NRL can’t afford to expand beyond 16 teams with talent currently at its disposal, says Travis Meyn
If Bryson Goodwin and Issac Luke are the players clubs are turning to, then where is the game going to find the talent to deliver a new NRL team to Queensland in 2023 and preserve the quality of the competition?
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Forget expansion – the NRL must seriously consider reducing the number of teams in the league to preserve the competition’s integrity.
The depth of talent in the NRL is contracting instead of expanding as the game eyes off plans to introduce a 17th club to Queensland in 2023.
The spotlight must be firmly thrust on underperforming clubs like the Cronulla Sharks, Canterbury Bulldogs and Gold Coast Titans, to name a few.
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If they cannot get their acts in order and become strong clubs on and off the field then they should not have a God-given right to play in the NRL.
The floundering Sharks made two player signings this week in an attempt to climb out of the bottom four of the NRL ladder.
Those players - Bryson Goodwin and Nene Macdonald – were plucked straight out of rugby league’s yellow lid recycling bin.
Goodwin, 34, returns to the club he debuted for in 2007, having also played for Canterbury, South Sydney and Warrington since then.
At 26, Macdonald is at his fifth NRL club following stints at the Roosters, Titans, Dragons and Cowboys, the last of which ended in controversy when he was sacked for abandoning a crashed Mini Moke on Magnetic Island.
If these are the players clubs are turning to, then where is the game going to find the talent to deliver a new NRL team to Queensland in 2023 and preserve the quality of the competition?
The NRL has long prided itself on being one of the most even competitions in world sport.
Over the past decade, most games in a round had the potential to go either way. It was a tipster’s nightmare and an entertainer’s dream.
But there is a widening gulf between the NRL’s top clubs and the paupers.
The likes of the Sydney Roosters and Melbourne Storm are so far ahead of the Bulldogs and Titans it is concerning.
In early March, shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic changed the world, expansion was the hottest topic in the NRL.
It was a fait accompli a 17th team would enter the NRL from 2023 and be based in south-east Queensland.
Action man and ARLC chairman Peter V’landys will make it happen. He gets things done and Brisbane deserves another club to rival the Broncos.
At the height of the expansion debate, Queensland legend Billy Slater questioned whether there was enough talent in rugby league to create a new team.
“I honestly don’t believe there’s enough talent to fill another team,” Slater said.
“I think you’ll deplete the competition.
“If the game wants to go out and expand they need to look at developing players a lot more. I think that’s a real issue in the game.”
Slater’s comments could not have been truer.
Of course, there are enough players to fill a new team. They can be plucked from numerous clubs around the country.
But there is no doubting the quality of the NRL will be affected by adding another 36 roster positions to a competition already scraping the bottom of the barrel for players.
Much like the AFL did with the Gold Coast Suns and GWS Giants, the NRL will have to give the new club special powers to create a competitive squad.
They will need a larger salary cap to snare some quality recruits and a deeper development base to prepare for the future.
The NRL cannot afford to introduce a new club that is towelled up by 50 points every week in its first few seasons.
After a few promising seasons to start, the Suns got it wrong and are now paying the price.
The cancellation of the reserve grade and junior competitions in Queensland and NSW has not helped with the flow of new talent this season and it will also impact the development of young players in seasons to come.
Instead of being able to look to the Intrust Super Cup to bolster their squad, the Broncos have signed journeymen Ben Te’o and Issac Luke, both 33.
Coaches are reluctant to take a gamble on a rising talent when they can recycle a player that was once a star.
That’s the rugby league yellow lid bin and it’s about to get a lot bigger if a new team joins the NRL.
The competition will be poorer for adding another team and further diluting what is already an evaporating pool of player talent.
Brisbane deserves another team but the NRL cannot be bigger than a 16-team competition.
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