lol

George was saying similar things before this, he was thinking 10-20 years when the NZ pathway is ready for 2 teams.

Honestly the new team will just throw money at our Cup side, Taine, Ali, MGT, Ale, Jazz, Zyon Maiu’u, some Aussie retiring marquees and a retiring SJ or RTS "for the greater good" charity work, that team will suck playing 20+ games a season, and we'll be at the bottom when we hit another injury toll, and we have Cup bench players and SG ball guys filling in, the derby will be 15th vs 16th at an empty Christchurch stadium when the Crusaders are great again

This new team need to be at least 5 years IMO, not an expert but say a 12 y/o kid loving the Wahs and start playing or change to playing league, in 5 years he'll be 17, if our young kids population joining league is suffice for 2 teams NOW, we'd have the numbers and pathway for the extra team in 2030, I don't think we have enough 15-17 y/o ready, and if they're mostly union the number taking a risk changing is probably not enough?
 
Not sure why anyone is asking the Warriors if they think a second NZ team is a good idea. They are going to be opposed to it because it encroaches on their catchment.
Long term a second NZ team would be great for the game here. Having two professional league pathway systems would bulk out the player numbers, increase skill levels to a larger player base which can only be good long term.
 
CWC said:

Webby shot it down lol

George was saying similar things before this, he was thinking 10-20 years when the NZ pathway is ready for 2 teams.
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The NZ pathways already supply more than 2 NRL teams worth of talent. It's just so much of it wants/needs to go to Aussie atm with there being only one team.

The Perth team will be drawing even more NZ kids over the ditch too because there will be fuck all actual W.A players, their scouts will be at our local tourneys same as everyone else's.

Good for the kids, but does nothing for NZ rugby league unless they make Kiwi level.

We've already seen how big it is for local footy with a lot of kids new to league trying to crack into the Wahs expanded pathways which NZ2 would likely increase again.

And a lot of wahs juniors filtering back through local footy like the Fox comp at different stages and uplifting NZ rugby league instead of the local leagues in Aussie. No fucking good for NZ rugby league when a fringe NRL Jr is playing in the W.A comp.
 
CWC said:
www.theaccnz.com

📰 Warriors coach says no to New Zealand NRL expansion

Warriors coach Andrew Webster is firmly against the NRL bringing in a second New Zealand franchise any time soon after bid teams emerged from Christchurch.
www.theaccnz.com www.theaccnz.com

Webby shot it down lol

George was saying similar things before this, he was thinking 10-20 years when the NZ pathway is ready for 2 teams.

Honestly the new team will just throw money at our Cup side, Taine, Ali, MGT, Ale, Jazz, Zyon Maiu’u, some Aussie retiring marquees and a retiring SJ or RTS "for the greater good" charity work, that team will suck playing 20+ games a season, and we'll be at the bottom when we hit another injury toll, and we have Cup bench players and SG ball guys filling in, the derby will be 15th vs 16th at an empty Christchurch stadium when the Crusaders are great again

This new team need to be at least 5 years IMO, not an expert but say a 12 y/o kid loving the Wahs and start playing or change to playing league, in 5 years he'll be 17, if our young kids population joining league is suffice for 2 teams NOW, we'd have the numbers and pathway for the extra team in 2030, I don't think we have enough 15-17 y/o ready, and if they're mostly union the number taking a risk changing is probably not enough?
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Fortunately his opinion actually reinforces why it is a good idea.

He admits that there is the fan base there, and that record numbers are following the NRL through the Warriors.

What Webster does not understand (because he is an Aussie) is that because the NRL is Australian, that the Warriors will never lose fans completely in the village of the dammed.

It will still be two of us against eighteen of them Kients.

I will always back any NZ side in the NRL, even if they watch Country Calendar instead of pornhub.
 
Not surprised to hear that WA is likely to trump PNG as the 18th team.

Got a sense a lot of what was being put out about PNG was to guage public opinion. If not, the response has been enough for the NRL to see it's a non-starter.

WA seems a smart choice in terms of infrastructure and time zone. The added travel is a bit of a pain but it will force Sydney clubs to do a bit more travel which is nice.

It's pretty much an AFL state these days. Will be interesting to see if the Melbourne model can be adopted
 
The PNG bid is starting to fracture already. Andrew Abdo has said they have to believe it will be competitive to get a license.

The PNG Hunters have produced one NRL player in 10 years, haven’t played in Q cup finals since 2017. Hard to be confident they can come up with a NRL level team
 
I would love to see them be the Bears.

The Bears were my team as a kid in the early / mid 90s. Why? Because I liked bears.

Couldn't stomach Manly so their amalgamation as as the absolute shite Northern Eagles was no bueno for me.

Besides, by then I liked League more than I liked bears so supporting the local Auckland Warriors team was an easy choice - I didn't realise at the time it would be a life sentence with no chance of parole 🤣

Will be a purchaser of launch merch for sure though.
 
Makasene said:
I would love to see them be the Bears.

The Bears were my team as a kid in the early / mid 90s. Why? Because I liked bears.

Couldn't stomach Manly so their amalgamation as as the absolute shite Northern Eagles was no bueno for me.

Besides, by then I liked League more than I liked bears so supporting the local Auckland Warriors team was an easy choice - I didn't realise at the time it would be a life sentence with no chance of parole 🤣

Will be a purchaser of launch merch for sure though.
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Do you know if Te Bears have ever expressed any interest in a Chch move?
 
Worried2Death said:
Do you know if Te Bears have ever expressed any interest in a Chch move?
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They have expressed an interest in any move!

- Central Coast
- Perth

These are the two that have come up a lot.

- They have also said they would try to buy Manly if it were up for sale and go down that route...

I don't think you can realistically relocate a team to NZ though. It needs to be locally driven and lead with a brand new identity.
 
Makasene said:
They have expressed an interest in any move!

- Central Coast
- Perth

These are the two that have come up a lot.

- They have also said they would try to buy Manly if it were up for sale and go down that route...

I don't think you can realistically relocate a team to NZ though. It needs to be locally driven and lead with a brand new identity.
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I'm usually against relocations but I suppose Bears would being an established fan base to the mix, and access to their pathways setup such as it is (Melbourne feeder this year). Colours and branding ideal.
On the other hand, red & black could ostracise other South Islanders, and how many North Sydney kids will want to relocate to Christchurch, not many if any. Keas is a much better idea.
 
Last edited:
Falcon said:
The Perth development is interesting, along with the potential association with the Newtown Jets and not the North Sydney Bears.
North Sydney seem intent on becoming ‘The Bears’ regardless of where that may take them which might be a put off for any Aus expansion.
Perth being associated with a Sydney club will give them immediate pathways and added finances.


View: https://www.reddit.com/r/nrl/comments/1de1682/expansion_shock_perth_on_track_to_trump_png_as/
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If I were the PNG Govt I would erect a thousand concrete public table tennis tables in Port Morseby and give away free paddles and balls (I am sure China would make them millions for a dollar for 10,00 units).
 
They say WA is very parochial and suspicious of east coasters, sticking them with the corpse of an old sydney team sounds like a terrible idea.

They don't play league there, melbourne have taken 25 years to get a few juniors, had a free run at QLD Morons when there were only two clubs, now there's 4, lots of kiwis, rorted to keep together a generational team, all time coach.

Its a hard comp, whoever the 18th team is, reckon they will be seriously bad for a number of years. At least christchurch would have some players within 4-5 years.

The southern bid needs to be funded to play in the junior comps for a number of years, they can't just start with a first grade team, they'll be mostly warriors cast offs and will struggle.
 
JustLikeStartingOver said:
.

Its a hard comp, whoever the 18th team is, reckon they will be seriously bad for a number of years. At least christchurch would have some players within 4-5 years.

The southern bid needs to be funded to play in the junior comps for a number of years, they can't just start with a first grade team, they'll be mostly warriors cast offs and will struggle.
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Agree with this.

If NZ2 is team 20 coming into the NRL 2030, we need a full Matts > Ball > Flegg > 💙 Mighty NSW cup pathway up and running by 2028 at the latest.
 
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