Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V'Landys has revealed the North Sydney Bears are well in the equation to be part of the competition's next expansion team.
When the NRL went to 17 teams at the start of the 2023 season with the introduction of the Dolphins, it was abundantly clear that an 18th team would follow as quickly as possible, removing the bye once again and allowing for a ninth game per week, adding untold value to the competition's rich TV deal.
While it would appear likely an 18th team is set to enter the competition from 2027 - the end of the current TV deal - speculation around who it will be has been rampant.
Bids from Perth, the Pacific Islands, Papua New Guinea and Queensland are believed to have already surfaced, while the North Sydney Bears have been heavily involved with the Pacific Islands and Perth bids.
The club, who were a long-term part of the NSWRL before losing their spot, have been looking for a way back into the NRL for some time, and while V'Landys told News Corp that they won't be a stand-alone team in a cluttered Sydney market, they will be looked at potentially as part of a new team in an expansion market.
โEverywhere I go, that always the question โฆ when are you bringing back the Bears? I didn't realise they had so many old fans,โ V'landys told the publication.
โThey've got to be in the equation. They can't be stand-alone in Sydney because there's too many already.
โHowever, they can certainly be part of a new team, whether it be in Perth, the Pacific, wherever. They're so passionate and you want that.โ
V'Landys said the club have an exceptionally large pool of members, and it simply makes sense to bring them back in some form, with expansion being about bringing new fans into the game.
โIt makes sense that we bring them back in some capacity, because they've got 200,000 members. That's important,โ V'landys said.
โWe brought the Dolphins in as 17th team because they were bringing new fans into the game, not people following the Broncos.
โThey did a study and showed they'd bring all these new people to rugby league. That's vital. You want to bring the casual viewer in to become an engaged fan. The Bears have got that.โ
As late as the end of last year, it was believed a Papua New Guinea-backed bid may have been the favourite due to an Australian government financial guarantee for the club.
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