THE Western Sydney Rams are about to be resurrected as the fifth Australian Super team and based at Parramatta Stadium.
The Herald has been told that when the Super 14 competition is expanded, the fifth Australian team is set to be in Sydney, preferably in the western suburbs, with Parramatta Stadium the most obvious home ground.
It is likely the venture will involve the lucrative financial support of the Parramatta Leagues Club. This will mean the return of the Western Sydney Rams, one of the teams involved in the one and only year of the Australian Rugby Championship, which was recently disbanded by the Australian Rugby Union because of exorbitant costs.
The plans for the West Sydney team are at an early stage but have the backing of leading local officials, who believe it is imperative Australian rugby protects its Sydney base.
Well before John O'Neill was replaced as ARU chief executive officer by Gary Flowers, the ARU was in discussions with Parramatta Leagues Club chief executive Denis Fitzgerald about the fourth team being based at Parramatta Stadium.
The push gained momentum in 2001, with Parramatta Leagues Club showing interest and even Penrith leagues club officials discussing how they could become involved in a Super franchise.
The original plan was for the fourth Super 12 franchise to be a joint venture between the ARU (51 per cent) and the cashed-up leagues club or clubs (49 per cent). At the time, it was suggested that Parramatta were interested in injecting more than $8 million into the fourth team.
However, these adventurous plans were not pursued by the Flowers-led administration, with Perth winning the bid ahead of Melbourne several months later.
The Parramatta proposal is now back on the agenda, but it is bound to encounter opposition from the NSW Rugby Union, which would look upon a new franchise in its backyard as a serious threat to its spectator, marketing and sponsorship base.
