Peter V’landys makes last-ditch attempt to put Western Australia back to expansion path
The NRL and the Western Australia government have held crucial talks on Friday afternoon as they try to salvage the Western Bears side from the brink of collapse.
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ARL chairman Peter V’landys and Western Australia Premier Roger Cook have held crucial talks on Friday to try and salvage Perth’s prospect of entering an expanded NRL competition.
The Western Bears are on life support but the two heavyweight officials came together in a phone hook-up to try and get back to the negotiation table. The pair are trying to find some common ground after the bid seemed to be headed for the scrapheap last week.
There is a suggestion that the NRL have indicated to the WA government that they want them to contribute about $65 million for up to the next seven years to ensure Perth are granted a new team. It comes after the WA government’s proposal sent to the NRL last week which included a $35 million commitment for five years. They also made a $20 million pledge for a centre of excellence and are adamant there will be a revamped home ground.
The NRL were originally asking for a 10-year commitment worth $120 million which the government have emphatically rejected.
The Bears would come into the competition in either 2027 or 2028. PNG will enter the NRL in 2028.
It comes as V’landys insisted prior to the meeting that his relationship with Cook had not turned toxic
V’landys’ stance came as former Western Reds chairman Peter Cumins offered to resurrect his $30 million private bid if the NRL fails to strike a deal with the WA government.
The NRL will deliver one final critical advertisement to WA powerbrokers on Saturday when Cronulla face Manly and Souths take on the Cowboys in a double header at Perth’s Optus Stadium.
A feared spectator backlash would be a PR disaster for the NRL in an AFL market dominated by Fremantle and the West Coast Eagles.
The ARL Commission will make a definitive call on expansion within a fortnight and should the parties fail to smoke the peace pipe over the next 14 days, the Western Bears - slated as the NRL’s 18th team for entry in 2027 - will be aborted.
That would not only be a crushing blow to the NRL in their quest for a bona fide national footprint, but ostensibly drive the final nail into the coffin of the mighty Bears, the foundation club desperate to return to the big league after 25 years in the wilderness.
“Roger and I get on great,” V’landys said.
“I’m not entering negotiations through the media. Until my Commission meets to discuss it, I’m not commenting on the bid itself.
“We have been very dignified in this process. This (tensions between WA chiefs and the NRL) is all part of a negotiation process, I don’t take any offence to it.
“I still think Roger is a good guy.”
Alarm bells rang on Tuesday when Cook told Channel 9 in Perth the NRL was treating the WA government like a “cash cow”.
“The NRL have to get serious and have to treat us with more respect,” he added. “The delta between WA’s position and the NRL’s position is very large and will be difficult to bridge.”
The NRL has also called for a $200-million plus redevelopment of HBF Park in a bid to turn the ground into Perth’s version of Sydney’s CommBank Stadium, home of the Parramatta Eels. The redevelopment would likely go ahead at some point.
Cook has described V’landys as a “tough bugger” in negotiations and claims the NRL doesn’t understand the WA demographic, but the ARLC boss disputes that critique.
“We aren’t taking Perth for granted at all,” V’landys said.
“I have always said that the business case (for expansion) has to stack up and if it doesn’t stack up, I can’t take it forward.
“I’m not trying to be disrespectful to them (WA).
“I am just trying to validate a business that I can take to the clubs, so that they can see there is a good business case in making this decision.
“But if I can’t justify expansion to the clubs, naturally they will say, ‘Why are you doing it?’
“At the moment, that’s where we’re apart.”
At first, it wasn’t the state-backed WA bid that was expected to be the NRL’s 18th team. Cumins, the Cash Converters tycoon, was the driving force behind a private consortium’s push to bankroll the birth of the Western Bears.
The ARLC rejected the Cumins consortium after they initially refused to pay a start-up fee. By the time the Cumins clan revised their document last December with a $20 million offer, V’landys closed the door on that bid and ramped-up talks with the WA government.
Cumins, however, is adamant his bid is not fraudulent and could resuscitate the Western Bears.
The former Western Reds chairman claims the bid was so robust they had secured $30 million in corporate support and were prepared to put $3 million annually into grassroots development.
“We were absolutely ready to go,” Cumins said.
“I am a rugby league diehard. I wasn’t doing it to make money. I was doing it because I love the game and I wanted to see kids in Perth get the same opportunities as kids in NSW and Queensland.
“I would be gutted if this falls over because my whole intention was to see a Perth team back in the NRL.
“If the NRL came to me (to rescue the Perth bid), yes, I would definitely get back in the saddle and try to get it going again.
“But I won’t go to the NRL first.”
Cumins scuppered suggestions the private consortium’s bid wasn’t up to scratch.
“Our bid offered far more than any other current NRL club,” he said.
“The West Australian public were right behind our bid and we had a great relationship with the WA government and the North Sydney Bears people.
“We agreed with the Bears to stage some home games in Sydney and pre-season games in Sydney for North Sydney Bears supporters to come to.
“We had done a lot of work to blend their history in the Western Australian club and the fans here were right behind it. We even had logos done up.
“In my view, we had a very professional, sound bid with high-quality people to support it.
“We had a head of football and a coach lined up with more than 500 games of NRL experience between them.
“Apparently there was an issue with the licence fee, so we made changes to our business model to accommodate that.
“We sent a revised bid back, including a $20 million commitment for a licence fee and bank guarantee arrangements, all to no avail.
“We lost north of $600,000 on the bid process. It wasn’t like we didn’t invest heavily.
“I still hope this latest bid can get over the line. I am ready to buy a membership and support this because I love rugby league and just want to see a West Australian team in the NRL.”
North Sydney legend and Bears director Billy Moore is holding his breath. He knows failure now will represent one final fatal bullet for the ‘Bad News Bears’ as an NRL enterprise.
“This is the last-chance saloon for the Bears,” Moore said.
“My fear is what happens with further expansion if the PNG team (entering the NRL in 2028) isn’t competitive.
“The Dolphins (the NRL’s 17th team in 2023) were stable from the get-go because the NRL was plugging into an existing framework and it would be the same with Perth because the Bears have existing infrastructure and a supporter base.
“Hopefully both parties can take a deep breath and realise the best thing is to cut a deal.
“But the only two men who can answer what the problem is are Peter V’landys and Roger Cook.
“If the NRL doesn’t end up going to Perth, they will regret it forever.”
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