John Ribot, the man who helped the Brisbane Broncos and Melbourne Storm enter the NRL, has spoken out about the need for Sydney clubs to look interstate for their future.

"It's time for Sydney clubs to think of where they might be in 20 or 30 years," he told The Daily Telegraph. 

"The ones who are prepared to make a bold move are the ones who could finish up better off in the long term."

"It was like going to Melbourne. We looked at where we wanted to be in 10 to 15 years. We ended up well beyond where we thought we would end up."

Cronulla, Manly and the Titans are looked at as the most likely to be axed if Channel Nine goes through with a push for a second Brisbane team to be included in the next television deal.

Ribot says Sydney clubs should look at exploiting markets like Adelaide and Perth which showed promise during the Super League years for teams like Adelaide Rams and Western Reds.

"A team like Cronulla can still have a presence in Sydney but could do a deal to play seven or eight games in Perth," he said.

"Both Perth and Adelaide are big enough to work if they have the right people behind them. We are playing State of Origins in Adelaide and Perth. They have the foundations. They just need to deliver a team."

"There is nothing stopping Perth from approaching someone like Andrew Forrest to get involved because he was so disappointed in what the ARU did to the Western Force. If you had him involved you could get a super team."

"In Super League Perth and Adelaide went really well. They were starting to get some real traction but the problem was in Perth they did not have a decent stadium to play out of where now they would."

Ribot thinks any team trying to increase their market would be in a good position to negotiate with the NRL for a sympathetic assistance package.

"I would be going to the league and saying 'we are going to try to create a new market but it comes at a cost and we need you to help us'," he said.

4 COMMENTS

  1. Yeah sure Ribot,…..but don’t touch our fan bases in Brisbane or Melbourne.
    For what it’s worth, I think the NRL should concentrate on the eastern states…logistics & cost effective.

  2. I assume that chookstir doesn’t live in one of the “western” states.

    Sadly it is small time thinking, focusing on Sydney and what we have done before that is holding this game back. There is a massive opportunity here and we are dragging our feet like we have lead boots on. By contrast, the English Superleague will have a Canadian club in it next year and the lower leagues will have a new American one. Then in 2021 , New York is slated to join the English leagues structure and we can’t even put a team in Perth.

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