A conservative National Rugby League "has pushed expansion and the referee bunker system back a year as they do further reviews of their worth to the code," according to Chris Garry of the Brisbane COURIER-MAIL.
Prospective NRL teams, whose creators "have poured thousands of dollars into their bids already, will remain clueless about their chances of a license for at least another 12 months." NRL Head of Football Todd Greenberg said that "the expansion review would actually begin next month and take at least 12 months to complete." The NRL "is still interested in bringing one or two new teams into the competition for the 2018 season when the new broadcast deal starts."
However, the delays in even naming the contenders "mean some bids may not have enough time" to organize their structure. The bunker, a version of the NHL video refereeing system which sees all video officials make decisions from a studio outside the stadium, "is also on hold."
It was anticipated the bunker "could be trialled in the NRL this year, but it will only be tested." Greenberg: "It won’t be in place this year. We will be testing it but you won’t see a bunker in 2015" (COURIER-MAIL, 2/2).
