The National Rugby League (NRL) is like any good business; always looking for opportunities to maximise its reach and revenue.
Many tipped adding a 17th side – and fourth in Queensland – would be a mistake.
But the Dolphins have proved even the most hardened sports critics wrong.
It's prompted the question of who will be the 18th NRL side.
The Brisbane Tigers were the runner-up for the 17th licence.
Now they've met with league officials to have another crack at getting in the national competition.
Who are the Tigers?
If the Dolphins wrote a "how-to guide" for old-but-new clubs to find success in the NRL, the Brisbane Tigers are following it closely.
Like their Redcliffe counterparts, the Tigers have been around for the better part of the past century, with a side currently in the reserve grade competition, the Queensland Cup.
It's also been a feeder club for the Melbourne Storm since 2010, with NRL veterans like the Rabbitohs' Cody Walker previously playing for the side.
Based in Coorparoo in Brisbane's inner south, the club's had several names since it was established in 1917, including Coorparoo and Eastern Suburbs Tigers – or Easts, to the locals.
They rebranded as the Brisbane Tigers in 2020, keeping their traditional orange and black colour scheme.
Are they serious about the bid?
You bet.
Shane Edwards, who is leading the club's latest campaign, says they've taken the NRL's feedback from their unsuccessful bid as the Brisbane Firehawks.
"They said it was an excellent bid. Obviously the decision-makers thought the Dolphins had a better bid," he said.
The club wants to see the south side of Brisbane represented in a national competition.
"This club is an NRL club to be," Mr Edwards said.
Wait, isn't there already a Tigers team in the NRL?
That was reason the Brisbane side called themselves the Firehawks in their previous bid.
The West Tigers are already in the national competition with an almost identical logo.
The club is "open minded" about new branding — even a name change — but for now it's the "Brisbane Tigers 18th team bid", Mr Edwards says.
Not confusing at all.
Didn't Brisbane just get a new team?
"I think we can all survive together," Brisbane Tigers CEO Brian Torpy said.
"We're 71 kilometres away from the Titans, and that's a large gap when you compare the Broncos that are 38 kilometres away from Redcliffe."
The soon-to-be-renamed Tigers hope to rally fans in Brisbane's south and western suburbs.
"You've got the Redlands, Logan, the Ipswich local governments, the fastest growing areas in Australia," Mr Torpy said.
"We're a rugby league state and we're a rugby league town, so I think there's enough support for another team."
And they haven't ruled out cutting the AFL's grass in the western corridor, in the wake of the Brisbane Lions moving their training base and headquarters to Springfield.
"We could take on the AFL in that area … to have greater rugby league representation out in the west," Mr Torpy said.
Do they have the facilities?
The big announcement has come with the unveiling of the club's $10 million stadium upgrade.
The venue will host at least three NRLW games this season, and several NRL clubs used the facilities already this year during Magic Round with no complaints.
"We can start tomorrow," Mr Torpy said.
Who's the Tigers' biggest competition for the 18th licence?
The federal government is already in discussions with the NRL about a Pasifika team.
There have even been whispers about a PNG side based in North Queensland, but the Brisbane Tigers say it's speculation.
"There's been a lot of talk in the media about Pasifika, North Sydney Bears, Perth, there's New Zealand, but we're not aware of any other bids," Mr Torpy said.
