NRL 2010

[Druzik]

The 2010 Draw has been released

www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/nrl-draw-revealed/story-e6frexnr-1225778291076

2010 draw revealed

ST GEORGE Illawarra fans will get an early shot at revenge next season with the Dragons set for an opening-round showdown with finals heartbreakers Parramatta.

The round-one blockbuster at Parramatta Stadium will launch the 2010 season alongside the traditional Souths-Roosters clash at ANZ Stadium, while the Broncos and Cowboys will go head-to-head in a derby at Suncorp Stadium.

However, Newcastle fans will have to wait until round 10 - and then travel to Sydney - if they want to boo Brian Smith, with the Knights and Tricolours only scheduled to clash once next season at the SFS.

Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
The NRL yesterday released the 2010 draw and while there are sure to be howls of protest from some fans, operations manager Graham Annesley insisted the home-and-away rounds were the best compromise.

"I think overall it's pretty good," he said. "We have met around 90 per cent of club requests. I have spoken to every CEO and the response was pretty favourable. Overall, I am happy with the outcome."

Among the marquee early-round clashes is a round-two match-up between the Dragons and Bulldogs at Kogarah, while Ricky Stuart's Sharks face a daunting start after the horrors of 2009, playing Melbourne at home in the opening round before a trip across the ditch to take on the Warriors in round two.

To set off the draw, the NRL earmarked 38 marquee clashes, headed by the traditional Roosters-Rabbitohs season-opener, before opening up to the requests of clubs.

Each club submits a wishlist of home opponents, generally dictated by crowds.

Among the requests were submissions from the Storm and Broncos to meet the weekend after the Anzac Test, when both clubs are likely to be heavily represented.

Annesley said although both clubs could lose players, which may affect the drawing power, they preferred to face each other under the same circumstances.

Wests Tigers and Melbourne will start the year with a clutch of games on the road, with the Tigers taking early home games to the SFS while renovations are completed at Leichhardt and Campbellown.

The Storm will also be forced to wait until round six to christen their new stadium. Melbourne will play their first home game in round four at Etihad Stadium against the Dragons.

After their opening-round match with Parramatta, Wayne Bennett's men will also get another shot at finals revenge in round four with a home clash against the Broncos, who they will play twice.

The season kicks off on Friday, March 12, and will include feature games in Perth and Adelaide as well as a Heritage Round (10) between the Bulldogs and Dragons, the Wests Tigers v Rabbitohs and Manly v Parramatta, a dedicated Women in League Round (16) and a Rivalry Round (19) that will ignite the passions of fans across the game.

Once again, the NRL will host split rounds through the State of Origin series and the weekend of the Australia-New Zealand Test and the City-Country clash.

However, the impact of Origin will affect some marquee clashes, with the Storm and Bulldogs meeting twice - after Origin I and Origin III - while the Titans and Manly will meet before Origin II, minus rep stars.

Annesley said that while clubs requested opponents, there was no suggestion some teams got an easier run. "You still have to beat every team to win the comp," he said.

"Some teams might want a harder run in to the finals and a softer start or the other way around but it doesn't make any difference."

[arh21980]

Its about time they had a rivalry round.

[sportsmad]

wow, what an article!

Fans get their game back
THE game of rugby league is on the verge of being handed back to the people with the long-awaited independent commission just weeks away from becoming a reality.

In the most stunning administration shake-up since Super League, News Ltd and the Australian Rugby League are putting the finishing touches to an agreement that will see independence day arrive before the March kick-off of the 2010 season.

"It could be sorted by Christmas - if not before the start of next season," said a prominent official who has been involved in months of negotiations to deliver a watershed moment in the code's history.

The Sunday Telegraph has learned a series of high-powered meetings has resolved the major sticking points and lawyers for both parties are now nutting out the finer details.

As part of establishing the commission, those details are:

Melbourne Storm is likely to be sold to a consortium for just $1 in a paperwork transaction that allows News Ltd to leave the game;

David Gallop will remain as CEO for three to five years;

ARL supremo Colin Love will be the inaugural chairman for two years;

The 16 NRL clubs will have an equal share in all profits after grants are paid to the respective leagues to look after the grass roots, and;

Two new clubs will be added by 2013 to increase bargaining power when the commission negotiates the next television deal.

The key to any agreement has been the future of the Melbourne Storm and the reluctance of the Queensland Rugby League and the NSW Rugby League to come on board.

The Melbourne Storm sale

CEO Brian Waldron has been told by News Ltd to pull together a consortium to buy the club. He has approached several investors in recent weeks and it is believed he already has Gerry Ryan, the founder and managing director of Jayco Caravans, on board.

Former Super League boss and former Melbourne CEO John Ribot is also believed to be part of the consortium. However, the Storm have been told to keep his name away from the media because he is still regarded as damaged goods from the Super League war.

Waldron's problem is finding investors prepared to put around $25 million into a business that has been losing around $6 million a year. To make the sale viable, News Ltd will use an exit payment of up to $20 million which it will then drip-feed back into the club and the new owners.

Melbourne Storm's future must be secured because senior officials know the value the club provides in television negotiations in a national competition.

The NSWRL and QRL dilemma

The key negotiators are still waiting for final sign-off from the state bodies but are confident of getting their support, even if it means using fear tactics.The NSWRL and QRL will be told that the clubs are so determined to have the independent commission that they are prepared to go it alone if no agreement is reached.

"The clubs would quit the NSWRL," an insider told us. "It's as simple as that. They would form their own body and work under the new commission."

Who will own the game?

The 16 clubs will hold an equal share. Currently, all profits from the NRL are divided between the Australian Rugby League and News Ltd. News Ltd spends its share on bank-rolling the Storm - the Australian Rugby League uses its money to run the game and develop it at the grass-roots level.

The new independent commission will be set up as a non-profit trust with each of the 16 clubs getting an equal share after grants to the NSWRL, QRL and CRL.

Who will be on the commission and what role will they play in running the game?

Earlier plans to appoint former Prime Minister John Howard as inaugural chairman have been abandoned. Instead, Australian Rugby League supremo Colin Love will get the job for the first two years.Love's appointment does not have overwhelming support from News Ltd or from the clubs.

However, significant concessions are being made on both sides to get the deal over the line before the start of next year's premiership.

The Sunday Telegraph understands three of Australia's top business leaders - Katie Page, Gary Pemberton and Geoff Dixon - have agreed to sit on the commission.Others, including the likes of banking heavyweight Mark Bouris, will be approached to form an eight-man board.

What does this mean for David Gallop?

Senior officials have told Gallop he will remain as chief executive and will be offered a contract for between three and five years.Instead of reporting to two NRL boards, as he does under the current administration, he will report to the commissioners and be responsible for the day-to-day running of the game.

What are the key areas for the new commission?

A new television deal and the expansion of the game will be top priorities. The current deal with Channel Nine and Fox Sports expires at the end of 2012 and many believe the last contract was undersold. The AFL has already started negotiations with all free-to-air networks and rugby league will be left behind unless talks get underway soon for the next deal.

Channel Seven boss David Leckie has confirmed his network will be challenging Channel Nine for the rights but is waiting for News Ltd's exit before he enters into serious discussions. Two new clubs - possibly from the Central Coast and a second team in Brisbane - will be added to the premiership by 2013. This will provide an extra game and extra television programming.

The rights could be divided among two free-to-air networks and Fox Sports to maximise revenue, like Ten and Seven sharing AFL broadcasts. State of Origin and representative football will be sold separately. The new deal could be worth as much as $1 billion.

How the commission deal was done

Roosters supremo Nick Politis and Gold Coast managing director Michael Searle have been the key players - Searle in a very public way, Politis on the quiet, regularly meeting with News Ltd executives over the past 12 months.

Significant progress was made at a meeting last week between Politis, Searle and New Ltd's chief operating officer Peter Macourt about the major hurdle - the future of the Melbourne Storm. News Ltd wanted a guarantee that the Storm would continue to get funding from the game for three more years until they are established in their new stadium in Melbourne.

"The clubs wouldn't wear that," one insider told us. "Why should the commission be handing out $6 million a year to Melbourne when clubs like Cronulla are struggling to stay afloat? It gives them an unfair advantage over everyone else."

News Ltd wanted Melbourne's future assured because of the value they bring in television negotiations - for which the company will hold first and last rights - by ensuring it is a national competition. Instead of the Storm getting $6 million a year from the commission, News is likely to get a severance payment of around $18 million when it exits the game.

That money will be drip-fed into the Storm over the next three years to make the sale more attractive to prospective investors.

Is the future of all clubs assured or will there be mergers?

Financially struggling clubs like the Cronulla Sharks and the Newcastle Knights will have far greater hope of survival under the commission. At the moment, the NRL has no money in the bank to prop up a club that goes broke. Even if a club decides to relocate to the Central Coast, the original $10 million relocation offer is not available anymore because the cash just isn't there.

The commission will be looking to bank money each year to set up a war chest to fight the AFL in Sydney's west and on the Gold Coast.

"All clubs will be equal shareholders and it will be in all their interests to ensure no one folds," one senior official said. "One less team would mean one less game, which would seriously affect their income from TV rights. The struggling clubs will be far more secure under the new administration."

Will the commission be genuinely independent?

News Ltd will have no representatives on the board. The Australian Rugby league will have only one - Colin Love.

Nick Politis is one of the most powerful and influential figures in the history of the game and has been the key player, along with Searle, in all talks and private dealings to set up the commission.

But he has told those closest to him that once the commission is set up, he feels that, at 67, he is ready for a backseat role and will concentrate solely on his job at the Roosters.

What happens to the ARL, NSWRL, QRL and CRL?

The new independent body will be called the Australian Rugby League Commission, but the competition will still be called the Telstra NRL premiership. The NSWRL and Queensland Rugby League will come under the umbrella of the commission but will still oversee their state competitions and run the State of Origin series.

All revenue will go to the commission, which in turn will provide grants to the respective leagues. The CRL will continue to run bush football, while the independent commission will oversee all international football.

[supersteve]

Huge news,

I was thrilled reading this in the paper today. The end of the Super League era perhaps finally?.

Good to see Channel 7 interested in the TV rights also, could bump the next deal right up.

[sportsmad]

agreed, i thought i was dreaming when i read this , massive news.
$1 billion tv deal! this will have the AFL absolutely seething if the NRL get that money. they dedicate so much time and resources to getting every last penny possible. putting a team in western sydney and gold coast. hell even televising their draft! NRL has one team outside nsw and qld (in aus) and still gets a billion....

[supersteve]

And deservedly so,

RL is the top rating sport in Australia, they deserve top dollar. Lets just hope this time it happens!.

Selling rep games seperateley will help a lot too.

[arh21980]

I to are extremely pleased that this will eventually take place.

Finally we're getting over the hurt that the Super League war caused here's hoping that works out.

Now to offer my opinion on which sides to expand to
- the Central Coast Bears it is getting harder and harder to ignore Flo's bid and hopefully through his years of hard work the Bears will be re admitted in.

- the more I think about it Logan/Ipswich seems a pretty good option as well

but I wouldn't leave the other teams out in the lurch either announce those two teams for 2013 and then 2020 announce another two teams once again having a 20 team competition for those people who say we don't have the players umm we have the U20's and the English are making it harder to get in and won't be getting as many imports any more

[sportsmad]

central coast is near impossible to ignore! theyre so organised. clubs with an actual NRL team could learn a few things.

i think i speak for most of the people on this site when i say i would love to see league become a truly national sport. also, if we continue to keep NZ in the comp that makes two countries requiring new teams. what happens when we do get to that 20 team comp u speak of "arh29980". theres perth , adelaide, wellington , PNG, eventually a second melbourne side.... this makes up more than 20 teams. this is why its not the worst thing in the world if a team like the sharks goes bust (i know i know druzik). if we get to the 20 team comp that is innevetable and still have 9 sydney teams what do we do then? a relegation system , a conference system. the fork in the road may be a decade away but the game will indeed come to a crossroads.

[Druzik]

Nov 30, 2009 13:49:09 GMT 10 sportsmad said:

central coast is near impossible to ignore! theyre so organised. clubs with an actual NRL team could learn a few things.

i think i speak for most of the people on this site when i say i would love to see league become a truly national sport. also, if we continue to keep NZ in the comp that makes two countries requiring new teams. what happens when we do get to that 20 team comp u speak of "arh29980". theres perth , adelaide, wellington , PNG, eventually a second melbourne side.... this makes up more than 20 teams. this is why its not the worst thing in the world if a team like the sharks goes bust (i know i know druzik). if we get to the 20 team comp that is innevetable and still have 9 sydney teams what do we do then? a relegation system , a conference system. the fork in the road may be a decade away but the game will indeed come to a crossroads.

Because sportsmad everytime someone talks about relocation or culling or what ever the sharks are the first in the firing line... when they are one of the most asset rich clubs and one of the richest junior bases in the country! Kill them off and you loose a massive part of the RL demographic. There are other teams that are in just as much if not worse strifr then why not have a shot at them? The Ests/Souths/St George corridor is so congested its better that one of those teams maybe goes no?

IF the sharks die a natural death, that in the ned of the day there is no other tenable way for them to survive then so be it... but if there is anything on the scale of what happened to souths in 98 then it will be a disaster on a larger scale.

Eventually NZ needs to be cut loose and their domestic comp needs to be brought up to speed. Have money pumped into the NZRL and PNBGRL to help fix them is a better solution than chucking everyone into the NRL. If you have three countries then how the hell is it the NRL? its the IntRL! We may as well become a super 14 style competition.

[arh21980]

Dec 1, 2009 8:54:22 GMT 10 Druzik said:

Nov 30, 2009 13:49:09 GMT 10 sportsmad said:

central coast is near impossible to ignore! theyre so organised. clubs with an actual NRL team could learn a few things.

i think i speak for most of the people on this site when i say i would love to see league become a truly national sport. also, if we continue to keep NZ in the comp that makes two countries requiring new teams. what happens when we do get to that 20 team comp u speak of "arh29980". theres perth , adelaide, wellington , PNG, eventually a second melbourne side.... this makes up more than 20 teams. this is why its not the worst thing in the world if a team like the sharks goes bust (i know i know druzik). if we get to the 20 team comp that is innevetable and still have 9 sydney teams what do we do then? a relegation system , a conference system. the fork in the road may be a decade away but the game will indeed come to a crossroads.

Because sportsmad everytime someone talks about relocation or culling or what ever the sharks are the first in the firing line... when they are one of the most asset rich clubs and one of the richest junior bases in the country! Kill them off and you loose a massive part of the RL demographic. There are other teams that are in just as much if not worse strifr then why not have a shot at them? The Ests/Souths/St George corridor is so congested its better that one of those teams maybe goes no?

IF the sharks die a natural death, that in the ned of the day there is no other tenable way for them to survive then so be it... but if there is anything on the scale of what happened to souths in 98 then it will be a disaster on a larger scale.

Eventually NZ needs to be cut loose and their domestic comp needs to be brought up to speed. Have money pumped into the NZRL and PNBGRL to help fix them is a better solution than chucking everyone into the NRL. If you have three countries then how the hell is it the NRL? its the IntRL! We may as well become a super 14 style competition.

Which will never happen why because the Warriors bring in an extra $10 million in tv rights for the NRL.

Could this be a possibility a promotion/relegation system?

[sportsmad]

needless to say, around the world when a competition gets too successful/ large for one sole comp they either become a conference system or have at least two tiers, a relegations system. geographically, competitions that span large areas (USA) usually go with the conference system with smaller countries going with the relegation system (Britain). To go by this theory and automatically put Australia in the larger area conference group would be ignorant to uniqueness the situation we find outrselves in (Australia has a fairly low population yet a large area).

option one- The conference system
the obvious thing would be NSW teams/ out of NSW teams.

group one- NSW/ACT

Canberra raider
central coast bears
newcastle knights
illawarra dragons
st george dragons
cronulla sharks
south sydney rabbitohs
bondi/eastern suburbs roosters
cantebury bankstown bulldogs
Parramatta eels
Penrith Panthers
Wests tigers
Manly sea eagles

group 2

brisbane broncos
melbourne storm
north qld cowboys (or northern cowboys to go with druziks plans)
gold coast titans
PNG Kumuls
adelaide
perth reds
auckland warriors
wellington orcas
(eventual possiblity for a Christchurch team and second melbourne team)

comp would be a 20 round comp with the top 5 from each group entering a 6 week final series.

option two
relegation sytem speaks for itself. discussion would have to centre around wether to bring in newtown, split up the merged clubs etc to add numbers.

this all sounds a bit far fetched i realise. the depth in player number would have to be very very strong for this to happen, so any of these two systems would have to be a fair way down the track. however if every sydney club sticks around we will end up with at least a 26 team comp. current player numbers stand at 200,000 registered rugby league players (not inclusing schools, austag or touch footy) PNG has 150,000 registered players. talent pools such as NZ would obviously be exploited along with possibly south africa. The finances required for all this would require significant investment from the private sector. this all sounds like a dream but worth a thought none-the-less

[arh21980]

I have read that Wyane Bennett is a fan of the conference system. You only have to look at crowds between the Sydney teams when they play against each other you see why it may not be a bad idea

[sportsmad]

it would certainly add more prestige to the out of nsw teams. imagine the crowds when the brisbane broncos come to sydney. theyd be the manchester united of the NRL (obviously not on the grand scale).
i belive the nz warriors have the potential regularly push for sellouts at mt smart (or 40k crowds at eden park) within the next 10 years. there is so much potential around that club.

[sportsmad]

an interesting article in the tele today by phil rothfield

Footy's golden vision for 2020
IT'S the year 2020. David Gallop has quit as NRL boss and now works for News Limited as an in-house lawyer.

His deputy Graham Annesley is the NSW Police Minister in the Liberal Government, having won the seat of Miranda at his second attempt. Michael Searle has chucked in his job on the Gold Coast and is the new NRL CEO. The Bulldogs' Todd Greenberg is Searle's offsider.

The Sharks still haven't won a premiership.

Neither has Brian Smith.

The Bears are back on the road again from the Central Coast in an 18-team competition - but they still haven't made the semis.

Television rights are now worth well over $1 billion, shared by Nine, Seven and Fox Sports. Phil Gould is still saying "no, no, no, no, no" about video refs, News Limited and the game's administration.

Veteran Daniel Mortimer is the Parramatta captain and his agent Steve Gillis is threatening that his $1 million annual salary needs upgrading or he will be playing rugby in Japan next year under Suzuki coach Ricky Stuart.

Jarryd Hayne has created history by becoming the first former NRL star to win the Brownlow Medal from western Sydney. And ... the game has now been run by an independant commission for a decade. OK, so this all might be a pipedream, but here's how I see rugby league in 10 years time.

The competition

The old theory about too many Sydney clubs is no longer an issue. The premiership is built and thriving around the passion and tribalism of fiercely proud fans of Parramatta, St George Illawarra, the Bulldogs, Manly, Souths and the Bondi Roosters.

There are now 18 teams in the premiership after administrators finally woke up to the fact the Central Coast had a lot to offer. They got a start in 2014 and Bluetongue Stadium is packed every second week as the locals rally around the reinvented Bears.

David Fairleigh is the coach. He beat Jason Taylor for the gig because officials were worried about Taylor's karate at the Florida and Iguanas. A second team is playing out of Brisbane and Suncorp Stadium is pulling crowds of 40,000 every week, not just every fortnight as when the Broncos ruled the town.

The commission is now considering expanding to 20 teams with expressions of interest from a second New Zealand side, in Wellington, and Papua New Guinea.

The scheduling

The independent commission has been up and running for a decade and is listening to fans, who had been saying for years in The Daily Telegraph's fan surveys that they wanted more afternoon football and fewer games at night. Only one game is now played on Friday nights. Saturday afernoon football has made a comeback at 3pm.

Other Saturday games kick off at 5.30pm and 7.30pm. There is Sunday afternoon footy in Sydney every weekend, just like the good old pre-Super League days. The Sunday games kick off at 12.30pm and 2.30pm. There's another twilight match kicking off at 4.30pm, leading into Nine news.

And Monday night football is still going strong on Fox Sports.

Player wages

The game lost Craig Wing, Mark Gasnier and $onny Bill to overseas rugby and Karmichael Hunt and Jarryd Hayne to AFL. The Hayne defection finally convinced administrators they were in a fair dinkum war.

So the biggest names in the NRL like Daniel Mortimer are now earning around $1 million a year. The salary cap has doubled to $8 million on the back of the new television deal, more gate takings and bigger sponsorships.

Clubs finally conceded blockbuster games should be played out of Homebush or the SFS so fans aren't locked out. The average league attendance has risen from 15,000 in 2009 to 25,000 because of the bigger grounds.

Rep footy

City-Country is dead and Sydney only gets one State of Origin game. The other Origin matches and Tests are all played out of Melbourne and Brisbane because of lack of interest in the harbour city. Islanders now comprise a majority of NRL players and, as a result, the Kiwis are the dominant Test nation.

Western Sydney

The NRL is now competing with the AFL, an A-League soccer team and a Super 16 rugby union franchise. Soccer has moved from the Homebush Showground to Pratten Park, which is more than capable of accommodating their 4000 average crowds. League is winning the war in the west.

Sydney's second AFL franchise is now coached by Barry Hall with Tony Lockett as media director in their latest publicity stunt. Rugby union? Well, John O'Neill got out after we ran seventh in the 2011 World Cup. The reintroduction of weight divisions in junior league has spawned an explosion in players.

Melbourne Storm

Private ownership has had its issues in the NRL. Russell Crowe and Peter Holmes a Court still don't talk to each other. They have been communicating by email for 12 years.

Scott Penn and Max Delmege are still at loggerheads. The only thing they ever agreed on was the appointment of Graham Lowe as CEO in 2009.

Storm have defied the trend. Brian Waldron has pulled together a consortium of businessmen who bought the club for $1 in 2009. They moved into the liquor and gaming industries to cover the initial annual losses of $6 million a year from the footy club.

Melbourne fans have embraced the new stadium and the club is on target to make a small profit this year, despite paying coach Craig Bellamy $1.5 million a year.

So there you have it. The sky hasn't fallen in. There's no News Limited or ARL involvement, but league is still the greatest game of all.

[sportsmad]

Stadium plans to seal the deal

THEY are the stadium developments that will make Sydney the envy of the sporting world and transform the city into a rugby league lovers' paradise.

Proposals for a radical redesign of ANZ Stadium - complete with transparent roof - and the construction of a brand new, 40,000-seat rugby league ground in the heart of Sydney's southwest could be the pay-off for supporting Australia's bid for the football World Cup.

In what would be soccer's greatest gift to rugby league, The Daily Telegraph can reveal that Campbelltown is favourite to become the fourth NSW venue to host World Cup matches if Australia's bid is successful for 2018 or 2022.

The new stadium would be built on the existing site of Campbelltown Stadium, just off the M5 and would provide a state-of-the-art home ground for the Wests Tigers.
It would seat 40,000 fans and the technology and comfort would be a world away from the conditions available to players and supporters at the current ground.

The Campbelltown proposal would go hand-in-hand with the redevelopment of ANZ Stadium, which is being earmarked as the jewel in the crown for Australia's World Cup bid.

A $150 million upgrade of the Homebush arena would see it transformed into a rectangular venue with retractable seating at each end of the field, bringing fans to within five metres of the action and increasing capacity to 90,000.

But the most spectacular alteration would be the addition of a huge transparent roof over the vast expanse of the arena, protecting fans from the elements but still allowing sunlight to bathe the field and stands.

Would you back a $150m upgrade of ANZ Stadium? Vote in our poll below

While Campbelltown is presently the favoured location for the new stadium, Football Federation Australia and Events NSW are yet to determine exactly where the venue will be.
Blacktown is also being considered as a proposed site, as are Gosford and Wollongong.

The stadium would become the state's fourth World Cup arena venue, along with ANZ Stadium, the SFS and Newcastle's EnergyAustralia Stadium.

The development would provide NSW with four venues for rugby league capable of holding at least 40,000 fans and re-enforce the state's reputation as the true home of the code.

Adding to the delight of NRL fans is the fact that Greater Western Sydney - the new AFL franchise keen to get a foothold in Sydney's league heartland - is unlikely to consider playing at the new stadium because it will be designed as a rectangular arena.

At present, Campbelltown Stadium is run down and the existing grandstand is in desperate need of repair. The dressingrooms and press facilities are simply not up to modern-day standards.

A new stadium would allow the Tigers to play out of Campbelltown for decades to come.

The move also shows FFA is prepared to work with the NRL and that rugby league will not sabotage soccer's bid.

FFA CEO Ben Buckley and NRL chief executive David Gallop are due to meet tomorrow.

One well-placed source said: "You will find the stadium will be built in Campbelltown. There was some talk of Blacktown but Campbelltown is favourite."

Tigers director Ben Elias said footy fans in southwest Sydney have patiently waited for such a world-class development.

"The people of western Sydney deserve it," Elias said. "Right in the middle of Tiger territory - it would be fantastic. Western Sydney is where the people are.

"It would make a great home ground at Campbelltown for the Tigers, too. It will give us a home ground out there for years to come. I'm sure the NRL will be more accommodating to the World Cup bid than the AFL."

Last night, Gallop said he was unaware of any stadium plans for western Sydney. While Penrith chief executive Mick Leary said he hoped the new stadium would be built at nearby Blacktown - a Panthers junior league area - he stressed the club would remain at CUA Stadium.

"We would all love a new stadium but having said that, it is another thing to fill it," Leary said.

"But we wouldn't move from CUA. I would be loath to do that."

The ARU said last night it would consider playing Test matches in western Sydney - although the internationals would be against the world's second-tier nations such as Fiji, Scotland and Italy.

"We are always reviewing our Test matches and venue options," an ARU spokesman said.

"A world-class stadium in Sydney's west would come under consideration.

"Anything is possible."