Dave Smith as big a BS merchant as Gallop ever was. So that is expansion pretty much dead in the water. Time for NRL fans in Perth to find a different sport to follow I guess.
The NSW Cup is set to be expanded before the NRL competition,
with no new teams to be added until all 16 clubs are financially viable and independently owned.
While the success of this month's historic all-Queensland grand final between the Cowboys and Broncos has sparked calls for the state to be rewarded with a fourth NRL franchise, the financial problems at the Gold Coast Titans and Newcastle Knights
have put paid to the introduction of any new clubs in the near future.
The NRL has had to take control of the Titans and Knights and
will not consider expanding the competition until they are able to relinquish ownership of those clubs and the other 14 are financially strong.
"I think our clubs are stronger, there is no question about that, and there have been some interventions over the last couple of years to make them even stronger but until you have got 16 sustainable, profitable clubs that are able to re-invest back into their clubs
it seems inconceivable that you would add a club and just add to the burden," NRL chief executive Dave Smith said.
"I think there has been a lot of progress been made there but you have got to get that base strong
before you can contemplate adding any more NRL teams. But that doesn't mean you don't grow the game because you can grow in so many other areas."
The NRL this year took an Origin to Melbourne, staged the Nines in Auckland and revived the annual All-Stars fixture on the Gold Coast, while the inaugural World Club Series was played in England, and Perth, Darwin, Wellington, Napier, Hamilton, Cairns and Bathurst hosted premiership games.
In addition, officials considered playing the opening match of this year's premiership in London and discussed the idea again recently for next season but Fairfax Media understands such an undertaking is unlikely until the new broadcast deal starts in 2018.
NRL head of strategy Shane Richardson has also been working on a Whole of Game Review, which focuses heavily on creating a genuine second tier for the game.
To do so, Richardson is expected to recommend that new franchises will be introduced in an expanded 14-team NSW Cup from regional and rural areas, as well as Fiji and New Zealand.
Albury, Coffs Harbour and Tamworth are among the areas that have been mentioned as possible locations for future NSW Cup franchises, while a Fiji bid team involving Petero Civoniceva is aiming for inclusion in 2017.
"Some of the work 'Richo' is doing in his blueprint around the second tier and around the regions will I think see a significant shift in terms of the broader footprint," Smith said.
"For example, there could be a couple of teams in the bush, where we want to encourage our young men and young women to stay at home for longer, and regional sides from New Zealand or the Pacific Islands.
"Expansion doesn't just have to be whether we have 17 or 18 NRL teams, I think it can be a more rationalised view of the region and how we make the base of our game and the pathways much stronger.
"We are expanding the base of our audience, we are expanding our participation levels, we have introduced new products like Nines and the World Club Series, we've introduced a wider inclusiveness of the game through touch football and tag, we've seen the women's game be much more embraced and the pathways there through our Jillaroos, so I think we are expanding.
"If you look at the mix of people watching our bigger events, increasingly there are more of the softer fans coming in and staying in, and I think the composition of the fan base is much more aligned to the community. That is true expansion."
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