South Sydney move out of Maroubra headquarters for a week to endorse Perth bid
The Rabbitohs will move their entire operation to Perth for a week leading into their match against Cronulla in a remarkable endorsement for a WA NRL bid.
In a remarkable endorsement for a Western Australian NRL franchise, South Sydney has moved out of their Maroubra headquarters for a week to relocate to Perth.
The Rabbitohs will take virtually their entire organisation to Perth for a full week at a cost of nearly $100,000 to give heavyweight backing for a WA franchise push.
Western Australian NRL CEO John Sackson has described Souths’ powerful support as “gold”.
In a bid to prepare for a big game against Cronulla, and help push Perth’s bid to become the NRL’s 18th franchise, around 40 to 45 Souths players, staff along with the club’s charity arm, Souths Cares, will fly west on Monday and not return until Sunday.
It is a major sacrifice and commitment from Souths, who play the Sharks as part of a historic double header – along with the Dolphins against Newcastle – at Optus Stadium next Saturday before an expected crowd of 40,000 to 45,000.
Teams generally arrive the day before an interstate game but Souths will spend seven nights in Australia’s west engaging in school clinics, junior clubs visits, community events, Souths Cares clinics and coach-to-coach sessions.
The week-long exercise will cost around $100,000 with Souths, West Australian Government and NRL splitting the bill.
“First and foremost, we wanted to give the team the best chance of success. The team has a lot of travel (in coming weeks) and wanted to spend a fair bit of time on the ground in Perth to prepare,” said Souths Sydney CEO, Blake Solly.
“It is also a commitment from the club to help grow the game in Perth and we see that as being really important and something the region deserves.
“Ticket sales for the event have been extremely strong and we know people in Perth love their rugby league. If there is going to be an 18th team, which it sounds like there will be, Perth would be a great market for it to be located.”
Asked if he would like to see the Perth Bears, Solly said: “At the end of the day, that’s a matter for the Bears but all the Origin games that have gone to Perth have been sellouts so it seems like there’s a real appetite for rugby league in Western Australia.
“There have been great crowds over there for club double-headers and Perth has a great history for rugby league. It’s almost 30 years since the Western Reds were in the competition.”
Sackson said the double header – and South Sydney’s seven-day visit – would be another step to readmission into the NRL.
“It’s almost like Souths are having a camp over here; coming here for a week allows Perth to embrace elite rugby league,” Sackson said.
“Star power is a big thing over here for aspiring young boys and girls to get up close and personal with their heroes. Souths have spoken positively about Perth’s prospects and one-day having a franchise back here.
“The club is doing a significant amount for game development over here and it helps us continue growing the game, awareness and interest here.”
Told of Souths’ public support for NRL inclusion, Sackson said: “If Blake is talking up Perth as their favoured 18th franchise then that’s gold and we’re very grateful.
“I was at Souths headquarters a few weeks ago and I ran into Cameron Murray and he told me how keen they were to come to Perth, which is really good. They enjoy being in Perth and feel very comfortable being here.
“There will be blanket media coverage here next week. We will try and drain every last piece of value out of the elite teams. It allows us to put the spotlight on rugby league over here.”
Saturday’s game will be the 10th Souths have played in Perth.
“It’s an amazing commitment by Souths to help with development in Perth,” Sackson said.
WA expansion bid gains key ally as Politis calls for 20 teams
—Michael Carayannis
Powerful rugby league administrator Nick Politis has met with Western Australian premier Roger Cook in his bid to rally support behind a 20-team national competition.
The Roosters boss has been leading the charge on expansion and believes the NRL has the scope to bring three more teams into the competition in future years.
It comes as Cook is set to meet with ARLC chairman Peter V’landys next month as the WA premier continues to make it clear that he wants his state to be seriously considered as part of any revamped NRL.
While PNG is emerging as the frontrunner to become the NRL’s 18th team based on the strong support from the federal government there is still strong support for Perth to return into top flight rugby league.
Politis was in Perth last week for non-rugby league related business but Cook reached out. WA sports minister David Templeman and minister Peter Tinley, who chairs the government’s working group bid, met with Politis to pick his brain about the steps they needed to take to help improve their bid.
“We have to go to 20 teams and we have to go to Western Australia,” Politis said. “We’ve been at 20 teams before so this is not breaking new ground.
“We need more content and to make it a truly national sport – not just one played on the east coast.
“Going to Western Australia will bring a lot more eyeballs to the game and extra content for the next media deal.”
One option the NRL could consider is granting PNG a licence in 2026 followed by Perth a year later and eventually 20 teams by 2030.
Politis downplayed doubts the game would not have the player depth to cover an extra three teams.
“The players aren’t the issue,” Politis said. “It comes down to coaching at the junior development level.
“We need to produce better coaches.”
Western Australia will host a double header next week with South Sydney taking on Cronulla and Dolphins playing Newcastle. A market sounding expression of interest for the Perth franchise was released earlier this month.
A Perth-consortium will potentially align itself with the Newtown Jets in a bid to revive the Jets moniker. Under the terms of the deal, the Jets name would return so too their traditional blue colours and at least one game would be played in Sydney.
Cook described a Perth team as a “no-brainer”.
“That is why last year the WA Government established a cross-agency Government working group to support a third party bid for a potential franchise,” Cook said. “Western Australia has a history of supporting rugby league, including State of Origin and the upcoming NRL double header on August 5.
“I have no doubt Western Australia will one day be home to an NRL team.“
PNG continues to make headways with their plans. The federal government announced a $5.5 million cash injection to help fund PNG’s pathways system earlier this month.
A PNG contingent toured NRL clubs including Penrith and Manly earlier this year to look at their high performance structures while they also appointed former Parramatta lower-grade coach Joey Grima to help up lead their pathway coaching.
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