The Dolphins’ plans to build a functioning football department, an NRL-ready team and men’s and women’s player pathways were behind their successful bid to join the NRL in 2023, according to NRL CEO Andrew Abdo.
Announcing the move at RLC on Wednesday, Abdo also confirmed the ‘Redcliffe’ part of the club’s name had been dropped and would not be replaced, with the franchise to simply be known as ‘The Dolphins’ in the NRL Telstra Premiership moving forward.
“We looked at five key criteria when determining which bid would be successful,” Abdo said.
“The governance and risk; the approach to financial strength; the commercial strategy of the organisation; football competitiveness; and then very importantly growth of the game – participation and pathways.
“Part of the conditions of awarding the licence to the Dolphins includes them spending and investing $2 million a year into participation and pathways both in terms of the men’s and the women’s game, Indigenous pathways and making sure that we continue to grow the game in the important northern corridor.
Dolphins announced as 17th NRL team
“The population in the northern corridor that includes Moreton Bay, Sunshine Coast and beyond is more than 800,000 people. That’s almost as big as Brisbane city. It’s forecast to grow to 1.1 million people by 2031.”
It was important the new franchise would be able to stand on its own two feet financially and bring new sponsors to the game rather than cannibalising existing sponsors, he added.
As for the club’s name, which will make it the second in the NRL along with the Warriors not to have a geographical component in its title, Abdo said it was about “owning the north”, growing outside the Brisbane region through Moreton Bay, the Sunshine Coast and beyond.
“Redcliffe is no longer the name, they are quite deliberately calling themselves ‘The Dolphins’,” he said.
“This is about owning not just Brisbane and having a second Brisbane team but owning the north as well.
“Our research tells us we have a number of fans in this area and in Queensland that don’t currently support an NRL franchise. We’re a game of tribes.
“We live and breathe by the strength of our clubs and that sense of tribalism so adding a 17th tribe or team to our competition is a huge opportunity for us to acquire new fans, develop new talent and again foster the game in a really important market for us.”
Abdo would not comment on who would coach the team, although departing Rabbitohs mentor Wayne Bennett is unattached and has been widely mooted as a likely candidate with Fairfax Media reporting a deal has already been struck.
Abdo also would not speculate on which NRL stars could join the new franchise given it cannot approach players before November 1, but expressed confidence in both their ability to recruit to be NRL ready for round one 2023 as well as to develop their own players.
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