SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 22: Allianz Stadium in Sydney ahead of the final sporting fixture to be held prior to demolition on September 22, 2018 in Sydney, Australia. Allianz Stadium, formally known as the Sydney Football Stadium is a rectangular sports field built in 1988 next to the Sydney Cricket Ground. It is used for field sports including rugby league, rugby union and football and hosts stadium concerts. The New South Wales government will rebuild the venue into a 40,000 to 45,000 seat state of the art facility to commence late 2018 due for completion in 2022. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Fox Sports' Paul Kent has declared that the only way an expansion of the NRL would work is through the relocation of one of the Sydney teams.
Extending the league interstate has been at the centre of discussion ahead of the new season, with Brisbane and Perth thrown up as possible locations for a new club.
However, Kent believes it would require one of the Sydney clubs to shift due to the crowded market.
“We all concede nine teams in Sydney is too many because the market is saturated with sporting teams with other codes as well,” Kent told NRL 360.
“The way the NRL have got to do it is raise the bar about being able to survive in the competition, as far as costs.
“At some point a Sydney team will say, we are struggling here and we need some help and at that point the NRL should say we will help you, but we will help you play out of Perth or Brisbane.
“That way the club presents it to their fans and says, this is our only way to go ahead and it is a club decision.
“There are still going to be fans that won’t like it, but that is the only way.”
James Hooper argued that previous attempts to move Sydney teams has failed, as seen with the Bears and Manly.
“Relocation I don’t think is the answer because we have seen it in the past with a failed joint venture between the Bears and Manly and it doesn’t work,” Hooper said.
“The Bears have a lot of passionate fans who are disenfranchised with the game and I don’t think transporting a Sydney team, where there are too many teams and putting them up in Queensland is the model for success.”
NRL CEO Todd Greenberg said a decision would be made based off what most benefits the league, not what is the most popular.
“At the end of the day we are going to have to make some decisions and some of our decisions aren’t popular,” Greenberg said.
“It is a big decision for the game and it has to be genuinely long term thinking. Do we want an extra game with extra teams or do we want to consider the footprint and geography of the game?
“I don’t have an answer for you today, but it is going to be a hot topic.”