Not sure about all the teams, but the Hurricanes are losing fans at an alarming rate.

tried google and couldnt find the figures.

what were their crowds at the high and now?

wellinton is larger than canberra. league may be the number 1 in canberra but they have the brumbies in the super 14, if canberra can suppourt nrl and a super 14 side i know wellington can support an nrl team as well as the hurricanes in the suer 14 union.

many people suppourt both codes of rugby but union is the number 1 in wellington but league has always had it's suppourters. the general sports fan in the city will give any decent sport a go! thiers 450,000 people in the wellington region and then thiers other in the lower north island that people will travel from. super 14 only go's for i/2 a season so welli nrl would have the second half winter season to itself. the phoenix A-league soccer teams plays in summer so wouldnt directly be in competition. look how succesfull they have been and rugby league get better crowds at local level than soccer ever has, you walk past a soccer game and if theres more than 6 people whatching a soccer game at a park in wellington! an yet look how well the phoenix have done!

wellington could have an nrl team but people really have to make it happen by holding league events nrl games/tests etc and drawing good crowds, setting up a lobbying group and encourage people to join it, thinking up ways to keep the idea in the media and have potential sponsors and a stadium lined up.

southern orcas was a better idea

games in wellington and christchurch

was watching a cricket game recently, looks like jade stadium is getting redone

tigers got good crowds there

its just too early for a 2nd nz side

let the warriors finances improve with our next tv deal, putting them in a good position to sign the best players in nz

once the warriors have financial stability then its a must

That's a sensible call.

Personally i would like to see a team in Perth before anyone else.

This thread contains one of your so-called "facts", gutterfax.

About how the South Island of NZ is exclusively union.

Wrong.

That is what we call "an opinion".

One based on nothing other than rah rah induced bigotry and lack of information.

OK......this is just getting stupid now. How many threads to you need to try to be insulting on at once?

I accept that my assertion that the south island was almost exclusively union as being incorrect. It is not based on bigotry, but on me finding my feet over here. I have since researched the state of League in the south island and found that NZRL have divided the country into 7 Zones.....with 6 in the north island. Regardless of what your opinion is, that would seem to indicate where NZRL see their future.
The Northern Zone
The Auckland Zone
The Counties Manukau Zone
The Upper Central Zone
The Mid Central Zone
The Lower Central Zone
The Southern Zone

daily messenger i agree with you that southern orcas playing out of wellington and christchurch would be a good idea but the fact is they would have to be based in one city. i'd say wellington would be that city! and maybe a pre season trial in south island maybe greymouth, and take 2-3 home games per year to christchurch if there was a clash with super 14 in wellington and crusaders were away! beacause players and management need to be based somewhere the cost of having half a side here half there and getting to training would be riduculous so it gotta be based in one city or the other.

When NZ won the world cup, all we heard from everyman and his dog was how RL will explode in NZ and participation numbers will rocket!

Well it hasnt happened, Rugby is still king in NZ so when is this explosion going to happen?

when the NZRL gets its act together, the NRL admits another team, Australian and English clubs stop taking the best Kiwis out of the country and the TV money generated in NZ stays in NZ. Oh and when the Warriors finally put together a winning team and win 3 GF's in a row!

Patience is a virtue my friend. NZRL have been in disarray for years but have now turned the corner. They have a Business plan in place, turned a profit last year and once Auckland play ball with the zones and funding, they will start to get more work going.
At under age level, the game would seem to be quite healthy (2,500 turned up to see a schools final here in Wellington last year) and with the All Blacks imploding/salavating over French or Japanese contracts and jumping ship, together with the probability of the Springbox winning the RUWC next year......League will continue to grow.

As with the London issue in Superleague.....these things take time. The current crop of U20's that originate from these shores look OK and they were all born when there was only 1 sport in this country. Now there is Basketball, soccer & League as alternatives and NRU have been very very very slow to react. Also, the RUWC is, as is it always is, an elite show.......with your average fan having no chance of seeing their own team and paying through the nose to see ANY game........