Cairns shock contender for NRL team in secret expansion plan

The North Sydney Bears are desperate to return to the big league, and a Cairns-based operation could be the key to their NRL comeback.

The NRL has hatched a plan to take over as Australia’s No.1 football code by adding three new teams — including a Pasifika team and reviving the North Sydney Bears.

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Cairns has emerged as a prime location for a fifth Queensland NRL franchise under rugby league’s bold 20-team expansion plan.

News Corp can reveal NRL powerbrokers have discussed the far-north Queensland town as a potential full-time headquarters should the Australian government back plans to bankroll a Pasifika team in the Telstra Premiership.

The proposed introduction of a Pacific-aligned franchise as the NRL’s 18th team would represent a major economic coup for Cairns, 345km north of Townsville and smack bang in the heart of North Queensland Cowboys territory.

Cairns has produced a number of league legends, including Broncos great Justin Hodges, former Queensland Origin enforcer Nate Myles and current NRL stars Jeremiah Nanai (Cowboys) and Dolphins speedster Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow.

Roosters chairman Nick Politis has proposed adding three more franchises to form a 20-team competition and that brings Cairns into the frame as a target destination for an NRL presence, possibly before the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.

Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow is one of several NRL stars born in Cairns. Picture: Getty Images

Australia’s political fight to keep China at bay in the Pacific region opens the door for Cairns to be an NRL hotspot.

The Australian government has discussed tipping in millions of dollars into an NRL Pasifika team, which would be based full-time in Cairns and spread home matches across five regions.

It is understood there is even some consideration of using the foreign aid budget as part of the funding.

Cairns’ Barlow Park, which has a capacity of 16,700, has staged six NRL matches over the past decade and will host Souths’ clash against the Dragons in round 24 this year on Saturday, August 12.

With a concrete base in Cairns, a Pasifika team, under the NRL’s plan, would be able to travel to Pacific nations Tonga, Samoa, Fiji and Papua New Guinea to play official NRL premiership games.

Foundation club North Sydney Bears, which dropped out of the NRL in 1999, are desperate to return to the big league. They are open to a Cairns-based operation that would involve merger talks with a Pasifika consortium.

Barlow Park has hosted several NRL matches. Picture: Brendan Radke

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has already thrown his support behind an NRL team in Papua New Guinea.

“What we’ve said to the NRL is you tell us where we need to go to become the 18th team,” Bears board member Billy Moore said.

“Our fans will go with us. We’ve waited 24 years.

“All we want is to be back into the competition and be the NRL’s solution.

“Whether that is in Perth, Port Moresby or Cairns, but during our discussions what has arisen is the prospect of becoming the Pasifika Bears.

“We will completely fund it.

“We will go wherever the NRL thinks is the best option. We will not cannibalise any other club. We will create extra pathways.

“What shape or format that will take we aren’t too sure yet – we are at the mercy of the NRL.”

North Sydney legend Billy Moore is backing the return of the Bears to the NRL.

Brisbane Jets director Nick Livermore has major concerns about a PNG or Pasifika NRL team.

“Where can a Pacific team be appropriately based? How do you fund it commercially and corporately in Cairns?” he said.

“It would be a very complex process logistically, but the game is driven by money and if a Pasifika team can attract major funds for the game, the NRL might decide to explore that region.”

The Dolphins entered the top flight this season as Queensland’s fourth NRL club and V’landys hasn’t ruled out more expansion in the Sunshine State.

“I can’t say for certain if Queensland will get another team but you never say never,” he said.

“We would have to do the research and get fact-based data, but we will absolutely look at a PNG or Pacific bid.

“I don’t know what the optimum level of teams is for the code. But if we continue to invest in our pathways and junior development and participation, I believe we will keep producing more players to sustain 18 or 20 teams.”