Interesting as I interpret it differently. The Gorn in SNW are all about protecting their space but also seem intent on expanding their space as well as their race. They don't seem open to communication though they are quite clearly able as they messaged Starfleet.....
They remind me of one race- Humans. Us right now. Aggressive governments pushing their borders forward with a high body count. Not willing to budge. That's the thing with Trek- everything is open to personal interpretation and civilised discussion.
All they had to do was tell the story they wanted to tell with a new species.
Yep they could but there will be another subset of fans complaining that they have introduced a new major race that wasn't seen in TOS. A no-win scenario....
If it doesn’t conflict with TOS most would be fine with it I think. More so than unnecessarily rewriting the Gorn for example.
I have never seen any fan complain that they introduced something new! Lots of complaints about retreading familiar ground. I think we all want strange NEW worlds!