The Western Bears NRL expansion bid is believed to have officially failed unless major changes are made.
The NRL are deep in preparations to announce two new teams over the coming years to coincide with the commencement of the competition's next broadcast deal.
Two new teams introduced over successive years will take the competition first to 18 teams, introducing a ninth game each weekend, and then to 19 teams, which will mean the bye only disappears for a single season.
It was believed the Western Bears - which is an amalgamation of a Perth-based consortium and the North Sydney Bears - was the front runner to join the competition first, with a Papua New Guinean team the following year - likely 2029.
But News Corp is now reporting the bid for the Bears is off, with the NRL and Australian Rugby League Commission concerned over a multimillion-dollar licence fee.
V'Landys told the publication that the bid placed was "significantly short" but left the door ajar for re-negotiation.
“The bid that the consortium has put in has been rejected,” he said.
“We will still deal with the Western Australian government to try and resuscitate the bid. “The bid that they put in was significantly short. “No bid team can take the expansion process for granted. “I have made this clear from day one.
“We will only expand if there is a firm business case, and at the moment, Perth's business case doesn't stack up. “If we can't stack it up, I can't take it to the members for consideration.
“All I will say their bid is extremely short. I will have more talks with the WA government, but not necessarily the current consortium.”
It's believed urgent talks will be held with commission chairman Peter V'Landys over the future of the bid, but at this stage, the game's authorities may prefer to own and operate their own expansion team in Western Australia, which was previously home to the Western Reds, but has not had its own team for more than two decades.
In that time, the NRL have successfully staged both club matches and State of Origin games in the state, and local authorities believe the time is right for introduction into the NRL.
The Bears were believed to be a key addition to the bid in the west for the NRL, giving a potentially large amount of support from Sydney, where they were set to play two games per year to get the club off the ground.