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Cashed-up contender emerges for 20th team as deadline revealed; Bears sign rugby star: NRL Daily The race for the 20th NRL licence is heating up following reports another Queensland-based bid has emerged as a real contender. According to The Courier Mail, a bid out of the Brisbane region of Logan have powerful resources and the backing set to turn heads at the NRL with said bid connected to Brisbane’s western corridor. Watch every game of every round of the Premiership Season LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1. The cashed-up consortium believe their proposal will be able to sway the right people in order to win the 20th licence and join the competition in 2029. There have already been talks had during the season between this consortium and the NRL as per The Courier Mail. ARLC chairman Peter V’landys says any prospective team wishing to join the league will need to be able to show they can come up with $100 million to enter the competition. It’s also been reported that V’landys is hoping to make a call on who will be the newest NRL team by Christmas. A second team out of New Zealand is still a strong possibility with Christchurch and Hamilton options, but a fifth Queensland team would certainly appease local broadcasters more so. BEARS SIGN AUSTRALIAN RUGBY STAR The Perth Bears have signed one of the country’s best young rugby union players who says he’s code-hopping because he feels his “future is best served” playing rugby league. Cooper Watters, 20, has signed a two-year deal with the code’s next franchise after enjoying a swift rise through the rugby ranks which has led to him playing for the Australian Schoolboys and Australia’s Rugby Sevens sides. The Bathurst product also spent two years in the under-20 Junior Wallabies team and the NSW Waratahs under-20s side. He has already started training with the North Sydney Bears NSW Cup squad in preparation for a pre-season with the Perth Bears under coach Mal Meninga, who described Watters as a “trailblazer”. “He is being bold by joining the Bears, which is a core value of the club, as we look to build the foundations for a long and successful future,” Meninga said. “Cooper’s background in sevens has given him something you can’t really coach — the ability to read space, beat defenders one-on-one and finish under pressure at speed.” Watters grew up playing rugby league so his transition back to the game shouldn’t be too difficult. He said it was always his dream to play in the NRL. “I’ve loved every bit of my union and sevens journey, but when I look honestly at where my future is best served, I think league is the right path for me. I feel like my skill set is built for it,” Watters said. “Coming into a new club is a bit daunting, but I think it’s the perfect place for me knowing the frameworks the Bears have in place, and I look forward to growing my game under Mal Meninga and his team.” General Manager of Football Gareth Holmes said the Bears had designed a development program built specifically to help Watters make that switch back to league. “We’re going to give him every chance to make it,” Holmes said. “This is exactly the kind of signing that reflects our broader recruitment philosophy — we’re not limiting ourselves to conventional pathways. “Cooper’s athletic profile and his rugby pedigree make him a fantastic addition to our development group, and it reinforces the depth and ambition of the talent pipeline we’re building as we head toward our first season.”