Perth will be a much harder proposition post 2018

[Perth Red]

During all the talk of delaying expansion further I hope the NRL are considering the future changing sporting landscape in Perth. In 2018 the Dockers and Eagles will move into the new $billion Burswood stadium thus increasing their fan and corporate capacity hugely. The Western Force may finally be turning the corner on the field. They started off with 24k crowds, these have dropped to 14k. A successful Force will attract disgruntled NRL fans who have given up hope of getting a team. After 6 years so far of broken promises and false dawns RL fans in the West are getting sick of being fobbed off. A no expansion vote could well see many of us looking to other sports to get our regular live sporting fix.

There may never be a better time to introduce a Perth team to the NRL than 2016/17. Any longer, and we would be likely talking another 7-10 years if they don't expand for next TV deal, the window of opportunity may have closed by then and the NRL left with no presence in Australia's third biggest city.

 

[magpie4ever]

During all the talk of delaying expansion further I hope the NRL are considering the future changing sporting landscape in Perth. In 2018 the Dockers and Eagles will move into the new $billion Burswood stadium thus increasing their fan and corporate capacity hugely. The Western Force may finally be turning the corner on the field. They started off with 24k crowds, these have dropped to 14k. A successful Force will attract disgruntled NRL fans who have given up hope of getting a team. After 6 years so far of broken promises and false dawns RL fans in the West are getting sick of being fobbed off. A no expansion vote could well see many of us looking to other sports to get our regular live sporting fix.

There may never be a better time to introduce a Perth team to the NRL than 2016/17. Any longer, and we would be likely talking another 7-10 years if they don't expand for next TV deal, the window of opportunity may have closed by then and the NRL left with no presence in Australia's third biggest city.

Go the Western Force - 5 in a row. Bye bye Pirates. Hello Central Coast Bears and the Rockhampton Rockets.

 

[Perth Red]

Always knew you were a closet union fan!

 

[Nuke]

4th biggest city.
Sydney > Melbourne > Brisbane > Perth

Your point still stands though. WA would be the third biggest League state (NSW > QLD > WA > ?).

 

[dangerousdave]

the NRL left with no presence in Australia's third biggest city.

And to think that this was the guy who said WA juniors were down 24-6 at half time and went on to win 22-20

 

[Diesel]

It'll be a very short sighted decision by the N(SW)RL if Prrth are not included in 2017/18.

Brisbane badly needed another team, so I'd assume Perth will be the other team entering as a bye does nothing.

Would WA accept a relocation if the ARLC didn't expand past 16 yet some other club(s) were having several issues

 

[Garbler]

Brisbane badly needed another team, so I'd assume Perth will be the other team entering as a bye does nothing.

Perhaps the biggest thing holding the Perth bid back is the lack of a clear leader with the Brisbane bids... Perhaps the best thing for Perth is if Brisbane 2 resolves itself (for what its worth IMHO this should be Combined Brothers)...

 

[RL The greatest game]

I have little doubt that in 3 years time there will a Perth based NRL club.
Keep the faith. Keep believing.

 

[oikee]

I get the feeling Perth Pirate that the NRL has missed the boat.
We need to be shouting expansion from the rooftops. Brisbane, NZ second team and Perth. Now, not in a years time.
Plus they need to fix the ref problem or there wont be any fans left.
John Grant saying their wont be expansion has already damaged the bids.
Besides that, crowds and clubs in Sydney are going backwards.
1 billion dollars spent on a AFL ground. wow, just wow.

 

[georgesnmith]

if the NRL doesnt expand to perth then it will be a disaster

they should just pack up the competition and merge with union

the NRL will never be able to compete with AFL without a team in perth.

 

[oikee]

When you compare what the AFL has achieved through a loyal government compared to where league is and how badly league has been run, it is night and day.
I switched onto the three codes last night because the Cowboy outcome was guaranteed.
They will never ever win a game in Sydney while the rules of rugby league are the way they are, without common sense.
Anyhow, i was watching the Tigers for awhile in front of 6 thousand, then i switched to a exciting Force game in front of a good crowd. The game seemed pretty fast and flowing right to the end.
Also i switched onto the Suns game. Dont get me wrong, i find no pleasure in watching AFL, it all seems to scrappy and kicky to me, holds no passion at all, but gee whiz, have they got their stadiums right, and fans are looked after second to none. They even have tables and dining gameside.
The stadium is nothing short of worldclass, why wouldn't new fans be loving this experience. Then i quickly went back to the Tigers, crowd low, fan experience out in the open, cold, rainy atmosphere, hardly any lighting, a complete embarressment to announce 6 thousand crowd. That is reserve grade material.
But i mean why would the fans turn up, a club in turmoil, fans torn apart, players stirring fans. A stadium devoid of heart and atmosphere.

The way the game is going about trying to give away free tickets is now doing further damage, no rhyme or reason to any of this, i now post on the troll blogs. I have been banished, another league fan killed off.

 

[Perth Red]

4th biggest city.
Sydney > Melbourne > Brisbane > Perth

Your point still stands though. WA would be the third biggest League state (NSW > QLD > WA > ?).

Perth will overtake Brisbane to become Australia's third biggest city in 15 years, population projections reveal.

Three million people are expected to call Perth home by 2028, putting fresh pressure on the city's infrastructure and housing supply to keep pace with the growth.

https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/20032461//

 

[Perth Red]

I switched onto the three codes last night because the Cowboy outcome was guaranteed.
They will never ever win a game in Sydney while the rules of rugby league are the way they are, without common sense.
Anyhow, i was watching the Tigers for awhile in front of 6 thousand, then i switched to a exciting Force game in front of a good crowd. The game seemed pretty fast and flowing right to the end.
Also i switched onto the Suns game. Dont get me wrong, i find no pleasure in watching AFL, it all seems to scrappy and kicky to me, holds no passion at all, but gee whiz, have they got their stadiums right, and fans are looked after second to none. They even have tables and dining gameside.
The stadium is nothing short of worldclass, why wouldn't new fans be loving this experience. Then i quickly went back to the Tigers, crowd low, fan experience out in the open, cold, rainy atmosphere, hardly any lighting, a complete embarressment to announce 6 thousand crowd. That is reserve grade material.
But i mean why would the fans turn up, a club in turmoil, fans torn apart, players stirring fans. A stadium devoid of heart and atmosphere.
.

I dislike union with a passion but I look at the Force and think what might have been if that disastrous decision in 1997 to kill the Reds had been different. Make no mistake the longer we leave Perth with no NRL team and treating the place with indifference the stronger union gets and the harder it will be to have a sustainable NRL team. There will be plenty of RL fans who will become Force members if they delay expansion again. If you want to watch the Eagles you can't at the moment, in 2018 they will be actively seeking to recruit an additional 25,000 members to fill the new 68,000 stadium.

The NRL can't afford to just leave us at the whims of clubs looking to make some money and deciding ad hoc to play games gp here, they can't afford not to be funding the warl a decent amount to compete for the best jnrs with the WARU and they can't delay another decade the addition of a Perth NRL team. The cost in WA and knock on for the whole sport will be significant if they do.

 

[BuffaloRules]

Many watching the Force games on Fox mate? All the pubs in Perth standing room only cheering on the local boys no doubt.

I don't think what happens with the Force or AFL should have any bearing on what happens with the Pirates

The Force crowds will drop off as soon as the inevitable slide happens. The Force dominating the Aust conference at the expense of the East Coast teams hurts Union in my opinion.

 

[Perth Red]

This is there lowest ebb crowd wise! They started at max 24k and miserable on field performances year after year it has dropped down to 14k that it is now. A few successful years will see it rise again, and those memberships could well be the people who would have become pirates members if they had had the chance. It's not a reason to put an NRL team here but it has to be a consideration of taking the most opportune time to do it. That time is now not 2020.

 

[BuffaloRules]

I agree, they should have a team.

But you are sounding like those hoaxes in the Central Coast trying to pump up the Mariners, or Ipswich pumping up the AFL.

They need to bring them in because it makes sense to the NRL, not because they are worrying about what the other codes are doing.

In hindsight, this has been the issue about the Gold Coast. They panicked about what the AFL were doing and they are now stuck with a dead weight team with little local support.

As we have discussed many times, it makes sense to bring in a Perth team because of the TV time slots back to the Eastern states. That will be what gets them across the line in the end.

 

[taipan]

And it wont happen til 2018 the first year of any new Tv deal.
Why?
From this year to 2014 to end of 2017,the NRL wants to ensure all current NRL clubs are financially underpinned.Interesting to date the code has record membership numbers.
At the same time ,they are putting away $50m pa into a future fund ,meaning $200-250m at the end of 2017..
IOW the code needs to have decent treasure chest to assist in infrastructure and IMO assist new expansion clubs slot in.I also believe Perth will be one of the new clubs.

I suggest the NRL admin,would be keeping tabs on other codes in various states.To ignore them would be suicidal.

Nowhere has the NRL stated point blank there will be no expansion,just criticising those who just jumped in and assumed there would be a couple of years ago under Gallop's admin.

The expansion issue will be revisited end this year,to make any determinations.

 

[georgesnmith]

This is there lowest ebb crowd wise! They started at max 24k and miserable on field performances year after year it has dropped down to 14k that it is now. A few successful years will see it rise again, and those memberships could well be the people who would have become pirates members if they had had the chance. It's not a reason to put an NRL team here but it has to be a consideration of taking the most opportune time to do it. That time is now not 2020.

so the force get terrible TV ratings, their crowds are down what over 50% and they need help from the ARU to survive.

yeh looks like we did miss the boat.

 

[Red&BlackBear]

Perth will overtake Brisbane to become Australia's third biggest city in 15 years, population projections reveal.

Three million people are expected to call Perth home by 2028, putting fresh pressure on the city's infrastructure and housing supply to keep pace with the growth.

https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/20032461//

You're dreaming. By the time 3 mill people call Perth home, 4 or 5 will call Brisbane home. Projections don't mean shit in an ever changing economic and job climate. Brisbane has the wheels turning again, much better now then say 2 years ago when I left for Cairns.

 

[georgesnmith]

And it wont happen til 2018 the first year of any new Tv deal.
Why?
From this year to 2014 to end of 2017,the NRL wants to ensure all current NRL clubs are financially underpinned.Interesting to date the code has record membership numbers.
At the same time ,they are putting away $50m pa into a future fund ,meaning $200-250m at the end of 2017..
IOW the code needs to have decent treasure chest to assist in infrastructure and IMO assist new expansion clubs slot in.I also believe Perth will be one of the new clubs.

I suggest the NRL admin,would be keeping tabs on other codes in various states.To ignore them would be suicidal.

Nowhere has the NRL stated point blank there will be no expansion,just criticising those who just jumped in and assumed there would be a couple of years ago under Gallop's admin.

The expansion issue will be revisited end this year,to make any determinations.

if the ARLC decide not to expand that will be done on whats best for the game.

im happy to go with their decision.

if they feel expansion isnt necessary of worth the costs so be it.

its arguable whether spending funds on a start up in perth is a better investment than in grounds in sydney for example

id much prefer the ARLC keep building up funds to $500 million then we could do either :

1. buy anz stadium and get all clubs to play there
2. build a new 70 - 80k ground from scratch with a roof, for the exclusive use of the NRL.