^^^^
If we can't get people to align with something as simple as Brisbane City, and not-Brisbane City (ie Queensland Country), does a new comp that doesn't just contain the Queensland Reds have any hope at all?
I love that picking a team is such an issue in Rugby. Always the big things! Country, city, this side of a River or that side, this school, that school, local club etc....sounds like you need a fricken survey from the old Dolly magazine - How to avoid picking the wrong team - 10 tips to picking the right Rugby team - with free survey to see who you best align with for life to avoid a bad break-up.
Growing up in AFL heartland years ago all the teams are in one city so you just picked the one you wanted to support. No reasons required, just pick! It great as it automatically creates diversity, good rivalries and you don't care about where players come from etc, just that your team and players are better! We have a 5 team split across our family. I have friends here in CBR that are passionate paid up Adelaide Crows supporters (one even has a fricken Crows theme song doorbell!). Do they care where they play? Not really. Do they care about player origin? No. Do they have any idea about the local SA Clubs? No idea whatsoever nowadays.
I have to say this is where I see the huge difference in AFL. I have juniors 8-12yrs old that can name the majority of players in the AFL teams they support (and its a big mix of teams), and some that can name almost every player in the AFL competition. This is in Canberra where they get 4 AFL games a year. Yet the GWS has a supporter base of over 10K paid up members (yes, just in CBR!) and most games sell out. (If you do want to do the comparison the Brumbies get about 59K over 7 games to GWS that get 52K over 4 games. AFL ticket prices are higher).
Rugby is too stuck in the amateur levels, history and tradition. Rugby simply does not have the basic of 8+ teams going at it week after week at the professional level that people will identify with. And nothing puts people off sport quicker than politics, power trips and old fashioned shackles that are out of touch - which Rugby is currently built on.
Rugby needs to have a really hard look and think about the VFL to AFL transition. Controversial?, Yes, Did it break away from tradition? Yes. Did it kill off some clubs? Yes - but via relocation and creating some new ones. Was it a popular move? Not at the time. Did they get it right the first time? No. We are still seeing the building and expansion issues. Does it generate revenue to feed back to all levels of the game? Yes.
