Former ARL Commission boss John Grant warns NRL of AFL threat amid expansion push to Brisbane’s western corridor
The first ARL Commission chairman, John Grant, has seen it all in rugby league and he has urged NRL bosses to make the right expansion calls in a turf war with the AFL.
Peter Badel
May 5, 2024 - 6:00AM
Former ARL Commission boss John Grant has backed plans for a 20-team league and urged the NRL to consider a fifth Queensland team in Brisbane’s western corridor to combat the AFL threat.
Grant delivered the Queensland Rugby League’s Ross Livermore lecture on Saturday and he used the time-honoured annual address to provide his verdict on the state of the game under ARLC chairman Peter V’landys.
The 74-year-old believes the code is flying under V’landys’ leadership, but isn’t convinced the NRL’s next expansion move should be to Papua New Guinea, warning of the AFL incursion on Australian soil.
Grant, the inaugural ARLC chair in 2012, also lamented the legal stoush between the NRL and its state bodies, the QRL and NSWRL, urging the parties to smoke the peace pipe for the sake of the code.
“It’s terrible. It’s desperately bad,” Grant said of rugby league’s bitter civil war.
“It takes so much energy out of people who need to apply their energy to growing the game.
“It’s just so negative. It’s either power or money and this seems to be a bit of both to me.
“I have strong views on this. Unfortunately it’s very distracting and quite destructive of energy that should be used to growing the game.”
PNG EXPANSION
V’landys has a vision for a 20-team NRL, possibly by the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.
Papua New Guinea is a red-hot favourite to win an 18th NRL licence giving the support of Anthony Albanese’s Federal government, which is prepared to invest more than $600 million in a Pacific team.
Grant, whose regime first got the ball rolling on expansion, likes the idea of adding three more teams, but questioned whether Papua New Guinea could sustain an NRL franchise.
“I think, generally speaking, that the game should be able to support 20 teams,” Grant said.
“The PNG team that competes in the Hostplus Cup is competitive, but my question is, ‘Are there enough players coming through the PNG systems so that they can be self-sustaining in terms of their talent?’
“That’s the question that has to be answered before the NRL even contemplates that region.
“The country, as we know, is mad about rugby league. If you talk to the PNG district leaders about what they need on the ground, geez they need a lot of work and it takes a lot of time and money.
“I realise putting an NRL team in PNG would attract everyone and sets a beacon, but you would have to support it financially for a very long time.
“Government participation in that space is crucial.
“If it’s going to be serious, it has to match the long-term investment that’s required by the game.
“I don’t know the size of the investment but my observation is that by taking an NRL team to PNG, you need a long-term plan and deep pockets to make it work.”
BATTLE FOR THE WEST
The NRL has enjoyed record ratings since the Dolphins were added to the competition as Queensland’s fourth franchise last year.
PNG, Perth and a second New Zealand team have been touted as potential new teams, but Grant says the NRL cannot underestimate the AFL’s growing power in Queensland.
The AFL is gaining momentum in a Sunshine State turf war and is targeting Brisbane’s western corridor, among the fastest growing regions in Australia.
The Brisbane Tigers have launched a $25 million bid to become the code’s 18th team and Grant believes a fifth Queensland club can wipe out the AFL in the battle of the west.
The Grant-David Gallop League Central regime first touted the Ipswich area as a possible expansion zone almost 15 years ago.
“That western corridor of Brisbane is traditional rugby league territory,” said Grant, a passionate Queenslander and former Test centre or winger who wore Maroon in 1972-73.
“That Ipswich-Toowoomba corridor is powerful rugby league heartland with great players coming out of it.
“If you talk about challenges, the AFL continues to be a significant threat to rugby league. The AFL has a lot of money. They don’t have the fractured relationship with their clubs that occurs in rugby league. Their clubs toe the line.
“The AFL is making huge investments in pathways and bringing kids into the game. They are focusing on the western corridor of Brisbane and other parts of Australia.
“We have to take notice of that, because if we want to expand, we need more growth and more players and you need the fans to support it.
“We have to watch the AFL very closely and that region (western corridor) is a point in that conversation.”
