- WA expansion conversations with NRL have been put on ice
- The cook approach is to win the state elections in March
- WA Premier wants an NRL team in its state
The Prime Minister of Western Australia, Roger Cook, has criticized Peter V'landys, telling NRL's Supreme Court to shut up 'as the expansion conversations have been suspended in Perth.
Follow V'landys rejecting an offer from a private consortium last October, which pressed to be the 19th NRL franchise in an association with the North Sydney Bears.
The NRL was in another direction, describing its proposal for a Perth headquarters that would be owned by the Australian Commission of the Rugby League (ARLC).
That franchise required that the WA government was in significant money, which has not happened at this stage.
And when the WA team proposal was put in ICE, the NRL announced in December that a team based in Papua New Guinea, armed with an amazing commitment of $ 600 million from the Albanese government, will be the 18th team, will enter the Competition in 2028.
It is understood that the NRL approached the Cook Government on an investment of $ 120 million, in addition to $ 200 million to improve the rectangular pert HBF stadium in a place of 27,000 seats.
The Prime Minister of Western Australia, Roger Cook, has criticized Peter V'landys, telling NRL's Supreme
Follow V'landys (in the photo on the left, with his wife Phillipa) rejecting an offer of a private consortium last October, which pressed to be the 19th NRL franchise in an association with the North Sydney Bears
According NOTS CORPThe conversations between the NRL and Cook government have stopped before the state elections in March, but did not prevent the prime minister from publicly questioning the commercial approach from V'landys.
“It's hard hair, Cook told Triple M in Perth.
“Look if he (V'landys) could shut up for a while …
Cook is still the hope that its state will see a NRL team again, with the western reds previously part of the ARL between 1995 and 1996.
In 1997 they appeared in the competition of the News Limited Super League, where they were known as the Reds of Perth.
A debt of at least $ 10 million saw the club bend the same year.
'WA is the only state that can put the N in NRL, it is not a national compensation until you get one side of WA, but we are not talking about this year, next year or even the subsequent year, this is a long plan ', added Cook.
'We are open to that idea (Bears joins the NRL as a WA -based team).
'That gives us a players base, a membership base and a resource base. We would start well.
'We are having some conversations with the NRL … (let's see) if they solve any point in the future.
Meanwhile, the CEO of NRL, Andrew Abdo, confirmed that conversations will resume if Cook's Labor Government, as is widely forecast, remains in power in WA.
“Once that election is finished, we will involve the government again and, hopefully, put a business case to the Commission (ARL) that will provide certainty for the next two years,” he told AAP.
'Nothing has been over and we need to work on it.
'It will not rush, it would be something that the commission needs to be very clear.
'These decisions are really important because decades fall in the future. We want to make sure to do all the analysis.
V'landys continues to trust that an agreement will be reached, and it is inflexible that the Bears will be part of the new expansion team. “
“I will not go into exact details, but the conversations with the WA government have been very positive, so I have no concern,” he said.
“I feel very comfortable with the place where we are … (Y) Bears will be in charge and center of this.”