{"id":379925,"date":"2024-03-27T06:56:15","date_gmt":"2024-03-27T07:56:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=379925"},"modified":"2024-03-27T20:03:20","modified_gmt":"2024-03-27T20:03:20","slug":"major-rival-emerges-as-expansion-bid-revealed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=379925","title":{"rendered":"'Major rival' emerges as expansion bid revealed"},"content":{"rendered":"

The government of Fiji officially entered the race to be the NRL's 18th franchise on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Bid director Bev Broughton – the widow of legendary league official Paul Broughton – personally visited the NRL to deliver a Fiji letter endorsing the bid.<\/p>\n

The Fiji bid now shapes as a major rival to Papua New Guinea as the NRL's much-anticipated 18th franchise.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Broncos superstar hits back at $5.5m deal reports<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

EXCLUSIVE:<\/strong> Lockyer's timely message to out of favour Broncos star<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Roosters explain 'rare' Walker concussion 'reversal'<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

"This has been a long time in the making and it was a proud moment for Fiji to officially deliver the notification to Peter V'landys and Andrew Abdo at the NRL," Broughton told Wide World of Sports.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"The cabinet approved the bid unanimously and the people of Fiji are desperate to be part of the NRL.<\/p>\n

"It was great to get the support of the prime minister, the head of state, all the cabinet ministers, especially the minister for youth and sports, Mr Jese Saukuru.<\/p>\n

"We already have great infrastructure, the government has approved a 200 per cent tax rebate for sponsors and as everyone knows, the Fijians are tremendous athletes who know how to play rugby league.<\/p>\n

"The game is taught in schools and Fiji already has a team in the Jersey Flegg Cup.<\/p>\n

Watch the 2024 NRL premiership live and free on Nine and<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

"Most significantly, Fiji is a much loved destination for Australians and we can see fans coming over here for a holiday when their team plays here, much like they did in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n

"We are well organised and we are ready to go."<\/p>\n

Broughton knows what it takes to get an NRL franchise up and running – along with husband Paul she was instrumental in getting a rugby league club on the Gold Coast in the mid-2000s.<\/p>\n

The bid will host an official launch in the Fijian capital of Suva in coming weeks and will invite Vlandys, Abdo, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and a host of dignitaries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The government of Fiji officially entered the race to be the NRL's 18th franchise on Wednesday. Bid director Bev Broughton – the widow of legendary […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":379927,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379925"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=379925"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379925\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":379928,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379925\/revisions\/379928"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/379927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=379925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=379925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=379925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}