Before a ball has even been kicked in anger, it’s hard for even the most cynical NRL fan to believe that the Vegas trip has been anything but a success.
Even for those watching from this side of the Pacific Ocean, the vision of the influx of Aussies on one of the world’s most famous strips has been eye opening.
Add in that the NRL has dominated the talk of the footy codes ahead of the season and the trip has no doubt been a success.
Whether it will have any meaningful impact on the US market after the roadshow packs up and goes home — that of course remains to be seen.
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But after Sunday’s double-header, the game comes back down to Earth and while there might be a victory lap from the bosses for a job well done, the real slog of the footy season begins.
As issues will undoubtedly arise from the second their feet hit the ground on Aussie soil, one of the big stories of the season will be the game’s expansion plans.
Earlier this week, the Courier Mail’s Peter Badel broke the news of the NRL’s $420m expansion war chest, which aims to grow the NRL to 18 teams and eventually out to a 20-team competition.
However the biggest talking point whenever NRL expansion is discussed is the lack of talent and depth in the competition.
Currently with 17 teams boasting 30 contracted players, there are 510 players in the NRL.
To expand to 20, the NRL would need 600 players contracted by clubs.
Speaking on NRL 360 on Saturday, Badel said: “We all realise that depth is a bit skinny at the moment. If we’re going to have three more teams, we need more players.
“He’s talked about a New Zealand team, not as the 18th team — I think that’ll be PNG. But I think we need to have a second New Zealand team as either the 19th or the 20th team.
“The Warriors have been magnificent for the game but you have another New Zealand team on the South Island, Christchurch for example, and I think they can take over rugby in New Zealand and we become entrenched in that country. I think it’s a must.”
But for Paul Kent, a slow drip expansion is not what the league needs.
He called for the NRL to take another bold step to grow the game.
“I think the NRL should be bold and announce they’re going from 17 to 20,” Kent said.
“Don’t bring in an 18th, bring in three teams. Go back and resell the TV deal.”
Badel questioned the depth, but Kent shut him down.
“Don’t tell me about the depth — you get the players from where you get the players from, you get them from England, you get them from reserve grade,” Kent said.
Braith Anasta interjected: “There are not enough players.”
“If you stick with that mentality, you still have a 12-team Sydney comp,” Kent replied.
Anasta: “We just said ‘where do you get the players from’ and you said ‘where you get the players from’.”
Kent: “You get the players from the junior systems. If you start putting the money into participation.”
Anasta: “Are they putting enough into the grassroots and junior systems?”
Kent: “Go out to Penrith and tell me if they’re putting enough in there.”
Anasta: “There’s a lot more teams than Penrith.”
Kent: “Look Braith, you can’t go from 500 players to 580 players without some sort of dilution of depth. It’s just impossible. You can’t go from 500 to 501 mathematically without some dilution. That’s a fact.
“But the truth is until you grow it … and I’ll tell you something else which they won’t want to hear, but if they make the salary cap actually work like it should, which is to spread the depth, you won’t even notice. That’s the truth of it.
“If the salary cap actually does its job and actually spreads the depth, you won’t notice that the difference between team No. 1 and between team No. 20 is as big as what it could be if they don’t fix the salary cap.”
The NRL had a 20-team competition in 1998 after the Super League war, but it lasted just one season before dropping to 17 teams in 1999 after the Adelaide Rams and Gold Coast Chargers folded, while the St George Dragons and Illawarra Steelers merged to become the St George Illawarra Dragons from the 1999 season.
At the end of 1999, the competition went to 14 teams with the South Sydney Rabbitohs excluded, while the Manly Sea Eagles and North Sydney Bears became the Northern Eagles and the Balmain Tigers and Western Sydney Magpies became the Wests Tigers.
V’landys revealed that an expansion call would be made “in the next six months”, after the league revealed last week it had made a record revenue of $701m.
The ARL Commission chairman revealed the game will commit $420m between 2023 and 2027 to ensure more expansion doesn’t cannibalise the current clubs.
“We are spending $420 million on development and pathways, we will produce the talent to support expansion,” V’landys said.
“That level of funding is in this current five-year cycle, that includes payments to the states (NSW and Queensland Rugby League) and our own expenditure on development.
“We are putting money into places such as South Australia, Western Australia and New Zealand and then we have our own development teams.
“Once we go to 18 teams, we should be asking, should we go to 20 or not?
“And once you make that decision, you need to have the available talent and we’re addressing that.
“We need to keep growing the game, we have a lot of growth to go.”
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