NRL expansion is seemingly back on the menu, with the fight for Team 20 breaking out in the last fortnight.
While the Perth Bears and PNG Chiefs are set to enter the NRL over the next two seasons as Teams 18 and 19, the NRL and ARLC have indicated the end aim is to have 20 teams at around the same time as the Brisbane Olympics.
That gives the game's governing body and expansion bids about six years to get their affairs in order, although a decision will obviously be made in advance of that timeline.
What was revealed during the week is that another team in Brisbane - from the western corridor - are going to be well and truly in the mix for the spot again, as they were when the Dolphins were added to the competition ahead of the 2023 season.
But the 20th team simply can't be in Brisbane.
The reasons why are two-fold, and both are as important as ever.
The negative against Brisbane is fairly simple. As big as the city is, there is no point further splitting support away from the Broncos.
They are one of the game's biggest clubs and have been built on being a one-club city.
That is no longer the case, but the bids to have teams on the Gold Coast and in Redcliffe were very understandable.
The Dolphins, when they joined, had history. Lots of it, and a fan base to boot. The QLD Cup outfit have been around for decades, and the area of Redcliffe, about an hour north of the Queensland capital, considers itself not part of Brisbane.
There is very much an us against them approach in the area, and so the move to have a team in Redcliffe made sense, and you only have to look at fan numbers to know it worked.
They also had their own centre of excellence, training facilities and environment ready to go at an NRL standard, even if they do wind up playing ten of their twelve home games each year at Suncorp Stadium.
The Titans are self-explanatory. The Gold Coast is not Brisbane.
Ipswich, to the west of Brisbane, certainly sees itself as its own area and would have plenty of support, but there is also no doubt it would go one of two ways.
It either cannibalises the Broncos, potentially a likely scenario, or struggles to gain support.
The Ipswich-based bid would have its own facilities, but when you consider the far better option - one across the Tasman - it just doesn't make sense.
Whether it be in Wellington or Christchurch, Team 20 must be a New Zealand-based outfit.
The Warriors have sold out games in Christchurch in recent times - heck, they sold out a pre-season trial there at one point, and are on track to do the same for their game at the ‘Cake Tin' in Wellington on Anzac Day.
Both cities have facilities for elite sport, and would be ready for induction into the NRL as soon as any expansion bid.
Both will also have backing.
The success of the Warriors in recent times has seen a groundswell of support for the 13-man game in New Zealand.
Anecdotes from the ground prove rugby league is fast becoming the number one code in Auckland, something that was seen previously as unlikely, bordering on impossible.
But rugby union is not what it was.
The fadeout in Australia is being followed in other areas of the Pacific, and the financial pathway into rugby league is becoming the number one way to elite sport for New Zealand and other Pacific Island nations.
A 20th team being launched in either Christchurch or Wellington is very likely the way for the NRL and ARLC to land a fatal knock out blow on the 15-man game for good, and to establish true dominance of the region.
You could only imagine that, with New Zealand secure, the rest of the dominoes in the Pacific will follow, particularly if Tonga, Samoa and Fiji's international teams continue to improve their performances on the global stage when taking on the big guns of Australia and New Zealand.
That in itself gives rugby league a natural talent pathway that is as solid as it gets, and potential further expansion opportunities in the years to come.
It's really a no-brainer on so many levels.
Team 20 must be in New Zealand - the only question will be in which city.
