New ARLC chairman Peter V’landys has promised every existing NRL club in Sydney and Brisbane is safe and none will be relocated as the board considers possible expansion.
V’landys was speaking after the first ARLC meeting since replacing Peter Beattie in his new role.
He said it was too early to say whether the NRL competition would be expanded but a careful study would be made of the game’s footprint ahead of the next broadcast rights deal in 2023.
“There will be no team in Sydney or in Queensland that will be relocated,” he said.
“If we pursue with the expansion it will be a new franchise and I can tell you that every brand in Sydney and Queensland is secure. We are not looking to relocate anyone and we’ll stress that.”
Over the two-day ARLC meeting in Penrith, the commission discussed expansion at length and will meet again in December when it will be back on the table.
Expansion was one of seven issues in rugby league V’landys has highlighted to tackle, with securing revenue from the next broadcast deal the biggest ticket item.
The other issues he identified for the ARLC to concentrate on are strengthening country rugby league, participation, concussion, venues and making the game “less predictable”.
The Racing NSW boss also admitted the biggest issue facing rugby league at the moment is refereeing, and confirmed he is a “traditionalist” who likes the idea of having one official in the middle, opposed to two.
However, he is currently outnumbered by the ARLC board who are in favour of two referees.
V’landys also confirmed upgrading Brookvale Oval is of high priority and will be the first ground the ARLC will focus on.