Nick Bewley: Newstalk ZB Canterbury Sports Commentator on Christchurch City Council's efforts to get a NRL team

Christchurch City Council’s push for an NRL league team has moved beyond talk. 

The council is working with the governing body on details for a potential 20th club. 

New documents show eight key areas are being worked through, including governance, funding, infrastructure, high-performance facilities and building a fanbase. 

A call on whether to make a formal bid remains undecided. 

Newstalk ZB Canterbury Sports Commentator Nick Bewley told Ryan Bridge there’s encouraging signs for people in the South who want a NRL team, but there’s certainly a lot to do. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Prospective of South Island an NRAL team looking better than ever.
Apparently the christ Church Council is backing Sir Graham Low's
Southern Orcers bid. Council has met with the NRAL and
outlined a commercial plan and there's a razor twist. Nick
Buley News Talks HEB Canterbury Sports commentated with us this morning. Neck,
good morning, good moright. All right, so starting to look promising,
is it?

Speaker 2 (00:19):
Certainly the wheels in motion.

Speaker 3 (00:22):
Look the council we're doing its due diligence and new
documentation that has been reported this morning from newstalks hy
B showing you know, conversations started a couple of years ago.

Speaker 2 (00:32):
They're starting to ramp up.

Speaker 3 (00:33):
And the warriors were in town in christ Church in
June and NRAL officials who hear, Council officials who hear
there's no exact request for proposal around a twentieth license
to enter the NRL just yet, but they're getting all
their ducks in ur and they really need to you
know that the NRL timeline and an ideal world is
that a club would be stood up, the Southern Orcas

(00:54):
or whoever it's going to be here in christ Church
would be stood up by twenty twenty nine, you know,
we're talking half years away, and that there's a lot
to do, including obviously the report yesterday and MS hiring
a coach and finding players and sponsors and getting members
and hiring.

Speaker 2 (01:09):
All sorts of stuff.

Speaker 3 (01:10):
So look, it's encouraging signs for people down here in
the South who you know, want to have an NRL.

Speaker 2 (01:17):
Team here, But it's there's certainly a lot to do.

Speaker 1 (01:21):
The razor thing. Is that a headline grabber or is
that a serious.

Speaker 2 (01:24):
Pitch for me? Anyway? Ryan, it's the headline grabber.

Speaker 3 (01:29):
But look, I've observed Scott Robertson and the Crusaders environments.
He is more these days, well, certainly at that point
in time what you'd call a culture coach. He's not
necessarily the ones doing the hard graft On field. That's
what he gets some experienced assistant coaches in and around
to do. And I suppose that's the pitch from Sir
Graham Low and Andrew Chalmers at the Southern Orcas, you know,

(01:51):
come in, be that that guy that can provide a
winning culture. He certainly did that at the Crusaders. And
then we'll wrap around experience in and around him. Personally,
think it's a little bit bold for someone with zero
rugby league experience given the cut and thrust of NRL,
one of the toughest domestic competitions in Australasian sport. But

(02:13):
it certainly would grab attention as it did yesterday and
the fact we are talking about it right.

Speaker 1 (02:17):
Now, hey very quickly. Is the council looking at putting
rate payer money into this or we don't know yet.

Speaker 2 (02:23):
We don't know yet, and that's the fascinating thing for me. Ryan.

Speaker 3 (02:25):
There'll be I mean, I'm a rugby league not through
and through, but there'll be certain people out there that
are going to tell the council to stick to what
they know in terms of the water and rubbish and
all that sort of stuff is getting into bed with
rugby league really considered a top priority when we're supposed
to be curbing rate rises.

Speaker 2 (02:42):
So that'll be one to watch.

Speaker 1 (02:43):
Yeah. Indeed, Nick Buley News Talks, there'd be Cannibury Sports
Commentated with.

Speaker 2 (02:46):
Us for more from early edition with Ryan Bridge.

Speaker 1 (02:49):
Listen live to News Talks there'd be from five am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.