BY IAN HOWE
THE likelihood of a Perth team being introduced into the NRL in 2027 or 2028 rose significantly last week after a meeting between Western Australia Premier Roger Cook and Australian Rugby League Commission Chairman Peter V’landys in Sydney on Thursday morning.
The two met after V’landys had asked the WA government to invest A$120 million (A$12 million a year over ten years) to give the new club financial security.
It was the first face-to-face meeting between the pair and Cook offered a significant financial uplift as its contribution to the bid, also committing to help fund community, pathways, development and infrastructure projects that would benefit the new club.
The total value of the Western Australian government’s proposal for a Perth-based team is said to be worth up to A$500 million in funding and infrastructure investment.
Last week’s developments came after the NRL rejected an offer of a A$20 million licence fee from the privately owned consortium behind the Western Bears.
The NRL prefers instead a direct partnership with the WA government, seeing it as a safer option than allowing private investors to run the new club.
The WA government would agree to upgrade facilities at Perth’s rectangular HBF Stadium to increase its capacity from a 22,500-seat venue to a 27,000-seat venue.
The stadium’s improved facilities would ensure that the new team could earn up to 70 per cent of its game-day revenue from corporate partnerships, while the government is also believed to have offered a period of rent-free use of the stadium for the NRL. The cost would normally be at least A$150,000 per game.
The proposed operating model would see the NRL controlling the team in its early years before transferring that role to the new club’s members and elected directors.
In order to provide player pathways within Western Australia, which is a noted AFL (Aussie Rules) state, the WA government has promised to introduce Rugby League into the curriculum of up to 24 high schools in the Perth metropolitan area and it will fund community development officers to ensure that the club is linked to the community grassroots programmes.
And the WA government is prepared to accept the Bears brand, which links with the North Sydney Bears, a foundation club in the original NSW Rugby League competition, but which now plays as a second-tier club.
The likelihood is that the new team would play at least a trial game at North Sydney Oval each year and possibly at least one NRL game in Sydney each year, possibly against Manly at Allianz Stadium suggested.
Other funding from the government would include an investment of $25 million (joint funded by the City of Fremantle and the state government) into a temporary high-performance facility in Fremantle while a long-term centre of excellence is built in the suburb of Malaga, which lies approximately seven miles north of the Perth central business district.
The NRL is reported to be anxious to announce a new team by the end of the year, enhancing the value of its lucrative TV rights for a new deal from 2028. The three-hour time gap between Perth and the east coast of Australia means that a game kicking off at 6.30pm in Perth would be shown live on the east coast at 9.30pm, potentially adding significantly to the value of the NRL’s TV deal.
It appears likely that a team in Papua New Guinea will be handed the licence to be the 19th team, with the city of Christchurch in New Zealand the likely 20th team.
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