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The ARLC has met for the first time since Peter V’landys replaced Peter Beattie as chairman, discussing the big ticket items such as expansion.
New ARLC chairman Peter V’landys has promised every NRL club in Sydney and Queensland is safe and none will be relocated as the board considers possible expansion.
However, after his first ARLC meeting since replacing Peter Beattie in the role, V’landys said adding another team into Brisbane was “very important” to continue dominating the market.
He said it was too early to say whether the NRL competition would be expanded but a careful study will be made of the game’s footprint ahead of the next broadcast rights deal in 2023.
“There will be no team in Sydney or in Queensland that will be relocated,” he said.
“If we pursue with the expansion it will be a new franchise and I can tell you that every brand in Sydney and Queensland is secure. We are not looking to relocate anyone and we’ll stress that.
“Queensland to us is a very important state and from my perspective, the two big states for rugby league are Queensland and New South Wales. We dominate those markets.
“If you’re looking at it as a business, which we do in some regards as well as a game, if you dominate a market and you want to maintain that market, you don’t give anyone else an opportunity to take that market.”
While adding another team in Queensland is important, V’landys said the ARLC needs to ensure that the game can afford it, and there is enough talent to maintain a close competition.
Over the two-day ARLC meeting in Penrith, the commission discussed expansion at length and will meet again in December when it will be back on the table.
It was one of seven issues in rugby league V’landys has highlighted to tackle, with securing revenue from the next broadcast deal the biggest ticket item.
The other issues he identified for the ARLC to concentrate on are strengthening country rugby league, participation, concussion, venues and making the game “less predictable”.
The Racing NSW boss also admitted the biggest issue facing rugby league at the moment is refereeing, and confirmed he is a “traditionalist” who likes the idea of having one official in the middle, opposed to two.
However, he is currently outnumbered by the ARLC board who are in favour of two referees.
V’landys also confirmed upgrading Manly’s dilapidated Brookvale Oval is a high priority and will be the first suburban stadium the ARLC will focus on using his contacts in government, ideally, “tomorrow”.
“Brookvale Oval needs urgent attention,” he said.
“I will use my relationships with government in looking at the suburban grounds. That’s of high priority for me because I believe tribalism is an important element in our game, and in order to have tribalism you need to give people venues and facilities.
“We need to drive that tribalism with fans and make them more parochial, and make them want to follow a team, but there’s no good doing it with a bad experience at a bad ground with rotten toilets and no food and beverage, the ground’s not safe. All of that needs to be fixed.”
© AAP
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