By Dan Walsh
New Zealand’s most prominent expansion bid will revisit its failed attempt to win an NRL licence in rugby’s traditional south island stronghold following Sunday’s sold-out trans-Tasman double-header.
The South Island Kea – headed by former NRL chief David Moffett and ex-Rugby Australia boss Andy Marinos – was one of three NZ-based expansion bids formally rejected by the governing body late last week.
In total, eight bids – from New Zealand, Queensland, Fiji and Western Australia – have now been dismissed by the NRL, hampering the league’s long-term plans to expand to a 20-team competition and in turn create a shorter NRL season with an expanded international calendar.
Christchurch is home to the all conquering Canterbury Crusaders – winners of 14 of Super Rugby’s 28 championships since their formation and one of the most successful outfits in world sport.
But rugby league’s rapidly growing popularity in New Zealand has also encouraged support for a second side across the Tasman, with Sunday’s Pacific Championships double-header drawing a crowd of 17,000 that sold out Christchurch’s Apollo Projects Stadium two weeks ago.
Along with ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys, who used the trans-Tasman clashes as an expansion fact-finding exercise, Moffett was among the crowd in Christchurch on Sunday to watch the Kangaroos defeat New Zealand 22-10 and said the Kea bid team would begin work on its expansion case in consultation with the NRL before re-submitting its bid.
Shaun Johnson’s comeback to rugby league helped bring the fans out in Christchurch.Credit: Getty Images
“We’ll discuss it with the NRL when the time’s right,” Moffett said. “Today’s not that day – today’s about the international games here with a sold-out stadium.
“But in the coming weeks we’ll sit down with them and find out exactly where we were short and need to improve. We’ve got some pretty good ideas on those shortcomings and how we can overcome those as well. We’re certainly not giving up hope there.
“We’ll start again on Tuesday and review our bid and how to improve that again in coming weeks. There is real excitement around the game here in southern New Zealand and so we need to build on that.”
As well as the Kea consortium, the Southern Orcas and another south island bid, supported by ex-New Zealand and Warriors coach Frank Endacott, will continue to lobby the NRL.
David Moffett, chief of the South Island Kea NRL expansion bid, during his time as NRL CEO in 1999.Credit: Steve Christo
Moffett confirmed merger talks between the franchise hopefuls had broken down. “Right now we’re not talking to anyone in that respect,” he said. “We’re just focusing on our own bid and improving that.”
A surge in popularity of the Auckland-based Warriors since the end of the pandemic delivered a sold-out 2024 home season for the club, the first in rugby league history. Warriors bosses have insisted New Zealand does not have the capacity to support two NRL franchises, though NZRL chief Greg Peters has long argued otherwise while supporting the three south island bids.
A Papua New Guinea bid, bolstered by a pledge of $600 million in backing from the Australian government, remains on track, while negotiations with the WA government to salvage a Perth-based bid continue, with those two long viewed as the best 18th and 19th franchise options to coincide with a new broadcast deal from 2027.
Sunday’s capacity attendance was a far cry from the sub-7,000 crowd the last time the Kiwis played in Christchurch, against Great Britain in 2019. The Warriors’ recent home games in the city have also been sell-outs.
Up the Wahs: rugby league is booming in New Zealand.Credit: Getty
As New Zealand’s third-biggest city, the completion of a world-class, $680 million roofed stadium in Christchurch holding 30,000 fans in early 2026 is key to all three south island NRL bids.
New Zealand’s two-hour time difference with Australia’s eastern seaboard also offers broadcasters more timeslot options, as well added content for the NRL to sell in separate rights negotiations across the ditch.
Investment in a women’s side to eventually feature in the NRLW is also a priority for the South Island Kea bid, mirroring the Warriors’ investment in both women’s rugby league and junior pathways in the traditionally rugby-mad nation.
“I’ve seen incredible growth in New Zealand’s rugby league and also in the NRL,” Moffett said. “Peter V’landys and the organisation have done a tremendous job in building the game and that’s had a huge impact in New Zealand as a whole and especially the south island.
“We put our best foot forward [in the Kea expansion proposal] and didn’t quite get there, but nobody else did either so we’ll go again.
“It’s entirely up to the NRL as to who and when they choose to expand with, so of course we respect that. But I think there’s still very much an opportunity to come back with a refreshed bid and capitalise on rugby league interest that’s gone through the roof.”
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