Wayne Bennett puts hand up to lead Brisbane expansion team after Bombers and Ipswich bid teams merge to form the Brisbane Jets

Wayne Bennett will be a “free agent” when his Rabbitohs contract expires this year and a sensational return to Brisbane to steer the NRL’s 17th team is on the cards.

Brisbane Bombers NRL team bid director Nick Livermore is seen posing for a photograph at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Sunday, May 31, 2020. The NRL have announced plans to have admit a second Brisbane based team into the NRL competition in the 2022 season. (AAP Image/Darren England) NO ARCHIVING,

Wayne Bennett says he is a “free agent” and ready to take charge of the NRL’s 17th team as the new Brisbane Jets consortium revealed plans to bring the super coach home to Queensland.

The ARL Commission will announce Queensland’s fourth club in June or July with NRL officials privately working on permutations surrounding a 17-team draw for the 2023 premiership.

As revealed by The Courier-Mail, the expansion race hit overdrive on Wednesday when the rival Bombers and Ipswich’s western corridor bids joined forces to become the Brisbane Jets.

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The battle to become Brisbane’s club team to rival the Broncos is now a race in three between the Jets, Firehawks and Redcliffe – and Bennett will be at the epicentre of the NRL’s imminent expansion from 16 to 17 teams.

Bennett is off contract at South Sydney at season’s end and while the Rabbitohs are keen to keep him on in a consultancy capacity, the 71-year-old admits he is open to coaching on with Brisbane’s second team in 2023.

The prospect of Bennett spearheading a second Brisbane team – against the Broncos club that sensationally sacked him in 2018 – shapes as a spicy narrative for the NRL.

“I’m contracted to Souths for this year and then after that I’m a free agent,” he said.

“I’ve got nowhere to go (in 2022). I haven’t done any deals with anyone. I haven’t agreed to anything.

“There’s a number of strong applicants bidding to become Brisbane’s second team and they will need a coach, so I won’t rule anything out.”

South Sydney coach Wayne Bennett is in the final year of his contract. Picture: Phil Hillyard

After a decade of speculation around a fourth Queensland team, NRL expansion is now real.

The Sunshine State will almost certainly have a second Brisbane side in 2023, meaning a 17th NRL coach will be required.

The obvious targets are Bennett and Craig Bellamy and Brisbane Jets bid representative Nick Livermore confirmed the former Broncos coach is high on their hit list.

“One of the fundamentals of a new team is it must have a winning record in its first season,” he said.

“You look at what the Broncos achieved in their inaugural year in 1988. They came out and belted the defending premiers and made a statement to the rugby league world.

“Wayne has been there and done everything. He has the old-school ability to connect with young men and get the best out of them.

“We will be a cutting-edge sporting franchise. Wayne won’t be around forever so we want a mentorship program for some young names like the Walker boys (former Ipswich coaches Ben and Shane) to come through underneath his system.”

Wayne Bennett, who was sacked as Broncos coach in 2018, could return to Brisbane to take charge of the NRL’s 17th team. Picture: AAP

Bennett urged Redcliffe, the Firehawks and Jets not to become obsessed with being a carbon copy of the Broncos.

“The Crushers tried to be like the Broncos when they came in and they died very quickly,” Bennett said.

“What a second Brisbane team needs is a long-term plan. If they go looking for quick fixes or quick results, they will struggle.

“And the other thing is not to look over their shoulder trying to be better than the Broncos or Titans. They have to forge their own identity and not fall into the stupidity of trying to be like the Broncos.

“My No.1 priority is to get through the season with Souths. I want to finish on a good note here.

“But I know how to build teams and what makes successful clubs work.

“There is no coach in the game who has spent more time in the game at a high level than myself. I have played or coached for the past 57 years.

“I was part of setting up the Brisbane Broncos, so I know what it would take to set up a second Brisbane team.”

Rivals unite as NRL expansion battle explodes

The NRL’s expansion race has taken a dramatic twist with the Brisbane Bombers and Ipswich’s western-corridor sensationally joining forces in a $12 million super bid known as the Brisbane Jets.

The new consortium has reached agreement-in-principle after months of secret talks to form a powerful joint-venture bidding to become the NRL’s 17th outfit — and Brisbane’s second team to rival the Broncos.

As revealed by News Corp last year, ARL Commission boss Peter V’landys targeted expansion for 2023, with the NRL to begin due diligence next month with a view to announcing the code’s 17th team in June or July.

Ipswich bid chief Steve Johnson says the new Brisbane Jets consortium will be hard to beat.

Now the NRL’s expansion battle has exploded, with the Bombers and Ipswich burying a 10-year rivalry to form a merger they believe will blow contenders Redcliffe and Easts Firehawks out of the race for a 17th licence.

The parties are in the advanced stage of formulating constitutional structures but believe the name Brisbane Jets is the brand that can win over the ARL Commission to become Queensland‘s fourth NRL team.

The creation of the new entity is a critical development in the expansion saga, with the battle for the NRL‘s 17th licence now ostensibly a race in three between Redcliffe, the Firehawks and the Brisbane Jets.

Bombers shareholder Nick Livermore confirmed top-secret negotiations with Ipswich bid chief Steve Johnson have led to the birth of the Jets alliance.

“We’ve agreed in principle to joining forces,” Livermore said.

“The Bombers and Ipswich are moving together as one and this is the perfect model for the NRL’s 17th team.

“We’ve been in talks for about six months.

“There’s been a lot to work through but we’ve found common ground and if the ARL Commission makes a call in June or July, we’re ready to go as Brisbane’s second team.

Bombers bid director Nick Livermore said the merger took months of secret negotiations.

“If the ARL Commission looks at all the metrics around growth, participation, sustainability, financial security and creating a genuine derby with the Broncos without cannibalising the current NRL market, it will take a special bid to overtake this.

“There is no other bid that will compete with the Brisbane Jets.”

The Jets will target the likes of Craig Bellamy and Wayne Bennett to be their foundation coach should they clinch an NRL licence for 2023.

Bellamy held talks with Bombers bosses 18 months ago in relation to a possible coaching director’s role.

Former NRL head of football and ex-Titans chief operating officer Brian Canavan is operating in a consultancy capacity, working on the Jets‘ bid document and holding talks with ARL Commission figures.

The Jets will be based in the Ipswich region, which will boast 19,000 registered players by 2026, and will also leverage the Toowoomba catchment which helped produce NRL champion Johnathan Thurston.

The Bombers nickname was widely criticised but Livermore believes the ARL Commission will be impressed with the new Jets branding and bid document.

“There was some feedback that there might be push-back on the Bombers name for an NRL club, so we’ve removed that hurdle,” he said.

Craig Bellamy and Wayne Bennett will be contenders to coach Brisbane’s second team.

“The aviation brand is a great way to entice young people to get involved in rugby league so the Brisbane Jets is an exciting brand.

“I have a lot of respect for Steve Johnson. We have spent 20 years of our professional lives trying to grow the game of rugby league in Brisbane.

“To align our values together makes sense, we are both truly passionate about rugby league dominating and we can do that as the NRL’s 17th team.”

Johnson lauded the strength of the Brisbane Jets.

“Coming together, we are a super bid,” he said.

“The ARL Commission won‘t find a more comprehensive model for a second Brisbane team.

“It’s exciting, it unites the community strength of the Ipswich western-corridor bid with the commercial expertise of what was the Brisbane Bombers bid.

“Peter V’landys has spoken about participation. Our bid will deliver on that and we will grow the NRL playing base more than any other bid.

“The Brisbane Jets theme is easy to market and it resonates with the Ipswich region’s proud involvement with the defence forces.

“It is the perfect branding for the NRL … this bid is the undeniable standout.”

Originally published as Wayne Bennett puts hand up to lead Brisbane expansion team after Bombers and Ipswich bid teams merge to form the Brisbane Jets