been out of the country for a few days - sorry to those who i have ignored here.
Summary.
- the league needs money, it is poor, license fees are useful - and I am not sure about Larry's capacity to look beyond a big money backer who might also assist the league generally with his cash if he can be engaged (read eddy... read Mike ... read.. whatever)
(BTW Skull, I think larry is pretty shallow - Wayne Carroll as your head man for the National program (laughable decision), Shane Heal assisting with the Boomers 9derisive jeers), Brett Brown coaching it from 8,000 miles away (major questions??), the poor handling of the Cairns situation at the end of last season etc etc - and we should all remember he weakened Derwin's strong stance on the commission - conceding the creation of an NBL commission where the balance of power is now held by the clubs)
- Brisbane is needed. One HD is going ok there and they need to feed the market - One HD is not going well in melbourne, I reason that 10 teams is enough in the short to medium term.
- to furher support that, is the issue of talent and quality thereof. I've never believed the talent pool was so poor as I've seen it this year. Someone commented recently about a Sydney game being basically an ABA game. Certainly the imports are an issue in the league generally. And the trickle of athletes going to AFL is becoming a stream, and could become a torrent - the sport must find a way to combat this.
If Brisbane comes in, and that must be the priority, then the next priority should be stabilising the league, building the worrying TV ratings, building crowds where they are declining in key markets (Townsville, Melbourne, and to some degree Adelaide) and rebuilding them where they have become stagnant, such as NZ, Wollongong and Gold Coast.
And, they need to get the underpinning league right before they move forward with expansion. There is too much doubt now about where the seabl sits, where the state league teams will end up etc etc.
Paul, Melbourne is important but I think you are too parochial. The Tigers need to be rebuilt, corporately, culturally, competitive ... and bursting at the seams, otherwise a second successful team will simply overwhelm them in the market and you will be back to one team. It will be (skull) a true test of larry's capacity if he can achieve this.... and my betting is he will not even try.