The NRL’s fourth Queensland-based franchise has just joined the competition but the league may be about to add a fifth.

During the bidding war to be Brisbane’s second NRL club the Easts Tigers launched a bid and rebranded themselves to the Brisbane Tigers to better increase their chances of becoming a first-grade team.

After a long campaign they were ultimately unsuccessful when the NRL announced that The Dolphins bid was accepted following the 2021 NRL Grand Final.

However, the Tigers have not given up yet as the club has officially launched its bid to become the NRL’s 18th franchise at the grand opening of their new $10 million stadium.

The bid’s Chairman Shane Edwards spoke to NRL Senior Reporter Brad Walter about the Tigers missing out on becoming the NRL’s 17th team and their chances of becoming its 18th.

“We thought our bid was excellent and it was considered strongly by the NRL but that didn’t deter us, we want to be an NRL club and we are going to make it very hard for people to say ‘no’,” said Edwards.

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“We think we have got a strong bid, but we will listen to what the NRL say and what they are focusing on.

“I think the story we have got to tell over the coming months will give South-East Queensland a strong chance of having another team here.”

Edwards also confirmed that the Tigers are considering going by the name ‘Brisbane Firehawks’ if their bid is successful which is what they would have gone by if they joined the NRL this year.

While their ability to not give up is admirable, the Tigers bid to join the NRL will arguably be much harder this time around. They will not only be up against other Brisbane/Queensland-based franchises looking to join the NRL, a second Brisbane-based side have only just joined the league this year which makes it unlikely the Tigers bid will be passed on.

Perth, New Zealand, Pasifika and The Bears all have strong cases to put forward as to why their respective bids should be accepted and the Tigers will struggle to match them.