NRL Team in Perth - Surely it's a JOKE?

[Beaussie]

Super rugby teams go to South Africa so I think that going to Perth wouldn't be that much of a problem after all the AFL have been doing it for a while so I don't think the tyranny of distance would be a problem. Nobody is saying that there should be a NRL team in Perth next year or even the year after that.
What should happen is a build up of games over the years and then when the interest has built up both in viewers and attendees to the games and you have players that the crowd can identify with then that is the time to introduce a Perth NRL team.

On the other hand we have the AFL with very limited exposure in New Zealand spruiking the desire to have a team in New Zealand within 10 years. How are they going to do that? By taking one off games for special occasions like ANZAC Day. I know which game my money would be on.

How is what you're suggesting for the NRL in terms of Perth expansion any different to the AFL looking at NZ? >

[MarkZZZ]

Perth has had a market for the NRL all be it when the Super league was in existence of consistant crowds of upwards of 10,000 but has AFL ever had that type of crowd in New Zealand?. League has a bit of history in Perth going back quite a few years now and they have been games played in Perth over the last few years, not specialty games like ANZAC Day games but regular season games that don't have the hype of being a special game (Anzac Day is a holiday in NZ also), AFL has not had that in New Zealand.

Its like trying to judge the interest in yachting due to there being thousands of people turn out to see the start of the Sydney Hobart race or in horse racing because of the number of people who bet during the Melbourne Cup. It's an anomaly, it's not the norm.

To gauge any real interested in the AFL they will need to take regular season games over to NZ when they have to compete with the NRL and the Super Rugby. When they do that and start to get consistent crowds that would make them a viable future proposition then it will be time. Talking of expansion across the ditch even before they have played a game is obviously a joke someone has thought was funny.

[Striker]

On the other hand we have the AFL with very limited exposure in New Zealand spruiking the desire to have a team in New Zealand within 10 years. How are they going to do that? By taking one off games for special occasions like ANZAC Day. I know which game my money would be on.

QFT!!

[Beaussie]

Perth has had a market for the NRL all be it when the Super league was in existence of consistant crowds of upwards of 10,000

Yes we all know how that ended. TV ratings this season suggest there is very little interest in RL in Perth.

To gauge any real interested in the AFL they will need to take regular season games over to NZ when they have to compete with the NRL and the Super Rugby. When they do that and start to get consistent crowds that would make them a viable future proposition then it will be time. Talking of expansion across the ditch even before they have played a game is obviously a joke someone has thought was funny.

Exhibition games have been held in NZ in the past. Clearly the AFL is merely testing the waters to gauge interest with home and away games rather than exihibition games now. No different to the NRL in Perth I would've thought. If that is obviously a joke on the AFL's part, what are NRL games in Perth?

AFL chief operating officer Gillon McLachlan said the 34,000-capacity stadium could be packed out for the historic match, and said the league had hopes that one day a standalone New Zealand team would be a part of the AFL.

"I'm going to put it out there, we'll sell that game out. It will be an incredible event broadcast live back into Australia celebrating shared cultures and values with a great product where sports-mad New Zealanders with Australians who like to travel will be having a great day," McLachlan said.

"Where that goes, I don't know. Whether it's a team in 10 years, I'd love to think it was."

The initial agreement is that St Kilda will host five games at Westpac Stadium over the next three years, with two to come in 2014 and another two in 2015.

http://www.AFL.com.au/news/newsarticle/ ... fault.aspx

[Striker]

When were these exhibition games in NZ? I never heard about them in the Melbourne media.

[Beaussie]

When were these exhibition games in NZ? I never heard about them in the Melbourne media.

Exhibition Matches

The years of 1991, 1998, 2000 and 2001 saw official Australian Football League exhibition matches staged in New Zealand so that the AFL could gauge local support.

AFL Exhibition Matches

Date/Year

Location - Stadium - Teams - Crowd

5/10/1991

Auckland - Geelong v. St Kilda - 8,500


1/03/1998

Wellington - Basin Reserve - Melbourne v. Sydney - 7,820


29/01/2000

Wellington - Westpac Stadium - Western Bulldogs v. Hawthorn - 11,666


2001

Wellington - Westpac Stadium - Brisbane Lions v. Adelaide - 7,500

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian ... ew_Zealand

[MarkZZZ]

So from the list we see that there was no regular season games played in NZ and the last was over 11 years ago being in Feb. 2001. No games played during the regular season where they have competed with the other football codes being played in New Zealand and really no gauge of how they would go given they are a Rugby Union mad nation with plenty of interest in the NRL.

Like I said you would expect that the proposed AFL match on Anzac day will attract higher crowd numbers than the previous games there given that it is a special day. It will be interesting if it's put up against other special Anzac Day sporting events and how they fare.

It's my opinion that there is more chance of a second NRL team coming out of New Zealand than a AFL franchise starting up.

[Beaussie]

So from the list we see that there was no regular season games played in NZ and the last was over 11 years ago being in Feb. 2001.

No one ever said regular season games had been played over there.

No games played during the regular season where they have competed with the other football codes being played in New Zealand and really no gauge of how they would go given they are a Rugby Union mad nation with plenty of interest in the NRL.

Game is scheduled for Wellington at Westpac Stadium. What other code/games could clash in that city? My understanding is that is the main stadium in Wellington.

Like I said you would expect that the proposed AFL match on Anzac day will attract higher crowd numbers than the previous games there given that it is a special day. It will be interesting if it's put up against other special Anzac Day sporting events and how they fare.

Again how can the codes clash on that day when the AFL has booked the main stadium in Wellington?

[pookus]

One in 5 people watched the footy in perth last night ,unbelievable result. Maybe a third team in perth another in nz 20 team comp. Play eachother once extended finals. Sounds feasible to me.

[MarkZZZ]

So from the list we see that there was no regular season games played in NZ and the last was over 11 years ago being in Feb. 2001.

No one ever said regular season games had been played over there.

No games played during the regular season where they have competed with the other football codes being played in New Zealand and really no gauge of how they would go given they are a Rugby Union mad nation with plenty of interest in the NRL.

Game is scheduled for Wellington at Westpac Stadium. What other code/games could clash in that city? My understanding is that is the main stadium in Wellington.

Like I said you would expect that the proposed AFL match on Anzac day will attract higher crowd numbers than the previous games there given that it is a special day. It will be interesting if it's put up against other special Anzac Day sporting events and how they fare.

Again how can the codes clash on that day when the AFL has booked the main stadium in Wellington?

NZ isn't that big and I would expect some Swans fans will make the trip across the ditch and I am sure Auckland wouldn't be out of the question for Rugby Union and Rugby League fans from the Wellington Area to travel to NZ biggest ground 60000 capacity as apposed to Wellingtons 36000

Here's the link just in case anyone is questioning my numbers
http://www.worldstadiums.com/oceania/co ... land.shtml

[Striker]

Look at those numbers for exhibition games!! They won't fill the stadium. No freaking way!

[Xman]

Look at those numbers for exhibition games!! They won't fill the stadium. No freaking way!

It'll get more. Exhibition games arent taken seriously and rightly so.

[Striker]

But they are still a guide as to interest. Those low numbers are why they haven't been back in recent times. And now they think they'll draw more? They're dreaming, X!

[Beaussie]

But they are still a guide as to interest. Those low numbers are why they haven't been back in recent times. And now they think they'll draw more? They're dreaming, X!

Time will tell I guess. I'm confident of an almost sellout crowd in NZ.

Can you say the same for games of RL in Perth?

[piesman2011]

Has it been 10 years since the last game in NZ? I think if that is the case then it will be very hard to predict the crowd in Wellington next year. Hopefully it is a sellout but there are no certainties about this.