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NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg has vowed to try and strike while the iron is hot in Perth following the closure of Super Rugby’s Western Force.
But it won’t come in the form of a rushed together NRL team.
Perth is seen as a likely destination of the league’s next expansion team, following the collapse of the Western Reds in 1997 as a result of the Super League war.
However any expansion of the current 16-team competition is not expected until at least the next television rights deal in 2022, when additional Queensland teams, a second New Zealand side and even a Pacific franchise are also considered likely options.
But Greenberg said the game would look to make small moves into the state given the lack of either rugby code in the city as of next season.
“You won’t see us just landing a new NRL team there because of what’s happened to the Force but what you will see is us looking strategically at Perth to play games,” Greenberg told Triple M.
“Next year you can expect us to look very closely at what we can do in Perth for new opportunities also what we can do to continue our junior development programs and grassroots as well.
“But it’s not as simple as just picking up a club and moving it in there in the short term. It takes a lot more effort and a significant investment to make it work”
Two games per season have been taken to Perth in recent years, a figure that could be increased next year.
Australia hosted NZ in a Test match at nib Stadium last October and a World Cup rugby league double header will be played in the city in November before the new Perth Stadium hosts a State of Origin game in 2019.
There are 3,600 registered rugby league players in Western Australia and last year five of the West Coast Pirate’s SG Ball juniors debuted in the NRL’s under-20s competition in round one.
They have also lost a number of promising juniors — including Force players Curtis Rona and Chance Peni — to the 15-man game as an easier path to professional sport arrived.
However NRLWA chief executive, John Sackon, predicted to AAP earlier this year that the exclusion of the Force would give rugby league a free kick in the state if they wished to take it.
“The talented kids out of the rugby codes want to pursue a career,” Sackson said in May.
“That option now exists with the Force, and it could come back the other way.”
http://www.news.com.au/sport/nrl/nrl...b4bbfb9e1acd6d
The NRLWA are pushing for the next step to be U-20's then State Cup. I think there are moves afoot over east to align the U-20's to the State Cup structure rather than NRL. So the decision as to whether any WA teams play in the NSWRL or QRL could be a crucial one. The current SG Ball team plays in the NSWRL. The game in WA took such a battering since the Super League war that it has not recovered in terms of teenage teams performance. They are way off the mark. So, should the Force go down the NRL will need to put a lot of resources this way (and get a lot of ex-Rugby kids on board) if they want to produce enough players. I don't know if they are up for that given their own dramas with grass roots funding in NSW and Qld.
"The main difference between playing League and Union is that now I get my hangovers on Monday instead of Sunday - Tom David
North Sydney Bears have been pushing for years to gat back into the NRL, they could relocate them to Perth. West Coast Bears has a nice ring to it..
South Perth rabbitohs sounds better![]()
Get me inside a boardroom and I'll get any decision I want
Perth Bears hey? Heh heh heh...
Japan and the Pacific Islands for Aussie Super 9's!
Let's have one of these in WA! Click this link: Saitama Super Arena - New Perth Stadium?
Back in the dark ages mid to late 90's (so pre Google), when companies started using web based applications for most stuff there was a search engine called Hot Bot. Next thing the management at my workplace starts an inquiry as to who is looking at porn sites in breach of the IT policy.
PS. Before posting this I googled Hot Bot................someone has made a movie with that monika last year (1.5 star rating)...........Comedy · Hot Bot is the hilarious journey of two sexually repressed and unpopular teenage geeks who accidentally discover a life-like super-model sex bot ...
PPS. Chibi got me with that one once befor - but at home, Jargs.![]()
"The main difference between playing League and Union is that now I get my hangovers on Monday instead of Sunday - Tom David
"The main difference between playing League and Union is that now I get my hangovers on Monday instead of Sunday - Tom David
Well it would just be another club that the Gold Coast has killed.
Might even be a semi-new ops centre, gym and training paddock available ready to move an organisation into. *cries at the thought*
Edit - I'm also not being facetious for a change. This is the reality we could be faced with. *cries some more*
The Gold Coast is where sports go to die.
I think the Gold Coast Cougars vs the Perth Bears might be an anti-climax
Japan and the Pacific Islands for Aussie Super 9's!
Let's have one of these in WA! Click this link: Saitama Super Arena - New Perth Stadium?
Oh very good. You're on a roll today.![]()