RLW says the CQ bid is about to get a whole lot better.

geoff murphy, CEQ official is quoted as saying "we have the (state) government ready to build a stadium. we have people ready to pour millions into our bid".

Big League magazine also quotes kevin rudd as being behind them, and queensland premier anna bligh committed to building a stadium

this changes things a lot i feel.

with a new stadium i think this puts them ahead of perth

Not big enough...

It should be Perth and CC Bears next round of expansion.

2nd round of expansion, 2nd NZ side and any Queensland bid should be compared with/evaluated against a proper PNG bid (whether Ipswich; Sunshine Coast; Central QLD; Cairns wherever).

I would also have Adelaide featuring matches via Cronulla - they can split between the Shire and hopefully long term may relocate totally to SA. Coincidentally, the emblem of the shark has great resonance with SA'ers given the huge whites lurking offshore in the Bight.

The Queensland bid - if Cairns - should give a few games per year to Darwin.

That would mean the NRL would cover the country and possibly New Zealand and PNG.

The most important issue is that there is demand for new teams and great scope for future expansion...the AFL has neither.

The IC should allow full exploitation of this position in the next and coming TV deals.

It all looks very, very promising.

gallop wants a team in logan city

re this bid - if the government builds a stadium and they have strong backers id go with it

queensland can add a lot to tv viewers via higher brisbane city ratings

Perth 1.6mill v Rockhampton 100,000. Hmmm tough choice!

SE Queensland will be the only place in Q'land with 1/2 a chance, and then only if they agree to play out of Suncorp.

1.6million people with how many being league fans? Population isn't everything.

rockhampton isnt central queensland is it?

what chance redcliffe going for a team?

That's where they are talking about basing the team, building the stadium etc. That is part of their problem, where the hell is CQ? They talk of a wide range of geographic area but some of it eats into NQ territory and some into Brisbanes.

Whilst pop isn't everything it is a major factor when considering fanbase, corproate support etc.

Hat's off to them for their vision but seriously Brisbane has over 60% of the pop yet you would end up with 75% of the Q'land teams out of Brisbane. Makes no sense.

And despite the Govt's support can you really see them stumping up for a $300mill stadium in Rockhampton?

It's not going to happen, not for a very very long time imo.

the government has already said a stadium will be built

it wont cost $300 million. robina did because that include train station and other infrastructure

if they have strong backers and a new ground they have a good chance

queensland should have 5 teams.

we need another brisbane team, the other im not too fussed

more queensland games for queensland tv viewers

CQ - the right choice! - I'm a CQ Italian so a bit bias

The population is actually closer to 400k for the whole of CQ - from Mackay to Bundberg.

Travel is no problem - as we've had to travel 2.5 hours for games - 1/2 hours is easy for some of the away games for CQ Challenge Cup.

The point is we have strong RL fans.

how far is townsville?

would it take fans from the cowboys?

a) I hope you're both joking about not knowing where Central QLD is...
b) The bid basically aims to cover everywhere between Mackay and Wide Bay/north of the Sunshine Coast, and out West, with Rocky acting as the hub/home. Just look at the bid logo ffs...
c) Brisbane has about 50% of the state population, if not less.

You don't understand Queensland at all. There is the South East and Everywhere Else. And Everywhere Else wants to seced from SEQ.
CQ and the Bowen Basin is where most of the income comes from; the mining districts have among the highest disposable incomes in Australia. Yet 90% of the tax income gets spent in the south east.
You also don't seem to realise how big Queensland is. It's seven hours drive from Brisbane to Rocky, another 5 to Mackay, another 5 to Townsville, another 5 to Cairns.
People drive from Mackay and Cairns to go to every Cowboys home game, and look at the crowds they keep getting for a pretty average footy team. A team in Rocky will pull similar crowds to the Cowboys - I doubt Perth will do that week in week out.

Mackay to Rocky is more 3.5 maybe 4 hours. But the point is travel would be no problem. I've been to Childers (near Bundaberg) at least 50 times (im 20) - so about 3/3.5 hours.

Well for crowds you would want at least 12k to 15k..

Mackay would have the chance to get 1/2 NRL games a year too.. They have an upgraded stadium to be finished soon at 12k+ - would be upgraded to 15k+.