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[R L Winger]

NRL bid of Perth and Ipswich gain momentum at the expense of Gosford


PERTH and Ipswich may be sharing a dream, but it could be Gosford's nightmare.

The NRL expansion bids from Western Australia and south-east Queensland's western corridor appear to be gaining momentum.

After a meeting in Sydney with league boss David Gallop yesterday, mining multi-millionaire Tony Sage and former Test hooker Ben Elias's plans for a WA team appear to have leapfrogged Central Coast Bears' bid.

Perth appears to now sit alongside Ipswich in pole position for when the Australian Rugby League Commission discusses expansion in June.

Chairman of Qld's Western Corridor bid team, Steve Johnson, said last night that Ipswich was the logical area for expansion, given it would not impact on the Broncos and boasted the biggest junior base in Australia.

Johnson, chairman of Ipswich Jets in the statewide Intrust Super Cup, said the bid team had a "compelling" case.

"It will (just) be a matter of jumping from semi-professional to a professional operation," he said.

"We think our bid is compelling and so does (Penrith football chief) Phil Gould, who was here earlier this month.

"By 2020 we will have a population the size of Brisbane and by then we would have our own stadium.

"Kids in this region are 55 per cent more likely to play rugby league than anywhere else in Queensland."

NRL chief executive Gallop emerged from his meeting with Sage and Elias yesterday to declare the merits of a Perth team were "obvious".

Gallop's preliminary support for a Perth side came as league legend Andrew Johns revealed a WA team was a "no brainer."

The Courier-Mail understands Perth, Ipswich and Gosford are the only contenders for two potential NRL spots, if the premiership is to expand to 18 clubs in 2015.

"A team in Perth would open more eyes to our game and make it a true national competition," Johns said. "

"WA is flying. There is that much money over there.

"The two teams I believe should be in are Perth and Central Coast, especially if John Singleton backs the Gosford bid."

Gallop said Sage, a former high school league player in Sydney, was building a strong case for the west."

Tony and Benny bring a unique combination of rugby league and business experience to the table," Gallop said.

"If the competition was to go beyond the existing teams, we'd need a robust business model and a clear indication the whole game will benefit."

Sage, worth $800 million through 13 mining companies, emerged from the meeting upbeat while

Elias reiterated his desire for Ricky Stuart to be inaugural coach.

[The Future is League]

The Central Coast stadium is already built and being used. The Central Coast should be joined by Perth when the new NRL franchise's are announced