The Brisbane Bombers entered the race for the Gold Coast Titans' National Rugby League license "armed" with a A$10M ($7.98M) bid to "stave off the North Sydney Bears and keep the club on the Gold Coast," according to Peter Badel of the Brisbane COURIER-MAIL. A Bombers consortium has reportedly "begun due diligence into the Titans after contacting the NRL to formally express interest in buying the financially-stricken club." The NRL last week officially placed the Titans up for sale, "prompting Rebecca Frizelle to resign" as club chair as she "ramps up plans to purchase the club" with former co-Owner Darryl Kelly. Frizelle and Kelly are "red-hot" favorites to clinch the Titans license, while North Sydney represents "a threat" with a A$7M ($5.6M) bid aimed at "reviving the famous Bears as an NRL identity." But the Brisbane consortium "has the financial muscle to blow rival bids out of the water." Bombers CEO Nick Livermore, whose late father, Ross, was formerly the CEO of the Queensland Rugby League and a board member at the Gold Coast Chargers, said, "We'll be making a bid for the Titans license. ... Our motivation is growing the game and bringing stability to the Titans on the Gold Coast." Livermore praised the work of Frizelle and Kelly and said that the Brisbane group "had no plans to relocate the Titans." He said, "Fans should not be concerned, we have no plans to move the Titans. It's important that the Titans stay on the Gold Coast full-time" (COURIER-MAIL, 9/13).
