Southern Orcas chairman Andrew Chalmers has vowed "we're not going away" despite the Wellington franchise being pipped by the Gold Coast for a spot in the NRL competition in 2007.

Chalmers, a director on the New Zealand Rugby League Board, said he was in negotiations with two NRL clubs about staging a game at Wellington's Westpac Trust Stadium next year.

"We're not going away," Chalmers said.

"Rest assured, we're committed to getting a (second) side in New Zealand, it just means it is going to take longer."

Chalmers said the Wellington franchise, backed by an anonymous Belgian billionaire, was looking to secure strategic partnerships with existing NRL clubs, providing Australia-based teams an opportunity to tap into their vast junior playing talent.

"The sorts of strategic partnering opportunities we are looking at is getting games being posted in Wellington and also a tie-up with our development structures," Chalmers said.

"Last year, out of Wellington's under-18 champion side which won the national junior competition, over three quarters of those players have NRL contracts.

"In Wellington we launched a regional academy with 20 part-time and 20 full-time athletes.

"The interest in the area is huge and we want to evolve that partnership in a structured way rather than it being swamped by scouts and talent managers and the like trying to pluck the young players out."

Chalmers said Wellington's most realistic chance of gaining entry into the NRL was if an existing team decided to relocate.

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