NRL 2023: Brisbane Tigers expansion bid boss Shane Richardson considers alliance with Papua New Guinea
Just one month after launching their official bid to join the NRL, the Brisbane Tigers could consider forming an alliance with Papua New Guinea to secure the competition’s 18th license.
NRL
Don't miss out on the headlines from NRL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Former NRL strategy chief Shane Richardson says the Brisbane Tigers could enter the big league “tomorrow” and believes the famous Queensland club could assist Papua New Guinea in the battle for an 18th licence.
ARL Commission boss Peter V’landys confirmed talks with the Australian government were underway for PNG to enter the NRL as early as 2026.
But a PNG-driven Pasifika franchise faces stiff competition from the Tigers, the Hostplus Cup powerhouse who launched their official expansion bid last month with a view to becoming the fifth NRL club in Queensland.
Formerly known as Brisbane Easts, the club has a grand 106-year history and V’landys believes the Tigers, who have $25 million in cash reserves, could potentially form an alliance with PNG.
While Richardson, now the Brisbane Tigers bid consultant, would prefer to operate as a stand-alone 18th club in the NRL, he sees merit in a PNG footprint in the Telstra Premiership.
“The one thing I like about PNG is they are a genuine rugby league country, so the support for a team would go through the roof,” said Richardson, who headed-up the NRL strategic team which investigated expansion in 2015.
“The Brisbane Tigers are making a bid to stand alone, but we have great respect for Papua New Guinea.
“We are genuine rugby league territory and so are they.
“The reality is the Brisbane Tigers can push the button tomorrow and be in the NRL.
“We have the money, the stadium, the leagues club.
“If PNG wants to push forward in the next few years, that’s fine, but they will have to build that infrastructure.
“We would be ready to come in for 2026, but a PNG franchise might take a bit longer, possibly 2028, but we have the capacity to stand alone and be the 18th team in the NRL.
“It’s a decision for the NRL on the next licence and we have an open mind.”
The ARL Commission is keeping an open mind on the headquarters of a proposed 18th team.
Should Papua New Guinea win admission, V’landys said there is a possibility the Pacific nation could have Australian links with the Brisbane Tigers, who boast a $10 million training facility at Langlands Park.
While Richardson praised PNG’s passion for league, he warned the NRL of the perils of expanding to Perth or other Pacific regions such as Samoa and Tonga as part of a Pasifika push.
“There’s no market in Perth and the issue with Tonga and Samoa is all their players live in Australia,” Richardson said.
“Cairns (a rumoured base for a Pasifika club) is not big enough commercially or economically to sustain an NRL team.
“I know from personal experience, having worked at Penrith and Souths, it’s hard to even get players to move from Brisbane to Sydney and vice versa.
“Even with the Warriors, they struggle with bringing Australian players across (to New Zealand).
“If the Brisbane Tigers is an easy expansion option and PNG is a bit harder, a Pasifika bid is really hard.
“They have no infrastructure, they have no centralised area or government funding. Rugby Union is the No.1 sport in Fiji, Samoa and Tonga, so it would be a huge exercise for a Pasifika team to come into the NRL.
“If you are going to have 20 teams in the NRL over a 10-year period, a Pasifika team might be part of your planning, but it would be very difficult to get them operational in the next two or three years.”
Richardson is adamant the Brisbane Tigers could be competitive in the NRL as quickly as 17th franchise the Dolphins.
“The Dolphins had a steeped history at Redcliffe and they had an existing platform to build from with a ground, a stadium, a leagues club to support them and juniors and pathways,” he said.
“That’s why Redcliffe have hit the ground running.
“We have the same thing at the Brisbane Tigers.
“One of the challenges for PNG is the tyranny of distance. It’s going to be difficult, but of all the Pacific nations, they are miles ahead of anyone else in terms of deserving an NRL franchise.
“PNG has a huge passion for the game and let’s face it, they are the only country in the world where rugby league is the No.1 sport.”
OPERATION ‘TURBO CHARGE’: NRL UNVEILS PLANS FOR 18TH TEAM
Australian Rugby League Commission boss Peter V’landys has revealed plans for an expanded NRL competition by 2026 with Papua New Guinea at the “top of the list” to win the code’s coveted 18th licence.
News Corp can reveal rugby league’s multifaceted strategic blueprint for the NRL to tap into a second overseas market in PNG under the code’s Operation ‘Turbo Charge’ expansion drive.
V’landys confirmed the ARLC has begun negotiations with the Australian government for PNG to enter the NRL.
The NRL already has a presence in New Zealand via the Warriors and the rousing success of new 17th franchise the Dolphins this season has given the ARLC confidence to take the Telstra Premiership to the Pacific.
ARLC commissioner Kate Jones was invited by the federal government a fortnight ago to join a trade mission to Papua New Guinea, where the former Queensland state government minister held talks with local league officials.
Now V’landys is ready to step up the NRL’s expansion project, with rugby league-besotted PNG regarded as the jewel in the crown of a mooted 18th Pasifika franchise that would be partly bankrolled by the federal government.
Industry experts suggest an 18th team is worth an extra $375 million in the NRL’s next TV rights deal – and V’landys says another wave of NRL expansion is closer than many believe.
“If time permits, we want to look at another NRL team for 2026,” V’landys told News Corp.
“I think expansion can be earlier than 2027.
“We will look at this issue quickly – we aren’t going to drag it (expansion) out.
“We have been doing some preliminary work behind the scenes on expansion, but we are ready to go into ‘Turbo Charge’ mode.
“The ARL Commission has this new saying when we are investigating something … the project will be turbocharged.
“That means the issue will be a priority for the Commission.
“Expansion is about to be turbo charged, things will happen very quickly and we will be turning our attention to expanding the NRL competition very, very soon.
“We want rugby league be in the heart, souls and minds of people and that extends to PNG.”
Due diligence on expansion could begin within a fortnight, pending the ARLC rubberstamping plans for the NRL to kick off their 2024 premiership season with a double header in Las Vegas next year.
The Brisbane Tigers last month formally announced their $25 million bid to enter the NRL as Queensland’s fifth club and other expansion target markets include Perth, Adelaide and a second team in New Zealand.
But Papua New Guinea, who first expressed interest in joining the NRL 15 years ago, have rocketed into favouritism.
The addition of an NRL team in PNG would be a political coup for Australia, which is ready to deploy “rugby league diplomacy” to combat China’s potential incursion into the Pacific region.
“PNG is on the top of the list at the moment for expansion,” V’landys said.
“We are in commercially-sensitive discussions with the federal government.
“Naturally we want to assist the government in Australia’s national security and we see unlimited potential in a PNG team.
“The federal government is right behind this. We have a very good relationship with the prime minister (Anthony Albanese), the sports minister (Anika Wells) and Pat Conroy (defence minister), so we will start some pretty deep negotiations with them in the next few weeks.
“Papua New Guinea is certainly high on the cards for NRL expansion.”
There has been speculation surrounding the North Sydney Bears joining forces with a Pasifika franchise, but V’landys made it clear any Pacific NRL licence must be spearheaded by PNG.
The ARLC chairman stressed other regions such as Perth and Queensland have not been dismissed, with the NRL open to expanding to a 20-team competition by the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.
“It will all be one bid – we won’t have a team in Papua New Guinea and then a separate Pasifika franchise,” V’landys said.
“We’d love to see it as an overall Pacific strategy where there will be other nations involved in Samoa, Tonga and Fiji, but PNG will be the key part of the bid.
“The harder part is apportioning a possible NRL licence between those nations, but that’s to be done in the due diligence.”
It is understood the federal government is prepared to provide $20-25 million annually to a PNG-led Pasifika franchise.
No specific money was allocated in the May budget for a PNG team bid, but $89.5m was set aside over four years to “deepen Pacific connections by strengthening cultural and people-to-people ties with the region and promote shared values”.
One proposal is for the far north Queensland town of Cairns to be a full-time base for a Pasifika club, but V’landys said any PNG headquarters has not been locked in.
“At this stage, we are keeping an open mind in terms of location,” he said.
“Cairns has been mentioned, but there is not a set destination.
“We have to investigate whether a PNG team could be part of a joint venture with other entities like North Sydney Bears or the Brisbane Tigers.
“Perth is another location.
“If we were to reward someone for passion and determination, you would give it to Perth, because they have been so determined to get a side in the NRL.
An 18-team competition gives the NRL an extra bargaining chip in broadcast talks.
Not only would the NRL be able to sell a ninth weekly game to Fox and Channel 9, but V’landys believes a Pasifika franchise in the NRL can be an educational weapon for Papua New Guinea.
“It’s important for our broadcast negotiations because that would give us a ninth NRL game every week to take to the broadcasters,” he said.
“That’s the one thing the AFL has always had over us.
“They always have that extra game they can leverage to get paid for, we don’t have an extra game, but we will with 18 teams.
“We have a multifaceted plan. This is not just a benefit for the NRL. We can assist people in PNG and the Pacific in many, many ways. Sport is an amazing tool in building communities and building relationships and building hope.
“There’s 17 million people in Papua New Guinea. There’s 25 million in Australia, so when you look at it it’s a very big country and basically their religion is the NRL and rugby league.
“It’s not simply just having an 18th team. We have plans to have an education and sporting syllabus in schools in PNG, Tonga and Samoa, where rugby league will be at the top of the list for their physical exercise and we can also help academically.
“A PNG team would have kids in that nation playing rugby league, participating in sport and having a pathway to success at the elite level of the NRL.”
Asked if Australian NRL stars would be concerned about the potential dangers of living in PNG, V’landys said: “I don’t believe safety is a concern.
“We will make PNG a safer place by having this relationship.
“The locals idolise rugby league players, so the NRL can help PNG thrive as a nation.”
Stranded Cowboys ask NRL for charter flight to avoid finals farce
The North Queensland Cowboys risk missing Friday night’s final against the Sharks after the club failed to secure seats on one of the two direct flights to Sydney.
Why Roosters face easy call in the halves
Sandon Smith is the first to admit he didn’t have his best game last week, but his teammates have backed him to respond against Manly.