The frontrunner for NRL expansion has revealed its blueprint. Two Maroon stars are front and centre
- February 24, 2021 9:27am
- GEORGE CLARKE
The man leading the bid for the Brisbane Jets to enter the NRL in 2023 has revealed his blueprint for how – if successful – his side would look.
A decision on the three existing bids is expected later this year with the 17th NRL team expected to be good to go for Round 1 2023. The two other options are the Redcliffe Dolphins and the Brisbane Firehawks.
Nick Livermore is the bid lead for the Jets franchise after his previous venture – the Brisbane Bombers – and the Western Corridor side amalgamated earlier this month.
Here he takes
foxsports.com.au through how the Jets want to establish themselves and their blueprint to take the NRL by storm.
THE TALENT
Livermore has made no bones about it. He wants to sign the very best Queenslanders.
Storm duo Harry Grant and Cameron Munster were part of the Maroon’s against-odds Origin victory and are on high on the Jets’ shopping list.
Taking inspiration from how the Broncos and Titans entered the competition, Livermore says the Jets would go shopping for top-shelf talent. .
“As a young guy when the Broncos came in there was Wally Lewis, Gene Miles and Allan Langer competing against the best guys from Sydney,” he told
foxsports.com.au.
“I think we can emulate that with a Cameron Munster or Harry Grant. Ultimately more rugby league heroes in Brisbane will attract fans.
“That’s what the success of the Broncos has been built on with (Darren) Lockyer, (Steve) Renouf, (Kevin) Walters, (Glen) Lazarus.
“People wanted to see icons play week in week out and we want to do the same.
“When the Titans came in 2005 they signed Scott Prince at halfback, Preston Campbell at fullback and Luke Bailey in the engine room. They spent a lot of money on marquee players. “Then they got guys like Anthony Laffranchi, Mat Rogers, Mark Minichiello and Ash Harrison. They had their work station and by year four they were a game from the grand final, people seem to forget that about the Titans.
“Absolutely I’d love a Josh Papalii, but he’s very happy in Canberra. Junior Paulo is one of the nicest blokes I’ve ever met.”
Grant comes off contract in 2022, with a mutual option in place between him and the Storm.
Munster, however, is not a free agent until the 2024 season – one year after the successful franchise would enter the NRL.
Livermore, however, does not expect dispensation to be able to land superstar signings.
“I think it would help,” he says. “But to expect that in the competitive environment with the other 16 clubs I’m not holding my breath. You will attract the players anyway with the right coach so you don’t need any dispensations like that. I wouldn’t say no, but I couldn’t see that coming into effect.”
THE COACH
Speaking of the coach and the Jets have been ambitious. Like the on-field talent, they want the best of the best.
Craig Bellamy and Wayne Bennett are the two top targets.
“I come back to culture, you need men who act with integrity and treat people with respect,” Livermore said.
“You want great players but if you can get great people around them, then that culture will continually perform.
“Look at the Storm with how few off-field discretions they have had over the last 20 years compared to other clubs – the culture is strong with guys like Craig Bellamy and (football manager) Frank Ponissi. They don’t put up with garbage. It’s about having someone who can lead a good culture.”
THE MERGER
Before they’ve even started the Jets are already a merger. How rugby league.
The link with the Ipswich club and the city-based Bombers, Livermore argues gives the best of both worlds.
“We looked at the link with Toowoomba and South Logan and between those two places we had Ipswich,” Livermore explains.
“So we said: ‘what’s going to be the best for the game?’ We started the conversation about 18 months ago and we’re still working through some nuances. But ultimately we’re keen to represent the entire south east corner of Queensland together. In terms of the fanbase, there’s more than enough to go around.
“Home would be somewhere in between the two places. You need to be accessible to the media. That’s what the Broncos have done great because they’re at Red Hill. You need radio, TV and print to be easy to get there. Springfield is about as far out of the city I’d like to go. There are a number of factors at play.
“We need a city presence because this is the biggest market between Sydney and Singapore. We want to capture the entire Logan area, moving west to Ipswich and Toowoomba and through the Lockyer Valley which is a really untapped area.
“The Dolphins have just done a partnership with the Warriors, the Storm are linked with the Sunshine Coast Falcons and the Broncos have their clubs, so it’s about maximising the footprint. We’ve identified that is one of the fastest growing regions in the country.”
THE DOLLARS
Livermore says the club won’t be relying on money from licensed clubs to underwrite the football side of the business.
Nor will it be supported by one sole benefactor. The Jets don’t have a Nathan Tinkler, Clive Palmer or Tony Sage, for example.
“We don’t want to rely on people gambling to back up our clubs. I think it can be quite a depressing form of entertainment,” he adds.
“I think we want to move beyond that. It’s quite a narrow view. You’ve got to structure yourself around your digital and commercial partnerships along with private equity.
“It’s also with things like government and television partnerships, corporate hospitality, merchandising, membership, you suddenly have seven or eight silos running to generate revenue. For us it’s about private equity. There’s two investors who are seven-figure investors who I won’t name, but we don’t want one person who underwrites the whole bid. We have commercial guarantees in place over the next five years.”
https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nr...t/news-story/11cd94a9e714ac4e0ad714dbfc10303c
