Insisting that the game has never been in better financial shape, Smith said the NRL would look at expansion and the structure of the competition as a blank page and decide the ideal number of teams, where they should be based and the amount of games in the season before commencing negotiations for the next broadcast deal. "We will come up with a set of recommendations and a set of options," Smith said. "That may or may not suggest more than 16 clubs, but it will certainly look at - with a clean sheet of paper - the footprint, the markets that we might want to operate in, how the broadcast rights overlay into those markets, the grassroots and all of those sorts of things that make a successful football club. "If you think about the Nines, if you think about the World Club Series, if you think about our ability to aggregate the big events, you are seeing growth. I think the key question is the competition structure and how we consider that, where you place Origin, whether the competition is 30 weeks, where you fit international football, how we expand on the World Club Series, because that was pretty successful." Asked if a decision would be made on expansion this year, Smith said: "Absolutely. It is a key question and it feeds into broadcast rights, but more importantly, it feeds into keeping the momentum and the progress that we have seen across the game".

Perth, a second New Zealand side, and another team in south-east Queensland, playing out of Suncorp Stadium, are the most likely options for a new NRL club but Rockhampton and Papua New Guinea also have official bids. Smith said former South Sydney chief executive Shane Richardson, who starts Monday in his newly created role of NRL head of strategy, had been charged with investigating expansion, the competition structure and a rookie draft. While major events such as Origin and the Nines generated a $13 million increase in revenue, Smith said player welfare concerns had to be addressed. However, he believes the Four Nations and World Club Series offer huge opportunities for growth and Fairfax Media understands that both events, as well as the Nines, have been bundled into the current broadcast rights for no additional cost. Our next rights deal has the potential to secure the game's long-term future. NRL CEO Dave Smith

"We have to think about the international aspect of our game," he said. "I think the World Club Series was a phenomenal success and our opportunities to leverage the English club system and leverage the international game are phenomenal, but we can only do that if we get the overall balance right. "Our players are our No.1 asset so I think player welfare and fatigue have to have careful consideration. What the game has never done is look at it with a blank sheet of paper, which is what we will do going into the next rights deal. It has never considered what is the best mix when you consider player welfare and when you consider broadcast rights and sponsorship deals." Smith also gave an insight into the NRL's expectations for the next television rights deal when he told the clubs that the game should be aiming for a 15 per cent increase in value per year provided it had its "house in order". "Our next rights deal has the potential to secure the game's long-term future," he said. "The current deal overcame the historical undervaluing of our rights. Around the globe there is a clear trend for the value of sports rights to be increasing. "We have an opportunity and indeed a responsibility to capture that value for our game. That means more money into the clubs, more money into the game, more money into the players, game development and grassroots."

Of the NRL's $209.5 million operating expenses last season, $132.8 million was distributed in funding to the 16 clubs and only two - Brisbane and South Sydney - made a profit, with the other 14 losing a combined $38 million. In addition, the NRL had to take control of Newcastle and this week Gold Coast, while loans totalling $14.3 million were provided to St George Illawarra, Wests Tigers and the Titans. Smith said the NRL had no intention of being a long-term owner of the Knights or Titans. "We do need 16 strong clubs within the next rights deal and going forward and we want to make sure we have got the best possible management in those clubs and the best possible leadership for the game going forward," he said.