News from the Wellington bid:
Representatives from Wellington's fledgling NRL club bid are to push their case to the game's hierarchy next week.
The NRL are still to announce whether they'll expand the 16-team competition but those behind the bid for a second New Zealand side are grateful to be getting a fair hearing.
Shane Richardson, the NRL's head of strategy, will meet with Wellington's Sydney-based frontman Robert Picone, as the bid's momentum continues to build.
Richardson has made favourable noises about expansion, with Wellington's consortium hopeful it could happen as soon as 2018. The NRL's existing television deal expires at the end of 2017, which is the soonest the number of teams could be renegotiated.
Otherwise it would be 2022 before expansion might occur.
"We're continuing to talk with potential sponsors here and in Australia. Nothing's signed at the moment and everyone's waiting to see what the NRL does before they commit, but the conversations are encouraging to say the least," said the bid's representative in Wellington, Jason Hemson.
The struggles of existing clubs haven't helped the cause of those wanting see more teams added. The NRL have assumed control of the Gold Coast Titans in recent weeks, after having to do similar at Newcastle last year.
They were also forced to install three independent directors to the board of the Wests Tigers and then there is Cronulla, who are without a major sponsor and still trying to move on from a supplements scandal and the sacking of star five-eighth Todd Carney for disciplinary reasons.
There's also persistent talk that one of the nine Sydney-based clubs might need to relocate.
"In terms of a second team out of New Zealand, I think that needs to happen. Whether that happens as soon as we want it to, I'm not entirely sure," Hemson said.
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"We could have the best bid in the world but they could decide expansion is not in their mix at the moment."
That's why, after a delay or two, a meeting with Richardson represents encouraging progress.
"It's an introduction and a chance to lay our cards on the table and outline what we're wanting to achieve. Seeing what they're thinking is the big thing for us," Hemson said.
Sources have indicated to Hemson and company the NRL is close to determining whether expansion, relocation or even contraction are the way to go. Only reigning premiers South Sydney and the Brisbane Broncos turned a profit in 2014 and the financial model by which all clubs are run is set to be looked at by the NRL as well.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/league...ost-NRL-bid-in-meeting-with-leagues-top-brass
