Pacific pitch: new bid's grand plans for NRL expansion

A new Auckland-based bid wants to join the NRL and host games in Tonga, Samoa and the Cook Islands. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP PHOTOS)

A fresh Auckland-based expansion bid has told the NRL they would take games to Tonga, Samoa and the Cook Islands each year, if admitted to the competition.

In a first-of-its-kind proposal, the Mana Pasifika submitted its expansion bid to the NRL last week, after first raising the idea with league bosses close to five years ago.