New Zealand bid team calls for NRL meeting after revealing $20 million bid, ambitious coach search

South Island Kea boss David Moffett wants a meeting with NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo after the consortium’s impressive proposal was recently rejected. Inside the expansion hopeful’s bid.

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South Island Kea boss David Moffett has called for an urgent meeting with NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo after revealing that their consortium included a $20 million licence fee in their expansion proposal and initially targeted Michael Maguire to be their head coach.

The Kea were one of three bids from the South Island – and eight in total – that were recently knocked back by the NRL because they were deemed below expectation by head office.

The NRL hasn’t closed the door on New Zealand but for the time being they are focused on striking a deal with the West Australian government to introduce a team in Perth, potentially in 2027.

Papua New Guinea is already locked in as part of the expansion process after the NRL struck a $600 million partnership with the federal government, with an announcement expected to be imminent.

Ideally, the NRL would introduce Perth and PNG before adding a 20th team on the South Island of New Zealand in the lead-up to the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane.

However, the process appears to have stalled after ARL Commission chair Peter V’landys indicated all the bid teams had work to do. Moffett wants to meet Abdo in an attempt to discover exactly what the ARL Commission want from the bid parties.

“We believe we know what is required of the of the NRL and so we’re working on that,” Moffett said.

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“But what we really need is we need to meet with Andrew Abdo and talk through with Andrew just exactly what they’re looking for.

“To date, we’ve never been given an opportunity to do that. So in order for us to be able to actually put in a meaningful bid that the NRL will find attractive, we need an opportunity to sit down with Andrew and say, look, is this going to fly?

“If it’s not, then we’ll at least know that we’re not going to be able to reach the thresholds that they’re looking for.”

Moffett insists that the Kea bid will have unrivalled finances and facilities – a new stadium with a roof is due to open in Christchurch at the start of 2026.

In a sign of their financial muscle, Moffett confirmed that they had included a licence fee as part of their bid.

“We have the money,” Moffett said.

“We did find $20 million for a licence fee. We are still committed to providing financial certainty by way of institutional and stakeholder support.

“Now, what we’re also doing is we’re looking at various options whereby we can satisfy the NRL’s requirement on club member ownership. “But in order for us to be able to finalise that and give them comfort, we need to know what the target is.

“And at the moment, we’re not quite sure what (that is).”

Crucially, a team on the south island would give the NRL an instant rivalry given the presence of the Warriors in Auckland. The enmity between the south and islands is tangible.

Artist's impression of new Christchurch Stadium. Picture: Instagram

“The rivalry between us and Auckland or between the South Island is legendary in this part of the world,” Moffett said.

“So if we have the Kea here playing the Warriors, if I had a license and I knew that our first game against the Warriors was going to be the opening game of the 2027 season, then I could put those tickets on sale now and I would I get 60,000 people lining up to buy tickets for a 30,000 seat stadium for that game. And that’s ongoing.”