QRL boss Ben Ikin makes case for fifth Queensland club to launch before Brisbane 2023 Olympics
While a second New Zealand team on the South Island remains the favourite to win the NRL’s 20th licence, Brisbane holds two powerful bargaining chips in the expansion fight.
Queensland Rugby League boss Ben Ikin says Brisbane’s western corridor is readymade for an NRL licence and urged the ARL Commission to make an expansion call by 2030.
As
revealed by this masthead, the NRL is exploring a fifth team in Queensland with ARL Commission boss Peter V’landys revealing he will meet with the QRL to identify the best area for fresh expansion in the Sunshine State.
A second New Zealand team on the South Island remains the favourite to win the NRL’s 20th licence, but Ikin believes an
alliance between the Brisbane Tigers and Ipswich Jets would be a formidable force.
Ikin is presiding over the QRL during a registration boom and says the organisation’s data shows Queensland is capable of sustaining a fifth NRL club alongside the Broncos, Titans, Dolphins and Cowboys.
“Absolutely this state is ready,” Ikin said.
“Participation continues to grow in all levels of the game and broadly the game has never been healthier or more engaging.
Ben Ikin says Queensland is ready for a fifth NRL team.
“If participation continues to grow, if the pathways continue to strengthen the way that they have been over the past five to seven years and we know how Queensland feels about the greatest game of all, it’s daylight in terms of popularity.
“Everything lines up to me to suggest a fifth NRL franchise could work in Queensland.”
Ikin said a Central Queensland bid should not be discounted, while the QRL chief executive believes Brisbane’s western corridor has the resources to ensure an NRL operation is successful.
“Anywhere you go in Queensland, they will probably make an argument they can host an NRL club,” Ikin said.
“The economics of the western corridor of Brisbane are very strong.
“In terms of population growth, it’s one of the fastest growing regions in Australia.
“All the metrics you need to hit to ensure that an NRL team would be sustainable are there for everyone to see.
“But it’s not just the western corridor. I know there is an appetite in Central Queensland to pull together the money they need to have an NRL team playing out of CQ.
“If you look now at the western corridor, I would also suggest the Western Clydesdales have a role to play here.
“Under the traditional affiliation model, you generally have two to three Queensland Cup clubs that feed into one NRL team.
“If the Clydesdales, Jets and Tigers got together and found a way to have those three statewide clubs linked into this NRL team, very quickly it could become a force.”
The NRL is determined to ensure incoming franchises Perth (2027) and Papua New Guinea (2028) are settled before considering further expansion for a 20-team league.
Ikin urged the ARL Commission to make a decision on expansion in 2030, which would give a fifth Queensland team two years to prepare ahead of a launch in line with the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.
First look at Brisbane Arena ahead of the 2032 Olympics.
“You could have a two-year runway leading into the Olympics,” Ikin said.
“That would drive a whole lot of promotion with the eyes of the world on Brisbane with the Olympics and rugby league would have grown again by that stage.
“That would be the responsible way to approach it.”
Ikin dismissed concerns an Ipswich-based NRL club could potentially cannibalise the Broncos, who have a strong membership base in Brisbane’s western corridor.
“There’s no doubting you would get some churning of fan base,” he said.
“There would have been people who were Broncos supporters that might now be Dolphins.
“Remember, too, if you are moving to that (western corridor) region, you are coming from somewhere else and there is every chance there is a new market of fans that a new Queensland NRL team could tap into.”
More Coverage
NRL licence guarantees Ipswich’s $60m Brisbane bid
US heavyweight wants to bankroll Brisbane’s third NRL team
www.zerotackle.com
wwos.nine.com.au
