Cronulla captain Paul Gallen has warned the NRL relocating a Sydney team to Brisbane is doomed to fail.
The NRL is due to deliver a report into the viability of adding a 17th or 18th franchise at the end of the year, with a second Brisbane team in the mix.
NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg has said the competition is seeking greater power to move troubled clubs away from the Sydney market, with the Sharks, Manly and Wests Tigers believed to be in the crosshairs.
Gallen said that, if the NRL wants a second Brisbane team, it must be a locally grown product and not a relocated club.
“Let’s think about the teams in trouble at the moment – Manly, Cronulla are probably the top two and then Wests Tigers – how could you possibly relocate one of them two teams, three teams, to Brisbane and expect the Brisbane people to buy-in and follow them?,” Gallen told Nine’s Sports Sunday.
“Unless it’s from the ground up in Brisbane, it will not work.”
Gallen’s comments echo those of Ipswich-based Western Corridor NRL bid chairman Steve Johnson.
While Western Australia’s rugby league boss John Sackson said Perth would welcome a relocated team, Johnson was unsure how Queensland fans would respond.
“If you relocate another team will the fans buy into it? I think it is doubtful,” Johnson told AAP this week.
“No team is sustainable without fans going to games.”
Gallen said he was more in favour of taking more games to places like Brisbane and Perth to promote rugby league than expansion or relocation.
“Make every team take a home game to a country town… let’s expand the game that way,” the veteran forward said.
© AAP
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