It was just two weeks ago when Western Australia’s daily newspaper reported the entry of the Western Bears to the NRL would be confirmed following the code’s grand final.
“Confirmation the Bears will join the competition is expected in the week after the NRL grand final on October 6”, wrote Glen Quartermain in The West Australian on September 25.
But yesterday, news broke that the WA bid was dead — at least in its current form.
So what went wrong, and where does the code in Western Australia go from here?
The fight for a WA team
The battle to bring a professional rugby league side back to Perth has been a long one.
The Western Reds were axed in 1997, as part of a peace deal between the NRL and the Super League.
The success of bringing NRL games to Perth, and the huge crowds at State of Origin matches, fuelled the drive to bring a side to the west on a permanent basis.
A consortium led by Cash Converters owner Peter Cumins put together a bid in conjunction with the North Sydney Bears, with the support of the WA government, which would see the Bears relocate to Perth.
It was expected the side would feature in the NRL in 2027. Such was the assurity of the success of the bid, the ABC understands there was a launch event scheduled for October 10.
That’s a far cry from suggestions the deal was done.
The NRL declined to comment when approached by the ABC.
But part of the issue stems from the NRL’s desire for any WA franchise to pay a licence fee, which would in turn be used to appease the east coast clubs, and which was reportedly not included in the consortium’s bid.
The last NRL expansion side, the Redcliffe Dolphins, did not pay a licence fee, but did have to show they had significant cash reserves.
How the requirement for a licence fee got lost in communication, or overlooked by the consortium, is unclear.
Where to now?
The big question now is whether that’s the end of WA’s campaign to return from rugby league wilderness after three decades, or whether there is another path to getting a side into the NRL.
The WA government and Premier Roger Cook have long backed an NRL side, and told the ABC it had been working with the consortium at the NRL’s request.
“We understand the NRL have got a range of concerns they want to work through, this is part of the negotiation process,” Mr Cook said.
“The bids went in, I think ours was the strongest, but we need to obviously address some of the issues that the board had in relation to that bid.
“One goes to the structure of the bid and the other is in relation to its relationship with the other current competitors in the competition.
“We need to now see what the concerns from the NRL are, to make sure that we can assist WA NRL with that bid process.”
Mr Cook said bringing an NRL side back to Perth was a personal passion for him.
“I’ve always been a backer of league in WA, I remember when the Western Reds were in the competition, I still bare the scars of them being axed from the competition, and I think WA should come into the NRL,” he said.
“I’d be cautious about making assumptions on the basis of the current discussions.”
The ABC understands the government was not involved with the bid directly, but was committed to help the game in Western Australia more broadly.
