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With the announcement than Tony Sage is keen to give Perth a presence in the NRL again, the dream of actually having a ‘National’ Rugby League might be one step closer.
And despite thoughts that are already whirring in my head about Sage pooling all his resources under one banner and turning Perth Glory into some sort of amalgamated super club with teams in multiple sports (It’s done in Europe for example, such as Barcelona and Olympiakos featuring football and basketball teams as well as presences in smaller sports) I can’t help but think about the drawbacks.
For starters, there’s a big concern over the fan base. I know I’ll get shouted down for this but can anyone seriously envision a sustained presence of more than 10,000 after the original hoopla dies down?
When the Western Reds entered the competition in 1995, they got a crowd of 24,392 for their first game against St. George. The second against Cronulla again cracked the 20,000 mark. The next two home tilts at the WACA both yielded over fifteen thousand but after those four games, it all went steadily downhill.
Their fifth and sixth games barely exceeded ten thousand spectators. And after that, they only cracked five digits at the WACA another eight times out of 23 matches.
Their final game, when it was known or at least suspected that the Reds’ license would not be renewed, only 12,307 people showed up. A respectable figure for a regular season game – but barely half the amount that turned up for that first match just two seasons earlier.
Between 1995 and 1997, the public interest in Rugby League in Western Australia had halved.
The most practical way of solving this problem would be to package some sort of deal with the Glory, and introduce some sort of Superticket that the fans could use all year round, at a discounted rate of course.
I think it’s well known that rich guys don’t buy football clubs to make money, and if Sage is really passionate about sports in W.A then this sort of marketing scheme would be a no-brainer.
The Glory’s crowds (the real one, not the hypothetical NRL team) have dwindled since making the transfer from the NSL to the A-League and have gone from 35,000 fans at NSL finals to an nib Stadium that is often more than half empty – in one match a couple of seasons ago against the Phoenix the crowd was 4,433, less than 25% of the ground’s capacity. Which would be fine at say, ANZ Stadium, but not when the arena is only built for 20,000 people. The Glory have never sold out their new stadium, the highest being 16,019 at the start of last year.
So maybe in a strange way, a Rugby League team arrived on the scene could be fantastic for the Glory. The seasons don’t clash, there’s not nearly as much animosity between the codes as there is AFL and the NRL and judging from the random NRL games that have taken place in Perth in the last few seasons, crowds have been respectable. Again, I worry if this is sustainable as more than a novelty.
But perhaps I’m focusing too much on the drawbacks, and finding solutions to problems that don’t exist yet. Here’s why it would be fantastic:
The National Rugby League is not a national competition. It’s played mainly in two states, Canberra and sparingly in Melbourne. The AFL has multiple teams in every state except Tasmania, which gets several games in Hobart and Launceston each year. The NRL has never played a competitive match on the Island, although a trial in Hobart between the Storm and Broncos will take place later this year.
It’s been reported from multiple sources that the Penrith Panthers have struggled to find a new major sponsor since parting ways with Sanyo, whereas the Greater Western Sydney Giants have had no trouble finding a plethora of deals, including the aforementioned electronics company that for so long adorned the chest of that black jersey.
And this is factoring in that the Panthers are an institution out west and the Giants are an intruder, with an unproven fan base and no clue whether or not they will be a commercial success. How is this so? It’s simple – sponsors know if their team plays AFL, the brand will be seen all around the country – not just on the upper half of the East Coast.
Having a team in Perth will further stretch the NRL’s marketing power. Not only that, the time difference will allow for an extra live game, resulting in a potential quadruple header on Saturday – starting in New Zealand and finishing in Western Australia.
It’s become clear to the fans for a while now that getting us to the game is not the governing body’s priority and hasn’t been for some time; TV ratings are what matter and the more live games, the better it is for the NRL.
Who knows if any of this will actually happen; this is the same Tony Sage that just last month was abusing the Glory fans and threatening to quit the club and now wants to not only continue to play a huge part in football in Western Australia, but also Rugby League? It all seems a bit precarious to me.
Regardless, a well-run and financially stable Perth club is an absolute must for the NRL. I don’t want to turn this into a Central Coast v Perth expansion argument, because I think both are ultimately viable – but in terms of strengthening the game as a brand, one is clearly a better option than the other.
And of course, they might just stick with the Reds name even if Sage is involved. After all, there’s the WA Reds plugging away in the S.G Ball competition and formerly in the Bundaberg Rum Cup. That’s not to say the same ideas I talked about above can’t work even if the team names are different. In fact, I would argue that a partnership or at least collaboration between the Glory and Reds would be absolutely vital to the success of both.
Who knows, we might see the former Reds legend Mark Geyer announced as the new franchise’s first coach. A man can dream.
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