SEN 1170’s Andrew Voss says that if the NRL are to continue expanding the competition, another team in New Zealand must be the biggest priority.
The remarkable early success of the NRL’s newest club, the Dolphins, has put into motion talks of further expansion with the ARL Commission planning on expanding to 20 teams by 2032.
“In my pecking order - my next team if they could fund it - I think another team for New Zealand is a must,” Voss told SEN Breakfast.
“We’ve already got a Warriors side which has been in the competition since 1995, so I’d have a second New Zealand team.”
The three proposed locations for the new clubs are New Zealand, Perth and a Papua New Guinea-Pasifika based side in Cairns.
It’s a bold move to expand at this speed, the NRL hasn’t featured 20 teams since 1998 in the aftermath of the Super League war.
Especially with the addition of a team that represents a group of nations but is based in the north of Queensland, however, it’s a rumour that has circled for a long time.
“They’re talking about (it) and maybe down the track Papua New Guinea being represented with a side based out of Cairns,” he added.
“Essentially that would be a quasi-fifth Queensland side, a nation represented in Papua New Guinea, but their training base would be in Cairns, I like the theory of that,” he added.
The current New Zealand team, the Warriors, take on the North Queensland Cowboys on Saturday in Townsville.