“People should be
embracing it rather
than making it difficult to get a start,”
“Here is a bloke [Singleton] who is prepared to throw millions of dollars at the game and they still haven’t taken him in. And if they don’t take him in he’ll switch his energy and his money to trying to get a Super 12 team to Gosford. That’s the concern for the league.”
But NRL chief executive David Gallop said yesterday the league would not be rushed. He said the NRI partnership committee, which is responsible for making such decisions, would meet on July 29.
The committee must
first decide
whether to admit a 16th team and, if so, which of the three bidding
consortiums
— representing the
Gallop said there may or may not be a decision on that day, but one would be made by the end of August.
“I know each of the consortiums is anxious to get a decision,” Gallop said. “We’re very aware of that at the league and we appreciate the enthusiasm of the people behind the bids, but it’s a hugely important decision and there are a lot of things to consider.”
Gallop said his aim over the next couple of weeks would be to furnish the committee with as much information as possible.
“We’ve got a lot of people within the league working on this and we’ve also engaged external consultants. I'm talking about a specialist management resource organisation which has been involved in studying bids for Olympic and Commonwealth Games.
“But it’s important to
remember
that the last time new teams were admitted [in 1995], the four clubs
that came
in all eventually fell over.
“We need to be very confident that if a new team comes in the same thing won’t happen again?’
Wilson, a former managing director of TAB Ltd who is president of the Central Coast Bears, said there was no way the club would fall over if it got in.
“The