Whether you love him or loathe him, you have to admire the fact that Peter V’landys is a man with a vision which is supported by the determination to see it become a reality.
His rhetoric around expansion is an indicator of this, with a clear pathway being outlined towards the introduction of new teams while identifying the locations they should be represented.
This type of definitive blueprint may have existed under previous administrations, but the depth of detail released to the public hasn’t been forthcoming until recently.
Since taking over the reins, V’landys and Andrew Abdo have been upfront about their desire to have NRL action in Brisbane every weekend with the competition growing to include a second Brisbane outfit.
Not long after this, V’landys shot down expansion-hopes in the West with Perth told they were not on the expansion radar. With most pundits having the Pirates next in line after Brisbane 2 and a 17-team competition minimising the value of expansion, questions started to arise around who should become the NRL’s 18th team.
With the NRL’s new ‘open-book’ approach, Andrew Abdo has recently suggested NZ2 should join the league as Team 18 with Wellington being eyed off as a likely home. Hot on the heels of this suggestion and a demonstration that NRL power brokers are dead-serious about expansion, the prospect of conferences becoming embedded with an 18-team competition was floated this week.
ARLC chairman Peter V’landys. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
So there’s a lot to unpack in regards to the NRL expansion narrative over the last 18 months. Personally I think we’re ready and I agree that a second presence in Brisbane is the frontrunner. Does that mean another team should be introduced on the back of Brisbane 2 to bring the competition up to 18 teams? Probably.
That said, I think the NRL is missing an opportunity in turning their nose up at Perth, while Wellington hardly presents an ideal choice (strong rugby presence, small population etc.). But that’s an article for another day.
I believe there’s another pathway to 18 teams that’s far more logical and its starring the NRL in the face. All it involves is sitting down with one of the existing bid teams and suggesting a slight change in tact to get them over the line.
I’m looking at you, Redcliffe Dolphins!
What I would suggest is bringing in the Brisbane Jets or Brisbane Firehawks as the city’s legitimate second team.
Both of these teams have suggested their roots lie south of the river with the Firehawks being based out of the Brisbane Tigers (formally Easts Tigers) home in Coorparoo and representing the entire southside including Logan and Redlands.
Meanwhile, the Jets originally sold themselves as the ‘Western Corridor’ bid which was based in Ipswich and extended east to Logan. Following the Bombers merger, you would have to assume the new entity will have a metropolitan Brisbane presence too.
Whether it’s the Jets or the Firehawks, they play out of Suncorp Stadium and would add noise to the already substantial calls for a ‘boutique’ rectangle venue for Brisbane.
A redesigned QEII would be a perfect fit for establishing the new entity as a second Brisbane team with a ‘whole city’ presence but roots dug in on the southside.
The Dolphins on the other hand are based on the far north side of the greater Brisbane area in Redcliffe. Redcliffe is the smallest of the three merged councils that now make up the countries third largest local government area (LGA)- Moreton Bay Region.
Would competition make the Broncos better? (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
The Dolphins are nothing short of a ‘super club’ with $100m reportedly behind them and a 12,000-seat stadium next to an impressive leagues club. While their stadium sets the benchmark in the Intrust Super Cup, it falls well short of the baseline in the NRL realm.
As a second Brisbane team though, their proposal also involves playing most of their home games at Suncorp Stadium alongside the Broncos.
What I would suggest the NRL do is sit down with the Dolphins and encourage them to turn their attention away from the south where their rivals are entrenched and focus on the north which is effectively unrepresented.
Admit the Dolphins as the NRL’s 18th team alongside a ‘proper’ Brisbane 2 in the Jets or Firehawks. While the Broncos and whichever new Brisbane team play in and represent metropolitan Brisbane (and those south and west local government areas), the Dolphins represent Moreton Bay Region up to Noosa, base from the Redcliffe Leagues club and play their games at Sunshine Coast Stadium.
This model is similar to St George Illawarra where the team train in Wollongong but play the majority of their games in Sydney.
Sunshine Coast Stadium current capacity is 15,000, with plans to take the seated capacity to almost 17,000. The long-term vision for the stadium is to take its capacity to 23 and a half thousand which will bring it up to full time NRL standard.
Fortunately for the Dolphins, there’s a state government that’s in the process of finalising a bid for the 2032 Olympic Games that’s effectively theirs to lose. Once this is confirmed, there will be a need for stadium investment and being the first ‘region-based’ Games, a place like the Sunshine Coast is at the head of the queue to become a beneficiary.
As governments are determined to ensure investment is steered towards sustainable projects and not ones that are destined to become white elephants; it checks a lot of boxes to bring a stadium online that will become the full time home of a new NRL team.
In terms of the region the Dolphins will represent, it effectively aligns with their current plan of representing Moreton Bay Region and the Sunshine Coast. It would just concentrate their following to the north to allow another team to compete for the bulk of the greater Brisbane market with the Broncos.
And there’s more than enough to go around with 900,000 people living between Moreton Bay Region, the Sunshine Coast and Noosa Shire which would all become known as Dolphin-country. Meanwhile, there’s over two million people living across the rest of greater Brisbane (minus Moreton Bay) which presents a substantial pie for two Brisbane-based teams.
If the Dolphins get the green light from the NRL, they’re likely to have to confront the name-change conundrum with Redcliffe representing such a small part of their proposed territory. The front-runner seems to be the Moreton Bay Dolphins due to the fact that Redcliffe is now a part of the Moreton Bay Regional council.
This limits the new entities potential somewhat due to the fact that they are closing themselves off to just the half a million people that reside in this LGA. That’s by no-means a critical issue as it still holds a considerable population but if they’re to become a second Brisbane team, they’re really only representing 20 per cent of greater Brisbane.
Unless they opt for the Brisbane Dolphins, I think they will struggle to connect to Brisbane-based fans that are from outside Moreton Bay Region. Similarly, I don’t know if those on the Sunshine Coast will buy-in to the Moreton Bay Dolphins becoming their team either.
If they were to become the North Coast Dolphins however, it would bind Moreton Bay to the entire Sunshine Coast which is a fast-growing area of over 400,000 people with no other competitors in sight. It also paves the way for a legitimate second team to enter the greater Brisbane landscape and take the competition up to 18 teams.
This strategic and very slight realignment of interests will see two strong bids taken and avoids connecting with a team that’s underprepared and nowhere near as advanced in the bidding process. It will also finally provide adequate coverage of one of the country’s largest and fastest growing urban conglomerates in South East Queensland.
With Noosa to the border representing a population that is fast approaching four million people, four teams in the Dolphins, Broncos, Firehawks/Jets and Titans will ensure rugby league is accessible to the millions of people that make up this important heartland for the game.
David D
Guest
Brisbane Bayside Dolphins. Simple!
David D
Guest
Brisbane Bayside Dolphins . Simple!
mach4
Roar Rookie
Top of the table 200 points for, the bottom of table 188 against a difference of over 64 converted tries, how do we fix this before we add more teams?
Mick Holland
Roar Rookie
Western Brisbane Jets play at Ipswich Stadium & Sunshine Coast Dolphins play at Sunshine Stadium & take a few games to Redcliffe. Wellington & Perth next to join then Adelaide & Port Moresby. Canterbury Bulldogs can move to Christchurch & Sharks can move to Fiji as the Suva Shark.
Dwanye
Roar Rookie
The Titans use and say north nsw as part of their area and I know of four family’s that travel to ever second third game. Thats an hour and a half plus away.
Shadow
Roar Rookie
I know champ, I live here, and I lived in Newport in Redcliffe for 4 years a long time ago. I realise that the Redcliffe peninsula has not been drifting slowly north. But it is the only demographic the Dolphins can expand into. So perhaps North Brisbane would be a better name for the Dolphins if that were the case.
Randy
Roar Rookie
Sunshine Coast isn't Moreton Bay though, it's still 45min-1hr away. Expecting Sunshine Coast to jump on board the Dolphins is fanciful.
Adz Sportz
Roar Guru
New Brisbane team. New NZ team. Relocate the Sharks to Perth #WestCoastSharks. All basis covered.
Shadow
Roar Rookie
The naming of the Redcliffe Dolphins stadium from Dolphin oval to Moreton Daily Stadium show that the brand has already aligned themselves with the Moreton Bay Region, an area of 2,042 km² with a population of 479,639. When you add this to the population of the Sunshine Coast (336,482) that combines a total population for the area of 816,121. That seems a solid base begin with. Especially when you compare that with the population of the Gold Coast 710,650 and the 7,196 population of South Brisbane and 178,991 population of west Brisbane (combined population of 186,187).
Hard Yards
Roar Rookie
The Pacific Highway is miles away from the Beaches. I don't give that area much thought. I assume they probably go for the Raiders.
Hard Yards
Roar Rookie
I pretty well am. I have three bottles of Sheaf Stout for breakfast up until about 10am, then I switch to Riesling at 10. Usually have a couple of Four N Twenty Pies for dinner, and I'm onto the reds by then. Sometimes I'll get the woman at a local restaurant to fix either lunch or dinner for me and bring it over if I have a glamour in my sights. Lunches are better, leaves more time to work on em.
Steve Mauchline
Guest
The Warriors although I don't like them normally are one of the most profitable clubs in the NRL prior to COVID. It is generally unreported the amount of money they bring into the game as for being competitive, that is an entirely different story although I put that down to the organisation rather than the area or population eg they have been run constantly like Brisbane is run now. The latest lack of development scheme ditch a reserve team in the NSW cup that was fought for 10 years to get into and have Redcliffe as their Reserve team oh and pull out of Jersey Flegg as well and these decisions were prior to COVID
matth
Roar Guru
In QLD it’s not
Rob9
Roar Guru
“I’d imagine you’d consider a lot of people “ill-informed”- No, just those with the sorts of blaring gaps in knowledge that you’ve demonstrated. And ‘inconsistencies’…. That’s rich from someone who continues to blurt and stumble over them at a comical rate. I don’t classify Redcliffe as a ‘legitimate/proper’ Brisbane team because they’re effectively closing themselves off to one of the 5 major LGA’s that make up Brisbane. Ideally ‘Brisbane 2’ is about attracting a market that targets at least half of the city (which the Firehawks and the Jets now do)- not 20% of it. Beyond the Gabba redevelopment plan, nothing has had anything ‘set-aside’ for it yet. Even the Gabba plan was only recently proposed by the state government and endorsed 3 days ago by the federal government under a 50/50 funding arrangement. “And what proposal for a new boutique stadium was included?”- go to the bottom of the link your shared. It very clearly lists a number of stadiums that are proposed for ‘Football Preliminaries’ which ‘Ipswich Stadium (upgrade 20,000)’ was one. If you’re clutching on to the word ‘upgrade’; an ‘upgrade’ to 20,000 would be quite the ‘upgrade’ considering the current stadium infrastructure in Ipswich. I think it’s fair to considered this proposal a ‘new boutique stadium’. You should try google the most basic of things more often… it might help…. But then again it hasn’t in this instance. The ‘first you’ve heard of it’ is just that- THE FIRST YOU’VE HEARD OF IT. Now you’re back-peddling to suggest that it came with the context that ‘it’s the first you’ve heard of it in league circles’. Even though in your next comment you maintain your inquisitiveness upon learning that it comes primarily from soccer circles before moving on to discredit their claims. Considering that I mention that it would be the Jets or Firehawks that would be ‘adding noise to these calls’ what other Brisbane stakeholders exist in ‘League circles’ would be applicable to? Continue to knit-pick all you like; at a bare minimum there’s a soccer club that wants a new boutique stadium, a merged bid team between two parties that each had/have one as part of their plans and a proposal for one to be built (upgraded) in greater Brisbane for the Olympics. I’m happy to accept different definitions of what we each classify as ‘Brisbane’. I’ve explained my justification for this which is hardly absurd. Furthermore, I can accept that ‘substantial calls’ is subjective language that can be interpreted differently between individuals. But prod this whichever way you like (which you have) the line that you’ve originally challenged (‘add noise to the already substantial calls for a ‘boutique’ rectangle venue for Brisbane’) so clearly checks out.
Andrew01
Roar Rookie
I don't understand why you wouldn't go back to NZ because league fans are already signed up, but you would go to the NSW Central Coast or Brisbane where the game is more established and league fans are more likely to be signed up, and it would do nothing to increase the commercial value or grassroots playing base.. I agree the conference system proposed with only Sydney teams in one conference is flawed beyond belief. If for no other reason it basically guarantees there will always be 9 teams (min) in Sydney. If the game wants to go to 20 teams, they would have to add a Sydney team. If a Sydney team went under, it would have to be replaced by another Sydney team. - Which everyone agrees, we don't need.
Picking Daisies
Roar Rookie
Great article. Can't see a second NZ team ever being financially stable nor competitive - the Warriors have had 25 years and have achieved only one of those objectives. Cowboys, Broncos, Titans, Brisbane Jets (west of Brisbane) and South Queensland Dolphins (Moreton Bay - Fraser Coast) for mine.
Good luck to them while it lasts but not all will survive when they rationalise them to rejoin the national comp. Yes I cant help but see this as a longterm goal. It needs to happen but no one will let it happen naturally. League is popular as a viewing sport in NZ. Its not seen as the UNION v LEAGUE the same as it is in Aus.
Emcie
Roar Guru
Your sheer inability to grasp any form of context or process any thought process other then your own is staggering. I'd imagine you'd consider a lot of people "ill-informed" given how blind you are to your own inconsistancies. Again mate, my original comment was "Has anyone been calling for boutique stadiums in Brisbane?", not "Greater Brisbane", not "a specific definition of Greater Brisbane that includes the city of Ipswich but not the Scenic Rim", Brisbane. Even in your very own article to which I was commenting you don't class Redcliffe as a "legitimate"/"proper" second Brisbane team, yet when I say Brisbane that absolutely has to be interpreted as extending all the way past Rosewood (by your own clasification of Greater Brisbane). You say the listed venues in the bid are just suggestions, yet if you look at the second stadium plan it clearly has the Gabba as an alternative, which has just had $1b set aside for developement. Yeah real early stages that... And what proposal for a new boutique stadium was included? The Ballymore upgrade? That has been in planning for years, was green lit a year ago and is already in developement. Forgive me for assuming that calls for another boutique stadium didn't include preexisting venues and actually meant in addition to. Guess what, with Ballymore and Suncorp pretty much every need for retangular stadiums for the Olympics is filled, I seriously cannot see how anyone could secure another rectangular stadium using the Olympics as justification. Re-read my last comment on the QE II, you're just arguing with yourself now. "Do you not understand that I put QEII forward on the proviso that it is upgraded?", literally my first sentence adresses that. "No kidding QE II would need an upgrade" - ie, in both of our views it would need an upgrade, the contradiction lies in you allowing yourself use of an upgraded facility in favour of your arguement while enforcing the use of the current state of the facility for my side of the arguement. I just googled "the first I've heard of it", first thing that comes up - "In English, the sentence That's the first I've heard of it! expresses surprise at a fact just mentioned by another person". In the context of an NRL forum, in an article focused on NRL expansion and specifically commenting on a single sentence referencing NRL bids and boutique stadiums it should be obvious why I would assume that sentence was refering to widespread demand from the League public in Brisbane for boutique stadiums and why I would be surprised at reading that. That was cleared up in the first four comments. Everything since then, in a trend that I am not interested in further enabling after this comment, you have escalated far beyond the original premise of my comment by taking my words, enforcing your own context and definitions on them and trying to make me defend positions I never held.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
That worked out okay because Melbourne were Brisbane's second team.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
I have no data to back up my view that a second team in NZ would not create more RL fans but NZ is literate in both codes of rugby and it is very small. Perth has over 2 million people and is the fastest growing city in Australia. The media in Perth is probably like Melbourne and Adelaide where Aussie Rules is the only football code worth reporting. They have a small RL competition as a good base but the large population would be potential RL fans because they have been mislead by a biased media. I lived in Adelaide and the only Rugby League story in the papers was a complete lie. They reported that a Manly Wests game was abandoned by the referee because rioting fans invaded the pitch. The potential for RL is in Perth not NZ.