{"id":387412,"date":"2026-04-19T15:31:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T15:31:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/387412\/"},"modified":"2026-04-19T15:31:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T15:31:14","slug":"there-is-only-one-correct-option-for-nrl-team-20-and-its-not-brisbane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/387412\/","title":{"rendered":"There is only one correct option for NRL team 20, and it\u2019s not Brisbane"},"content":{"rendered":"

NRL<\/a> expansion is seemingly back on the menu, with the fight for Team 20 breaking out in the last fortnight.<\/p>\n

While the Perth Bears<\/a> and PNG Chiefs<\/a> are set to enter the NRL<\/a> over the next two seasons as Teams 18 and 19, the NRL<\/a> and ARLC have indicated the end aim is to have 20 teams at around the same time as the Brisbane Olympics.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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<\/a> were added to the competition ahead of the 2023 season.<\/p>\n

But the 20th team simply can’t be in Brisbane.<\/p>\n

The reasons why are two-fold, and both are as important as ever.<\/p>\n

The negative against Brisbane is fairly simple. As big as the city is, there is no point further splitting support away from the Broncos.<\/p>\n

They are one of the game’s biggest clubs and have been built on being a one-club city.<\/p>\n

That is no longer the case, but the bids to have teams on the Gold Coast and in Redcliffe were very understandable.<\/p>\n

The Dolphins<\/a>, when they joined, had history. Lots of it, and a fan base to boot. The QLD Cup<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

They also had their own centre of excellence, training facilities and environment ready to go at an NRL<\/a> standard, even if they do wind up playing ten of their twelve home games each year at Suncorp Stadium.<\/p>\n

The Titans are self-explanatory. The Gold Coast is not Brisbane.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

It either cannibalises the Broncos, potentially a likely scenario, or struggles to gain support.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Whether it be in Wellington or Christchurch, Team 20 must be a New Zealand-based outfit.<\/p>\n

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 \u2018Cake Tin’ in Wellington on Anzac Day.<\/p>\n

Both cities have facilities for elite sport, and would be ready for induction into the NRL<\/a> as soon as any expansion bid.<\/p>\n

Both will also have backing.<\/p>\n

The success of the Warriors in recent times has seen a groundswell of support for the 13-man game in New Zealand<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

But rugby union is not what it was.<\/p>\n

The fadeout in Australia<\/a> 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<\/a> and other Pacific Island nations.<\/p>\n

A 20th team being launched in either Christchurch or Wellington is very likely the way for the NRL<\/a> and ARLC to land a fatal knock out blow on the 15-man game for good, and to establish true dominance of the region.<\/p>\n

You could only imagine that, with New Zealand<\/a> secure, the rest of the dominoes in the Pacific will follow, particularly if Tonga<\/a>, Samoa<\/a> and Fiji’s international teams continue to improve their performances on the global stage when taking on the big guns of Australia<\/a> and New Zealand<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

It’s really a no-brainer on so many levels.<\/p>\n

Team 20 must be in New Zealand<\/a> – the only question will be in which city.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NRL expansion is seemingly back on the menu, with the fight for Team 20 breaking out in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":387413,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":{"0":"post-387412","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-new-zealand","9":"tag-newzealand","10":"tag-nz","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=387412"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387412\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/387413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=387412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=387412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=387412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}