Where should the NRL expand to next?

Perth should have team. As for New Zealand. The Warriors should become the North Island Warriors, and the Christchurch/Canterbury Bulls should be the South Island Bulls. The Warriors can play in Auckland and Wellington The Bulls in Christchurch and Dunedin I feel a second NZ team would make the most sense, it involves NZ more as a lot of the NRL players do come from there, plus is will bring on more NZ fans from NZs south island by having a team to follow. Perth needs to be able to have a team, the time difference will be good for live coverage to. I was wondering about Tasmania as well.... I'll go on the record and say Papua N G isnt ready yet, neither is a pacific island team, I not opposed to them getting a team, I just think they need more time

have to bring in the central bears as it will complete nsw, has to fight off the mariners. Next would definitely be another brisbane side. geographicly sound.

Townsville obviously exists. Rockies next in line and although I don't believe it's ready quite yet, CQ should be by the time the next round of expansion rolls around. Cairns has a population similar to Townsville's and Mackay similar to Rockhampton. All are league heartland's and have growing populations. I wouldn't expect these 4 teams to become a reality within the next 20 years but the it's pretty clear the NRL has an eye on them already. In 20 years time Queensland will have a population in excess of 7 million and Newman has clearly stated a desire to push a lot of this growth beyond the SE corner with job creation and other incentives for people to live in the north and west. It's his goal to have half of QLD in the SE corner and half occupying the rest of the state. Over 3 and a half million people deep within league territory is hard to ignore.

4 teams north of Bundaberg? I can't see that ever happening unless the NRL is happy filling 10,000 seat stadiums rather than 20 and 30k stadiums.

Not the stinking fish eaters!

One day, mate. One day.

With their stinking fish and chips, cricket and class systems. Get back on your boats!

The Broncos have been around since 1987 and have been a success because they were the only Brisbane team and didn't suffer from a diluted market. I would love rugby league to be successful enough, but realistically I would give Melbourne another 30 years before even considering a second team, and even then it should probably been based in Geelong.

With this morning's article on the neglect of the Illawarra/South Coast region by the Dragons 'merger', the Gong is another area that should be seriously considered for it's own full time license.  These are the areas I'd be targeting for short to mid term expansion: Illawarra Steelers- a RL heartland an hour from Sydney of it's size deserves full time representation.  Central Coast Bears- mirrors the situation on the South Coast eg. large, independent of Sydney and RL heartland. Western Pirates- 1.9 million people in Perth, 2.6 in WA with an east coast/kiwi expat community that makes up a significant percentage of the population. They've built the stadium, let's make it happen. Brisbane (Buccaneers)- Football in Brisbane each weekend is a must. Base them South of the river and give them Ippie, Logan and Redlands all the way to Titans territory while the Brocs take in everything north of the river up to and including Moreton Bay shire. It'll be one of the great rivalries in the game! Eventually build a boutique 35,000 seat stadium in a southern hub like Carindale, Mt Gravatt etc.  There we have it, consolidate what we have north and south of Sydney and in Brisbane and take the game to  a new and exciting frontier in the west. A 20 team comp divided up with 5 conferences of 4 teams based on geographic location to ensure a maximum number of derbies which really are the lifeblood of the game. 

In Melbourne's case, its more like a flight and a couple of nights in a hotel plus the write off of a whole weekend. Starts to become hard when its every other weekend with the wife chewing your ear about cleaning out the garage, taking her shopping et al. And I often go to live games

I'll agree with you on that point Marldon

I wouldn't write it off forever but the fact remains that there's not a shred of evidence to suggest that there's a need for a second NRL team in Melbourne now and well into the foreseeable future. I'd put Geelong as a different kettle of fish just as the Gold Coast differs from Brisbane. But still there's nothing juicy about Geelong for now and a good while. Before all of this you'd have a presence of at least 2, probably 3 and possibly up to 4 NRL clubs north of Bundaberg. And let's hope your idea of a second division never sees the light of day. Luckily I don't believe it ever will in any professional sport in Australia. It's obviously not the topic of this particular thread but divisions (of any real substance) is a drain the Australian market can ill-afford and one we're not culturally adjusted for which puts teams outside the top rung at a great disadvantage. 

Good luck to Brothers and their bid (if they make it all the way to the end of the bidding process). Personally I don't think it makes a lot of sense and therefor would be very surprised if Brothers were granted an NRL license.  It's all well and good having these existing micro supporter bases spread across the countryside but when it comes to having tickets to sell in a base location it doesn't mean a lot. Simply putting a team that differentiates itself from the Broncos in a city like Brisbane (2.2million people in a RL heartland) and you'll at least match Brothers existing support once a logos been launched and there's a jersey for sale at Rebel Sports. Six months of marketing and promotion and the fact that Brothers has a pre-existing history will count for diddly-squat.  What's made Queensland clubs the healthiest off the field in the national competition is the fact that they've been built to compete at such a level. Sydney is bound by it's suburban structure that to this day continues to be an issue for the game while holding it back from what it could be. This isn't a scenario the NRL should be looking at replicating north of the border where things have actually been done right from a competitive state based tier to the 3 professional NRL clubs that exist in the Sunshine State. 

I would be careful before writing Melbourne 2 off as some sort of cloud cuckoo idea. The Storm has grown enormously over the last 10 years and now compares favourably on most measures against most clubs. That is despite all their handicaps and with very little NRL support. The tyranny of distance and an apathetic media should not be under estimated as some of its greatest challenges. Against those challenges, a second RL team in say Geelong would have a massive strategic impact right at the heart of the AFL's stronghold. This alone is worthy of consideration by the NRL and if my idea of a second division were adopted, a real possibility sooner rather than later.

Its chicken and egg. There is no talent because there are no opportunities. Create the opportunities and the talent will soon follow.

I could do a better job than many of the muppets in charge of our clubs especially the shonkies (not that I would be seen dead there).

Central Queensland and Perth ...

Perth and Brisbane/ Ipswich. After that Another NZ team, not specifically Wellington. Ideally the Warriors would go back to being called Auckland Warriors and the second NZ team would be called the NZ.. Whatever. Expansion into the Pacific Islands is a long way off, I reckon.

Thanks ......... Brothers are actually present across Qld, NT and NSW, there are now Brothers clubs in Perth and PNG as well so we have in place national relevance. The history of the club is an added bonus but certainly not the foundation of the concept. Brothers believe taking history into the NRL is better than taking none as it will allow for immediate success in fan engagement as that history will provide immediate results. It's great that Mr Smith is talking about the bid concept, they have also received advice from several experienced sporting and commercial executives who do believe that there is viability in what they are trying to achieve and although theyhave plenty of challenges in front of them, they are no more duanting than any proffessional sporting organisation. The added expenses of fielding an NRL team are offset by the increased opportunity and higher levels of grants and corporate support and every team faces this task every day. Thanks for your thoughts.