WA BEARS

[Bukowski]

And I don’t recall the other Perth sporting teams having to put up with such hostility from the local media prior to joining…. Why is the NRL team singled out?

Is this what lies ahead for the team … no doubt silence from the local media when they are doing well , and shitcanned and told to move back to Sydney when they are struggling…

Probably correct. But that's what you get when you send a second division Sydney club here. That's what the NRL failed to understand.

 

[i0Nic]

WA is strategically important to NRL for those advertisers seeking a more 'national' reach and wider spread of eyeballs. It's also important for TV ratings to get that additional time slot. It's also important for Australians' perception of where rugby league is played ie 'dots on a map', that the NRL is spread out nationally. It's also important to NRL for attracting sponsors and advertisers that have large presence in WA with their heavy mining industry.

So there's many reasons for the NRL to seek out WA beyond just the population numbers. It would definitely make more short term sense to stick another team in Brisbane but there's lots of reasons to gain a foothold in Perth.

 

[i0Nic]

Even though the vast majority of the Australian population lives on the east coast, many people seem to put WA, SA, Tas in the same breath of NSW, QLD and Vic and point to the fact there's no NRL played in those states as a detriment to the sport.

Putting another team in a fumbleball state joining Melbourne Storm starts to erode that argument, though won't be eroded fully until there's an Adelaide team as well.

Also another benefit might be that Melbourne and Perth might form a rivalry.

 

[SirPies&Beers]

Probably correct. But that's what you get when you send a second division Sydney club here. That's what the NRL failed to understand.

thats the issue, its the narrative youre saying right there.

what about the narrative of it being a foundation club that helped establish the sport in the country and has fans who have gone through the same fight as the local west aussie rugby league fans?

thats what you are failing to understand because ya too caught up in the glass half empty chat

 

[Wb1234]

Even though the vast majority of the Australian population lives on the east coast, many people seem to put WA, SA, Tas in the same breath of NSW, QLD and Vic and point to the fact there's no NRL played in those states as a detriment to the sport.

Putting another team in a fumbleball state joining Melbourne Storm starts to erode that argument, though won't be eroded fully until there's an Adelaide team as well.

Also another benefit might be that Melbourne and Perth might form a rivalry.

Those people are fumblers who can’t understand why nrl has a team in nz or png

They arent going to change their opinions on league just because there’s an nrl team in Perth.

Afl has its strengths and weaknesses as does nrl

Nrl trying to be an afl lite competition isn’t going to do much

The afl “national competition” has more holes in it than Swiss cheese

Perth will be a nice addition to the nrl. They won’t bring much extra value to the tv deal unless it’s with the bears connection.

Wa won’t produce juniors in numbers for decades. The nrls strength is east coast plus png nz tonga Samoa and Fiji

 

[baggygreen man]

Wa won’t produce juniors in numbers for decades.

Why decades as WARL has junior comps from age 13 to 17 representing 18 clubs.

 

[i0Nic]

Look I think WA still makes a lot of sense from a tv / sponsorship perspective even if it doesn’t do that much to move the needle on perception.

Beyond WA, for team 20, poses a lot of challenges for various reasons but especially where to put the team. Once the new Brisbane Olympic stadium is built it will generate a lot of interest and the AFL will almost certainly put their 20th team in Brisbane. What does the NRL do, the afl will have a huge boost with this new stadium that can’t be under estimated.

I know a lot of people think afl team 20 will be Canberra or might even be wa3 but I can’t see that happening, with the gift horse in the new stadium and the population of SE qld. AFL aren’t afraid of expansion and are desperate to take market share in qld. What would a third WA team do for them, not much. Canberra is a smaller market and somewhere players don’t even want to move to.

 

[Perth Red]

Why decades as WARL has junior comps from age 13 to 17 representing 18 clubs.

If you look at the current clubs Jnr numbers in their catchment, and how many go through to first grade:

1. WA has more jnrs than most NRL club catchment areas
2. Most clubs only have 4-5 local Jnrs in their 1st team squad

Like anything output will depend on investment. If set up right and invested in accordingly then no reason WA wont be producing equal jnrs to first team as many of the NRL clubs within a decade or so. Lets see if NRL, as owners of the club, are willing to invest in decent WA elite pathways.

 

[Wb1234]

Look I think WA still makes a lot of sense from a tv / sponsorship perspective even if it doesn’t do that much to move the needle on perception.

Beyond WA, for team 20, poses a lot of challenges for various reasons but especially where to put the team. Once the new Brisbane Olympic stadium is built it will generate a lot of interest and the AFL will almost certainly put their 20th team in Brisbane. What does the NRL do, the afl will have a huge boost with this new stadium that can’t be under estimated. .

We are seeing with the western giants and Gold Coast how afl goes in league states without the benefit of super league

By then Ipswich will be close to joining the nrl

 

[Gobsmacked]

WA is strategically important to NRL for those advertisers seeking a more 'national' reach and wider spread of eyeballs. It's also important for TV ratings to get that additional time slot. It's also important for Australians' perception of where rugby league is played ie 'dots on a map', that the NRL is spread out nationally. It's also important to NRL for attracting sponsors and advertisers that have large presence in WA with their heavy mining industry.

So there's many reasons for the NRL to seek out WA beyond just the population numbers. It would definitely make more short term sense to stick another team in Brisbane but there's lots of reasons to gain a foothold in Perth.

The use of the term " important " I would push back on. It's as important as icecream after dinner, desirable sure.
The national footprint argument is silly, NRL is INTERNATIONAL . Another team in NZ south island and PNG .. If we're talking about dots on the map.. ? We're going to need a bigger map . Advertisers and sponsors are looking for numbers, they don't care where they come from and WA won't bring a lot of them, same can be said for TV rights.
The extra timeslot is also almost completely irrelevant. It only offers 1 time slot for 12 games, they won't playing the same timeslot out of 8 different ones, so it's 3 or 4 games at Best.

You make points, are they significant? Not even close.

Anyway, I want a WA team, because it will be cool.

I think that the best case for a Perth team, a legitimate case is that it will be really cool! Our unique little franchise out West..could even become big! Either way, it'll still be cool.

 

[Bukowski]

thats the issue, its the narrative youre saying right there.

what about the narrative of it being a foundation club that helped establish the sport in the country and has fans who have gone through the same fight as the local west aussie rugby league fans?

thats what you are failing to understand because ya too caught up in the glass half empty chat

That's just the reality that the NRL will have to handle if they want it to succeed.

 

[SirPies&Beers]

If you look at the current clubs Jnr numbers in their catchment, and how many go through to first grade:

1. WA has more jnrs than most NRL club catchment areas
2. Most clubs only have 4-5 local Jnrs in their 1st team squad

Like anything output will depend on investment. If set up right and invested in accordingly then no reason WA wont be producing equal jnrs to first team as many of the NRL clubs within a decade or so. Lets see if NRL, as owners of the club, are willing to invest in decent WA elite pathways.

i think youre confusing quality of numbers and quality of systems with general numbers. little jason from hull who plays for lions u15 wont have the same pathways and general rugby league learning experiences in place as little deano from shoalhaven or little jimmy from rockhampton brothers.

youre also comparing an entire state to single councils/suburbs or regions.

 

[Wb1234]

i think youre confusing quality of numbers and quality of systems with general numbers. little jason from hull who plays for lions u15 wont have the same pathways and general rugby league learning experiences in place as little deano from shoalhaven or little jimmy from rockhampton brothers.

youre also comparing an entire state to single councils/suburbs or regions.

FMD from hull

I’m dieing

 

[SirPies&Beers]

That's just the reality that the NRL will have to handle if they want it to succeed.

honestly, only for narrow minded people. its not the reality at all, reality is that theyre pushing exactly what im saying. hence here we are. if it wasn't then it would look completely different.

 

[Centy Coast]

And I don’t recall the other Perth sporting teams having to put up with such hostility from the local media prior to joining…. Why is the NRL team singled out?

Is this what lies ahead for the team … no doubt silence from the local media when they are doing well , and shitcanned and told to move back to Sydney when they are struggling…

The NRL should bankroll the Perth Bears so that they win or atleast contest the NRL GF in their first season, stuff the Western newspaper, stuff the WA Libs and stuff the AFL.
Imagine that lol.

 

[SirPies&Beers]

FMD from hull

I’m dieing

also to add to this west aussie rugby league will never catch up to qld or nsw or kiwi or papua. those places have league ingrained into their sporting landscape. however west aussies will get better as decades past but in 25 years they'll only be at a level that nsw/qld were 40 years ago from today. either way its still better.

the truth can be found in how many papuans or kiwi's are actually in systems in nrl but more importantly below nrl as compared to west aussies. this isnt bagging west aussies this is just dampening lunatic expectations that perthwrongs has.

 

[SirPies&Beers]

The NRL should bankroll the Perth Bears so that they win or atleast contest the NRL GF in their first season, stuff the Western newspaper, stuff the WA Libs and stuff the AFL.
Imagine that lol.

they can't bankroll injuries and depth though. so much luck comes into it.

 

[Bukowski]

honestly, only for narrow minded people. its not the reality at all, reality is that theyre pushing exactly what im saying. hence here we are. if it wasn't then it would look completely different.

How the club is perceived in Perth by the media (which is what we are talking about)will be the reality. Not what the NRL are pushing.

 

[Centy Coast]

Even though the vast majority of the Australian population lives on the east coast, many people seem to put WA, SA, Tas in the same breath of NSW, QLD and Vic and point to the fact there's no NRL played in those states as a detriment to the sport.

Putting another team in a fumbleball state joining Melbourne Storm starts to erode that argument, though won't be eroded fully until there's an Adelaide team as well.

Also another benefit might be that Melbourne and Perth might form a rivalry.

Melbourne and Perth have the makings of a rivalry already, they have virtually competed with each other every season in the Final of the CAS Championships since its inception and WA’s first top league team the Western Reds were folded to make the Melbourne Storm a more competitive team for the debut season.

 

[Bukowski]

they can't bankroll injuries and depth though. so much luck comes into it.

Norths have a long history of good luck.