The NRL struggles on two counts, it imposes an artificial limit on salaries which results in the best players going overseas, but also rewards failure by not having promotion and relegation. If promotion and relegation existed then the market could decide if there are too many teams in Sydney as there would be a mechanism for the Perth Reds to gain promotion to the top flight. Entry to the NRL would be on the basis of on field results and not decision by the NRL board to create a new team on the Gold Coast. It would also allow old clubs like Newtown to recover and return to the top flight.

Although the English Super League is about to abondon promotion and relegation for a few seasons this has in the past allowed new teams to enter the league, the Super League also runs a salary cap but it is I beleiev related to the amount of profit a club has, so the more profit the larger the cap, this provides an incentive to clubs to improve profit for on field gain, somthing else missing in the NRL model.

What the English premier league has going for it is the relegation system. If a club is struggling financially they can keep their head above water by selling off more expensive players and getting in cheapies. They can then sit down in a lower division while they sort their act out.

With no relegation in Rugby league the teams do not have that option. If they consistently lose then the fair weather fans leave and the club starts losing money. The NRL demands a high standard from the clubs for Stadium quality (there was talk of Manly losing it’s televised home games, because brookie is in a poor state) so if they are not getting money in then there is every chance they will go under.

The relegation system I think could win favour with lots of NRL fans. In particular with fans who lost their teams during the ARL Vs Superleague stoush. Fans of Norths, the Steelers (even Newtown Jets fans!) would really benefit from a relegation system; it would give their teams a crack at former glory.

It seems to my untrained eye that NRL clubs are going out of business because
i) there are too many of them and
ii) the star players are leaving for higher wages in europe.

go Manly

I surprised my friends by not supporting a demand for the NSW government to hand out 10 million to upgrade Brookvale oval (Eagles will be premiers in 08 btw). Their point is that clubs like Penrith and Cronulla got hand outs so why not us?

Indeed it is. Large quantities of beer (especially Guinness) are needed to make it comprehensible. Even when you understand it, it’s not worth the effort.

But NRL is played by men with cauliflower ears and no necks, who eat raw meat and drag their knuckles on the ground. No amount of beer makes it understandable.

I often tell AFL fans I work with how salary caps aren’t needed – using British Premier league as an example as one of the best sports competition set ups in the world.

I love the way everyone tries to knock off a few key teams.