http://www.theaustralian.com.au/new...-expansion-teams/story-e6frg7t6-1226004683279
Skinny on potential NRL expansion teams
SO, the sport editor calls me this week and tells me he wants a column on expansion.
As I wipe the sleep from my eyes, my instant reaction is he's talking about my waistline. After all, it's been a long and lazy summer. Holidays over the Christmas period will do that to you.
No, you idiot (his use of the Queen's English has been cleaned up for our PG audience), he says, I'm talking about expansion in the NRL. I exhale and undo the top button on my pants. No problem I say. Shouldn't be too difficult given it's been the talk of rugby league.
Barely a day goes by without some sort of expansion story. Everyone, it seems, is queuing up to join the NRL. Bids are coming in from all corners of the country. They're sweeping in from interstate and overseas.
Perth and Papua New Guinea are in the thick of it. Southeast Queensland has two consortiums - one in Ipswich and another in Brisbane. The latter plans to formally launch itself this month. (Our tip is it may call itself the Broncos, after all they've they made no secret of their plans to steal everything else from the six-time premiership winners.)
Central Queensland has a mining magnate backing its plans. They've flown NRL executives around the country in his private jet. Mind you, catching a private jet to Rockhampton is like driving a Ferrari to Penrith - the trip is fun but there's not much to do once you arrive.
There's also a bid from Wellington, although details remain sketchy. So sketchy, no one even knows whether it actually exists - the bid, not the town of course. As for PNG, they've put their bid emblem on the Broncos' shorts. Not quite sure how that helps their cause. Not that the Broncos are complaining.
All this and the NRL still has no idea whether it plans to expand. The suggestion is a decision will be made mid-year. If it comes down in favour of expansion, another bunfight is bound to break out between the bidding parties.
That final decision will rest with the eight wise men who will form the inaugural independent commission. Mind you, the identity of those eight men is almost as big a mystery as the chances of expansion. If the commission is anything to go by, a decision on expansion may not come for another decade.
Quite frankly, it's hard to keep up. The whole thing has rugby league in a flap. If that isn't enough, the game is also being haunted by a betting scandal. Allegations are flying, houses are being raided and players are being arrested. Granted, that bit sounds like your standard off-season in the NRL. Only this time there seems a genuine chance someone is headed to the big house. My instant reaction is to combine the two. So
I phone my good friends at a betting agency and ask them to frame a phantom market on expansion in 2013. No problem they say, that's what we do. Before you know it, they were back to me with the odds.
No surprises with the favourites being Central Coast. The Bears have spent an eternity working on their bid. They're more advanced than anyone else. They've even got a coach in David Fairleigh. But they won't be getting my hard-earned. Can't see the other clubs going for that given Newcastle is only an Andrew Johns punt kick up the highway.
Next up is no expansion at all, which makes more sense. Why expand when the vast majority of your clubs are running at a loss. NRL clubs lose millions every year. Can you imagine their reaction when expansion is brought up. Sure, give the new clubs the money. We don't need it. We love losing money hand over fist.
Of the Queensland sides, the bookies are banking on Brisbane being the chosen one.
The rank outsider is PNG - the only country in the world where rugby league is a national sport - and Wellington, a city where rugby union is king.
Debate is bound to rage for months. The NRL won't be doing anything to hose down the promise of expansion. While consortiums are bidding to enter the competition, it makes rugby league appear in the rudest of health, which brings me back to where I started. I'm off to the gym. The game may be in rude health but yours truly isn't. I need to look after my own expansion.
Not a serious article I agree, but puts bid rankings in order & perspective. Thats why the Bears want another bid team to go hard in the next 4 months - expansion by 2 is more likely than by 1. With SEQ diluting its chances with every new bid, Perth looks a better bet for the 2nd license by the day.
