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Expansion. Expansion. Expansion. It seems to be the topic on the lips of everyone who loves the game of rugby league.
That is, apart from the bosses at NRL HQ.
Every year that passes with a 16-team competition is a year of wasted grassroots football development, a year of wasted interest in the game and a year of wasted growth of the competition.
Just look at what every other major code is trying to do. In the last few years, we have two new AFL teams, two new A-League teams (and another two that are now defunct) and two relatively new Super Rugby teams.
Yet, the NRL seems to be perfectly content with floundering in a select few regions within a highly competitive sport market.
What they need to do is reinvigorate the competition with new teams, in turn creating new youth development centres, new rivalries and just a shake up of what now seems a dull and uninspiring competition.
The way this should be achieved is through strategic expansion in stages as the dangers of expanding too quickly are far too obvious within the A league.
For the expansion to be successful, I believe that no teams should be cut as there is no better way to alienate fans.
As an avid Sharks supporter, I would be left gutted and unable to watch another NRL game if the decision was ever made to axe them from the competition.
I believe expansion is the only way to grow the game and future-proof the competition and that the sooner, the better.
Phase 1
The first stage of expansion would include just two new teams. This would expand the competition to 18 teams meaning that an American-style Conference system could be implemented.
The teams within each division would each play each other twice and then play the other division teams once for a total of 25 games.
This would ensure intense rivals would play each other twice while ensuring an even competition.
Although many bidders for the non-existent expansion spots would be able to create a successful team and business from being given a spot in the NRL, I believe the two obvious choices are Perth and Ipswich.
Perth
Perth is an obvious choice for one of these spots.
This is due to the whole of Australia that is not the east coast being ignored by the NRL but also due to the interest that rugby league generates in WA.
The games that are taken over to Perth over the years have been well attended and have generated a lot of interest but after the final whistle of the one-off match is blown, Western Australia is hung out to dry again.
I believe they could easily average 15,000 supporters a game (a figure capable of making many Sydney teams envious) and in a relatively large market could find major sponsors without the difficulty that Sydney teams experience.
Ipswich
Some people may think that this is a weird choice seeing as there is a well publicised Brisbane bid and I do believe that a second Brisbane team is necessary but not as desperately as an Ipswich team.
Ipswich is the promised land for rugby league.
The people eat, drink and breathe rugby league and it is a pristine sporting market with no teams from any other codes.
This is an area capable of creating a team that would be able to compete with the big boys in a matter of years.
They could, with a bit of luck become just as big as the Brisbane Broncos, which could create the biggest rivalry in league. You just have to look at the A league to see what a cross town rivalry does to crowd numbers.
Melbourne Heart do well to attract crowds breaking four figures to their games but get crowds four times that when they play Melbourne Victory.
The Ipswich versus Brisbane game has the potential to become a classic match-up to rival the Roosters and Rabbitohs.
Obviously Ipswich do not have a perfect stadium but out of all the areas in Australia, Ipswich seem the most likely to be able to muster up some support from the government to fund a new 25000-30,000 seat stadium.
This could also open up the door to the Reds playing at more than one stadium and a possible new entrant to the A-League.
During the construction of this stadium, games could played on alternate weekends to the Broncos at Suncorp Stadium, giving the Brisbane fans more games while also developing a fan-base in Brisbane.
Phase 2
After 5-7 years, the new teams should have settled down and be fully independent and competitive within the NRL.
Again, just two teams should be added for expansion. Two locations that could easily have been chosen in the first phase but were unlucky to miss out are both Brisbane and Central Coast.
Both of these are more consolidating expansions rather than development expansions but there are benefits to be had through this.
Brisbane
Home of the most successful rugby league teams of the last 25 years, the Brisbane market is crying out for more rugby league.
With the inclusion of an Ipswich team, there is more competition, but having a world class stadium for just one rugby league team is wasteful in what is a hotspot for rugby league.
The brisbane bid has not only expertise but financial backers and the team could be independent within months rather than years. it would be foolish not to take this opportunity with both hands and seize the brisbane market for rugby league.
Central Coast
All they want is a rugby league team and what do they get?
A championship-winning A league team. But do the locals seem to care at all?
The average attendances of around 10,000 say that there is still hope for rugby league to sneak back into the market and steal away the fans that are starting to turn to Football (Soccer) because they are ignored by the NRL.
With an old team looking for re-entry into the competition in a traditional rugby league heartland, there is very little risk involved.
The Bears want back in. The people of the central coast want rugby league.
The NRL needs the Central Coast. The only thing that could go wrong is leaving it too late and losing the battle for fans.
Phase 3
Being a competitive and dynamic competition is important and this should be taken into consideration in this stage.
12 or so years would have passed since the original expansion and the competition should be thriving with massive TV deals and sponsorships so this is the time to take risks.
The areas looked into should be Adelaide, Central Queensland, Southern NZ, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Sunshine Coast, Cairns and Tasmania, with the first five locations possibly being added in relatively quick succession to each other (2-3 years).
While it seems farfetched, all are serious options in which to expand.
The exact order and way in which to do this is up for discussion but the strategic placement of these new teams are vital to the NRL becoming the biggest sporting competition in Australia.
The future of the NRL depends on it.
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