Agree. And there's also the broadcaster angle, they don't want to pay for anything that goes up against AFL/NRL.
I wonder if we got to 18 teams whether we could fit that season into 30 weeks. Would only be four mid-week matches, they do plenty more than that in the rest of the world's leagues. It's more rounds which might lose some viewers, but 18 teams is probably a necessity on the way to pro/rel with a connected pyramid.
What do we have remaining? Canberra, Tasmania, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Townsville, Christchurch, promoted NST teams... I'm getting off track haha.