NRC Expansion

[WorkingClassRugger]

One that after watching a streamed game provided by AngrySeahorse should be considered are Newcastle. The standard looked fairly good. Very physical. Blokes with genuine gas. If the ARU are keen to bring it to a 10 team comp in the near future Newcastle could be worth a look. They have a reasonably good facility from the stream. Fairly comparable to the Vikings ground.

The question of Country seems easy enough to me. The Greater Newcastle area encompasses 460,657 residents with 308,000 in Newcastle metro itself (wiki figures) so it's a city unto itself so I don't see any conflict there.

 

[Pfitzy]

And you only have the Knights to complete with. They could use the stadium as well like GSR ate using Parra

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

They have a purpose built facility that would suit the NRC to a tee. Good grandstand with plenty of sitting/standing room around the field. Better fit at the beginning.

 

[wamberal]

The Newcastle Wildfires got zero support when they were in the SS.

 

[AngrySeahorse]

The Newcastle Wildfires got zero support when they were in the SS.

Different circumstances. You have participation in a Sydney based comp where most of the players selected for Super Rugby were from Sydney (excluding a few exceptions) basically a hiding to nothing for most players unless you moved. Verses a National competition where a player could potentially bypass the shute shield pathway & get instantly recognised. The NHRU can see the value in that. Read any of Newcastle Rugby Journo James Gardiners' articles/blog & the mood surrounding the NRC is more positive.

I think it was right not to bring Newcastle in for 2014 but I'd be stoked to see us added at some point in the future. And I was just happy to get representation through the NSW Country Eagles.

@WCR I've tended to refer to Newie as a "Town", which I think is the right term given we are a "Regional town". Not out the in the sticks but not a city. TBH I feel ridiculous calling Newcastle a city, especially when I come back from places like Sydney.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

Different circumstances. You have participation in a Sydney based comp where most of the players selected for Super Rugby were from Sydney (excluding a few exceptions) basically a hiding to nothing for most players unless you moved. Verses a National competition where a player could potentially bypass the shute shield pathway & get instantly recognised. The NHRU can see the value in that. Read any of Newcastle Rugby Journo James Gardiners' articles/blog & the mood surrounding the NRC is more positive.

I think it was right not to bring Newcastle in for 2014 but I'd be stoked to see us added at some point in the future. And I was just happy to get representation through the NSW Country Eagles.

@WCR I've tended to refer to Newie as a "Town", which I think is the right term given we are a "Regional town". Not out the in the sticks but not a city. TBH I feel ridiculous calling Newcastle a city, especially when I come back from places like Sydney.

It's a bloody big town. I think you'll find it is classified as a city much the same as Wollongong is. Has more than 50,000 people in a regional centre qualifies.

 

[Pass it to Dunning!]

@WCR I've tended to refer to Newie as a "Town", which I think is the right term given we are a "Regional town". Not out the in the sticks but not a city. TBH I feel ridiculous calling Newcastle a city, especially when I come back from places like Sydney.

Well, it's bigger than Canberra, so they can hardly argue it's too small for an NRC team.

 

[TOCC]

Population isn't the absolute measure of whether a locality should have a team.. Corporate support and the size of the rugby union playing population are a better measure.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

Population isn't the absolute measure of whether a locality should have a team.. Corporate support and the size of the rugby union playing population are a better measure.

True. Population figures aren't an indicator. However, The NHRU is the strongest competition outside of the Shute Shield in NSW. Probably the next best outside the Super Rugby bases. Outside of those it would be the best next candidate to expand into in the future providing they have the finances. The population base could help on that front.

 

[RugbyFuture]

hunter sports group prime candidate right guys.....RIGHT? THEY'RE STILL GOOD

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

hunter sports group prime candidate right guys...RIGHT? THEY'RE STILL GOOD

Funny. From what I can remember the Hamilton Club was the spearhead behind the Newcastle interest.

 

[TOCC]

I don't see any expansion of teams for NRC 2015, if anything i suspect there may be a consolidation/shuffling of the Sydney teams in the future... Sydney Stars are looking a little vulnerable at this stage with poor player depth, I'm not sure how long Sydney University will want to bankroll an underperforming team.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

I don't see any expansion of teams for NRC 2015, if anything i suspect there may be a consolidation/shuffling of the Sydney teams in the future. Sydney Stars are looking a little vulnerable at this stage with poor player depth, I'm not sure how long Sydney University will want to bankroll an underperforming team.

Neither do I. As you mention consolidation is more likely. I don't know if the Stars on field showings are a sign of vulnerability. More a flawed system. Sourcing talent out of two clubs one in the sunnies comp is showing to be a leap too far at present.

 

[TOCC]

Neither do I. As you mention consolidation is more likely. I don't know if the Stars on field showings are a sign of vulnerability. More a flawed system. Sourcing talent out of two clubs one in the sunnies comp is showing to be a leap too far at present.

I guess a quick fix could be some off-seasaon recruitment... they are one of the few financial clubs with the clout to do so as well..

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

Neither do I. But it cannot hurt developing a roadmap for the future. For what it's worth, I actually think the NRCs perfect number will be ten teams.

As you mention consolidation is more likely. I don't know if the Stars on field showings are a sign of vulnerability. More a flawed system. Sourcing talent out of two clubs one in the sunnies comp is showing to be a leap too far at present. Funny thing about Uni is that a bad NRC could very well make them work harder. They aren't afraid of it.

 

[I like to watch]

I guess a quick fix could be some off-seasaon recruitment. they are one of the few financial clubs with the clout to do so as well..

Isn't there a salary cap?
That would substantially restrict any recruitment efforts,pretty much restricting them to either disaffected players,players that have been totally ignored,or kids.

 

[TOCC]

Isn't there a salary cap?
That would substantially restrict any recruitment efforts,pretty much restricting them to either disaffected players,players that have been totally ignored,or kids.

There is a salary cap.. The salary cap is for paying players for the Sydney Stars.. But lets say, Sydney University offered a scholarship for 'player x' to come and play for their Sydney Uni team in the Shute Shield.. I think its going to be fairly difficult to moderate the salary cap since competitions role into one another. For example you look at the combined value of the Perth Spirit team compared to a team like Greater Sydney or Sydney Stars.



On to another expansion idea... The IRB provides funding for the pacific nations teams to play in the Pacific Rugby Club which earlier this year played against the Reds A/NSW A/ACT A etc hosted entirely in Australia.... In the future, would it be a plausible idea to include a Fijian or Tongan team in the NRC provided the IRB continue their funding to offset the travel/logistical costs?

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

There is a salary cap.. The salary cap is for paying players for the Sydney Stars.. But lets say, Sydney University offered a scholarship for 'player x' to come and play for their Sydney Uni team in the Shute Shield.. I think its going to be fairly difficult to moderate the salary cap since competitions role into one another. For example you look at the combined value of the Perth Spirit team compared to a team like Greater Sydney or Sydney Stars.



On to another expansion idea. The IRB provides funding for the pacific nations teams to play in the Pacific Rugby Club which earlier this year played against the Reds A/NSW A/ACT A etc hosted entirely in Australia.. In the future, would it be a plausible idea to include a Fijian or Tongan team in the NRC provided the IRB continue their funding to offset the travel/logistical costs?

Interesting thought. Considering our traditional links with Tongan Heritage players it may be worth a look. But they would need to be based here and funded by the IRB. Would be a good level of play for the local teams. Certainly add some flavour to the competition.

 

[TOCC]

I think its food for thought at least..

Another factor in the future will be whether Singapore are the winning bid or Japan.. If Singapore is the winning bid for the new Super Rugby team they may request to use the NRC as a development tool as well..

 

[Omar Comin']

On to another expansion idea. The IRB provides funding for the pacific nations teams to play in the Pacific Rugby Club which earlier this year played against the Reds A/NSW A/ACT A etc hosted entirely in Australia.. In the future, would it be a plausible idea to include a Fijian or Tongan team in the NRC provided the IRB continue their funding to offset the travel/logistical costs?

Not a bad idea but the funding requirement would be higher given the longer competition (the Pacific Cup in Feb/March was finished in a month).

A tangent of your idea could be to use some of the best local islander talent to prop up a team in a new market like Adelaide. If the IRB was willing to help fund the players travel and basic living expenses then it'd be cheaper than relocating Australian players.