So at the moment, would players be able to play the Storm here in Melbourne if not vaccinated?
Colours are too similar to the Dragons.
They need to add in a prominent 3rd colour (other than blue, since the Roosters have that combo).
The Bears may have ditched the North Sydney name, but the initial NS stay on the bottom of the shield logo.
If it’s another Sydney team it has a no vote from me. Should be Perth
The Bears bid have some merit, as the Sea Eagles basically have northern Sydney to their own. Most other Sydney-based teams are located south of Sydney Harbour and/or Parramatta River.
I know but there are too many teams in Sydney as it is (and NSW for that matter)
If Perth, Adelaide and Tasmania all had teams already then you could potentially look at a Bears bid but they don’t so those three should be given priority over another NSW team.
The north shore of Sydney doesn’t really have a suitable venue, North Sydney Oval is the wrong shape and can only hold 10,000 or so. It’s more of a rugby union area anyway I think, with lots of private schools.
A Central Coast Bears could be a remote possibility, I can’t see a Perth or Adelaide Bears happening.
While I dont think these are necessarily showstoppers (making money on a 10,000 pax gate will be tough), its time to abandon playing all home games at suburban grounds and move all the Sydney based clubs to either the SFS, Stadium Australia or CommBank Stadium
Whilst I agree, it won’t happen, Sydneysiders have shown a dislike for travelling to grounds and this move would see crowds nosedive.
The Perrotet Govt also seems to be on board with the idea of retaining and upgrading suburban grounds.
It should be too bad, so sad. The game lobbied hard for these venues, they should be forced to use them
Shame the game has zero backbone when it comes to this, they are the beneficiary of basically corporate welfare in the order of hundreds of millions of dollars to get what they wanted (especially with Western Sydney and Sydney Football Stadiums)
100%. Melbourne footy fans had to deal with it when games were moved to Docklands and MCG, so should the NRL fans.
I would even not use ANZ Stadium except for blockbusters. Have matches at SFS and CommBank with the potential for one more stadium being the Liverpool one.
SFS: Roosters, Rabbitohs, and some Sharks/Dragons matches
CommBank: Eels, Tigers, Panthers
Liverpool: Bulldogs, Dragons, Sharks
There is an important and significant distinction to make though - the AFL had a financial imperative to consolidate, they had invested heavily in both facilities.
What the NRL should look like in the future.
The Sydney teams:
*Sydney Roosters (we know they’ll always be in the competition)
*South Sydney Rabbitohs (ditto - the NRL’s last attempt to kill the Bunnies did not go down well to say the least!)
*St George/Sutherland team
*Western Sydney team (representing Parramatta/Penrith)
*South Western Sydney team (representing Canterbury/Bankstown, Campbelltown & Liverpool)
The interstate teams:
*Brisbane Broncos
*Gold Coast Titans
*Newcastle Knights
*North Queensland Cowboys
*Canberra Raiders
*Melbourne Storm
*New Zealand Warriors
New/possible additions:
*Redcliffe Dolphins
*New Central Coast team (possibly also representing North Sydney/Manly Warringah, but preferably a standalone)
*New standalone Illawarra team (NSW I know but like the Central Coast, another market the NRL needs to have a presence in)
*New Perth team
*Possible Adelaide or Central QLD team
*Possible 2nd NZ or PNG team.
LOL, you think Dragons & Sharks fans are likely to travel out to Liverpool to watch an NRL match? Good luck with that!
maybe, but it turned out for the best for all involved.
the fans got a better matchday experience with 100% seating, better catering and transport
the clubs did not have to upkeep grounds to an AFL standard anymore , saving money
the local community got more access to these sporting grounds.
One big difference with Melbourne AFL teams is that they are all pretty much inner city based - I wonder if VFL Park and EJ Whitten Oval and the like would have been retained and upgraded if teams based at say Werribee, Frankston and Dandenong were in the AFL instead of some current teams. That would be more akin to the Sydney situation.
Unless Wealthy Westerners buy some Shares.