NRL proposes introduction of a second NZ club

The NRL are proposing a conference system which could see the introduction of two new franchises – including a new team in New Zealand.

NRL officials have met with almost half of the competition’s clubs in recent weeks to share several strategies that offer the potential for the league’s expansion.

One of these proposals is based on splitting the league into two conferences with the Sydney clubs competing against each other in one group.

This conference system would see the NRL split into two pools with all nine of the Sydney-based clubs forming one conference and the teams from outside of Sydney making up the other group.

The proposal would introduce two new franchises to take the number of NRL clubs from 16 to 18 with one team based in New Zealand and another based in Brisbane.

The nine clubs in each conference would play matches against the teams in their own group twice a season and play teams in the other conference just once.

The two conferences would have their own seperate finals system with the best club from both conferences advancing to face each other in the NRL Grand Final.

Warriors coach Nathan Brown said the financial injection from introducing a conference system could create a greater talent pool for rugby league in New Zealand .

“There’s a lot of players coming out of New Zealand to go and play for other clubs but what if there’s a lot more funding put into the game over here and you can’t be expecting the Warriors to do that because everyone else only pinches their players”

“So, if the games going to put a lot more funding into the game in New Zealand and the Pacific Islands in general then naturally there’s going to be a lot more players to pick from,” he said.

The Warriors could be joined by a second New Zealand based NRL franchise
Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Admitting he wasn’t aware of all the details in the proposal, Brown said it’s encouraging to see that the NRL is looking to innovate.

“What’s good is that the game is looking at ways to go and if a conference system helps the game grow and become more interesting well that seems like a good idea,” he said.

“I’m not really worried about the conference, I’m more interested in people actually wanting to put more time into developing players rather than looking to save money at the bottom line by not developing players.”