Tiered Competitions

Morepudding

Morepudding

NRL Captain
Dec 16, 2015
4,381
4,769
First things first, information i mention in this post are from https://www.nrl.com/news/2018/06/15...-clubs-grassroots-after-posting-huge-surplus/

Now, ever since the big TV deal I have been a believer that a potential way to solve player burnout would be to form a proper 'second tier' competition. Currently we have the NSW and QLD cup competitions, however what I propose is something different.

I think a division 1 of 14 NRL teams, and a Division 2 of 14 teams and a division 3 of 14 teams. It would work in a similar vein to the EPL where the top two teams from Division 2 get promoted, and the Bottom 2 teams of Division 1 get demoted.

Now, we have been talking about expansion to a team in Perth, possibly another NZ team, one in SA and potentially another QLD based team. If we were to do this, then i'd suggest allowing 2 new bid teams to enter the division 2 competition. 1 in NZ and 1 in Perth.

Judging from that report it believed clubs are receiving 12.5M from the NRL currently. This is based largely on the current broadcast deal which sees 200 normal season games and then 9? finals games. If changing to 14 NRL teams, every team could verse each other twice, allowing for 26 regular season rounds bringing it to 208 regular season games. So straight away, there is more financial gain there from a broadcasting sense.

Now, for arguments sake, lets use this years ladder to see the two divisions

Division 1:Roosters, Storm, Rabbitohs, Sharks, Panthers, Broncos, Dragons, Warriors, Tigers, Raiders, Knights, Bulldogs, Cowboys, Titans.

Division 2: Sea Eagles(NRL), Eels(NRL), Perth Team, NZ Team, PNG Hunters, Dolphins, Bears, Ipswich Jets, Wynum Manly, Newtown Jets, Magpies, Mounties, Roos, Bears.

Now i've left out the current div 2 teams from the NSW cup (panthers, dragons, bulldogs etc due to affiliation with the NRL, however these clubs could rebrand or something)

Now, what having this second division would do is get people watching it. I know some of you watch Qcup etc now, but the vast majority of NRL fans don't. If we had 2 NRL teams in there, then fans of those teams would watch, and begin to like other teams in that comp too.

Now, the first few years I imagine it would be essentially the same couple of teams bouncing back and fourth between the divisions, however I don't think that would always be the case.

I think this is something the NRL should look at doing for the next TV deal. Instead of increasing the salary cap and increasing players wages, keep the salary cap stable for a period and spread the wealth to some of the other clubs. Basically it would be good to get to a position where the NRL provides say 12.5M to Div 1 teams, and 10M to div 2 teams. This would also be a way to weed out the clubs who don't have the financial capacity to compete a the top level.
 
Love the creative idea - well done :)

But the 14 teams won't "verse" each other twice; they will play each other twice :)
 

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