Queensland rugby strongmen are urging the Australian Rugby League Commission to reconsider their plans to create an entirely new franchise in Brisbane.
This follows ARL chairman Peter V'landys telling News Corp that he wishes to start a new team in Queensland despite the dire economic conditions brought on by pandemic.
Instead of this, QRL chairman Bruce Hatcher is asking V'landys to minimise costs and to instead re-locate a Sydney side who already have cash in the bank.
โI am an advocate of moving at least one of the Sydney teams. Financially the obvious ones are Cronulla and Manly and finances are the first thing you look at" Hatcher explained to News Corp.
โYou start anything from scratch and there is a hell of a lot of expense in trying to get it up. You are a mile in front if you already have a team.
โThat gives you a bigger opportunity because it straddles two decent markets and you are using the available talent to maintain a strong competition."
Meanwhile, Peter V'landys has his heart set on creating a brand new franchise from a bidding Queensland club either by 2022 or 2023.
Both Redcliffe and East Tigers have registered their interest, with the latter's effort progressing well.
Despite the COVID pandemic crippling the NRL, V'landys is convinced that the money could be put together to make the expansion happen.
โWe have to concentrate on getting the competition finished this year but I am committed to having a second team in Brisbane" V'landys said to News Corp.
โWe have plenty of time to achieve this and to formulate business plans. There are bid teams out there working hard on their submissions so no time is being lost through this COVID period.โ
The ARL chairman is also adamant that it will not negatively impact the other Queensland sides, who are not performing to standard this season.
โI will not expand the game if another team will cannibalise the existing Queensland sides, but I am confident that will not happen."
โWe have our Queensland partners up there so the last thing we want to do is hurt the Broncos and the Titans."
Nevertheless, many are fearful that the expansion of the AFL into Queensland will hurt the NRL even more, as the Grand Final due to be hosted in Brisbane in October will lure league fans away.
However, Titans head of culture Mal Meninga is sure that the AFL's crusade into the Sunshine state isn't anything to lose sleep over.
โAFL can only concentrate on AFL and we can only control what we can control. Weโre doing a terrific job from a rugby league point of view."
โWe can only keep doing what weโre doing. Weโve got to be mindful of it (the AFLโs incursion into Queensland) but weโre not overly concerned.โ
C’mon Bruce….Reddy & Easts have the money! They are not start-ups! Personally I think Redcliffe is the no-brainer. Have everything ready to go. No arguments about mascots or names either.
Not interested in a NSW side be relocated to Qld – they can rack off to Perth. They need to start another Qld team from scratch or promote a QCup team like Redcliife. I’m not sure we should go above 16 teams but I would love there to be at least 2 less NSW teams so can we also move one to cover the pacific islands? I have no idea if its financially viable but what a region to put a team in.
Otherwise the AFL “assault” on Qld thing is such a rubbish media beat up. The AFL have invested in QLD since at least the 70’s. It was the only football code we were allowed to play at lunch during high school in the late 80’s early 90’s as they didn’t want teenage boys smashing each other in tackles. I’d be surprised if its still not the same way. Plenty of people in Brisbane like both codes which co exist easily. The Lions have been back near the top for two years which is the real reason casual fans are paying attention again.