I'm just picking up on the chatter we're hearing - some here (people have their preferences & arguments for them - some very compelling), some of it statements from NRL (admittedly their attitude to expansion options changes often ), some of it what changes appear "in the wind" like the reports of replacing the early Friday evening game with a late Sunday one.
I might be adding 2 + 2 and getting 22, but speculation is the name of the game in this part of the forum!
As for your idea of a SW Brisbane team - quite possible, but I think the NRL may be keener if the ratio was flipped: 8 at Suncorp & 4 in the west.
I honestly thought when creating the thread that Adelaide might be a chance at that 20th spot, but after hearing Perth Red's summation of what's going on there, it sounds like the game is dying in the vine & the NRL is abdicating any duty of care for it.
So umm yeah.. looks like teams 18, 19 and 20 will likely be Perth, NZ 2 or Pacifica, then South/West Brisbane.
Unless the Broncos/Titans/Dolphins strongly persuade the NRL to avoid a 4th SE Qld team, and that spot goes to NZ 3, Central Qld, or *shudders* The Bears as a traveling show in any number of NSW Country locations (as per one of their more hairbrained recent brainfarts).
If Adelaide is dead and buried which I personally hope isn’t the case, I’d be more inclined to go NZ 3.