www.thenational.com.pg/?q=node/12056 building a stadium like the GCs at Robina and a village to house away teams when they visit not a chance for 2013 but the fact gallop is visising shows 2018 could be on the radar with a population over 6 million will take the nrl to a whole new level

www.thenational.com.pg/?q=node/12056 building a stadium like the GCs at Robina and a village to house away teams when they visit not a chance for 2013 but the fact gallop is visising shows 2018 could be on the radar with a population over 6 million will take the nrl to a whole new level

lol, typical Aussie, anything for a free holiday!

and worth $0 to the NRL.

we arent talking about perth mate, this is a place where RL is actually popular.

and the country is on the bones of its ar5e! How exactly will they find $15-20million a year to run a team and where exactly are they going to get a NRL standard squad of players from? as much as I would dearly love the NRL to have $10mill a year surplus to throw at PNG to have any sort of fighting chance at making it a success they haven't.

85% of the population live in regional and remote areas on less than $500 a YEAR!

The income from the one game in Perth in June would require 40 thousand PNG's paying a full weeks salary to see a game just to equal it!

<sigh>

1. the TV deal with PNG would be worth something. maybe only $5 million pa but it would help cover costs

2. there are many large australian companies in PNG who would sponsor the team. indeed many have already expressed support

3. the government is building a new 20,000 + stadium

4. they have a massive pool of players to add to ours

5. they would strengthen international RL. tests with PNG would raise good revenues. also helping make the RLWC stronger

6. irrespective of how many live in regional areas, its 6 - 8 million people, almost doubling the size of the nrl. further putting us ahead of AFL.

a PNG team would add more to the nrl than Perth imo. but well go perth for now cause its safer.

PNG would be the best expansion to RL in australia since the broncos joined the ARL in 88

Sent you a pm JB, but you mustn't have seen it.

Is it true that Western Reds aren't running an open age team anymore?
Someone told me they folded due to money problems and only have under 18s and juniors operating.

yes cats, not so much folded but a strategic decision to concentrate on jnr development. The original plan was two years at that level then a move up to NSW or Q'land cup. I think the reality of difficulty in funding a team at this level unless you have a room full of pokies to back you plus the ARL's preference to give the funding to develop an SG Ball side was the determining factors. I was initially disappointed as I enjoyed watching them play in the Bundy cup but can see that it was the right choice. We now have an elite academy for the best jnr players in the WARL to further develop and an SG Ball side for them to test themselves against the best in NSW. It is already starting to pay out with one of our SG Ball players being signed by the Roosters this year.

I would hope that when we get a NRL team in 2013 we will continue with the SG Ball team and also run a team in either Q'land or NSw cup like Storm are doing this year. I would also expect the WARL 1st grade to become much stronger with a higher profile for the game and a career pathway for players.

not in all criteria, they would in fact be a major financial drain (probably) struggle to be competitive (for quite some time) and contribute little (if anything) to the financial strength of the comp

I'd love to see them in, I really would and the prospect of a succesful PNG team is 10 times more exciting than a rehash of some failed NSW team relocating into an already overcrowded market, but there is a shed load of work to do and the NRL are hardly the most proactive sports organisation in doing the groundwork!

if the stadium was ready now they could well come in now

a PNG NRL will add massively to our player pool, and strengthen international RL. thats more than enough to get them in

even the AFL has suggested they might consider expanding to PNG so if a sport with no real support there thinks its a good idea, then the one that is actually the national sport would be a belter

NZ and PNG are the most exciting expansion places weve got

well go for the safe CC bears and perth Reds but then next time we should shoot for the stars

PNG will put us forever ahead of any domestic football code

Not knocking anything you've said about PNG and the potential (although I do agree with the poster who pointed out that there are a lot of the population earning 2 tenths of nothing and the entire country is in need of a complete overhaul)..............
but I have to ask....what is it about the "other" codes that worry you so much?

Wendyball...soccer is pretty much going to grow and grow and grow. The good news for League (and everyone else) is the socceroos flopped in south africa, but be warned, if you win the bid to host the bloody thing, you will see just how powerful the game is.
Fumbleball. AFL have their own axe to grind. Let them get on with it........they get massive crowds, but TBH, that's pretty much it. They will never have an international game (we don't count because it's not AFL, but a hybrid game that's played) and will always be a regional sport.
Union. We are all agreed that without the SANZAR cash and the IRB propping them up, the ARU would be potless already. They are paying over the odds for some players and are tied into contracts that are crippling them......they don't need any help from League to fu(k it up...they are doing fine on their own.

seriously dally.....there is no need for League to worry about anything other than its own house. Players will defect to other codes....they always have and always will, but the world continues to turn and the game doesn't suffer for it. Izzy is off to fumbleball...good luck to him. Cooper wants more money....fuCk him! If he wants to play league he can play on league wages and under the cap. So what if 3 or even 5 current Roos jumped to another code...the development of talent is key and the NRL are getting that right.

1. other codes are trying to mucscle in on RLs turf

2. other sports have more money than they deserve

3. other sports lie about their popularity

4. we should look to see where other sports are doing well and copy them

if AFL thinks PNG might be an expansion area then it certainly should be for RL is my point

...so what? The AFL have their territory, League has its. What's Melbourne Storm all about if not expansion....everyone tries it.

this is an opinion, not a fact.

..opinion, not fact. There were 94,000 in soweto the other night and I read somewhere that the AFL got 90k for a club game recently....lies? That world cup final stadium looked packed to the rafters for the blax box clash.....unless they are using inflatable fans....

agree....but don't get a'rsey when they copy league..and see points 1,2 and 3 above...what's good for the goose is good for the gander.

I agree...if it's not done in a hurry and messed up.

its funny my opinion matters so much to you.

seriously i hate union and think AFL is a game for p**fs.

why is this an issue for you.

im not trying to convince you not to watch union even though id rather have an enema that watch that abortion of a sport

I'll save Gallop the flight........ pipeline dream

Best of luck

Interview with David Gallop regarding PNG's NRL bid: www.radioaustralia.net.au/pacbea ... 992568.htm

Interview with David Gallop regarding PNG's NRL bid: www.radioaustralia.net.au/pacbea ... 992568.htm

Even Dave sounds less than convinced that it is anything but a pipedream.

FOX: Overall, do you think from what you've seen so far, is a PNG-NRL bid realistic?

GALLOP: Oh, look I think it is not around the corner. It's probably still a few years off, but it's something that needs to be looked at seriously and you would never say never, because we know that the game is so popular up there.


sounds like hes making them go through the same hurdles the titans went through

get a new ground, get a good business plan that shows profits and you are in

2015 is too soon but 2018 is very feasible

as someone said on another forum, once the ground is built we should take nrl games there

once they get good crowds there, they will be admitted.

bullox, what he is saying is, "well probably not a cat in hells but if they ever develop from being a 3rd world country and people actually have an expendable income that will allow them to pay more than $2 for a ticket maybe"

Good crowds is the very least of their problems!

JB, do you think Western Reds are ready for an NRL licence in 2013?

I think the WA Reds will be!

The definates:

Decent stadium with a current 20K capacity. $80million of works to be completed by 2013 taking capacity to 26K. A further $180million total refurb of rest of the stadium being discussed.

Strong supporter base. In the last two years we've averaged around 12k for trial games and crowds of 15k and 13k for proper games. I am confident we will avg around the 15-16K mark for season 1.

Decent management team: Some good business men now running the WARL and the WA Reds GM knows his stuff.

Corporate support: Currently have around 10 businesses backing the WARL including some decent sized ones in Harvery Norman, Bartercard and Cash Convertors.

Strong grass roots focus. With the club being owned and run by the WARL we will have a continued focus on developing all levels of the game. We are currently producing NRL 1st graders with little RL prominence so I am confident we will soon have WA born and trained players playing in a WA team. It certainly won't take as long as Melbourne has!

The to be confirmed:

Big money backers. We need to nail a $1mill+ sponsor I feel to really clinch the deal. I'm confident we will with plenty of East coast businesses wanting to promote their company into one of the richest cities in the world, and plenty of West coast companies wanting to advertise into the Eastern States, something the AFL can't give them.

Memberships: We have stated we are aiming for 10k members by season kick off. Ambitious but we had nearly 2000 for the Jim Beam cup! WA is far more used to membership models so I think we will do well in this dept.

Value to TV: Ultimatley with RL generally on the bones of its ar5e this will be the deciding factor I reckon. WA offers a Live TV time slot that no one else can and also opens the game up to a brand new audience of close to 2 million people. If TV companies see it that way only they know.

We've been putting this together for 4 years now, by 2013 it will be over 6 years of work behind it!

Will we be ready? Yep you'd better believe it!

if you read the article gallop backed away from saying we were expanding or even who were the strongest candidates.

gallop wouldnt be going to PNG if it were a pipedream

new stadium will be the start, then get corporate backers and they get a team

Sincerely hope it works.

"never say never" sums up all you need to read

why is he going then? "Oh, because it is not only about whether they are ready to be admitted to the NRL. It is just to get a view of their development program. Obviously you've got the Kumuls playing in the Four Nations at the end of this year and we're interested in the game's development in PNG generally as well as their ultimate goal of having a team."

In order to make up for the shortfall in ticket value and merchandise sales they would need an extra approx $5-6million in corporate support on top of the $4-5million that clubs already have to bring in. Do you honestly believe in a 3rd world country there are companies willing to throw $10million a year at a PNG team?

As i said if the NRL was flush with cash and had the ability to part fund the team like AFL are doing with its expansion teams then it would be brilliant and would be massive for the game. But they aren;t and even if they were they have shown zero leadership in even deciding where they want teams let alone being willing to fund that development.