and whose going to pay the $2million plus for it?
When the western Reds were formed they brought across about 40 young Players from the east coast and spread them through the warl comp. Idea was to instantly strengthen the WARL comp and to have a steady flow of talent for the following decade or so, as well as connect the WARL clubs to the new arl club.
What they need to do is decide that they are going to expand west then put out an expressions of interest for owners or groups to put a bid in. The admission shouldn’t be for 3-4 years. Over that3-4 years the new club should partner with png to set up an academy in Port Moresby for the best 20-30 15/16 year olds. Then the best 6 or 7 of them move to Perth each year to play in sg ball side for a shot at a contract.
Alongside that the club admits a team in nsw cup (cheap flights and shorter travel than Qland cup) and begins its recruitment of 20-23 year olds for three years ready to kick off nrl club three-four years later.
Alongside all that the nrl needs to triple the funding to NRLWA and double development officers numbers to massively increase the state school comp and support jnr clubs to improve coaching and set ups.
But we aren’t the AFL so We can only dream!
Greenberg was wasting millions on virtue signaling campaigns that did nothing for the game. An agreement could be made with the WA Gov to have an Origin match in Perth every year, with the fee paid by the government used to fund the Pirates QLD Cup team. That way the WA Gov could tell the tax payer that their money isn't just going back to the eastern states, but is being used to fund the development of the game in Perth so locals can attend high quality games all year. It's a PR win for the NRL, Origin and the WA Gov. No doubt you'll find something to whinge about.
NSW Cup is basically reserve grade with NRL squads being increased to 30. NRL clubs in QLD, Mel and Auckland spread their player affiliations over several QLD Cup teams each. NSW NRL teams go with just one club each. It would be too hard for the Pirates to compete.
I do see the irony in you asking who will pay for it, considering you reckon Brisbane 2 must bring in $35-40 million per year without Leagues clubs yet don't want a Perth team to have to fork out $5 million to run a QLD Cup club. Your double standards can be used against expansion to Perth, because if you cannot afford to run a club at the second tier level, there's no way you will survive in the big league.
Distance is going to be a huge barrier for any team that is based in Perth. If your side cannot handle the costs and rigours of travel to Port Moresby, Townsville, Cairns, Mackay, Gold Coast and Brisbane then maybe it's best they just play in the WARL. If you're admitted to the NRL your mob will need to travel to Auckland, Townsville, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Newcastle.
Your last line about the NRL not funding development like the AFL sums up why it's dumb for you and TGD to say Brisbane must be restricted to just 2 teams so you can expand to NZ2, Adelaide and Perth. The NRL isn't going to stump up 10s of millions of dollars each year to prop up a club in these areas, so saying we must hold off expansion into Brisbane until they have representation is the definiton of insanity and stupidity. You would come back in 100 years time and there would still be zero teams in these areas and Brisbane would still be under-represented, because of the unrealistic goals of some people in Canberra and Perth. I will ask again, where is NZ2 going to go? Only one metro area in NZ has a population over 1 million, and it already has a team that cannot draw 17,000 on average. Every other area in NZ is about the size of Canberra and RU crazy. I hate to break it to you, but Adelaide, Perth and NZ2 are unsustainable and only a narrow-minded person would continue to advocate for them, when all the evidence proves they are not fit for NRL. The only team that might draw interest is a Tonga team based in NZ, but who would fund it and why would NZers who aren't Tongan support it?