Opinion: Expansion... Almost

[Morepudding]

The NRL and media are constantly talking about expansion for the next TV deal. I have an issue with this, I am not confident the quality of players are there to increase the number of teams in the comp. There is talk of relocation etc. But that doesn't necessarily bring in much more money, as there wouldn't be more games.

Another topic consistently discussed is a trade period and a draft.

Why does it seem that very little / if any, thought has been given to promoting a college (uni) league... You open it up to the top/ biggest universities in Australia, UQ, Griffith, ANU, UNSW, Monash etc. Maybe have a 10-12 team national competition. Teams in Perth, Adelaide etc. This would generate a new wave of support, and provide a new point of entry for juniors. Get them out of highschool at 17/18, and give them a 3 year degree and at 20-21 they graduate and go to the draft. Some mature students would also be in this etc, similar to the way it's done in the US

I think this would bring a big wave of excitement, and could bring a lot of tv coverage with it as well. On top of that, it would provide a strong pathway, with a better entry to the NRL than the NYC did.

Just a though. What do you think?

 

[I bleed Maroon]

Universities suffer from the same puzzling obsession with Yawnion as private schools, don't they?

 

[Morepudding]

Universities suffer from the same puzzling obsession with Yawnion as private schools, don't they?

Yeah most universities do, but I feel like it would be easy to get into the market if NRL tried. Especially if they announced there would be a draft at the end of the year.

 

[I bleed Maroon]

Yeah most universities do, but I feel like it would be easy to get into the market if NRL tried. Especially if they announced there would be a draft at the end of the year.

Yeah I suppose, and a sub competition actually worth watching on TV would be fucking nice for a change. The QCup is fine but, it's the QCup. 90% of players who come through that system are never leaving it and if you watch enough of those games you begin to see why.

However sadly, the pessimist in me says that I wouldn't trust this current administration to clean the toilets at stadiums properly, let alone lay the groundwork for something as audacious as this. Not only do you need to get the Unis and other institutions who have historically never wanted a bar of you on side first, but then you have to make sure that the development systems in place surrounding this new comp would actually be churning out a decent amount of good players who have a chance to reach higher. The NRL is one thing, but getting the clubs on board financially means producing results, and can you see that coming from this mob anytime soon?

 

[Morepudding]

You need the club's to participate in the draft etc. But the club's would have nothing to do with the running of the uni teams. I'd suspect a good point of entry would be talking to someone like John Singleton who has always tried to get a team up and going on Central coast. Could have the uni there as one of the club's and use his money and connections to get it started.

Financially, the costs would be quite low... Provide free tuition, and then provide a living allowance during the year. The per player cost would be quite low, and the whole competition, player cost wise, would be less than the salary cap.

For the universities, I think having a large sporting system would do them well too, and would likely attract additional students and generate a lot of publicity for the uni.

Queensland cup / NSW cup sucks and it's just reserve grade for the nrl. Too many teams and it's a state comp. We have nothing in Perth or Adelaide. This can give us an in there. Would be bloody awesome I think.

Imagine how much publicity a draft, and a NRL style combine would generate. Would be huge!

 

[mitch222]

Drafts are a restraint of trade
Works for some clubs but not others. In a truely Australian wide comp you might need a draft to get people to go play at certain states like the afl does with Sydney and Brisbane. A college system would only weaken country league teams who do sometimes provide pathways for players into first grade. Also, money is a massive factor in that not every uni could fork out exorbitant costs for traveling every second week

 

[Art Vandelay]

I think the American college sport system produces some incredible athletes, but there's a bunch of reasons why it can't work in Australia.
1. US College sports attract huge broadcasting deals that simply wouldn't happen here. Lower population, lack of genuine rivalries and no history. I mean we have the uni games but my understanding is that they are just a thinly veiled drunken orgy.
2. A lack of facilities. Australian universities don't have there own stadiums, and lack the space to build them. You could play in existing stadiums but that would bring us to point 3:
3. Low crowds - you'd never fill a stadium. People in Australia don't care about their alma mater, not even when attending, and the student body is largely dependent on foreign students from countries who don't play league.
4. It doesn't make sense for the athletes. Major league US sport stars get paid way more. Having even a journeyman career would set you up for life so patience pays off. In the NRL only the top 10% of players would get this, so sacrificing 20-25% of your playing career is much more of a gamble.
5. Fewer incentives to attract the best talent. A college scholarship is less of a deal with the HECS/HELP system and as this would be a new system no college would have a pedigree for giving the best chance of making it professionally. Having a university education is also more commonplace here and has a reduced impact on employability compared to the USA.
6. It doesn't make sense for the clubs. This is basically bringing back the Toyota Cup, which is a much worse facsimile for the NRL than the state comps are.
7. It deprives the players of top level coaching. US College coaches are government employees - the highest paid government employees in many states. Funding a professional coaching set-up for each team would be political suicide in Australia.
8. Most of the major universities in Australia are in major cities that already have a plethora of sports and other activities to draw in attention, fans and money. The vast majority of US colleges are outside their major cities, where the college itself is the lifeblood of the town. In some states like Iowa, Nebraska, Alabama and Mississippi their college teams are the highest level of sport in the state.
9. It's an American system. By sheer virtue of its origin you're going to have the majority of the public viscerally opposed to it.
10. This one is mostly opinion but I wanted an even ten points. Australia is not as sports-mad as we claim to be. Our national basketball and soccer leagues both completely collapsed in the last twenty years, the super rugby is anything but when it comes to tv audiences and crowds and the NRL and AFL both have half their competition based in a single city. This country is not crying out for more sport to throw money at. Our saturation point is low, and we've pretty much reached it already.

 

[Morepudding]

Drafts are a restraint of trade
Works for some clubs but not others. In a truely Australian wide comp you might need a draft to get people to go play at certain states like the afl does with Sydney and Brisbane. A college system would only weaken country league teams who do sometimes provide pathways for players into first grade. Also, money is a massive factor in that not every uni could fork out exorbitant costs for traveling every second week

You don't have every uni, limit it to 10-12 and play each other twice.

UQ has 60,000 student enrolments. Griffith I believe is over 40,000 and other ones in other states are the same. That is huge. Unis have the money, and they would get money from tv and endorsements.

A draft wouldn't work in the current system, but the game needs a change or it will fail. Crowds are down, this would give it a new life.

 

[Morepudding]

I think the American college sport system produces some incredible athletes, but there's a bunch of reasons why it can't work in Australia.
1. US College sports attract huge broadcasting deals that simply wouldn't happen here. Lower population, lack of genuine rivalries and no history. I mean we have the uni games but my understanding is that they are just a thinly veiled drunken orgy.
2. A lack of facilities. Australian universities don't have there own stadiums, and lack the space to build them. You could play in existing stadiums but that would bring us to point 3:
3. Low crowds - you'd never fill a stadium. People in Australia don't care about their alma mater, not even when attending, and the student body is largely dependent on foreign students from countries who don't play league.
4. It doesn't make sense for the athletes. Major league US sport stars get paid way more. Having even a journeyman career would set you up for life so patience pays off. In the NRL only the top 10% of players would get this, so sacrificing 20-25% of your playing career is much more of a gamble.
5. Fewer incentives to attract the best talent. A college scholarship is less of a deal with the HECS/HELP system and as this would be a new system no college would have a pedigree for giving the best chance of making it professionally. Having a university education is also more commonplace here and has a reduced impact on employability compared to the USA.
6. It doesn't make sense for the clubs. This is basically bringing back the Toyota Cup, which is a much worse facsimile for the NRL than the state comps are.
7. It deprives the players of top level coaching. US College coaches are government employees - the highest paid government employees in many states. Funding a professional coaching set-up for each team would be political suicide in Australia.
8. Most of the major universities in Australia are in major cities that already have a plethora of sports and other activities to draw in attention, fans and money. The vast majority of US colleges are outside their major cities, where the college itself is the lifeblood of the town. In some states like Iowa, Nebraska, Alabama and Mississippi their college teams are the highest level of sport in the state.
9. It's an American system. By sheer virtue of its origin you're going to have the majority of the public viscerally opposed to it.
10. This one is mostly opinion but I wanted an even ten points. Australia is not as sports-mad as we claim to be. Our national basketball and soccer leagues both completely collapsed in the last twenty years, the super rugby is anything but when it comes to tv audiences and crowds and the NRL and AFL both have half their competition based in a single city. This country is not crying out for more sport to throw money at. Our saturation point is low, and we've pretty much reached it already.

Im on phone so replying properly is hard but Il try to do so tomorrow.

For your point about people not caring about their uni, and Australians not caring much about sport etc. I totally get your point. But for building history and rivalry, this will start it. It can be played at the local grounds or smaller stadiums. Similar to the way the Qcup does. Yes it would take time to get it off the ground, but I feel this is a way to get people more involved with the game, and increase exposure to an international market (Asia).

With so many international students it is a good way to make them more aware of the game by having a competitive uni team. But for the general public, college kids would all go (by college kids I mean the ones who live on campus). I believe UQ have a couple thousand, ANU has loads as well. This would get people watching. Where possible try and use them as curtain raisers for other games etc.

We need a better development system. NYC was always stupid because it was just younger kids from the same NRL clubs. So it didn't bring in any new audience at all. The state cup system, even people who love NRL, don't give a shit because they didn't ever go to their games as kids and whatever. But as you said, a lot of people go to uni in Australia. Would I watch a UQ game on tv? 1000%. Why? Because I went there and have a connection to it. Other people would feel the same, and that grows a lovefor the uni, and more history for the uni (so that helps the unis get on board) and also, it will bring in people who don't usually watch sports.

 

[Sproj]

You could limit to the group of 8, the best of the best unis.

 

[Foordy]

Drafts will never be tried in the NRL again ... not after Terry Hill successfully challenged it in court in the 90's

 

[Culhwch]

You could limit to the group of 8, the best of the best unis.

I can't see Monash, Melbourne, Adelaide, or WA being too keen myself.

This system works for something like the NFL because the collegiate system is basically the only way into the NFL. The number of players who come from outside the draft is marginal to say the least. Also just the shear quantity of college teams.

If a player could just go straight to the NRL and potentially get a big paycheck close to immediately, or go to uni for the years without pay and maybe crack a team at age 21 or 22 (three years behind their peers in terms of experience) - not much of a choice, really. So you only get the players who can't make it initially, which doesn't make it a very enticing draft.

 

[Dazza 92]

I always thought the way to go was to fill the void left by Perth Super (enter number) Rugby team being removed form the competition as a ideal opportunity.

The way id do it would be to end the club that is totally hostage to infighting and board splits; West Tigers.

Id split these 2, bring back the Balmain brand and leave them at Leichardt with the leagues club to support it, and send the "Western" (see what i did there) Suburbs to Perth. Can do some rebranding but what we have is another foundation club back into the comp with a brand new slate, rich history which the Western Reds lacked...

Haven't thought too much more about this...just me jawboning to myself generally but yeh that would be my idea if expansion has to be something the NRL take to the next broadcasting deal...