- NRL wants a team up and running in WA by 2027
- However, it certainly won’t be the Western Bears
- WA Premier Roger Cook is behind new expansion talks
The NRL expansion team in Perth could be completed by Christmas as talks with the WA government reach their final stages.
On the same day a PNG team was granted a license to join the NRL from 2028, ARLC chairman Peter V’landys expressed confidence that a Perth-based franchise would also soon cross the line.
Perth was originally planned to enter the NRL as the 18th franchise in 2027 and play from HBF Park.
But the sports-mad city’s hopes of securing a license were thrown into doubt in October when the bid from a consortium made up of local investors and ex-NRL club North Sydney Bears was rejected.
Organizers of that bid failed to include a license fee in their proposal documents, prompting the league to involve the WA government in expansion talks.
It appears a government-backed bid will be the only way a Perth team can get off the ground, with V’landys saying the consortium’s hopes are “done”.
“That’s in the trash,” he said Thursday about the previous offer.
But V’landys was much more positive about the WA government’s push for inclusion in the league, led by Premier Roger Cook.
The NRL expansion team in Perth could be completed by Christmas as talks with the WA Government reach their final stages (pictured, ARLC chairman Peter V’landys)
It looks like a WA Government-backed bid will be the only way a Perth team can get off the ground, with Peter V’landys saying the Western Bears consortium’s hopes are ‘done’ (pictured, Bears identity Greg Florimo)
Roger Cook, the Prime Minister of Western Australia, is said to be a ‘rugby league fanatic’
“We have a very good relationship with the Prime Minister, a rugby league fanatic, a pleasure to be around, a really good guy,” he said.
“(The expansion) is in the hands of the Western Australian government. We made them aware of our demands.
‘They have never been concerned about the demands, they have been very positive about what we have said. If that all translates into a deal, I think it will happen very shortly.”
V’landys was optimistic a deal with Perth could be completed by Christmas.
‘Hopefully it’s under the tree. I’m not sure,” he said.
The NRL’s plan remains to expand to twenty teams over the next ten years, although the location of the said twentieth squad has yet to be determined.
New Zealand’s South Island appears to be a good choice, but three separate bids were rejected during the latest round of expansion applications. A fifth Queensland team is another option.
Christchurch welcomed a sell-out crowd to the Pacific Championships in October in the latest reminder of the potential in the South Island city, where construction of a new stadium is due to be completed in 2026.
“There is still some work left to reach 20, but that is the goal and this (PNG) is the first,” V’landys said.
“The West Australian is next and we have a lot of options for the 20th team.”