SEN’s Greg Alexander has backed Sydney Roosters chairman Nick Politis after he suggested that the NRL’s 18th license should be handed to Perth rather than Papua New Guinea.
In an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald, the Roosters supremo revealed his vision for an 18-team league split into two conferences - Sydney and the rest of the country.
Despite SEN’s Michelle Bishop revealing that the 18th license is all but set to be granted to a PNG-based bid, Politis is adamant that Perth is the ideal location for the next franchise.
“They should fast-track it. Bring in the Bears in Perth. We can’t ignore Perth when you have the Premier (WA Premier Roger Cook) wanting to come into the competition,” Politis told SMH.
“I met the Premier myself who said they have a lot of big businessmen ready to back them, I told (Peter) V’landys and (Andrew) Abdo. Now they’re looking at PNG… You can’t have an Australian team linked with Papua New Guinea.”
Although their respective clubs may be bitter rivals on the field, Alexander agreed with Politis’ sentiment despite the large financial backing of a PNG franchise.
“I know PNG has government backing, there’s a lot of money involved, so financially and politically, it does seem to be the one,” Alexander said on SEN 1170 Breakfast.
“I’m a hundred per cent that Perth should be the next team, I’m a hundred per cent and (I) said back on day one when they said PNG was going to be the new franchise.
“Go to Perth.”
Although Alexander agreed with the introduction of a Perth-based NRL team, he wasn’t reluctant to put his support behind a conference system being introduced.
“The conference would be a massive shift, it’s a massive change,” Alexander added.
“Do we need that change?”
The NRL had proposed a conference system in 2021 prior to the awarding of the 17th license, but those plans will likely be halted until the league expands to 20 teams.