18th club, whose next?

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

If the 18th team was in Brisbane, NZ or PNG where would they get their players?
Why wouldn't those players play for Perth (or any other NRL club)?

The Melbourne Storm experiment has limited the NRL's expansion options for decades. The club's creation was on the back of the game losing teams in Brisbane, Newcastle and Perth. Gold Coast was then axed a year or two later. Sydney lost a few teams. It led to a void in SEQ. Storm benefitted from this void by siphoning the best juniors -- with the aid of News Ltd's money -- and attracting bandwagon supporters from SEQ. The club had to spend money it didn't have to sustain onfield success. The result of their sustained on field success -- which came at a cost of extra $100m over 20 years than what all clubs bar Brisbane spent -- an active fanbase of 16k in Melbourne.

Now they're at risk of losing support and juniors from SEQ because we've got the Dolphins and Titans.

Adding Perth will potentially set the Melbourne Storm up for terminal decline. Perth will raid the same junior competitions in Queensland, NSW and NZ. The only way Perth will draw an active fanbase of 16k is through sustained onfield success. It's the model the Perth Wildcats have used for 30 years. The Force and Glory draw similar attendances to the Western Reds in 96 and 97 because they've not had sustained onfield success.

There's just not enough high quality juniors in the game's heartland to keep the Melbourne Storm and a Perth-based team in the top 4 every year.

 

[Jimmy Wiggle]

Cowboys only picked up 2 wins but averaged 21,670 to their home games.

The fact the Reds could only draw 13k in their debut season with a strong roster shows there's limited potential in Perth. The only way they could hope to draw 16k or more is if they sit inside the top four every year like the Storm. That's not going to happen.

Rugby League Tables / Attendances 1995

Rugby League Tables - NRL Stats & Tables

afltables.com

In all due respect, you have no idea about rugby league in Perth.
Do you enjoy watching NRL from a cricket field? That was 1995 attendance. Super League came in and severely affected 96 & 97 attendance.
NRL is a hell of a lot more popular than Union over here, parents put their kids in union because there is a pathway, yet we are still losing about 15 kids a year to schools over east.
I can guarantee you that if a WA team was announced now for 2026, we would double our player numbers before then.

 

[Bukowski]

In all due respect, you have no idea about rugby league in Perth.
Do you enjoy watching NRL from a cricket field? That was 1995 attendance. Super League came in and severely affected 96 & 97 attendance.
NRL is a hell of a lot more popular than Union over here, parents put their kids in union because there is a pathway, yet we are still losing about 15 kids a year to schools over east.
I can guarantee you that if a WA team was announced now for 2026, we would double our player numbers before then.

No need to show him respect. He just comes up with bullshit to suit his agenda.

 

[Perth Red]

You said news ltd will decide

my biggest fear is we weaken the storm by bringing in Perth

the dolphins are already cutting off the available players to them

Perth would be like Melbourne having to take juniors elsewhere

I’d much rather we delayed Perth and let the storm continue strengthening

once mz2, png and Brisbane 3 start producing so much more players then Perth would be an easy addition they wouldn’t have to worry about players

no I said tv partners will be part of the decision. Nrl is still figuratively owned by news ltd, of course they’ll have a say.

we weakend the Storm bringing brisbane2 in more. They literally raided their pack. No reason if perth partner with jets, Bears,Blacktown or Wentie, that it would have any impact on Storm any more than any other club. Storm don’t need three feeder clubs, especially if they,and the arlc, get their sht together in Vic.

this does lean to a big failure on the arlc though to do anything about growing the talent pool in the last ten years. The work in developing wa talent should have started in 2013 when they took over the game in WA. Instead they’ve neglected it, cut funding and here we are now discussing how perth will produce players.

 

[Perth Red]

Reds drew abysmal attendances despite having a strong roster. Just 13k in their debut season. Less than 9k in 1996 and 1997. What they drew is in line with the Perth Glory and Western Force over the last few years.

Never finished bottom of the attendance table though.
Heartland? bah.

 

[Wb1234]

no I said tv partners will be part of the decision. Nrl is still figuratively owned by news ltd, of course they’ll have a say.

we weakend the Storm bringing brisbane2 in more. They literally raided their pack. No reason if perth partner with jets, Bears,Blacktown or Wentie, that it would have any impact on Storm any more than any other club. Storm don’t need three feeder clubs, especially if they,and the arlc, get their sht together in Vic.

this does lean to a big failure on the arlc though to do anything about growing the talent pool in the last ten years. The work in developing wa talent should have started in 2013 when they took over the game in WA. Instead they’ve neglected it, cut funding and here we are now discussing how perth will produce players.

Yeh if the arlc has spent 100 million over the past ten years on Perth they now would be able to produce their own side just like gws have

 

[AlwaysGreen]

no I said tv partners will be part of the decision. Nrl is still figuratively owned by news ltd, of course they’ll have a say.

we weakend the Storm bringing brisbane2 in more. They literally raided their pack. No reason if perth partner with jets, Bears,Blacktown or Wentie, that it would have any impact on Storm any more than any other club. Storm don’t need three feeder clubs, especially if they,and the arlc, get their sht together in Vic.

this does lean to a big failure on the arlc though to do anything about growing the talent pool in the last ten years. The work in developing wa talent should have started in 2013 when they took over the game in WA. Instead they’ve neglected it, cut funding and here we are now discussing how perth will produce players.

Lol, Melbourne have been raiding everyone since imception. And given nothing back in return.

 

[Perth Red]

Yeh if the arlc has spent 100 million over the past ten years on Perth they now would be able to produce their own side just like gws have

Wouldn’t have needed fraction of that.
The $700k they currently get up to say $3mill a year would have been a massive game changer and we’d see a lot more wa talent coming through and all this talk of where will perth get players from diminished. Like other poster said at moment WA kids have a choice of going to union, giving it up or packing up and heading east at 16 or 17.

ps dolphins have had 75 years squillions of pokie dollars and still will be years off producing their own nrl side in a heartland area, just saying.

 

[AlwaysGreen]

AFL Red has no idea that an NRL first grader doesn't just develop overnight from a local comp or a second tier comp.

This isn't afl pal where the prerequisite to mske the top grade is to be 50kg, have a long neck and be white.

 

[Brian potter]

Lol, Melbourne have been raiding everyone since imception. And given nothing back in return.

Don’t they increase the value of a TV deal thus helping increase the value of the salary cap and sponsorship etc?

 

[Gobsmacked]

In all due respect, you have no idea about rugby league in Perth.
Do you enjoy watching NRL from a cricket field? That was 1995 attendance. Super League came in and severely affected 96 & 97 attendance.
NRL is a hell of a lot more popular than Union over here, parents put their kids in union because there is a pathway, yet we are still losing about 15 kids a year to schools over east.
I can guarantee you that if a WA team was announced now for 2026, we would double our player numbers before then.

There's never going to be enough talent in Perth for pathways to work effectively.
Good players need to be playing with and against the best.
They could in time produce enough juniors for a kebra park esk level if only they had someone to play! The distance makes this impossible!
Rugby league would have to be as popular as AFL to get those kind of numbers.
It's literally impossible.
Impossible for Perth to ever realistically be bringing through talent.
They will always have to be sent to the East coast to go through those systems.
It's a nightmare really.

 

[Wb1234]

Don’t they increase the value of a TV deal thus helping increase the value of the salary cap and sponsorship etc?

Arguable

 

[Bukowski]

There some David Gallop type big thinkers in here.

 

[Jimmy Wiggle]

There's never going to be enough talent in Perth for pathways to work effectively.
Good players need to be playing with and against the best.
They could in time produce enough juniors for a kebra park esk level if only they had someone to play! The distance makes this impossible!
Rugby league would have to be as popular as AFL to get those kind of numbers.
It's literally impossible.
Impossible for Perth to ever realistically be bringing through talent.
They will always have to be sent to the East coast to go through those systems.
It's a nightmare really.

It’s going to be hard but it’s not impossible. If the numbers grow, there’s certainly more opportunity to get talent coming through.
anyways, we will all know one way or another early next year.

 

[Perth Red]

There's never going to be enough talent in Perth for pathways to work effectively.
Good players need to be playing with and against the best.
They could in time produce enough juniors for a kebra park esk level if only they had someone to play! The distance makes this impossible!
Rugby league would have to be as popular as AFL to get those kind of numbers.
It's literally impossible.
Impossible for Perth to ever realistically be bringing through talent.
They will always have to be sent to the East coast to go through those systems.
It's a nightmare really.

Again rubbish, it’s like you don’t understand how development systems work!
perth will have teams at all age levels in the Sydney elite comps. The trick is getting enough kids under 16 playing the game so there is enough cream to fill those teams, be competitive and then see the cream of them make it to nrl. That’s where the arlc funding nrlwa comes in, getting more kids and schools playing the game up and down the west coast.

5-16 years old arlc job to fund nrlwa properly to get as many kids playing as possible in well run and coached clubs
16-21 years old nrl clubs job to turn the best them into professional rugby league players

 

[Perth Red]

There some David Gallop type big thinkers in here.

Some of the mensa candidates in here make gallop look like a genius lol

for rugby league fans they don’t have much faith in our product or much understanding of how nrl clubs work!

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

Most crowds were low during suprrleague years. Only the reds crowds get talked about by the donkey.

Another point goes through your vacuous skull without registering a thought.

Reds were in their debut season and had a strong roster. Their crowds were shit compared to the other three expansion clubs that debuted in 1995. Cowboys finished last with just 2 wins, but averaged 21k to their games in Townsville.

It's not just the Reds that prove my point about non-traditional sports struggling in Perth. Attendances for Force and Glory are not much different to the Reds.

The only non-traditional sporting team in Perth that draws strong attendances is the Perth Wildcats. They've been every bit as successful on the court over the last 30 years as the Storm. Glory and Force not been successful on the pitch.

Are you starting to see the picture?

The only traditional sports in Perth are fumbleball, cricket and netball.

The Perth Scorchers have been the most successful team in the BBL and generate very good crowds

Eagles and Dockers draw very good crowds.

If you still haven't connected the dots then there's no hope for you.

 

[Perth Red]

Another point goes through your vacuous skull without registering a thought.

Reds were in their debut season and had a strong roster. Their crowds were shit compared to the other three expansion clubs that debuted in 1995. Cowboys finished last with just 2 wins, but averaged 21k to their games in Townsville.

It's not just the Reds that prove my point about non-traditional sports struggling in Perth. Attendances for Force and Glory are not much different to the Reds.

The only non-traditional sporting team in Perth that draws strong attendances is the Perth Wildcats. They've been every bit as successful on the court over the last 30 years as the Storm. Glory and Force not been successful on the pitch.

Are you starting to see the picture?

The only traditional sports in Perth are fumbleball, cricket and netball.

The Perth Scorchers have been the most successful team in the BBL and generate very good crowds

Eagles and Dockers draw very good crowds.

If you still haven't connected the dots then there's no hope for you.

Never finished bottom of attendance table

17k crowd avg very doable with redeveloped stadium or some big games at optus. We’ll beat Cronulla that’s for sure lol

 

[Gobsmacked]

It’s going to be hard but it’s not impossible. If the numbers grow, there’s certainly more opportunity to get talent coming through.
anyways, we will all know one way or another early next year.

AFL is massive in Perth, it's part of the culture. You're not going to swing what the kids there play, they will play what thier mates play and their mates play watch and live AFL. It goes both ways and it hasn't been able to be shifted for over a hundred years.
The numbers of talent athletic juniors who aren't AFL die hards are always going to be minuscule.

A Perth team will be a drain on talent indefinitely, in no point ever would we see 30 plus NRL players who came out of Perth- never, 0 chance.

Never really going to add many eyeballs to broadcasters..

So the club has to add significant impact from a corporate point of view. Serious bucks!
Which will come and go and never be guaranteed.

Perth is a dud.

 

[Jimmy Wiggle]

Another point goes through your vacuous skull without registering a thought.

Reds were in their debut season and had a strong roster. Their crowds were shit compared to the other three expansion clubs that debuted in 1995. Cowboys finished last with just 2 wins, but averaged 21k to their games in Townsville.

It's not just the Reds that prove my point about non-traditional sports struggling in Perth. Attendances for Force and Glory are not much different to the Reds.

The only non-traditional sporting team in Perth that draws strong attendances is the Perth Wildcats. They've been every bit as successful on the court over the last 30 years as the Storm. Glory and Force not been successful on the pitch.

Are you starting to see the picture?

The only traditional sports in Perth are fumbleball, cricket and netball.

The Perth Scorchers have been the most successful team in the BBL and generate very good crowds

Eagles and Dockers draw very good crowds.

If you still haven't connected the dots then there's no hope for you.

Once again, you have no clue about WA.
They get good crowds because they are very parochial. No one anywhere goes to union or A league games so why should WA be different. Crowds to the NRL won’t be a problem, there will be difficulties but not as bad as some of you lot make out.