I would not blame the ARL for the demise of either the Rams or the Reds. Both of those should be laid where it belonged, at the feet o f News Ltd. News were willing to sacrifice the Reds due to the costs of maintaining them in Perth, especially the transport costs. The Rams? They only came into existence as News Ltd were desperate to have a tenth team in Super League and they created them after every other team who stuck with the ARL turned them down. Hence when the peace came after the SL War, News were willing to sacrifice them.
The teams that you could lay at the feet of the ARL were the SQLD Crushers and the GC Chargers. They let them both die.
My mistake/typo, I suggested ARL and meant NRL. And the Reds folded in 97.
As for the Rams, there was a clear appetite for a Rugby League team in Adelaide.
Exhibition games had previously been taken there, the first in 1991 drawing over 28,000 people (Dragons v Tigers). Then the Rams are established in 1997....
Here was a team;
- That was hastily cobbled together for the SL comp to make up the 10th side.
- That drew over drew over 27,000 people to their first match
- Averaged over 15k crowds in its first season.
- With the exception of a game against Cronulla (2nd last home game, by which stage they were running 2nd last), all their other crowds were over 10,000 people
- That apart from Kerrod Walters, had no established top level players
- That only won 6 games all year.
- In a city far closer to the eastern states than Perth (so didnt have the back-breaking travel costs that the Reds got laboured with)
In terms of a viable Rugby League team, there was absolutely huge potential.
- Their average crowd in the first year was the 6th highest of all clubs across both competitions.
- Of the established Sydney teams, only Parramatta's averages were higher.
Granted the SL war affected crowds that year.... so then comparing it to the 1996 season...
- Only the Warriors, Broncos, Knights and Roosters had higher home crowd averages than this.
And comparing with 1995 (when the "SL War" was in it's embryo phase - hadn't blown up yet)
- Only the Warriors, Broncos, Raiders, Knights, Crushers and Cowboys had higher average crowds.
- The Warriors Crushers and Cowboys were all new teams but in "RL Heartlands". The Broncos Raiders and Knights were one-city teams and highly successful during that time.
- The Rams in 97 had higher crowd averages than all the Sydney teams of 1995 - including Grand finalists Manly and the Bulldogs.
Ok I'll pull it up on the stats there... But effectively my argument is that the Rams were at that stage a far more attractive proposition to keep going than a lot of other teams. I agree that the GC was left to rot too - but they had multiple entities, issues, and had a longer run to prove themselves viable yet were unable to do so - and all this in a supposed RL heartland area (or state, once they went north of the tweed).
But they got absolutely no love from the NRL in 1998. There was little/no strategy or support to recruit new top line players (only the likes of Iro and Goldthorpe perhaps could be considered here) and they ended up finishing 17th of 20. They ended up having their games shifted from the centre of the city in Adelaide out to Hindmarsh stadium - which in those days was a pretty average ground (unlike today). They were indeed left to rot.
And while I may be biased having moved here last year, it's given me a whole new perspective on what the potential was. Most locals I speak to remember the Rams, and many of them fondly. My missus - who has absolutely zero interest in sport even remembers the Rams. She even knew Kerrod Walters was the captain!
There's a huge proportion of people like myself who've moved from the eastern states who love their league. I firmly believe it was a chance to have another team like what the Melbourne Storm turned out to be. A well-supported, sustainable, economically viable Rugby League team outside the heartland states. And while I doubt it will happen - I truly believe that if they came back here - the city would get behind them again.
