The ARL Commission (ARLC) has been urged to identify regions it considers possible new homes for expansion teams in the future.
ARLC chairman John Grant last week delivered expansion groups a body blow saying expansion talk was off the table until the end of 2014.
It means several consortiums across Australia and in PNG would be unlikely to be up and running until 2017.
Brisbane Bombers bid director Craig Davison said on Thursday with bid groups spending large amounts of money on staff and programs, the ARLC should provide some direction as early as possible to the geographic regions under consideration for expansion.
He said without it, a lot of money will be spent unnecessarily in regions that will not benefit.
“The ARL Commission were put in control of the game to best manage the direction and this announcement is part of how they see the best go-forward for the expansion of the game,” Davison said.
“Brisbane is the heartland of rugby league and has been for a number of years.
“It is long overdue for expansion and we will be ready in 2014 to be part of the expansion process.”
Davidson said Brisbane was the biggest market between Sydney and Singapore and, by 2027, would have a population of more than four million.
“Brisbane will be a market that rugby league will dominate through the expansion of a second NRL side,” he said.
“I urge the ARL Commission to provide direction (to bid groups) as early as possible to the geographic regions that would be in consideration for expansion, so money is not spent in areas that will not benefit,” he said.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Interesting points I gleaned out of yesterday's visit to WA by Grant and questions posed by members of the audience:- Q: Why still no expansion? A: When the Commission took over the previous regime had done nothing of any substance about expansion.There was no vision,no strategy,no criteria and basically nothing that you could base a decision. Q. If you are waiting two years to start looking at expansion , does that mean it will be 5 years before we get a team on the pitch.? A. Not necessarily,we could run a bid process alongside the review process.We are looking at possible expansion in the MID term not the long term. Reading between the lines,it appears and it does not surprise me one zot,the previous admin lacked organsiational know how at times.the buck stopped with Gallop,hence the sayonara. Secondly the notion that expansion will not occur in the time span of the current Tv deal,is not a fait accompli ,as Grant has in fact left the door open. Indeed judging by comments Perth is well placed.
Morotti
Roar Rookie
Steve, It didn't surprise me that it was a no on expansion. 14/16 teams make a loss on football operations. The ARLC has been operational for less than a year. The Titans almost went bankrupt and the Sharks were oh so close for god knows how many years. Wouldn't the fact that there was no clear direction on expansion tell the bid teams that the ARLC was not looking at it at this stage? Plus I think we need to expand junior playing numbers etc before we can look at a 17th and 18th team. Particularly in the WA area as they will be the new fans of the game. I do agree that the teams should be Brisbane and WA based teams and I think that is what we will see. Brisbane first followed by WA a few years afterwards. I think the Central Coast is too close to Sydney. Further, they are just around the corner from Newcastle and also Manly so I don't see a team in that region bringing in many new fans. That area is already saturated in my opinion. And I feel that a team there will crowd out the Sydney market for sponsorship etc. With Central Queensland, I feel there are better options that are more sustainable. I would expect that they would be looking for 2 new teams to come in during the next broadcast agreement (from 2018 onwards). You would expect at that stage most of the current clubs to be making football profits surely.
steve b
Roar Guru
You would have to agree with Mr Davidson the ARL commission has really stuck its head in the sand over expansion as i and many others have been banging on about since the deal was done ..Most of the clubs who put their hand up for selection have sponsers a fan base and have spent quite a lot of money already ,the lack of communication between the top and the bottom stinks they at least should have had some discussion with these clubs and let them know if they were a chance or not . It seems we have become gun shy after the super league fiasco , with all these blloody fortune tellers that can see into the future who well tell you it won't work . Well i say thats a load of BS a third team in QLD would slay it , and Perth is a given ,, CC not sure . But the commission need to pull their finger out and give these clubs some answers soon ......