Even New South Wales great Andrew Johns believes Queensland should be the focus of NRL expansion and has called for two new teams to be introduced in the state.
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The suggestion comes in the wake of incoming ARLC Chairman Peter Beattie stressing a need for rugby league to diversify in Australia saying the game must "expand or die".
Asked on Triple M Brisbane's Dead Set Legends, Johns conceded Queensland should be the focus of expansion with NSW boasting more than triple the sides of their State of Origin rivals.
"I think there needs to be another team in Brisbane and a team out of Central Queensland," Joey said.
"I don't know where they play, out of Rocky...
| test test | Test | Test 2 | Test 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 123 | 15 | 32 |
| Feb | 564 | 16 | 23 |
| Mar | 687 | 17 | 14 |
| Apr | 1022 | 18 | 5 |
| May | 1304 | 19 | -4 |
| Jun | 1586 | 20 | -13 |
| Jul | 1868 | 21 | -22 |
| Aug | 2150 | 22 | -31 |
| Sep | 2432 | 23 | -40 |
| Oct | 2714 | 24 | -49 |
| Nov | 2996 | 25 | -58 |
| Dec | 3278 | 26 | -67 |
"But there needs to be a couple more teams in Queensland."
Though an advocate of expansion in the state, Johns still backs the Blues to take out Origin this year and believes Mitchell Pearce will be given another crack at number 7.
A recent report suggested Cairns and PNG were contemplating teaming up to launch an expansion bid with Beattie open to the idea.
“Don’t rule out PNG; you go to PNG and it’s the number one game; they’re folk heroes when they go there,” he said.
“And if they’ve got a link to Cairns, that’s possible.
“The real ingredient is they’ve got to be financially viable.
"At this stage, I don’t have a favourite — we’ve got to work it through."
