Christchurch City Council in talks with NRL over second NZ club bid

Christchurch City Council is in talks with the NRL over a second New Zealand-based club as part of the competition's planned expansion, RNZ understands.

Multiple New Zealand consortiums have made unsuccessful attempts to pitch a Christchurch-based NRL club to competition chiefs over the past few years.

Australian rugby league officials want to expand the competition to 20 teams by 2030 and Sport Nation has reported the council wants to front-foot a bid by merging two competing consortiums into one.

South Island NRL Bid Limited (SINRL), which includes former Kiwis and Warriors coach Frank Endacott, former Christchurch East MP Poto Williams and Waikato Rugby Board president Coal Groves, is leading the bid, according to Sport Nation.

Canterbury Rugby League board director Darren Littlewood and former chief executive Duane Fyfe were also associated with the bid, while former Canterbury Rugby League board chair Tony Kidd was an early backer, though left last year.

Details about a formal proposal have not surfaced but RNZ understands council staff have been in talks with NRL bosses.

The council declined to comment, along with Endacott and Littlewood.

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SINRL first approached the council in 2024 to support its bid to develop a new Christchurch-based club, claiming it would result in a $50 million economic injection per season.

Long-standing administrator and former coach Sir Graham Lowe also tried to get a separate proposal off the ground but was rejected by the NRL.

A separate 'South Island Kea' bid led by former New Zealand Rugby and NRL boss David Moffett had also been scrapped.

The Warriors-Cowboys clash at Christchurch's Te Kaha One New Zealand Stadium was played in front of a crowd of 25,000 people on Sunday, including Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V'landys and outgoing NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo.

Venues Ōtautahi had estimated the weekend's game would generate $4.7 million in visitor spending.

Panthers and former Warriors head coach Ivan Cleary warned the game's administrators against fast-tracking a second New Zealand-based club, fearing the addition of a new club in the country could "cannibalise the progress of the Warriors", as reported by AAP.

The four-time premiership-winning coach led the Warriors to their last Grand Final appearance in 2011.

Warriors chief executive Cameron George told Sport Nation New Zealand remained a great option for the NRL's expansion plans, but more investment from competition chiefs was needed.

"Right now, there's no domestic competitions that are at the level we need to to sustain, not only for one team, because we fly all of ours to Sydney each week and vice-versa," he said.

"But to underpin two teams, that would mean you're flying 12 teams to Australia every week."

The Perth Bears, bolstered by an $86 million boost by the Western Australian Government, would make their NRL debut next season.

Team would be a 'game-changing' economic injection - councillor

Councillor for Halswell Andrei Moore said he is in full support of bringing an NRL team to Christchurch, "which will come as a suprise to no one".

"I can't recall seeing anything like the vibe we had on Sunday and there's no way we should only be doing this once a year," he wrote in a post on social media.

"As a Christchurch-based season ticket holder of 7 years and club member of 15 years, I know more than most about loyalty to the Warriors and have always made the effort to show up, even in the darkest times and even worse weather conditions. I note, however, that the good of our city, the good of the game and future opportunities for kids in our city has to come before loyalties to any one single club.

"Restricting ourselves to only one team in NZ is holding the game back if most are missing out on getting tickets. I feel for all the young ones out there who have never been able to see an NRL game in their lifetimes, missed out on tickets and will have to wait another year for what will be an even madder scramble for tickets.

"It's time to let the game flourish in the South Island and welcome what would be a game-changing economic injection into Christchurch and ensure we're generating a significant amount of revenue through the new stadium each year for many years to come, much of which would come from outside the CCC boundaries," Moore said.

"Massive investment went into this stadium and it's time to make the most of it."

A 'no-brainer' - former NRL star

Speaking on news.com.au's Extended Bench, former Warrior James Maloney said making the South Island the NRL's 20th franchis is a "no-brainer".

"There are no better fans in the game than the Warriors and you keep hearing that rugby league is making inroads," he said.

"If you get a side in Christchurch, people will jump on board.

"They support [the Warriors] now because that's the only team they've got.

"But you'd see so many of them convert and go 'This is our team now'. I think it makes sense, the game is doing really well there. You'd be crazy not to (put a side there)."