The $1.2 billion stadium that could host State of Origin as NRL’s jewel heads west
THE NRL’s jewel, State of Origin, could be headed to Western Australia for the first time.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal that Perth is expected to make a full-blown bid for an Origin match in the 2018 series.
Two games will be played at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium this year, two matches in Brisbane next season before a match goes “on the road” again in 2018.
And a new a $1.2 billion stadium being built in Burswood — which will originally seat 60,000 fans with the potential to rise to 70,000 — has Perth ready to pounce.
The Daily Telegraph has been told that the three-game Origin format may alter permanently in coming years with a game each in Sydney and Brisbane and a third being awarded to the highest-bidding city from around Australia.
In what will be a bidding war, Perth will no doubt have to overcome another strong bid for Origin from Melbourne, where 91,513 people attended game two last year at the MCG.
The Western Australia and Victoria Governments would outlay big money to the NRL in return for a match in what is the most lucrative sporting series in Australia. A just-completed Perth Stadium may give WA a decisive edge.
State of Origin has only ever been played in the traditional heartland of Sydney and Brisbane, along with Melbourne and a match in Los Angeles, California, back in 1987.
NRL officials have already travelled to Perth and were openly impressed by plans for the new stadium, which will be completed for the 2018 AFL season.
Stadium backers are already considering which major sporting events could be lured to Perth.
Just last week, Stadium Australia Operations, which run Sydney’s ANZ Stadium, was named as the WA Government’s preferred stadium operator. Stadium Australia management has immense knowledge in hosting Origin games.
“I am sure there will be enormous interest from around the country given State of Origin is the pinnacle of rugby league and the biggest sporting event in Australia,” said NSWRL chief executive David Trodden.
Origin in Perth would generate millions of dollars for the local economy. The Perth Stadium website claims to offer a “multi-purpose venue capable of hosting AFL, rugby, football (soccer), cricket and entertainment events’’.
About 85 per cent of seating in Perth will be under cover with fans able to access the stadium over a $54 million pedestrian bridge.
Perth will host its first rugby league international on October 15 when Australia play New Zealand at nib Stadium in the lead-up to the 2016 Four Nations Tournament in the UK.
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