Newcastle Sharks has a good ring to it 
On behalf of every Knights fanâŚ
Agreed. If the NRL is ever going to be taken seriously as a national competition, some (not all - obviously the Roosters & Souths are untouchables, so too is a presence in Western/South Western Sydney) of the Sydney clubs will eventually have to be moved to other markets.
Will it be sad? Yes, but Iâm sure similar sentiments were had when several teams merged or died around the turn of the millennium!
Did you forget the failed experiment that was Northern Eagles?
Does it really matter if they arenât ânationalâ?
Storm are still a minor team in Melbourne and it would be much harder in Perth or Adelaide. If teams are going to fold/merge, it would be to result in the reduction in overall competition size.
I think Victoria needs an NRL team. Despite Victoria mostly being Ann AFL state, They had the Melbourne Storm in the NRL as well as State of Origin played in Vic (which drew sellout crowds at the MCG and Telstra Dome). Melbourne Storm drew pretty good crowds at AAMI park. If there is a 2nd NRL team in Victoria, then we may see it either in Western Vic or in Melbourne. May see the dragons relocate to Victoria.
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Financially it wouldnât work in country Victoria. A second NRL team would need to be located and based in Melbourne (Greater Western Melbourne etc) But again, I think that would be doubtful and the numbers just wouldnât stack up.
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2 NRL teams would be an even bigger mistake than the 3 A-League team idea.
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Isnât it fairly likely though that any expansion of the NRL will be another team in Brisbane? Either Ipswich or Redcliffe based but also playing at Suncorp.
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The Sunday Telegraphâs Phil Rothfield writes that ANZ Bankâs sponsorship deal with Sydneyâs Olympic Stadium has expired, so from Monday (December 14) the venue will revert to its original name Stadium Australia. Iâve just checked the stadiumâs website and it is already back to stadiumaustralia.com.au
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Wow. Am surprised that that stadium has reverted back to Stadium Australia. Being such a big stadium, i would have thought that a major sponsor would snap up the naming rights, on day one after a lease from another sponsor had expired.
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I say MediaSpy takes over the naming rights. 
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Letâs start a GoFundMe!
âHello and welcome to 9âs exclusive coverage of the NRL Grand Final, live from MediaSpy Stadium.â
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Im not surprised - the stadium was going to be out of action for a while during upgrades if 2020 hadnt been the dumpster fire its become
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Oh yeah, thats right. The big development that was going to happen but didnât. I get it now why no sponsor had come on board. Will see what happens in coming weeks, id say.
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I wonder whether Venues NSW will wait and see if things improve before trying to get a deal
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Though part of the reason for why the upgrade didnât go ahead was because of the cost ($800 mil) for something that was only 20 years old, and it was gong to reduce capacity, and because the old Sydney Football Stadium was already being redeveloped and they didnât want two major stadiums being unavailable for an extended period at the same time.
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What a waste of money. Weâve got average hospital waiting times of almost 3 hours but the government thinks it is more important to sink taxpayers money into something that is already there - just making it more shiny.
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Until Covid, none of this mattered to the NSW Government it was going to be full steam ahead. They dumped the Stadium Australia work so that the money could be redirected to Covid-related stimulus work.
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âAt least the NSW Government helped keep the NRL Grand Final and State of Origin matches in Sydney!â - words nobody stuck in traffic or waiting for a hospital bed would ever say.
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