Gutterfax is right on the money with much of what he has said.
I have lived in Wellington for most of my 37 years and the comments he has made regarding watching local rugby league and the violent behavior assosiated have been right on the mark in the past.
I live in Upper Hutt, home to the mighty Upper Hutt Tigers. At their home games the Mongrel Mob can be seen perched on the bank on one side of the field in a menacing way which will put off most casual fans from attending. I have worked with quite a few Tiger's players and they have all been great blokes and not gang affiliated but there obviously is another contingent that are. There were always stories in my youth of shootings and brawls involving spectators whenever the supremacy of the Wainui Lions was challenged. I'm not saying it was solely Wainui but being Upper Hutt's main rival for top spot (along with Randwick) in those days they were the stories you heard about.

However, I believe the winds of change are happening.
Rugby League is now in our schools, in my day there was no school rugby league teams, it was rugby or nothing and if you played club league on the weekends your first XV coach would probably drop you. Upper Hutt College just completing a 3rd unbeaten season in the Stephen Kearney cup and the aussie talent scouts are taking notice. The kids know due to Toyota Cup coverage and the many kiwis plying their trade there that there are career opportunities in league that are reachable to them. They also are being taught and see from the TV coverage that they can't do drugs and expect to be picked up by the scouts. This will no doubt flow through to the senior ranks with more dedicated players coming through rather than gang related thugs just trying to show how tough they are. But it will take years.

As for crowds well it's hard to say. Wellington has less than half the population of Auckland and while per capita certainly supports it's sporting teams better there is only so much money people have to spend. Christchurch has the same issue but without the competition of a semi-pro soccer team.

NZ rugby league is moving forward and certainly becoming more main stream, but there is a long way to go. I would love to see a team based in Wellington and think it would be great for the fans and the national side, but I suspect the money side of things would not stack up and at the end of the day it will always come back to that.

As I posted earlier , it is slightly different over there , it can get interesting to say the least , so the ' Mongrel Mob ' are still around , they were there when I attended Heretaunga college back in 75

Some on here will shoot you for that...but thanks anyway.

This was from 18 months ago but little since and with bids expected to be called for around March time it is doubtful one will come from Wellington.


While Wellington appears to be starting its run from behind, Hemson, Wellington Rugby League's ambitious general manager, said he'd had encouraging discussions with the NRL, Wellington City Council and Westpac Stadium over the last year.

Hemson said rather than trying to fight with the AFL in Perth or Adelaide, the NRL wanted to shore up its strongholds of Australia's east coast and New Zealand.

"We believe that for the long-term future of rugby league here there needs to be at least one other team out of New Zealand and we're working away on it at the moment.

"We've been keeping it low key because we want to get all our things lined up before we go public with it.

"There's been good support from Wellington City Council to work with us and the [Westpac] Stadium are obviously keen for it to happen as well."'"

[iHemson said rather than trying to fight with the AFL in Perth or Adelaide, the NRL wanted to shore up its strongholds of Australia's east coast and New Zealand. [/i

Bloody flat cappers.

there was an article in april this year, which i posted a summary of on here saying perth would get a team.

its common knowledge the nrl will be expanding to central coast and perth in 12 months

yes.

well get some back from SL, with the higher salary cap well get many back from rugby union, well sign 20 union players from the S14 including all blacks and wallabies and probably 20 english players as well.

we need around 50 more players so its not a lot.

the correct term is cork cappers/

Good one dally.

After NZ won the world cup, all we heard is how league is going to overtake union there. Nothing happened. Now they have won the tri nations we are hearing the same thing again. Id love it to happen, but it just wont.

For me, Central Coast, Perth and PNG are much more deserving of a franchise than a second NZ team

League will never overtake union in NZ, the gap is just too large. Union and the All Blacks is ingrained in NZ heritage (we are a young country with very little heritage lol).
But the profile of league has certainly lifted since winning the world cup. While union has probably gone down hill a little with the game having a bad couple of years as a specticle, although rule changes have certainly made it more fun to watch this year.

The fact that league is now played in our schools I think is a huge step forward and I honestly believe the Toyota Cup coverage has played a big part in young guys seeing it as a real career option. They are seeing seniors from previous years running round for Melbourne, Newcastle etc in the Under 20's level and even from my home town point of view big Sika Manu for the Storm.

Don't believe the hype some people drivel, but believe that it is on the way up in NZ. A winning Warriors side would be the next major hurdle to really give the game some impetus. And i'm not talking a few games, but a premiership or two and a Broncos type reputation. With all the local talent coming through it could be possible in years to come, but we have to look locally as it's very hard to get top quality players to cross the ditch for a decent price. If we could just discover a local star halfback or 2 and tie him into the Warriors it would be achievable. We have talented forwards and outside backs all over the place, just need some smart talented little men to steer them around.

Gotta agree with you there K Kev. A winning Warriors side would be the biggest impetus for the growth of RL here. Everyone's already forgotten about the Tri-nations over here. The Warriors play week in week out.

Also, to an earlier poster, I reckon 50 extra players in the nrl in one season does pose a risk of diluting and reducing the standard.