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Brisbane Firehawks heavy hitter Shane Richardson has explained in depth how he helped sell the franchise to the NRL in their bid to become the competition’s 17th team.
The Firehawks, Redcliffe Dolphins, and Brisbane Jets all made presentations to NRL and Australian Rugby League Commission heavies on Monday, as the governing bodies mull who to hand a licence to.
If all goes to plan, the 17th team will begin competing in the NRL in season 2023 or 2024.
Richardson fronted NRL 360 on Monday night and was positive about his pitch to win the licence.
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Here’s what he said about the franchise’s financial situation, the coaches they want to sign, and how he plans to build the NRL-ready roster.
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POACHING THE COACH
Wayne Bennett appears the most popular man to lead the NRL’s newest team, whichever franchise ends up winning the bid.
Bennett will quit his post as South Sydney coach at the end of this current season and has no commitment yet for 2022 and beyond.
“I’ve spoken to Wayne,” Richardson confirmed.
“He’s heavily involved with development, he started the Broncos. So he’s excited about any opportunity where he’s able to get involved with a start-up club that’s heavily involved in pathways and developing their own.
“That’s a passion for him. Obviously he’s got opportunities for Souths to consider as well. Wayne is a coach and will always want to be a coach in the future.”
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Richardson was asked who else might be in his sights if Bennett passed on the offer.
“We want to bring Queenslanders home, and as much as possible promote Queenslanders internally.
“Paul Green comes from Easts. He played at Easts... so he goes a long way back.
“Wayne is there as well and there’s a lot of other coaches we could look at. At the end of the day if we didn’t have Wayne Bennett involved in the club in some level it would be a pretty silly thing to do.”
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BUILDING A ROSTER
When the NRL does hand a licence to a 17th team, the management will need to assemble a playing squad capable of competing in the world’s premier rugby league competition.
A number of top-tier NRL players have already been floated as potential targets.
But Richardson isn’t interested in splashing cash on established stars until he has laid the foundations of the roster.
“I’ve taken over clubs from the bottom of the ladder, from the top of the ladder, all my life, so it’s not unusual for me to come in,” he said.
“It’s unusual for me to come in when the finances behind it are as such with Brisbane (Firehawks), which are we’ve got $80 million in assets, $25 million in cash in the bank... so I’ve never been involved in a club like that.
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“My way of putting a roster together (is) you don’t start at the top and work down, because then you get caught up and ripped off by different agents, to players and everything, because you go out there and put a pumpkin on the head of what’s required.
“Every team I’ve ever been involved with we’ve built from the ground up. All the sides that have played in grand finals, from Cronulla to Penrith and on to South, all played with a large amount of their juniors.
“We’ve got 20,000 participants in this area. If we’re not able to put together 75 per cent of this team by drawing on the current pathways... we are kidding ourselves.
“Of course we’re going to have to go externally for that 25 per cent, there’s no doubt about that.
“But there are players in England - Albert Kelly is the perfect example - and there’s players down south that want to come home to Queensland, there’s no doubt about that.
“I don’t think that’s a challenge. The biggest you’ve got always is not the players you bring in, but the quality of the set-up you’ve got to improve them and make them better all the time.
“I think that’s the crucial part of it - the quality of the coaching, the quality of the high performance, and the quality of the administration around them.”
Fox Sports’ chief NRL reporter, James Hooper, asked Richardson directly about Melbourne five-eighth Cameron Munster, who has revealed his interest in joining the expansion team.
“Munster is a great player, there are plenty of other players who have come from that area (south Queensland) as well,” Richardson said.
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“We have never approached one player, or one player manager, about coming to us. Because it’s pointless, and it’s also sad that we haven’t even got a franchise and we’re going to start talking to people.
“It’s fantasy football at its worst. The first thing we need to do is put in a structure and a business plan, identify the coach we’re going to move forward with, identify the front office, and then go into the marketplace.
“But until you get the franchise, talking to players and coaches is all fantasy football, it’s not about reality.”
MONEY TALK... AND BEATING THE AFL
Richardson says, quite simply, the NRL must expand into southern Queensland in order to stop the AFL encroaching on their territory.
“If we surrender to the AFL in the west and south of Queensland we are kidding ourselves,” he said.
“They are spending $60 million in the west of Ipswich, they’re setting up an amazing system, they are already in the schools out there... now is the time, if we don’t bite now and get involved heavily in this participation role, get into schools and get involved, we are going to miss the boat.”
Richardson was asked how the Firehawks stack up financially compared to other teams - existing and otherwise.
Financial stability and viability is said to be the biggest consideration for the NRL and ARLC in deciding which bid wins the licence.
“If you look at the current situation with the Broncos, we’ve got $25 million in the bank, they’ve got $16 million,” he said.
“They’ve got $64 million worth of unencumbered assets, we’ve got $80 million worth of unencumbered assets. We don’t have any debt, there’s no debt.
“So there’s no doubt we’ve got the financial backing... we’ve got a better financial backing than 90 per cent of the clubs in the competition.
“The point about financial backing is this - if you start off believing you’re going to organise yourself around the backing of a leagues club, you’re going to put a terrible plan together.
“What we’re trying to do is stand on our own two feet with a 20 to $30 million turnover, with new sponsors, new membership, and a new way of doing business.
“It’s nice knowing you’ve got the cushion there, but we’re not going in with that cushion.”