Former South Queensland Crushers boss believes time is right for a second Brisbane team

Almost 25 years since the South Queensland Crushers played their first game the man behind Brisbane’s second team claims the time is right for another attempt.

The Crushers ran from 1995 to 1997.

• CRASH TACKLE: Expansion favourites must aim up

• YOUR SAY: What should the NRL do

The man who piloted a second Brisbane team into the national competition 24 years ago believes it’s time for rugby league to go back to the future.

Darryl Van de Velde, former chief executive of the South Queensland Crushers who spent three seasons in the ARL competition between 1995-97, believes the push for a second Brisbane team is overdue but says Brisbane’s gain must be Sydney’s pain.

He feels the new Brisbane team should be a relocated Sydney side.

Have your say on the big issues facing rugby league. Click on the link below to take part in our NRL fan survey.

“I am really positive about this idea – I am surprised it has taken so long,’’ Van de Velde said of a Channel 9 proposal for a second Brisbane team to be part of the next television rights deal.

“A second team will definitely work in Brisbane. We have the population. We have the facilities. It is just a matter of someone stumping up the money to put the franchise together.

“It is also about reducing the number of teams in Sydney. It’s about relocation and that is the difficult thing for the commission, who have been there for seven years.

Stream the 2019 NRL Telstra Premiership on KAYO SPORTS. Every game of every round Live & On-Demand on your TV, computer, mobile or tablet. Get your 14 day free trial.

The Crushers ran from 1995 to 1997.

“Having too many teams in Sydney is the elephant in the room but nothing has been done about it.

“People think that Sydney is the heartland of league but the heartland is up here. We don’t service it as well as we could.’’

Sydney clubs Cronulla and Manly are in the gun under the new proposal, though bitter fights are expected if either is asked to relocate.

The Crushers won just 13 of their 65 games but entered the competition at a harrowing time as the Super League war broke out and player talent was split between two competitions for the Crushers’ last season in 1997.

Though Crushers crowds fell away in their last two seasons, they averaged an impressive 21,000 in home games in their inaugural season, including 49,600 against the Broncos at Suncorp Stadium.

The Crushers attracted big crowds in their debut season.

The Crushers featured well known stars such as Mario Fenech, Trevor Gillmeister, Mark Hohn and Dale Shearer, and rugby union international Garrick Morgan, who played just two games after failing to adapt to the code.

“We were getting 15,000 at a game. Brisbane is still a rugby league city as it was then. It will be a battle but it can be done,” Van de Velde said.

“We struggled in first grade but we won the under-20s and we were planning for the future. We had a five-year plan for those young kids to come through.

“It will definitely work. The Broncos had the south side. We had the north side. We looked at their sponsors and went the opposite direction. They went with Power Brewing – we went Fourex Gold. They went Ansett, we went Qantas.

Van de Velde was South Queensland’s CEO.

“There is no doubt in my mind the Crushers could have been successful. Financially it was a burden but with the $13 million clubs get now (per year), it would be easier to put it together. We were not getting anywhere near that sort of funding.”

Van de Velde believes it would be wrong for the competition to expand beyond 16 teams.

“I don’t think there is enough players to add another team or two. It should be 16 teams maximum,” he said.

“The quality of players is still there but you can’t make the talent pool any thinner. You need a tight competition.

“It will take time to sell a Sydney based team to people up here but that is the commission’s decision.’’