It seems like a huge challenge but Jason Hemson firmly believes Wellington will get an NRL team.
The Wellington Rugby League boss is working on a private bid but is aiming for the backing of both the Wellington and New Zealand bodies.
The first official bid was made in the early 1990s by Ken Laban and John Morrison, who backed the Dolphins.
That bid failed, but earlier this decade the then city council chief executive, Rik Hart, worked on a Wellington-based bid that would have seen a team based at Hutt Park.
That ultimately was unsuccessful, but Mr Hemson says that for league in New Zealand to succeed long term, a second Kiwi team is needed.
The Hutt Valley has a huge pool of untapped talent, he says, and a Wellington-based team will enable them to stay here.
Many of them are Maori and Polynesian and experience has found that when 17 and 18- year-olds go to Australia, and away from their parents, they often struggle.
His vision, however, is much wider than just a Wellington team. The Hurricanes provide a model that should work for league, he says.
Both Manawatu and Taranaki have significant league communities and his approach is regional.
So far he has had tentative discussions with Wellington City and the Westpac Stadium.
The stadium has told him that with its existing commitments, it cannot host a full season of NRL.
That fits in perfectly with his plan, as he hopes the team would also play a couple of games in the South Island, as well as places like Palmerston North, Napier and New Plymouth.
His aim to is to launch the bid early next year and to get the team into the NRL for the 2013 season. He concedes that is a big challenge and says there are numerous hurdles to overcome.
The NRL has not given a commitment to expansion and there are also potentially numerous Australian bids.
The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) would also have to endorse any locally based team.
The NZRL are currently drawing up a strategic plan for the code and he is pushing to get it included in the plan.
There is also the problem of money. An NRL team requires an annual budget of $14 million. Whilst some of that comes from an annual grant from the NRL and television rights, a team still needs something in the vicinity of $10m.
The regional approach should make it easier to find sponsorship, he says.
Another factor encouraging him is the success of the Titans. The Gold Coast-based team is amongst the front-runners this season in the NRL, after joining the competition in 2007.
When the Titans first put in a bid, it was rejected by the NRL with no reason given. The backers of the bid refused to accept no and demanded to be given a reason. After extensive negotiations, the club was eventually granted a licence and has subsequently flourished.
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Mr Hemson says the lesson to be learned is to not give up and that it may take years to get everything right and gain a spot.
Ultimately he believes the NRL will want a second New Zealand team and to be prepared to work towards achieving that, he says.
At this point, he has not spoken to the Hutt City Council, but plans to do so.
The proposal for a sports hub at Fraser Park will create opportunities for league. It could be a perfect training ground for an NRL team and potentially is the right site for a 12,000 seat stadium, which would provide an alternative to Westpac Stadium.
As the Wellington rugby league boss, he is also aware that for the bid to succeed, the sport has to grow locally.
When the Dolphins put in their bid, there were 170 teams in Wellington. The number is now significantly lower and one of his priorities is to grow the game. This week he will be attending the national secondary school's competition in Wainuiomata and if he gets his way, some of the boys may one day play for a Wellington NRL team.
