Expansion?

South Island Kea. Probably no chance of getting an expansion slot, but great to see this. https://southislandkea.com/

David Moffett overseeing the bid, apparently.

 

Bring back the Reds and Crushers.

 

Is there much talk of a 20th team? Before the Bears got up i loved the idea some kind of de merger between Tigers and Maggies, Have a genuine Western Suburbs team, with the Balmain portion pissing off to Perth with a coupla games at Leichardt. Was never happening but think the its an under served geography in the south west of sydney, a bit like how ripped off Wollongong area is only getting half an acknowledgement (if that) with the Dragons set up

 

I really fear for the Bears. They've botched thos pretty hard so far, the Dolphins battled to get any marquee men an they were a club ina great area, traditional league heartland and had one of the truly great coaches.

Bears on the other hand are a recycled franchise rather than a truly west identity, Mal's a bit of a goose, players will be a long way from home and I don't know how much love there is for the sport, all the while having the Chiefs up any offers over their head.

Perth's one of my favourite cities though so I think in time they'll have some kind of appeal. But that long flight every second week without the added tax free sweetener could be a hard sell.

I do think PNG will be a weird one where a lot of players will head over for a pay packet for 2-3 seasons,but compound life and hvaing wives/kids over there will get old quick. I think it will really hit the number of one club players we see.