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The gloves have come off in the battle for NRL expansion with the man behind the Central Coast bid casting doubt over the viability of a team out of Perth.
Former North Sydney great Greg Florimo, who has led the push for a team out of Gosford, claims rugby league needed to look after its own backyard before attempting to conquer new frontiers.
The Central Coast Bears were considered early favourites for a new licence when talk of expansion was first mooted a few years back, but they now appear to be losing ground to bids out of Perth and a second team in Brisbane.
The West Australian bid – which offers great potential to the code in terms of television timezones and financial growth – has found a powerful ally in mining multi-millionaire Tony Sage.
Sage along with former Balmain legend Ben Elias met with NRL boss David Gallop earlier this week to discuss their bid, but Florimo questioned the merits of heading to Perth, which has already witnessed the shortlived Western Reds venture.
“I’m yet to be convinced that a team out of Perth will be a viable option … the game needs to consolidate the heartland, the eastern seaboard of Australia is where it’s at,” Florimo said.
“It seems to me the game needs to consolidate that heartland before it looks to expand to the outer reaches of the nation.”
Asked if he had been given any indication as to where the Bears stood in the pecking order or bid consortiums, which also include expressions of interest from Port Moresby, Central Queensland, and Wellington as well as Brisbane and Perth, Florimo said:
“I don’t think there’s any rankings at all, I know that we’ve got a great case.
“Obviously I think we’re No.1. We each bring different strengths to the table and it depends on how the commission is thinking.
“The Central Coast is rugby league heartland and the opportunity to provide a team that will be very well supported as well as re-engaging the north shore is pretty powerful.”
With the new ARL Commission having finally taken over control of the game, expansion has once again become a hot topic.
Florimo said no movement could be made on the expansion front until the new broadcast rights deal was in place, but warned any prospective franchise needed to know within the next “three to six months” if they were to be able to get a team up and running in time for the 2015 season.
“We need to get the best players, most players are now tied up for 2013 `14 and a lot are renegotiating `15 now or in the very near future,” Florimo said.
“If we got the nod in the next 3-6 months we would be competitive in year one.
“If it took any longer than that then a lot fo teh best players would be taken up.”
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