"We want to keep growing," NRL CEO Andrew Abdo boldly declared two years ago. "By the end of 2024, we will know what it looks like for an 18th franchise and potentially beyond that."
After debate had rumbled on around expansion ever since the Dolphins became the first franchise to enter into the league since the Gold Coast in 2007, a decision was finally reached in December last year.
Papua New Guinea will be welcomed into the NRL in 2028 after Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese worked alongside his PNG counterpart James Marape and the ARLC to deliver a new franchise.
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The 10-year deal will see $600m invested by the Australian Government as rugby league is used as a source of soft diplomacy in the Pacific.
Perth had also been in the mix for the 18th licence. But after months of speculation their Western Bears bid, pieced together by a consortium fronted by businessman Peter Cumins, was ultimately rejected.
However, ARLC supremo Peter V'landys then revealed the Western Australian Government had entered into discussions and after an extended bout of negotiations, a new franchise has been confirmed.
Roger Cook, who took over from Mark McGowan in June 2023, helped to revive the chances of NRL expansion to WA with a joint bid with the North Sydney Bears eventually welcomed into the competition.
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The WA Premier broke the news of an agreement being struck between his government and the ARL Commission on Wednesday, May 7.
The politician announced the news via social media, while he documented some of the finer details ahead of the official unveiling on Thursday.
"The WA Government has reached an agreement with the Australian Rugby League Commission to establish a new WA-based NRL club," Cook said.
"Not only will this be great news for sports fans, it's great news for our economy and great news for jobs."
The news came after a seemingly never-ending cycle where the franchise appeared to be in the offing before the deal looked like it had become dead in the water.
After initially revealing the franchise could be given the green light in December last year upon the historic announcement of the PNG club entering in 2028, V'landys then admitted the decision would be delayed until after the WA elections.
"We are still in discussions with Perth and they have been positive," V'landys told NewsCorp at the time.
"Unfortunately for us, the [WA] election is on March 8, so we will give it some breathing space until after that."
West Aussies headed to the polls with Cook emerging victorious after being pitted against the likes of National leader Shane Love and Liberal leader Libby Mettam. The victory for Cook saw Labor win a third consecutive term in the state.
Cook and V'landys engaged in a back-and-forth in the media during and after the election win before a deal was finally reached.
It was initially reported that the NRL were angling for three main components in the agreement.
This was a $120 million fee to join the competition, a pledge for investment into the grassroots of the game and an upgraded HBF Park, where the franchise will play the majority of their home games in Perth.
However, Cook hit back at these demands in late February when he said that he was willing to walk away, while claiming the NRL needed WA more than the state needed the code.
"If the deal doesn't stack up, we'll move on to the next opportunity," Cook told The Australian Financial Review.
"What [V'landys] has to understand is that NRL in WA is not a major sporting code, and it will be great for economic activity, it'll be great for WA to be part of another national comp … but it has to stack up."
Cook appears to have gotten his way during the negotiations with the WA Government not required to pay a licence fee, while no pledge has been made to give the club's proposed home venue an upgrade ahead of their entry into the NRL in either 2027 or 2028.
"The ARLC has accepted our position that the club should not be charged a licence fee and that every dollar in direct financial assistance provided by the WA Government be spent in WA," Cook said.
"I’d like to thank the ARLC for the robust negotiations we’ve undertaken, as both parties have sought to get the best deal for our stakeholders."
North Sydney Bears to return from the wilderness as part of Perth bid
"Perth is a goldmine for the NRL," V'landys told NewsCorp as the deal was being concluded.
"It could be one of the real success stories of the future.
"It has enormous potential. It gives us a national footprint to a degree and the time zone works really well with our global and expansion strategies."
Part of this enormous potential was North Sydney's inclusion in the bid as the WA franchise became a joint venture.
"The opportunity to somehow find a way to include them in the competition is definitely at the forefront of the Commission’s thinking," Abdo stated earlier this year.
"Whether it’s in partnership with WA or whether it’s part of other expansion opportunities, we definitely haven’t forgotten about the Bears."
V'landys later supported this assessment when he stated that he was confident the Bears would be a part of the Perth bid.
"I would love to see the Bears back in the competition," V'landys said.
"I won’t go into exact details, but the talks with the WA Government have been very positive, so I have no concerns at all...the Bears will be at the front and centre of this."
And this is exactly what happened with North Sydney to provide infrastructure for the Perth-based club.
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"There's a bit of work left to get to 20 teams but that's the goal and PNG is the first one," V'landys stated last December.
"The West Australian one's next and we've got many options for the 20th team."
However, the 20th club may not enter into the NRL in the near future with negotiations over a new broadcast deal set to kick off imminently.
"The more teams you have, the more valuable your product is, no doubt about that," V'landys said in mid-March.
"We now have the most watched game and, when you add the Pacific region, via Papua New Guinea coming up, we have more reach.
"As soon as we know the exact number of teams, we will start broadcast negotiations."
The ARLC are reportedly targeting a mid-year deadline for finalising a broadcast arrangement for 2027 and beyond.
The last deal was brokered amid the COVID pandemic with a $1.7 billion agreement reached with Foxtel and Channel Nine.
Since then, the game has experienced positive growth in viewership figures, while the Dolphins, the Port Moresby-based franchise and a Perth team will now be added to the comp's offering.