NRL Expansion: Brisbane Firehawks link with Kevin Walters’ junior club Booval Swifts

Ahead of a key ARL Commission board meeting the cashed-up Firehawks have turned up the heat on bid rivals the Jets and Dolphins with their latest move.

New Broncos Chairman Karl Morris poses for a photograph at the new Clive Berghofer Centre at Red Hill, Saturday November 16, 2017. (AAP/Image Sarah Marshall)

The Brisbane Firehawks have fired another shot in the expansion battle with the 17th-team NRL hopefuls joining forces with the famous club that produced Broncos coach Kevin Walters.

News Corp can reveal the Firehawks have struck a deal with Walters’ junior club Booval Swifts in an $8 million alliance that will see the Easts Tigers-backed consortium take on the AFL in a sporting turf war in Brisbane’s western corridor.

The move comes ahead of an ARL Commission board meeting today that will discuss a number of key agenda items, including expansion, with the NRL expected to make a definitive call on whether to add a 17th team within the month.

Broncos chairman Karl Morris has welcomed an explosive new rivalry with a second Brisbane team and the cashed-up Firehawks are turning up the heat on bid rivals the Jets and Dolphins with their Swifts venture.

The Firehawks are building a potentially formidable NRL empire. They have $80 million in assets and $25 million in cash reserves, making them richer than the Broncos, who have $51m in assets and $16m in the bank.

Now the Firehawks are spreading their wings by making inroads into the western corridor via the Swifts, the 102-year-old club that delivered the champion Walters brothers, Kevin, Kerrod and Steve, to the big league.

Former Queensland stars Des and Rod Morris and Canberra premiership forward Gary Coyne also played for the Swifts.

“It’s a great coup for us,” Firehawks bid chief Shane Richardson said.

The Brisbane Firehawks have struck a deal with Booval Swifts.

“The Swifts are the oldest and greatest club in the Ipswich area, it has produced the great Kevin Walters.

“We are upgrading the Swifts leagues club and upgrading their grounds at Purga, we’ll also be putting resources into their coaching and development resources.

“We’ll be investing in the region to expand rugby league and we’ll be taking the AFL head-on in the western corridor of Brisbane.”

Tigers CEO Brian Torpy added: “We are very pleased to be able to partner with the Swifts to assist the game in increasing participation and development opportunities at the Swifts.

“Swifts are a proud foundation club in the Ipswich competition and we look forward to assisting them.”

News Corp understands ARL Commission boss Peter V’landys is closing in on the broadcasting deal that will rubber-stamp expansion, with the NRL clubs seeking an extra $15 million to justify a second Brisbane team for 2023.

The Dolphins are regarded as the raging favourites to win the NRL’s 17th licence, but Richardson says the ARL Commission would be foolish to ignore a Firehawks organisation that is richer than the Broncos, the code’s most profitable team.

“I don’t think the NRL realise our strength. We would be a powerhouse from day one,” Richardson said.

“Financially, we are bigger than the Broncos, that’s a fact.

“The NRL needs a club that is pro-active and can put money into rugby league in the western corridor because they may not have the resources to be able to do it.

“The NRL would be insane to ignore Brisbane’s western-corridor region and go to Redcliffe.

“Let me ask the NRL this — why is their major competitor, the AFL, going into Brisbane’s western corridor (with the Lions’ $70 million facility at Springfield) if it’s not the biggest growth area in Queensland?

“Why would the NRL ignore the equivalent of Penrith and Parramatta in the west of Brisbane by going to Redcliffe, which is the Peninsula equivalent of Manly?

“The AFL are not stupid. They know the west of Brisbane has double the growth area of Redcliffe.

“We have already spent $8 million on our high-performance centre at Langlands Park, so we are dedicated to growing rugby league in Queensland as we are showing with the Swifts.

“The Firehawks wouldn’t just compete with the Broncos, we can be bigger than them.”

Bring it on: Why Broncos welcome expansion rivalry

By Peter Badel and Brent Read

The ARL Commission’s expansion plans have received a massive boost with the NRL’s richest club, the Broncos, backing an explosive new rivalry with a proposed second Brisbane team.

ARL Commission boss Peter V’landys held high-level talks with Broncos CEO Dave Donaghy and chairman Karl Morris on Monday ahead of an ARLC board meeting on Thursday.

V’landys has made a personal pledge to consult the 16 clubs — and after 11 years of expansion heartache, the landmark figure the ARL Commission needs to bankroll a second Brisbane team to rival the Broncos can be revealed.

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Karl Morris is excited about the potential rivalry.

News Corp understands the NRL clubs are seeking at least $15 million annually to back a 17-team competition for 2023, equating to a $75m fiscal injection over the code’s traditional five-year broadcasting cycle.

ARLC delegates are increasingly confident their business case for expansion is stacking up — and the sentiments of the Broncos, arguably the club most impacted by a fourth Queensland club, are compelling.

Broncos chair Morris walked away from a two-hour meeting with V’landys and NRL CEO Andrew Abdo impressed with their considered approach on expansion and he welcomed the prospect of a Brisbane rivalry with the Jets, Firehawks or Dolphins.

“I see great appeal in a second Brisbane team in the south-east Queensland market,” Morris said.

“The issue is: will the NRL competition be better off with a 17th team? Can the NRL afford it and is there enough quality players in the system? Will more kids in Queensland play the game if we have a second Brisbane team?

They are some of the questions to be answered.

“But conceptually, I have no issue with another team in the Brisbane market. It would create a great rivalry with the Broncos.

The Broncos are confident there is room for a fourth team in Queensland.

“We have done some studies internally looking into the effects of expansion in other codes such as the AFL and we are quite confident in our brand.

“We feel our rusted-on Broncos fans will stay with the club.

“It will take quite some time for a second Brisbane team to build their own membership base.

“The Broncos have built a great base over the last 30 years, so we are very comfortable with our position and we would embrace a new rivalry with another Brisbane team.

“Any new Brisbane team will have its challenges because the Broncos have been so dominant for so long.”

ARL Commissioners have discussed delaying expansion until 2024, but V’landys is leaning towards introducing a second Brisbane team in 2023 after digesting the outcome of an NRL internal report.

V’landys still has to convince the existing clubs that expansion is the right way forward, although it is understood the additional $15 million figure will assuage many of their concerns.

ARL Commission boss Peter V’landys has held expansion talks with the Broncos.

At the very least it will mean they come to the table willing to listen to what a second Brisbane franchise has to offer because it would mean the clubs will not be financially impacted by the addition of a 17th team.

The NRL currently provides each of the 16 clubs with an annual $13m grant. There were concerns a 17th team would erode that funding.

However, the biggest impediment appears to have been removed as V‘landys prepares to front the clubs next week with an increase in the broadcasting deal that could exceed $75 million over the first five years of a 17-team competition.

Morris praised the consultative approach of V’landys and Abdo.

“The one thing I am appreciative of is that Peter V’landys and Andrew Abdo gave us an in-depth presentation,” he said.

“They promised to show us the full financials in relation to expansion and a critical component is the broadcast rights.

“We are waiting to hear what the change in revenue numbers are and once the NRL receives that, they will present the figures to the 16 teams.

“If the maths work, we are off and running with expansion.”

Originally published as NRL Expansion: Brisbane Firehawks link with Kevin Walters’ junior club Booval Swifts