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Nrl plans for a 20 team comp

Perth Red

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Nrl needs to avoid this happening in W.A. and if Adelaide ever gets a team

We don’t want to waste hundreds of millions on juniors to end up with zero junior clubs
What its a lesson in is targeting your resources wisely. There'd be no point pouring money into Perth's Western suburbs or freo for example, very much ruggers and AFL territory and wont change. Targeting the ever growing new outer suburbs where your working class and interstate migrants are is the wise move for Perth. As these areas have grown we have seen clubs starting to thrive there like Ellenbrook, Alkimos and Mandurah. Freo have moved to the new development area of Treeby which is 20km from Freo.
 

Perth Red

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2025 Club poll on Expansion issues

What do you believe is the biggest issue facing the game at the moment?​

Broadcast deal: 28%
Expansion: 24%
Growth of AFL: 16%
Player agents: 12%

If Perth is handed the next licence, which region should be the host of the 20th team?

NZ South Island: 60%
Brisbane: 12%
Central Queensland: 8%
NSW Central Coast: 4%
South-east Queensland: 4%
Auckland: 4%
Melbourne: 4%
19 teams is enough: 4%

What do you think of the NRL’s decision to introduce a team in Papua New Guinea from 2028?

It will fail: 28%
It will be a success: 32%
Doesn’t matter, as long as the clubs are financially compensated: 40%

Are you supportive of the decision to provide players/staff with tax-free income in PNG?​

Yes 28% No 72%

Do you agree with the NRL’s decision to reject the Western Bears private consortium in favour of dealing directly with the Western Australian government to start its own team in Perth?

Yes: 84%
No: 16%

Do you agree with the NRL’s prerequisite for the Bears to be linked to the team in Perth?

Yes: 56%
No: 44%

Do you think the NRL should provide clubs with salary cap exemptions for signing players from rugby union?

Yes: 44%
No: 56%
 

flippikat

First Grade
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5,362
2025 Club poll on Expansion issues

If Perth is handed the next licence, which region should be the host of the 20th team?

NZ South Island: 60%
Brisbane: 12%
Central Queensland: 8%
NSW Central Coast: 4%
South-east Queensland: 4%
Auckland: 4%
Melbourne: 4%
19 teams is enough: 4%

What do you think of the NRL’s decision to introduce a team in Papua New Guinea from 2028?

It will fail: 28%
It will be a success: 32%
Doesn’t matter, as long as the clubs are financially compensated: 40%

Do you agree with the NRL’s prerequisite for the Bears to be linked to the team in Perth?

Yes: 56%
No: 44%

These three answers are interesting...

* Great to see NZ is far and away the preference for team 20 - as it should be. Very interesting that Central Queensland is ahead of Central Coast NSW.. and while Brisbane/SEQ rates reasonably well (clear 2nd place if we add those two together), it's pretty clear the opinion is that it's too soon to be going there again.

* The response to PNG is hilarious - just under a third think it'll fail, just under a third think It'll succeed, but just over a third are saying "Just give us money" hahaha...the perfect split between optimistic, pessimistic & greed.

* On face value, the most surprising to me is the North Sydney one - I would've thought that the clubs would go with the "this Bears idea is the ideal brand, it solves so many problems, it should be the Bears in Perth" line that NRL HQ believe ìn..
Could the roughly 50/50 split be mostly Sydney teams voting "Bears should be a pre-requisite" (given some of them may leverage off old Norths rivalries) & non-Sydney teams voting "it doesn't have to be that way"?
 
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Perth Red

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71,071
Team 20 looking very unlikely for some while:

“Step one for us is to make sure that we have our content in order, our season structure, the number of teams and how we want to package that up,” the South African-born administrator explained on rugby league podcast Hello Sport this week. “And then, obviously, we want as many entities as possible bidding for those rights.”
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2...zzles-on-vegas-return-to-show-gamble-worth-it
As the game prepares to go to market this year for the next round of broadcast rights starting in 2028, the problem for Abdo and Australian Rugby League Commission chair Peter V’landys, is they don’t yet know what they can sell. Expansion to PNG in 2028 was confirmed late last year, and a long-mooted-but-not-yet realised WA franchise is the game’s priority, particularly given the lack of other options. On adding a third new franchise, Abdo said “it’s going to be difficult to see us getting to 20,” meaning 19 teams – and nine games per round – will be all the NRL can offer going into 2028.

 

Wb1234

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36,715
“options. On adding a third new franchise, Abdo said “it’s going to be difficult to see us getting to 20,” meaning 19 teams – and nine games per round – will be all the NRL can offer going into 2028.”

You literally bolded it

Going into tv contract negotiations team won’t be selling 20 teams

That means team 20 won’t be announced this year
 

Perth Red

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71,071
“options. On adding a third new franchise, Abdo said “it’s going to be difficult to see us getting to 20,” meaning 19 teams – and nine games per round – will be all the NRL can offer going into 2028.”

You literally bolded it

Going into tv contract negotiations team won’t be selling 20 teams

That means team 20 won’t be announced this year
Surely if they had plans for team 20 in the next tv contract lifespan it would be part of the negotiations?
 

Wb1234

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36,715
Surely if they had plans for team 20 in the next tv contract lifespan it would be part of the negotiations?
By the time Perth gets announced they will be jumping into tv negotiations so there’s no time to work out which nz bid gets in

But the tv negotiations will involve sky nz so obviously it’s going to be discussed as to the timing of their entry
 

Perth Red

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By the time Perth gets announced they will be jumping into tv negotiations so there’s no time to work out which nz bid gets in

But the tv negotiations will involve sky nz so obviously it’s going to be discussed as to the timing of their entry
They dont need to name the club or even the location. If they were confident a 20th club was being admitted in the tv cycle they could just offer that there will be 10 rounds by 2030 say. Sounds to me like they wont be making any decisions on it for a few years to come.
 

Wb1234

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36,715
They dont need to name the club or even the location. If they were confident a 20th club was being admitted in the tv cycle they could just offer that there will be 10 rounds by 2030 say. Sounds to me like they wont be making any decisions on it for a few years to come.
Maybe towards the end of this year but there’s no rush for a 2030 entry

Reality is nobody wants another Brisbane team and the bye is stupid so it’s just a matter of when

Only danger is warriors run last and their crowds and tv ratings fall of a cliff
 

Perth Red

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Maybe towards the end of this year but there’s no rush for a 2030 entry

Reality is nobody wants another Brisbane team and the bye is stupid so it’s just a matter of when

Only danger is warriors run last and their crowds and tv ratings fall of a cliff
Theres no real point deciding on a club now that isnt going to enter for 5+ years unless it was part of the tv negotiations. Taking it out of negotiations suggests they'll push any decision on club 20 back a few years, and probably see how PNG and Perth pans out.
 

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