Give Perth WA the real thing

[Havenlad80]

Stop fannying about NRL with origin and on the road NRL games in Perth and give Perth the real thing in the 18th NRL franchise.

It’s only what they deserve after all the tremendous crowds they pulled in over the last few years and the fantastic grassroots RL currently going on in Western Australia as well as being historically screwed over during the super league war.

 

https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/state-of-origin/nrl-2023-perth-to-host-state-of-origin-rugby-league-news-optus-stadium-sport-reaction-nrl-scores/news-story/012c08b0a4b07478945321469a57d676

[Eddie]

45k is very impressive. 

[Havenlad80]

3 minutes ago, Eddie said:

45k is very impressive. 

45,814 is even better

seriously though that crowd along with the origin crowds are too good to ignore even for the NRL .

or you’d like to think that they are.

[Anita Bath]

One problem with creating a new team in Perth is the fans there have been used to seeing only the very best when fed Origin every other year. When they come and see an expansion team, particularly one that loses more than it wins, they might drop off and return to their other weekend sporting activities (= AFL and WAFL). NRL on a week by week basis is not like Origin

[The Daddy]

Has to be Perth next. But It's really important that the WA government and the bid team they choose to work with have a strong business case. They also need to establish what their player pool arrangements are, I expect them to team up with a NSW Cup team but what are the plans long term to bring through players from WA? 

The Dolphins have been so successful they've set a really high bar for future NRL entrants which is a good thing on the one hand but also difficult to live up to. 

My only other concern is the stadium situation in Perth. I don't think the HBF rectangular stadium or any other venue has that electric atmosphere or is really suited to the NRL. I love the Optus stadium, so maybe a new team should play there, it might be too big though. 

 

[corvusxiii]

5 hours ago, Havenlad80 said:

Stop fannying about NRL with origin and on the road NRL games in Perth and give Perth the real thing in the 18th NRL franchise.

Odd thing this. A close synonym to 'Fannying' is simply not acceptable in most social settings and often borderline even then.

Fannying however, in my experience of these things are often ... welcomed by Ladies and Gentlemen of a certain age and standing. 

To celebrate this I'm going to stop fannying about and leave this thread to continue in an efficient manner.

I'm on holiday.

[Havenlad80]

2 hours ago, Anita Bath said:

One problem with creating a new team in Perth is the fans there have been used to seeing only the very best when fed Origin every other year. When they come and see an expansion team, particularly one that loses more than it wins, they might drop off and return to their other weekend sporting activities (= AFL and WAFL). NRL on a week by week basis is not like Origin

And maybe they won’t.

The only way that we’ll find out is by let them into the NRL.

[Havenlad80]

2 hours ago, The Daddy said:

Has to be Perth next. But It's really important that the WA government and the bid team they choose to work with have a strong business case. They also need to establish what their player pool arrangements are, I expect them to team up with a NSW Cup team but what are the plans long term to bring through players from WA? 
 

 

 

 

The Dolphins have been so successful they've set a really high bar for future NRL entrants which is a good thing on the one hand but also difficult to live up to. 

 

My only other concern is the stadium situation in Perth. I don't think the HBF rectangular stadium or any other venue has that electric atmosphere or is really suited to the NRL. I love the Optus stadium, so maybe a new team should play there, it might be too big though. 
 

 

 

I believe that the WA government as fully supportive of a Perth bid and as for player pool arrangements they could either link up with a NSW cup team or a Queensland cup team like the Melbourne storm.

The dolphins are a good example for not just Perth or any other expansion team but for current existing NRL teams.

The HBF will be fine with a little upgrading and the Perth team could play their season opening home fixtures at Optus stadium along with another 2-3 high profile games against the broncos, warriors, storm and souths etc.

Edited August 6, 2023 by Havenlad80

[graveyard johnny]

what happened to Perth western reds? 

[Havenlad80]

6 minutes ago, graveyard johnny said:

what happened to Perth western reds? 

Killed off after the super league war.

[Futtocks]

5 minutes ago, graveyard johnny said:

what happened to Perth western reds? 

Part of the fallout of the ARL/SL war was the killing-off of promising expansion sides like Perth and Adelaide, along with clubs of convenience that weren't missed (such as Hunter Mariners, who were only created as a spoiler to Newcastle) and several other mergers/exclusions.

We should count ourselves lucky they didn't also kill off the NZ franchise, just out of spite.

[The Daddy]

1 hour ago, Havenlad80 said:

I believe that the WA government as fully supportive of a Perth bid and as for player pool arrangements they could either link up with a NSW cup team or a Queensland cup team like the Melbourne storm.

The dolphins are a good example for not just Perth or any other expansion team but for current existing NRL teams.

The HBF will be fine with a little upgrading and the Perth team could play their season opening home fixtures at Optus stadium along with another 2-3 high profile games against the broncos, warriors, storm and souths etc.

HBF has a poor atmosphere. Not good for TV viewership. Optus stadium yes, it's an awesome stadium. I believe it was voted the best looking stadium in the world, but might be too big for regular season games 

[Havenlad80]

29 minutes ago, The Daddy said:

HBF has a poor atmosphere. Not good for TV viewership. Optus stadium yes, it's an awesome stadium. I believe it was voted the best looking stadium in the world, but might be too big for regular season games 

Like I said previously a decent split of games between HBF park and Optus stadium should work nicely and with the WA government rolling in money Im sure they could stump up some serious cash to upgrade HBF park especially with having 3 potential codes calling it home.

[The Daddy]

6 minutes ago, Havenlad80 said:

Like I said previously a decent split of games between HBF park and Optus stadium should work nicely and with the WA government rolling in money Im sure they could stump up some serious cash to upgrade HBF park especially with having 3 potential codes calling it home.

Yeah a few games at Optus would work. 

[Anita Bath]

3 hours ago, Havenlad80 said:

I believe that the WA government as fully supportive of a Perth bid and as for player pool arrangements they could either link up with a NSW cup team or a Queensland cup team like the Melbourne storm.

The dolphins are a good example for not just Perth or any other expansion team but for current existing NRL teams.

The HBF will be fine with a little upgrading and the Perth team could play their season opening home fixtures at Optus stadium along with another 2-3 high profile games against the broncos, warriors, storm and souths etc.

The Dolphins are located in league-crazy Queensland though. Perth is Aussie rules crazy….two top level teams who both pull in large crowds at the massive optus stadium and a thriving state league.

I am not suggesting it shouldnt be located there…just keeping my feet on the ground about the crowds on a week to week basis. It would be important to avoid fixture clashes with the AFL teams….but AFL goes out of its way to plan these it seems sometimes (see recent fixture clashes in Queensland). They delay announcing the draw until after NRL draw announced and dont set day and time of each rounds games for second half of season until well into the season. Time difference and TV schedules dont give much leeway in fixing kick off times.  8 pm on east coast (prime time TV game) is 6pm in Perth and NRL is unlikely to want them for the prime time slot most weeks. So most games would likely be kicking off between 2 and 4 pm Saturday or Sunday which are the least popular start times for most teams.

 

 

[AB90]

8 hours ago, The Daddy said:

HBF has a poor atmosphere. Not good for TV viewership. Optus stadium yes, it's an awesome stadium. I believe it was voted the best looking stadium in the world, but might be too big for regular season games 

I’m struggling to see how your coming to the conclusion that ‘HBF has a poor atmosphere’ and will be bad for TV ratings. It’s a great stadium for rugby league and has just had plus $30m upgrades for the women’s FIFA World Cup.

[Adelaide Tiger]

Wasn’t a team from Perth once mooted as potential entrants into Super League along with a possible team from South Africa when SL was first proposed.  Or have I been eating too much cheese before bedtime?

[Havenlad80]

19 hours ago, Anita Bath said:

The Dolphins are located in league-crazy Queensland though. Perth is Aussie rules crazy….two top level teams who both pull in large crowds at the massive optus stadium and a thriving state league.

I am not suggesting it shouldnt be located there…just keeping my feet on the ground about the crowds on a week to week basis. It would be important to avoid fixture clashes with the AFL teams….but AFL goes out of its way to plan these it seems sometimes (see recent fixture clashes in Queensland). They delay announcing the draw until after NRL draw announced and dont set day and time of each rounds games for second half of season until well into the season. Time difference and TV schedules dont give much leeway in fixing kick off times.  8 pm on east coast (prime time TV game) is 6pm in Perth and NRL is unlikely to want them for the prime time slot most weeks. So most games would likely be kicking off between 2 and 4 pm Saturday or Sunday which are the least popular start times for most teams.

 

 

You could have said the exact same thing for the Storm and they have to compete against 9 AFL teams in Aussie rules mad Melbourne and yet they’ve managed to carve out a decent niche following.

[Havenlad80]

12 hours ago, Adelaide Tiger said:

Wasn’t a team from Perth once mooted as potential entrants into Super League along with a possible team from South Africa when SL was first proposed.  Or have I been eating too much cheese before bedtime?

Nothing about a Perth team joining super league in 1996 but there was talk about Perth being interested in joining super league about 5 years ago when Toronto Wolfpack was on the go in the British league.

Never heard anything about a South African side joining super league tbh.

[Adelaide Tiger]

8 hours ago, Havenlad80 said:

Nothing about a Perth team joining super league in 1996 but there was talk about Perth being interested in joining super league about 5 years ago when Toronto Wolfpack was on the go in the British league.

Never heard anything about a South African side joining super league tbh.

It must have been an article in an RL paper where I remember a suggestion that a South African team might be possible for SL as I distinctly remember a comment about South Africa being on the same timeline as the UK so games would be easy to show live in the UK.

[The Rocket]

9 hours ago, Havenlad80 said:

You could have said the exact same thing for the Storm and they have to compete against 9 AFL teams in Aussie rules mad Melbourne and yet they’ve managed to carve out a decent niche following.

I`d day far more than niche these days mate, in fact one of the best drawing, widely followed teams in the NRL and really getting a roll-on now with developing the game in Victoria, record participation this year. 

And whereas once they used to get newspaper coverage like the double-header in Perth did this week, i.e. one column 7 pages in from the back of the paper, to getting quite decent coverage nowadays and as is often commented on in the Aussie forum by people who live there, heaps of Storm merch to be seen around Melbourne. I` don`t think you can underestimate the effect this has either.

Relating this to the thread of Catalans` ability to grow League in France, I`d say the Storm are a great example of a team who are leveraging their success to spread the game in their home region through a lot of community initiatives and clear pathways, Le Dracs` ought to try it sometime.

 

Edited August 7, 2023 by The Rocket

[Havenlad80]

6 hours ago, Adelaide Tiger said:

It must have been an article in an RL paper where I remember a suggestion that a South African team might be possible for SL as I distinctly remember a comment about South Africa being on the same timeline as the UK so games would be easy to show live in the UK.

In theory yes a South African side in super league is possible just like the South African rugby union sides in the united rugby championship but in reality it’s not happening as RL in South Africa is next to non existent unfortunately.

[Havenlad80]

5 hours ago, The Rocket said:

I`d day far more than niche these days mate, in fact one of the best drawing, widely followed teams in the NRL and really getting a roll-on now with developing the game in Victoria, record participation this year. 

And whereas once they used to get newspaper coverage like the double-header in Perth did this week, i.e. one column 7 pages in from the back of the paper, to getting quite decent coverage nowadays and as is often commented on in the Aussie forum by people who live there, heaps of Storm merch to be seen around Melbourne. I` don`t think you can underestimate the effect this has either.

Relating this to the thread of Catalans` ability to grow League in France, I`d say the Storm are a great example of a team who are leveraging their success to spread the game in their home region through a lot of community initiatives and clear pathways, Le Dracs` ought to try it sometime.

 

Yeah the storm are coming along nicely and are now an indispensable asset to the NRL especially regarding TV rights and sponsorship for the competition as a whole.

Don’t see why a potential Perth team couldn’t replicate this as they have everything going for them off the field you would need to succeed like a huge and ever increasing population in a sports mad city and a rolling in cash supportive WA government backing their bid.

add in the fact that Perth and the greater Perth area has a large English and kiwis expat population as well as a large Aussie interstate population which could swell the away support at home games for Perth.

[Wellsy4HullFC]

5 hours ago, The Rocket said:

I`d day far more than niche these days mate, in fact one of the best drawing, widely followed teams in the NRL and really getting a roll-on now with developing the game in Victoria, record participation this year. 

And whereas once they used to get newspaper coverage like the double-header in Perth did this week, i.e. one column 7 pages in from the back of the paper, to getting quite decent coverage nowadays and as is often commented on in the Aussie forum by people who live there, heaps of Storm merch to be seen around Melbourne. I` don`t think you can underestimate the effect this has either.

 

Would Victoria benefit from a second team? Surely a big derby match would be the next step to really building a strong foothold there?

Is there a rugby league following that good the Storm in disdain that could be tapped into?

[Havenlad80]

16 minutes ago, Wellsy4HullFC said:

Would Victoria benefit from a second team? Surely a big derby match would be the next step to really building a strong foothold there?

Is there a rugby league following that good the Storm in disdain that could be tapped into?

Quite possibly yes and when you again add in the fact that Melbourne is still a fast growing city with a projected population of nearly 6 million by 2030 it’s certainly an attractive long-term prospect but for now(5-10 years) there’s more important untapped markets like Perth or NZ2 Christchurch/wellington or the rapidly expanding south east Queensland region.

plus there’s a limited number of expansion places available as 20 teams seems to be the preferred maximum number of teams for the competition for the foreseeable future.