what is the passion like for an AFL origin game?

you know origin, the event that gets TV ratings of 10 million, crowds over 150,000 and generates millions for australias number 1 footy code.

indeed a brisbane lions player (AFL) said he wished their sport had something that united queensland like the origin did.

the future for the nrl is in queensland.

with its population booming and the state RL mad, it needs more teams.

indeed i think queensland will cause the aFL massive losses as the gold coast and brisbane AFL teams will be losing lots of money

Don't disagree, the game needs another NZ team, another Q'land team, a central Coast team, an Adelaide team and a Perth team to just about wrap up the whole country. Unfortunately I don't think we'll ever see it whilst A) Gallop is running the show, B) News are running the game C) we have 9 clubs in Sydney.
NRL will need to make some tough choices in years to come, if it has the vision, leadership and b4lls to do it is very debateable.

How many such games does the AFL have, though?

RL is Aus has the GF, 3 SOO and any international matches which typically pull decent viewing figures as well.

take out adelaide and replace with PNG and ill back that.

i still believe we can expand without killing off clubs in sydney.

whats the point in gaining 15,000 fans in perth if you lose the same number in cronulla who then follow a rival sport.

we need something like 20 or 22 teams in the nrl.

The point is that it gives you a solid presence in Perth, something currently lacking. Sydney is already dominated by RL, the loss of 15k Cronulla fans won't change much; but the addition of 15k fans in Perth [iwould[/i.

you dont get 3 million people watching collingwood vs carlton thats the problem sunshine. 3 million people watch every origin game.

hence why the AFL cant match the nrl.

good to see you sticking up for the AFL mob, they need all the help they can get.

indeed, 1 origin game in queensland gets more TV ratings than an ENTIRE season of AFL games in that state.

so much for AFL in queensland eh mate?

no it actually wouldnt.

perth TV games get something like 14,000 watching.

indeed Swans get only 80,000 - 100,000 watching their live games in sydney.

people in RL states dont watch AFL and vice versa so if we want to increase the value of tv rights its where people will watch the sport and where there isnt a team at the moment.

in order of priority queensland and the central coast would rank ahead of perth, as would wellington.

perth would be nice, but id put more queensland clubs ahead of them.

Yes, it would.

It gives the NRL and ARL a rallying point for the media in terms of another expansion team doing relatively well.

It gives the game more coverage in Perth, as the local media are more likely to report on an equivalent to Cronulla than the current relatively low profile semi pro outfit.

It gives the fans a sense of confidence; it reassures them that the NRL and AFL are not simply retreating into their bunkers, a view that has seemed apparent on Aussie message boards in the recent past. The Aussie media seem keen to keep reporting lies and half truths about the delining popularity of the game, in the face of all evidence. A Perth team with an overnight 15k fans is an important statement of intent and power.



I suspect the viewing figures would be higher if they involved, well, a Perth team.



80 to 100k regular viewers in Perth would be a great start, alongside 15k fans in the ground. I reckon the NRL should happily take that.



People in AFL states do watch RL - Melbourne get decent figures, for example the SOO, when given the genuine chance to do so.

I'm not sure there's huge numbers of people in QLD who would watch RL with the addition of another team, who don't already watch RL.

I think the situation in Perth may be rather different; they don't have a top level team in the state, but they do have grassroots - and the potential to add to the value of the sport in a manner that another QLD team would struggle to match.

1. the storm lose between 1 - 3 million pa apparently, covered by news ltd. who is to cover those losses for a perth team?

2. the queenland teams on the whole are profitable.

3. the nrl is taking the approach that they want the storm to get their losses down. rather than admit more teams with poor finances from expansion areas, they will go with ones for now that will be strong from day one.

look at the titans, a massive success. more queensland teams will copy that.

population data shows that queensland will be the number 2 state population wise in 20 years, so we need to ensure we keep that as ours.

4. RL areas in australia comprise a majority of the population. thats why afl is so desperate to expand into our areas.

west brisbane and the central coast have all been mentioned by the nrl as more important now than perth and i can understand what they mean.

5. you are aware that cronulla actually own their own ground and the land adjoining, worht around $50 million. they are planning more ground improvements and building a hotel which will make them quite wealthy.

why is losing a part of sydney considered progress.

people said souths should be out of the nrl, and once that happened they realized the mistake.

norths getting kicked out just meant the north shore went to union and AFL.

Who would cover the Storm losses?

Oh, wait, someone does.



There's more to life than profit. Should we shut down any NSW or SL teams that don't turn a profit?



This point presupposes that another team would have identical finances to the Storm; I'm not sure that's always going to be reliable, but it's certainly worth thinking about. But we should be thinking long-term for expansion, and a short term loss is worth it, IMO.



Again, this presupposes that a Perth team, for example, [iwon't[/i be a success.

We could equally look at the performance of the Titans and conclude that RL is Sydney, by comparison, needs a scythe running through it.

I'm not sure that's the case.



How do new teams in QLD ensure this? Why won't those same fans grow up as fans of the existing teams? This doesn't make sense.



Surely you therefore propose another few teams in the Melbourne environs, due to the population there?



I think their ideas have merit in many ways.



A straight swap between Cronulla in Sydney and an equivalent club in Perth is a no-brainer; this comment simply reinforces that.



I don't think it should be about "losing a pert of Sydney", I think it should be about widening the representation of the sport at the top level. Unfortunately, it's very difficult to reconcile the current situation with being able to bring more teams in.

Not enough cash, for one thing; something a better TV deal might help.

1. so whose going to cover the losses a perth team would make? that would be nobody.

2. queensland teams make profit, perth wont. you work out why im saying a queensland team is better on that score, its not very hard.

3. no extra teams in melbourne as its not a RL area. queensland is. seroiusly put some thought into this.

4. no a straight swap between sydney and perth wont work. souths and norths showed why that doesnt work.

so you are a RL fan and claim origin means nothing?




stick to watching the swans mate.

origin is the pinnacle of australian sport.

even one of the brisbane lions players said he wished AFL had something like it.

they dont.

poor dears.