Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V'Landys has admitted the NRL needs to expand to 18 teams following the inclusion of the Dolphins.
The Dolphins will become the NRL's 17th club - and first expansion franchise since the Gold Coast Titans joined almost two decades ago - for the 2023 season.
It means the NRL will have an odd number of clubs, sitting at 17, which means a team will have a bye each week.
It has expanded the competition to 26 rounds, including more football over the Origin window, while also ensuring one team will miss the opening round and magic round among other important events on the rugby league calendar.
While V'Landys told SEN Radio the player pool needs to be there, and that it needs to present a reasonable business case, an 18th team is well on the radar, suggesting Perth and New Zealand are the favourites.
โLook probably it is (important that we have an even number),โ VโLandys said.
โBut we just want to see how we go with the Dolphins and to see that there is a sufficient player pool there.
โI think there is, and then we look at possibly going to the 18th team.
โWe have to expand, we have to always look towards the future, you canโt just stand still, you need to be proactive and you need to continue the popularity of the game, and if we can make the game national weโll do so.
โThereโs a possibility of Perth or even New Zealand, thereโs a lot of possibilities.
โBut letโs just see how we go with the Dolphins first, then we can make a decision on an 18th team.
โIt has to stack up with a business case, what the Dolphins did is it stacked up.
โWe donโt have to pay tens of millions having that 17th team, in actual fact we generated
substantial new revenue from broadcast to have that 17th team.โจ
โSo it pays for itself without harming any of the other clubs, so if we go for the 18th team, it has to be important that it actually brings benefits."
A consortium are already in place to bid for the city of Perth if the NRL elects to go to 18 teams, while the Brisbane Jets and Brisbane Firehawks - the two clubs who missed out when the Dolphins were added - could also yet come into consideration.
A second team from New Zealand has also long been on the radar.
Perth and New Zealand seem to present the most obvious business cases for the NRL given their time zone advantage when it comes to broadcasting games back to the east coast of Australia.
Perth has also successfully hosted State of Origin, and is scheduled for another game this year, with New South Wales State of Origin coach Brad Fittler throwing his support behind a Perth bid this week.
