Although he hasn't got the foggiest when it comes to analysis of the game, I do agree with one of JB/WA-er's points: Perth should get a team sooner rather than later.

The inclusion of Perth will assist with a national footprint even if it doesn't pull massive crowds. The pie will be bigger as a result of the inclusion.

Perth has shown, when encouraged (a la late 1980s), it can pull fairly regular crowds of 20,000 for rugby league.

Much of the goodwill that existed at that time will not exist at this moment, but as with any place where the game once existed, it just requires proper encouragement and support.

In my view, every area that has shown interest in rugby league should be encouraged to develop.

450,000 people have moved into Perth since the last time we had a team. Many from RL areas. Getting 17-20,000 won't be a problem. Getting big sponsors will be trickier but we wouldn't need anything like the money the Storm has needed.

Like Melbourne, Perth is an investment for the growth of the game. They also have the potential to be a big team. CC, imo, will just be another dilution of an already over crowded market, and whilst they might be slightly stronger than 1/2 the existing NSW teams they don't add enough to justify using up one of the last remaining expansion places. Keep Gosford for when a Sydney team falls over.

anway this an NRL topic and not in the right place so i'll leave it at that.

Aussie soccer is a muddy reflection of the game played in the rest of the world. In fact it's crap. There's a [ireason[/i most of the Socceroos play in European teams. An example - Robbie Fowler, well past his best, is probably the best player in the comp atm. English RL is much closer to the NRL standard than Aussie soccer is to the Premier League.

Gold Coast only open 5000 seats to avoid additional additional costs, government charges and the requirement to pay a public transport fee.

The reason the game didn't re-expand to Perth is predominantly due to the protectionist, Sydney-centric NSWRL who hold the balance of power in the ARL who have 50% control of the NRL.

you mean the same ARL that put Perth into the competition.

or the same ARL that was helping with the travel costs of the WA team in the JBC,

it was news ltd that killed them off, not the ARL

learn more about the facts before posting rubbish like this

Aussie soccer needs to stop trying to become a 'major' code at the professional level, and stick to what it is good at - junior development and being a sport for kids to play. If they continue trying to push the game the way they have they'll end up bankrupting the sport, which would be a shame.

I've been to a couple of 'Roar' games and they are quite sad. I really think they'd be better off staying as a semi-pro league and just pushing the Socceroos.