West Australia needs an NRL team by 2013

I think the team should be named the Perth Devils & use the Thorny Devil as the logo. It would be an original & unique animal to use & is found mainly only in the WA desert. http://images.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http://www.abc.net.au/nature/australasia/img/ep2/gall9.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.abc.net.au/nature/australasia/ep2_pic9.htm&usg=__LLrMiQPXP3aKVLfo3OVJffao11M=&h=263&w=400&sz=30&hl=en&start=17&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=KYwG0siygHBmnM:&tbnh=82&tbnw=124&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dthorny%2Bdevil%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26cr%3DcountryAU%26sa%3DN%26tbs%3Disch:1

CC Bears:1st/2nd and 3rd:It is a rl hotbed.As Gallop stated look for where the fish are.Col the Bear has spelt it out in detail. Perth:Not a hotbead by any stretch but more than just an outpost.It has a local compettion with juniors,and its juniors have played in schooboy state championships.It has an under 18 side competing with the other NRL clubs.It attracts decent crowds to NRL trials and premiership matches. Inclusion adds to the value of negotiating a TV contract with a national emphasis(re advertisers). The time zone factor adds to its TV appeal. 2nd Brisbane side:Why? ATM that city is rl central when it comes to per capita support for the code.The fish QED are there. A toss up between a C Qld side and a PNG side.The fish are biting in shoals in both areas.Trouble is the PNG shoal is immense.Cocal Cola has tossed in 1.5mK to the bid plus the PNG GOVt wants to toss in $20m for a stadium.I worry about security. Forget Darwin despite the code being popular there.The pop is too small. Look to Adelaide and Wellington(NZ) further down the timeline.And one from left field in 10 years a 2nd Melbourne side,you never say never.

Short and simple answer from me - Perth and Wellington.

CQ for an NRL team by a mile. We'll support the team, we have the fans, the State Government just promised a stadium if the Bid is successful, we have the history, we are RL heartland and have produced many greats of the game and 2 Legends in Mal Meninga and Duncan Hall - both made the Centenary team.

I don't like the idea of combinations like Central Queensland and Northern Territory; it's as silly as the suggestion that Canberra and Western Sydney can combine to form the basis of an AFL club. These sorts of ideas just don't work. What is possible, and it's a subtle difference, but an important one, is that you are a Central Queensland team, located there, supported by the people from that region, but you might choose to play one or two home games in Darwin, for arguments sake (very similar to Hawthorn playing three games or whatever it is, in Tassie).

Impossible for CQ to join w/ NT- logistically anyway. Where would you have the games, and you couldn't split them because the crowds would not know if it is there team or not, also the players, where would they live/train/promote. NT will have to wait a while, may be give them a Q-Cup team, and this is why a relegation system might be helpful to places like Darwin/NT, Sunshine Coast, Central QLD and PNG.

Some interesting reading in this week's rugby league mag. A perth team is a must along with the bears. And to introduce PNG into the comp, they need to work in patnership with NT. I think this is a good idea, it will bring them in slowly, sort out crowd troublew, allow games to be played in PNG, and any trouble, you can revert games back to NT. win/win. The other area which needs a team is NZ. They need some local rivalry to fire up the crowds. This is all we need, no more queensland teams, we can take games to other areas to promote games, not every area can support a team. NT only has 200 thousand people, so a full team is never going to be a good idea. Another option if the PNG government dont want to conbine, is Central queensland combining with NT.

It must be recognised that RL is an expanding game, no matter what Siva Samoa says, the World Cup has now expanded to 14 nations, USA seem to be implementing a professional league in 2011, Jamaica are implementing more competitions throughout the West Indies, the Middle East have now expanded to Palestine, and are hoping to move into Northern Africa (Egypt and Tunisia look like the targets). Even in the Former USSR states the game is moving ahead. And all of this said Australia is the greatest RL team in the world (according to the RLIF rankings), and we do not even have a national competition. I know we have knockers saying that RL is only localised to NSW and QLD, along with PNG and Auckland, whilst popular in Northern England and Southern France, but NSW and QLD is half the population of Australia, so don't forget that. But this is all said because RL needs Perth, Perth may not need league, but it would embrace it. If the game is expanding internationally, as it is nationally (according to TV ratings), than Perth should be our next option (along with CC Bears). This expansion does 2 things, we keep the heartland happy- and CC Bears would not fail to get crowds and sponsorship- whilst keeping the optimistic expansionists (I am one of them) happy. So IF Perth fail we have at least the CC Bears as our shining light and our headline news. But at the same time, we get more interstate viewers. This is integral to TV dollars and expansion of the game. Also, don't let them be called the Reds, I always think of Union, and they failed last time, may be something like Western Swans or an Aboriginal name, like Western Boomerangs or something (something hopefully better than those ideas, haha).

Maybe i should just start with Rugby League in the yellow pages. How about adding something real to the discussion and not some condescending comments tosser.

Can't agree with that at all, having Souths back in this competition has given the game international exposure, solely because Russell Crowe owns Souths.. Seeing Souths jerseys on TV in America is priceless.. games in Jacksonville Florida, priceless.. Bringing the BEARS back to the NRL.. priceless priceless priceless....

Bears and Souths were broke ay... while the WA Reds were $10 million in debt.

I reckon the Manly Sea Eagles ought to relocate to Sunshine Coast. The soon-to-be developed multi-purpose ground at Kawana Waters will probably end up being better than Brookvale Oval.

I'm not sure how much traction a RL team would get in Perth. The Saffas & Poms already have a S14 team. Having said that long-term a Perth NRL team makse more sense than AFL in Western Sydney. Right now the NRL probably does not have the resources to go fighting wars in faraway lands like WA without risking the NSW/Qld base. The last few years have been good for NRL reasserting itself over RU. I'd say a few more and then they can go to Perth, because when they do the AFL & ARU will not be impressed Regarding TV rghts a WA team can help, especially if you play 3 games back to back on a Sat night (NZ, Sydney, Perth) all in prime-time where they're being played

LMAO...

doesnt mean it was the best thing for Rugby League. It just means they won the argument of why they were excluded... There is plenty of happenings within the current structure of the NRL that if challenged in court would be won.... If RL is gona become a major player in the sporting market, it needs a clear administration and national exposure that isnt managed by emotion.

Well mate you never looked very hard did you,ever think of the phone book all the clubs are in it,or was that just to hard

Souths won a court case thats why Souths got back in the comp.. they won their case to be readmitted...

Col, there is apparently still major headaches between Wests and Balmain. I hear Humphries is on the way to fixing it though. Noyce was always trying to please everyone on both boards, but Humpty is standing his ground and simply managing the Wests Tigers. He is building a good financial outlook for the Wests Tigers and some major announcements may be on the way. Taking the 'Wests Tigers' over to Perth makes more sence than the 'Perth Pehrania's'...

The Northern Eagles were never going to work..the only way it might of worked if it was equal colours and a complete different name, but even in saying that Manly and Norths were never going to see eye to eye.. Balmain and Wests was a different story.. St george and Illawarra, a good fit, even though I think illawarra should have a NSW cup side of their own.. the North Shore and the Central Coast will be a good fit..it's a natural fit...and everyone will benefit from it..