The NRL’s grand plan for a 17th team by 2022 is sinking, writes Robert Craddock

The NRL had hoped to push for a 17th team as soon as the 2022 season. But some financially imperilled clubs are now against the move. Should the league’s focus be on expansion or survival?

Where is the NRL’s expansion plan now? Picture: Nikki Short

Rugby league’s grand plan for a 17th NRL team in 2022 is sinking beneath the waves.

The NRL had hoped to push for another team as soon as the 2022 season but financially imperilled Sydney clubs are against the move and have said as much to each other.

There is a chance the competition may never see a 17th team.

By the time the COVID era ends – whenever that is – several Sydney-based teams will be in a parlous financial state and doing well simply to survive.

Given that environment, it would seem improper to welcome a new team, expanding when the bottom line suggests the competition should be contracting.

With 2022 flagged as the possible starting date, franchises from Ipswich, Redcliffe, Brisbane Easts and the Brisbane Bombers have been working industriously behind the scenes to ensure they are ready to push the button if the green light is given.

But the likelihood is there will be no new team.

While the Broncos, despite their on-field woes, are still riding financially high in the saddle, many of their southern rivals are struggling.

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The 17th team has been slated for southeast Queensland but some question the point of it because, while it means a weekly game at Suncorp Stadium as the alternate option to the Broncos, it does not provide the competition with any extra games.

There is also a serious question of whether the spread of talented players is already too thin for the good of the competition.

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All three Queensland teams – the Broncos, Titans and Cowboys – have struggled desperately this season and television ratings in Queensland have fallen accordingly.

Expansion pioneer John Ribot spoke to News Corp last year and said he felt relocation of a Sydney team to Brisbane, or another city such as Adelaide or Perth, was a better idea than starting a new side.

He said it was time for a Sydney club to adopt a Melbourne Storm-style vision and picture where they wanted to be in 20 years time.