Good idea, I’d split the conferences based on rivalry , Sydney split, geography to some degree and travel impacts. Played each team in your conference home and away and each team on other conference once, alternating home and away each season. Top 9 playoffs with top 4 from each conference plus 9th placed wildcard.
Arthur Summons Conference
Panthers
Eels
Bulldogs
Wests
Knights
Broncos
Titans
Cowboys
Brisbane2
Norm Provan conference
Dragons
Rabbits
Sharks
Roosters
Sea-Eagles
Raiders
Warriors
Storm
Pirates
Next expansion NZ2 in NP conference and Adelaide in AS conference
Yeah im of the opinion that more conferences would create more rivalries too, i posted a few months ago, the compass idea, to keep travel for fans easier, and distance relatively closer for memberships, verse the teams within your conference Home & Away, but only once outside your conference
The Northern conference stretching from North Qld, to Newcastle
(& brisbane, gold coast, brissy2)
Southern conference stretching from South Sydney to Melbourne (& SGI Dragons,
Canberra, Adelaide)
Eastern Conference stretching from NZ to Sydney roosters (& manly, cronulla, NZ2)
Western Conference stretching from Perth to Wests tigers (& penrith, parra and bulldogs)
Add a heritage/rival round, and a magic round, giving us 25 rounds
Top 2 from each conference makes the finals
Also suggest significant financial grants for teams to forfeit their roster to a brand new team
For example brisbane broncos to get the start up cost to create a new roster, whilst the current roster of milford, boyd, lodge etc, become the new venture in brisbane,
This can be also done with the warriors
Ushering in the 2nd New Zealand side.
However Perth and Adelaide, might have to have a sydney team with depth of talent do this (Penriths roster could play under Perth Pirates, and penrith hones in on their own lower grade, and St George does the same by porting their current roster to Adelaide, for example)
This gives fans of the previous squad to enjoy the new team of say Christchurch Bulls, and follow Roger Tuava Sheck, Blake Green, etc, whilst Warriors get cashed up and recreate their new roster, but still have their fanbase.
Im sure after 5-10 years the rosters would be completely new from a squad 10 years prior, but this gets a head start to these new ventures in new locations,
Im sure when melbourne storm was created by the combined rosters of closed down perth reds and hunter mariners, plus a few other marquee players like Glen Lazerus
It made them successful, this way, only the roster ports over, while the old team gets rewarded and starts fresh with a young squad, not many teams would want to do this, and logistically uprooting a squad of say 20 players plus staff, isn't easy, but a team in Adelaide would need to hit the ground running, not take a decade to form then possibly fail, a ready made roster would solve this, by relocation of players/staff, whilst restarting the current brand.
Or give each club remuneration for any player who wants to join a new venture, but only if the player is from the same conference, so Josh Maguire, Matt Gillett, Ash Taylor, Kayln Ponga, from the Northern Conference clubs can play for the new Brisbane team, and clubs where they came from get paid out, but clubs like Newcastle aren't going to want Kayln jumping ship, not for money,
Im sure Waqa Blake might want to join the Pirates for example
.
