NRL NRL Expansion

[Worried2Death]

Everything is pointing to Perth being the next team is it not?

NRL have even asked them to align with the Bears.

Who would win a between Perth Bears and South Island Polar Bears? Neither of us have any actual bears but never mind about that now

 

[Worried2Death]

South Pacific Nomads, based in Chch but games in Dunedin and Wellington every year, bring the Orcas on board and unite against the dirty Aucklanders, that's a big fan catchment area.

Still Up The Wahs tho.

 

[Wrighty]

In 1980 the South Island team beat the touring Australian team 11-10. Right up until rugby went professional both the Canterbury RL and West Coast RL were very competitive again NRL (NWSRL) teams at full strength. What's changed in that time is the birth of professional rugby. Historically it has been estimated by the Canterbury RL that for every top tear rugby player produced in the province the CRL got 3 out of the 10 young players. From about 2000 on that estimate is about 0.5 to 1.0 maximum. The South Island has no pathways for young talented players since union went pro. The only way to pull that talent back to league across the South Island is to offer a legitimate home grown pathway.
The South Island bid while based in Christchurch will have home games around the South Island so as not to over saturate the fan base centered around Canterbury.
There is a significant body of fans that don't support the Warriors or that support other clubs having once been Warriors fans. It's these fans in the South that will build bedrock support.
The South Island bid team is making headway with the bid and has realistically targeted the 20th team into the league as the ideal time frame. Sponsors are coming on board as are the districts. Wellington as of last week having thrown their weight in behind the bid.
It's a realistic and feasible project.

What does Wellington throwing their weight behind the bid mean and look like. Why would Wellington throw its weight behind a south island team?

 

[Worried2Death]

What does Wellington throwing their weight behind the bid mean and look like. Why would Wellington throw its weight behind a south island team?

Southern team not SI, they're at the bottom of the world too. Another pathway for lower North Island kids to league careers, Wellington's closer to Nelson than Auckland.

 

[Wrighty]

Southern team, they're at the bottom of the world too. Another pathway for lower North Island kids to aspire to league careers. Wellington's closer to Nelson than Auckland.

What does being closer to Nelson prove?
The team would be headquarted in Christchuch and by memory it is faster to fly to Auckland from Wellington
You can also drive to Auckland but cant drive to CHCH the ferry notwithstanding.

 

[Worried2Death]

What does being closer to Nelson prove?
The team would be headquarted in Christchuch and by memory it is faster to fly to Auckland from Wellington
You can also drive to Auckland but cant drive to CHCH the ferry notwithstanding.

Gotta be based somewhere, it's another junior pathway. Welly and Chch combined is a bigger catchment for juniors and resources competing with Auckland and upper NI. Call it Southern Orcas playing out of the new Chch stadium with some games at the cake tin. I'd like it to be a new unique name though, South Seas Nomads or something.

 

[Wrighty]

The elephant in the room with the CHCH bid no one wants to mention is racism. League is equally played by Pasifika Maoris and Pakehas and the Pasifikas and Maori guys won't be physically safe in CHCH.

Exhibit A: Jesse Ryder got beaten up in CHCH and that wouldn't have happened in any other New Zealand city to an international sports star. Even if he was lipping off that he was the man and the locals thought he needed to be put into his place.
Exhibit B: Fijian flyer wingers who play for the Crusaders report frequently being targeted by racism in CHCH restaurants and won't go out to eat without their team mates unless it is a restaurant they know very well.

The bid is not happening due to a large number of reasons including the above. CHCH did itself no favours the day Ryder (a Maori) got beaten up.

 

[Worried2Death]

The elephant in the room with the CHCH bid no one wants to mention is racism. League is equally played by Pasifika Maoris and Pakehas and the Pasifikas and Maori guys won't be physically safe in CHCH.

Exhibit A: Jesse Ryder got beaten up in CHCH and that wouldn't have happened in any other New Zealand city to an international sports star. Even if he was lipping off that he was the man and the locals thought he needed to be put into his place.
Exhibit B: Fijian flyer wingers who play for the Crusaders report frequently being targeted by racism in CHCH restaurants and won't go out to eat without their team mates unless it is a restaurant they know very well.

The bid is not happening due to a large number of reasons including the above. CHCH did itself no favours the day Ryder (a Maori) got beaten up.

Doubt it wrighty, heard of the Crusaders? Full of Maori and Polynesian. Ever been to Aranui? Majority brown. Yes there are some neo-nazi cookers and racists, tiny minority and hugely exaggerated, it's not the inbred British colony it was 50 years ago.

 

[Noitall]

I see panthers are trying to extend the Cleary’s another 5 years past their current contracts. Makes me wonder if both are suspected by the panthers board that they could consider joining a new NZ franchise. Ivan been spending a bit of time in NZ recently. Most likely setting up his son Jett

 

[Riz]

The elephant in the room with the CHCH bid no one wants to mention is racism. League is equally played by Pasifika Maoris and Pakehas and the Pasifikas and Maori guys won't be physically safe in CHCH.

Exhibit A: Jesse Ryder got beaten up in CHCH and that wouldn't have happened in any other New Zealand city to an international sports star. Even if he was lipping off that he was the man and the locals thought he needed to be put into his place.
Exhibit B: Fijian flyer wingers who play for the Crusaders report frequently being targeted by racism in CHCH restaurants and won't go out to eat without their team mates unless it is a restaurant they know very well.

The bid is not happening due to a large number of reasons including the above. CHCH did itself no favours the day Ryder (a Maori) got beaten up.

Are you fucking serious? I know you're new to the game but are you new to reality too? Jessie Ryder got beaten up because he was an absolute menace on the piss, nothing to do with racism. Your comments about the Fijian players is BS too.

 

[Sixagain]

Everything below the All Blacks is in dire financial trouble, and without the pyramid the All Blacks will struggle too - vicious circle.

The South Canterbury RU had to cancel a Ranfurly challenge recently. Mitigating factor being that they redeveloped their stadium recently and are still looking for funding for it ($275k short fall). However my question would be what happened to the Silverlake money. The elephant in the room for the NZRU is how are they going to fund the female side of the game that isn't currently sustainable in it's current format.

 

[Worried2Death]

What does being closer to Nelson prove?
The team would be headquarted in Christchuch and by memory it is faster to fly to Auckland from Wellington
You can also drive to Auckland but cant drive to CHCH the ferry notwithstanding.

I mean if you're taking the ferry from Welly it's a quicker drive to Chch than driving from Wellington to Auckland. If you're flying to the game it's about the same so what's the difference?

 

[Sixagain]

Why in your opinion do you not support the Keas? Also why are their three bids? (can't they see a way to join forces and therefore make a Southern franchise more feasible?) Is it just a power struggle or an ego trip?

Behind the scenes when Moffett and his intentions became known the South Island NRL bid team reached out to him to join forces and put up a combined front. It became clear that Moffett didn't want to combine the efforts of the two bids but in fact wanted to take over the South Island NRL bid team with himself as the bid chief. The South Island NRL bid was already someway down the street in terms of getting the bid off the ground. That first bid team isn't interested in egos, just the betterment of rugby league in the South. The third bid team that has popped it's head up very recently I can't comment on. Mainly because I don't know who is involved. With that said I am confident I know who would be leading this new bid team. And if I am right in my educated guess then the South Island NRL bid team reached out to this individual in the early stages but he showed little interested in joining that original team.

 

[Sixagain]

With all due respect the grass roots systems in NZ are light years behind what Aus offers- how does this bid hope to change that? Without producing Juniors the new team will be one of the hardest recruitment sells.

Agree with you on the grass roots system in New Zealand currently not being up to scratch. With that said NRL scouts are attending all junior representative tournaments in the South Island. As of march of 2024 NRL clubs actively recruiting in the South and spending money in so doing were the Tigers, Bulldogs, Warriors. Tigers have since withdrawn due to internal issues. The Perth team is being talked up by the NRL and NRL media as a must as an expansion team but you need to take into account that they have only produced a handful of NRL players in the last 30 years so despite the South Islands current junior pathways not being up to the Australian stand it is still a long way ahead of Perth.

 

[Worried2Death]

Behind the scenes when Moffett and his intentions became known the South Island NRL bid team reached out to him to join forces and put up a combined front. It became clear that Moffett didn't want to combine the efforts of the two bids but in fact wanted to take over the South Island NRL bid team with himself as the bid chief. The South Island NRL bid was already someway down the street in terms of getting the bid off the ground. That first bid team isn't interested in egos, just the betterment of rugby league in the South. The third bid team that has popped it's head up very recently I can't comment on. Mainly because I don't know who is involved. With that said I am confident I know who would be leading this new bid team. And if I am right in my educated guess then the South Island NRL bid team reached out to this individual in the early stages but he showed little interested in joining that original team.

Moffett's a divisive egotist, hope he's nowhere near this new franchise to poison it with his cooked political agendas, it'd be doomed from the start.

 

[Sixagain]

Which Southern bid do you have insight into if not Moffett's Keas group, is there any proposed branding, name, colours yet?

My insight comes from the South Island NRL bid. That's the one that is now being front footed by Frank Endicott. If you look them up on facebook and Google you'll find that they are now asking people to put forward ideas for names of the Southern/South Island team.

 

[Wrighty]

Are you fucking serious? I know you're new to the game but are you new to reality too? Jessie Ryder got beaten up because he was an absolute menace on the piss, nothing to do with racism. Your comments about the Fijian players is BS too.

Don't take me seriously brother. I am in a bad mood because of office politics at work today. There is an article I read though from a Fjijian winger saying that though. I will see if chatgpt can help me find it.
Sorry for the wind up I am in a foul mood and I can't complain about it because we are going through downsizing. So have to just suck it up. I will have a dig for that fiji winger quote though I didn't make that up.

 

[Sixagain]

Everything is pointing to Perth being the next team is it not?

NRL have even asked them to align with the Bears.

From what I have read in the media this is correct. The Bears and the South Island NRL bid had had back channel talks. The Bears had bottom lines that they wouldn't negotiate on.

 

[Makasene]

Agree with you on the grass roots system in New Zealand currently not being up to scratch. With that said NRL scouts are attending all junior representative tournaments in the South Island. As of march of 2024 NRL clubs actively recruiting in the South and spending money in so doing were the Tigers, Bulldogs, Warriors. Tigers have since withdrawn due to internal issues. The Perth team is being talked up by the NRL and NRL media as a must as an expansion team but you need to take into account that they have only produced a handful of NRL players in the last 30 years so despite the South Islands current junior pathways not being up to the Australian stand it is still a long way ahead of Perth.

I dont quite understand this.

Melbourne have produced 1 NRL player if I'm not mistaken.

Young Tonumaipea is the only Victorian junior to play NRL. There may be more but we are talking a small handful.

A second NZ team before Perth is surely not an option.

 

[Makasene]

From what I have read in the media this is correct. The Bears and the South Island NRL bid had had back channel talks. The Bears had bottom lines that they wouldn't negotiate on.

Yes but you are saying PNG is categorically the next team.

6 weeks ago it seemed that way.

It now seems they will be given time to build infrastructure. Perth will be entered as early as 2027.

Do you have a different read on it?