Should the NRL give the Wild West another chance?
Roar Pro By Gabriel Knowles, 11 Jun 2009 Gabriel Knowles is a Roar Pro
- Tagged:
- Bundaberg Rum Cup, David Gallop, Members Equity Stadium, NRL, NSW Cup, Rugby League, Swine Flu, WA Reds, Western Australia rugby league
National Rugby League CEO David Gallop at a press conference at NRL headquarters. AAP Image/Mick Tsikas
This Saturday night, top flight rugby league is being played in Western Australia again, which gives the people of Perth the chance to show the NRL whether or not their state is ready for a team again.
Only a handful of NRL games have been played in Perth since the Reds were disbanded following the 1997 season with a reported $10 million debt accrued by flying opposition teams out to face them.
The swine flu scare hasn’t helped with much of the game’s lead up coverage being dominated by the threat of the match being called off. But the word is that 10,000 seats of the 18,000 capacity Members Equity Stadium have been sold already.
That’s pretty good message to send NRL headquarters but to be fair anything even slightly positive is sure to be pretty well received by David Gallop and co at the moment.
Whether or not that’s enough to get the Reds front and centre is another story, though.
The Force have shown that the potential is there for the Perth public to take to a new team. Their reasonably impressive crowd averages suggest that the market is there for an oval ball code that isn’t AFL.
The problem is that WA Reds are yet to get a win on the board in the Bundaberg Rum Cup this season, their second in the division following last year’s introduction which Reds officials trumpeted as their first step on the road back into the NRL.
Unfortunately, you’d have to imagine that their side’s inability to get a win so far this season is jeopardising the alleged plans for the Reds to join either the QLD Cup or the NSW Cup before stepping up to the NRL.
While it isn’t a make or break criteria, a strong competition and pathway for local players is high on the NRL’s agenda for incoming sides, as it should be.
But in this case, is there an argument that the NRL side is needed first to generate the interest required to promote their efforts?
At the moment, the WARL First Grade competition only has eight teams and produces some fairly lopsided results which points, understandably, towards a lack of depth.
WIth an NRL side and the lure of more professional contracts, the standard would undoubtedly improve as better players moved west to try their luck.
The Storm have shown just how quickly the presence of a professional team can have an effect on local and specifically, junior competitions.
Whether or not that’s enough for the NRL is a big call.
But you never know.
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June 11th 2009 @ 10:11am
MarkH said | June 11th 2009 @ 10:11am | Report comment
Im not so sure. The NRL already tried this a few years ago and it flopped. It cant go to a 19-20 team comp without some teams folding. Already people are talking about Nth Syd bears going to the Central Coast, Cronulla folding..it dosnt make good business sense. Finnos right, your not going to get the numbers for a starter. It could lead to even more issues financially for the NRL.
June 11th 2009 @ 11:10am
JF said | June 11th 2009 @ 11:10am | Report comment
Why this obsession with expansion? RL has significant populations of die-hard fans in NSW and QLD without a connection to a current NRL team, Central Queensland for example, and you want a team in WA! The NRL should focus on improving support and protecting their interests in their home states before such expansion is warranted. Why is it that football codes are obsessed with expansion? The english super league is limited to a relatively small geographical area, but produces a quality, successful competition that is heavily supported by passionate local fans. It seems, particularly in Australia, the football codes get caught up in this pissing contest of who can expand further, who has the right to be called a truly national game, who will be the first to take over the world.
June 11th 2009 @ 11:37am
Towser said | June 11th 2009 @ 11:37am | Report comment
JF
Have to agree JF.Having been brought up in the North of England what you say is spot on. Although brought up in a football city(Sheffield) I dont remember the pissing contests(aptly named) that go on here. In fact if you look at the North of England RL towns sit next to football towns within kilometres of each other & indeed some like Bradford,Leeds,Hull have well supported teams in both. I always remember an old chinese proverb about the twigs & sticks. gather a few sticks within close proximity to each other & put them in a bundle. Add other sticks from around the area & the bundle gets stronger.
Individually the twigs are weak & easily snapped. So what RL is trying to do is get a twig in Perth gather other twigs around it to make it strong. Problem is theres bugar all RL twigs in Perth, the bundle is in NSW & QLD so its easy to snap it. Better to add to the twig bundle in NSW/QLD to make it stronger. You’ve only got to look at how the stand alone Melbourne twig is always having to try & get hold of NSW/QLD twigs because its got none of its own.
June 11th 2009 @ 12:08pm
Cracker said | June 11th 2009 @ 12:08pm | Report comment
Quite right JF – they all seem to be scrambling for territory and new markets like there’ll soon be nothing left. Maybe they are right but I have no doubt that some footy clubs will go under in the next few years as a result of there being such massive exposure to sports teams across the country.
June 11th 2009 @ 12:10pm
Cracker said | June 11th 2009 @ 12:10pm | Report comment
Very good twig analogy Towser
June 11th 2009 @ 12:29pm
Towser said | June 11th 2009 @ 12:29pm | Report comment
Cracker
Glad you twigged on to it.
June 11th 2009 @ 1:02pm
Finno said | June 11th 2009 @ 1:02pm | Report comment
I think the RL is concerned that while AFL, soccer and union are looking to expand, I suppose they feel they have to expand as well. AFL is very cautious with expansion and soccer is to agressive. If AFL move to the western suburbs of sydney it will probably survive and even be a success. But if you shut down, Cronulla and move them to Western Australia there could be a risk of the Western Australian based team folding. You would be left with nothing except a debt and egg on someones face. Its insane to think that Qld has 3 soccer team and 2 League teams. Soccer success yet to be proven. Why the NRL hasnt got a club in Toowoomba or Rockhampton is amazing to me. I think Parramatta, Penrith, Cronulla are probaly ripe for the picking. The fans have to get use to it and you need plenty of time to let the idea sink in. The NRL will not survive with more teams. And Sydney teams will not survive if they dont move to Qld
June 11th 2009 @ 1:31pm
macavity said | June 11th 2009 @ 1:31pm | Report comment
Finno, you don’t follow RL, do you?
June 11th 2009 @ 1:48pm
ren said | June 11th 2009 @ 1:48pm | Report comment
perth needs and deserves a team in the nrl as soon as possible. We have the third biggest junior base and continually win the assosciated states championship. Melbourne only came bout because of NEWS, that license should of stayed in the west. The reds are the forgotten victims of super league. Not given any time to build a solid foundation before super league the fast rise in player payments wiped out the reds.
June 11th 2009 @ 2:05pm
Tom Alexander. said | June 11th 2009 @ 2:05pm | Report comment
Expansion in everything will always happen burger chains shopping centres cinemas when the population grows more people want to be entertained people forget Rugby League already had a 20 team competition in 1995 that was so successful that Murdoch and Packer fought for control over it and so began the Pay tv AKA Superleague War unfortunately so much damage was done that the crowd figures during that massively successful period have never been equalled except in you guessed it the free to air and pay tv veiwing domain but probably needs more carefull planning this time around.