AFL and NRL could be the best of enemies
With the inclusion of Western Sydney into the Australian Football League (AFL) competition in 2012 the National Rugby League (NRL) is circling the wagons and preparing for all out war in its traditional heartland.
With its war chest funded by lucrative television rights the AFL will stop at nothing to ensure the long term survival of the fledgling Sydney club.
Over the next 3 years the NRL and AFL will spend millions of dollars battling for control of the growing western Sydney population when they would be joining forces to pick off the vulnerable Australian Rugby Union (ARU).
The growth of Rugby Union is largely determined by the success of the Wallabies, and there has been precious little joy in recent years.
The Wallabies loss last night’s to Scotland, the 9th ranked side in the world, which in ruby union is equivalent to Brazil being beaten by Western Samoa in football, shows just how vulnerable union is.
Union is stretching its limited player base too far with the expansion of the Super 14’s with a 15th in Victoria. The quality of the completion will be compromised.
Union is ripe for the picking and if the AFL and NRL combine their resources they could land a body blow that would relegate union to the back blocks of Australian sport.
