Hopes of a second NRL franchise based in New Zealand by 2026 have been dashed by a politically motivated decision to go to Papua New Guinea; the Warriors have fallen into a hole at the wrong time after being tipped to feature in an expanded Las Vegas 2025 season-opener; and the All Blacks remain the No 1 brand in rugby.
Yesterday, Sports Insider revealed how hopes of entering a second team from New Zealand in the NRL were quashed in favour of Papua New Guinea - as US President Joe Biden’s White House tries to block the influence of China in the South Pacific.
The entry of a PNG team in the NRL, expected by 2030, is part of a diplomatic strategy against China between the United States and Australia.
If you think making a sporting expansion on the basis that it helps counter China’s influence in the region is one of the daftest things you’ve heard, join the club.
There don’t appear to be many within the Australian rugby league community who think it’s a good idea either.
There are sceptics around the mooted franchise’s likely competitiveness. Whispers are the team will train and live in Cairns, Queensland, and fly to Port Moresby for home matches only. The PNG locals are unlikely to care and will still turn up in droves.
The squad will also likely be packed with journeymen squeezing out one last big pay-day. Again, the PNG fans probably won’t care.
Pundits across the Tasman, including coaches and former players, are increasingly arguing Christchurch is a better bet. They include former player turned TV star Matty Johns and other ex-Kangaroo test players and commentating identities Laurie Daley and Corey Parker.
But it will fall on deaf ears because the guaranteed funding ensures Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V’Landys won’t have to pay for his next franchise but is still neatly provided with an extra game per week and leverage for his next big media rights negotiation in 2027.
In other words, the economics work at an opportune time and NRL head office wins influence in the highest echelons of the Australian Government (which will actually be funding the new franchise... go figure).
Expansion to 20 teams is on the NRL’s radar but not until 2030 at the earliest, which means Biden’s recent actions indirectly set back any New Zealand bid’s hopes for at least three years.
That’s a blow for the two Christchurch-based campaigns.
I’ve always felt 2030 is a more realistic lead-in for a second Kiwi side saddling up alongside the Warriors anyway. It also allows more time for potential to explore a second Auckland-based team which could have higher commercial appeal.
Controversial Orcas founder Andrew Chalmers joins South Island bid - but is it a good move?
A suspicion that PNG would always be favoured ahead of the South Island for the next expansion round hasn’t stopped the two rival syndicates in the Mainland from keeping busy.
The South Island Kea, headed by former New Zealand Rugby and NRL boss David Moffett, is steadily banging away behind the scenes and last week the first consortium out of the blocks, the “South Island NRL bid”, announced bolstered resources and manpower.
That bid, led by former Canterbury league chair Tony Kidd, announced on social media that Gold Coast-based businessman Michael Searle had joined its team. Former New Zealand Rugby League chair Andrew Chalmers is on the team too.
Sports Insider has confirmed Chalmers represented the bid in at least two meetings and appears to have come on board in a tandem deal with Searle, a former part-owner of the Gold Coast Titans.
Moffett confirmed Chalmers had approached him as representing his rival contender but wouldn’t elaborate on what was discussed.
This is significant as Chalmers was the driving force behind the Wellington-based Orcas franchise bid several years ago which failed to land the 17th NRL licence ultimately taken by Brisbane’s Redcliffe Dolphins, who entered the competition last year.
It seems to formally signify the end of the ill-fated Orcas campaign, which Chalmers drove after exiting ownership of former English Super League club Bradford Bulls.
While under his leadership the team saw some initial success on the field, but his ownership reign was turbulent (as was his leadership period at the NZRL from 2006 to 2008). In 2019, the club changed hands again, with £500,000 ($1 million) debt, without a home stadium and losing key players.
In a statement issued following his departure from the Bulls in 2019, rival club owner, Hull Kingston Rovers’ Neil Hudgell, claimed Chalmers was “rugby league’s No 1 delusional fantasist”.
The forestry company of which he was a key director was also tied up in controversy and legal action in 2015 over a $1.7m class action.
Searle also has a colourful and controversial background.
He was one of the founders of the Gold Coast Titans NRL club and was also its first CEO. He stepped aside from the latter role in 2012 after the club got into financial strife and was also a central figure in a controversial charity scheme, Titans 4 Tomorrow, whose offices ended up being raided by Australian Federal Police.
A three-year investigation followed, ending in a trail of debt and a top-level administrator jailed for fraud.
The NRL ultimately took the Titans’ licence off Searle and his ownership group.
The roles and responsibilities of Chalmers and Searle are not yet publicly known. Both are unlikely to be cash investors. Are they going to have an ongoing role if the bid is successful?
Sports Insider emailed Kidd seeking elaboration on the duo’s involvement.
He replied: “We’ve nothing to say at this stage as we’re tying up a few loose ends. We have some exciting things happening around our naming and branding process in the near future that I’d be happy to talk about in a week or so.”
The sudden appearance of Chalmers and Searle and exactly what their roles would be within the Kidd-driven consortium will divide some within important league communities on both sides of the Tasman. I’m not sure it’s a positive.
Warriors get inside running for Las Vegas 2025 appearance
Speaking of the NRL and its American links, the Warriors were recently tipped as one of the four teams that will be included on next year’s Las Vegas opening-round billing.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that reigning three-time NRL premiers Penrith Panthers and the Warriors are favoured to be among the four teams selected to open the season at Allegiant Stadium after this year’s successful double-header.
The NRL could be favouring the Warriors as part of what looks like a ploy to convince American viewers of the game’s international appeal.
English Super League clubs Wigan and Warrington, both owned by the same billionaire, have contacted the NRL seeking to play each other in an expanded weekend league extravaganza.
That would allow the NRL to promote Australian, New Zealand and English involvement.
The NRL has also confirmed there will almost certainly be a women’s game added to the Vegas round.
But the Warriors’ bid to secure a start ahead of other NRL rivals is not being helped by the form slump they’re currently enduring. Decisions are about to be made and the Warriors falling in a hole will not endear them to the ultimate decision-makers.
