Expansion of the National Rugby League

The National Rugby League is the top level rugby league competition in Australia. It was formed in 1998 after the merger of the Australian Super League and the Australian Rugby League. It originally contained twenty teams but this was cut down to 14 by 2000. Expansion increased this number back up to 16 and there are plans to add two more teams to the competition in 2015.

History

The Super league and the ARL combined had 22 teams. When the NRL was formed in 1998 it was decided that there would only be 20 teams. The Melbourne Storm were the first expansion club, added for the 1998 season. This meant that the NRL would have to remove three teams. The Perth Reds, the South Queensland Crushers and the Hunter Mariners were all removed from the competition.

Club	Traditional Colours	Years Contested	First Season | Final Season		Matches						Seasons
					Played	Won	Drew	Lost	Win/Loss		Played	Premiers	Minor Premiers	Runners-Up
Melbourne		1998 – current	343		211	5	127	62.20%	13		2	0	2
St George Illawarra		1999 – current	310		168	5	137	55.00%	12		1	2	1
Wests Tigers		2000 – current	273		121	3	149	44.80%	11		1	0	0
Northern Eagles		2000 – 2002	76		30	1	45	40.13%	3		0	0	0
Gold Coast Titans		2007 – current	99		52	0	47	52.50%	4		0	0	0

South Sydney Rabbitohs

The South Sydney Rabbitohs were re-admitted to the competition for the 2002 NRL season after a legal battle with the NRL over their expulsion in the 2000 season. .

Gold Coast Titans

The Gold Coast Titans were admitted to the NRL for the 2007 season beating out bids from the Central Coast Bears and Wellington, NZ.

Next expansion period

In November 2012 as part of the release of the ARL's Strategic Plan it was announced that there would be a review into expanding the NRL at the end of the 2014 season.

The following bids are currently lobbying both the ARL and governments for support.

Brisbane Bombers

In January 2011, David Gallop, then CEO of the NRL, confirmed he had spoken to a bid team delegate seeking to create Brisbane's second NRL team. If their bid is successful they would play at Suncorp Stadium on alternate weekends to the Brisbane Broncos. This team name in July 2011 was announced as the Brisbane Bombers. brisbanebombers.com.au

Brothers Clubs Brisbane NRL Bid

In April 2013 a consortium representing the Confraternity of Brothers Clubs announced their intentions to bid for a place as Brisbane's second NRL team while also representing locations across Queensland and the Northern Territory through the Brothers Clubs. The Brothers previously competed in the Brisbane Rugby League. A Brothers NRL club would be based at their traditional home of the Corbett Park, the Grange, Brisbane.

Central Coast Bears

In 2005 the North Sydney Bears planned on rejoining the league as the Central Coast Bears and basing themselves out of Gosford, New South Wales and will use Central Coast Stadium. The bid team plans to unite the current North Sydney and Central Coast districts under the one team. centralcoastbears.com.au

Central Queensland NRL bid

In April 2009, a consortium from the Central Queensland region declared their intent to launch a bid for an NRL franchise to be based in Rockhampton in the next expansion period. The bid is aiming to be a new club by 2013. cqnrlbid.com.au

Southern New Zealand NRL bid

The Wellington Rugby League have been working on a proposal and business plan for a second New Zealand based team since 2008. . The potential club would be based in Wellington but also represent the South Island potentially playing games in Christchurch and Dunedin.

Papua New Guinea NRL bid

In October 2008, a Papua New Guinea bid team was launched with government funding and support. An official website was launched in September 2009 detailing the progress of the PNG bid and its aim to provide social and economic benefits for the country as a whole pngnrlbid.com

West Coast Pirates

In 2006 the Western Australia Rugby League announced that the Perth-based WA Reds were to be resurrected with an aim to re-join the NRL in 2013, playing out of nib Stadium. Currently they contest the under-age S. G. Ball Cup, with an aim to having a number of WA-born juniors when the bid joins the NRL West Coast Pirates

Western Corridor NRL bid

In August 2010, the Ipswich Jets formally announced the creation of a bid team for 2013 with the future club to based in the Ipswich-West Brisbane corridor in order to capitalise on the massive population boom projected for that region. The move would effectively see the promotion of the existing local Queensland Cup side to the higher NRL premiership.

Western Corridor NRL bid site