Perth Reds for NRL thread

[DIEHARD]

Jeez guys get off their backs will'ya i don't care what gernsey they wear. you forget that they will be wearing a different strip once they come into the bigtime and i can say that North Sydney won't allow the red, black and white in the Jim Beam Cup the WA Reds will incorporate a different colour strip.

And to end off fantastic stuff and now bring on Adelaide.

Norths aren't in the Jim Beam Cup though. Unless things change in 2008.

I agree we shouldn't be too critical but still it was an opportunity lost.

[DIEHARD]

:woot: :woot: :woot:

WA REDS - ITS OFFICIAL - KICK OFF IN MARCH 2008

ARL Gives WA Reds Green Light

The Australian Rugby League today provided the long awaited formal approval allowing the WA Reds to participate in the Sydney based Jim Beam Cup competition from 2008, announced WARL Chairman, Geoff Baldwin.

?There has been an enormous amount of work over many years to get us back to this turning point for Rugby League in WA and we see this as step one in our quest for a Perth based team to re-enter the National Rugby League in future years, Mr Baldwin said.

?The decision by the ARL recognises Western Australia as a growth market for the national game of Rugby League.

?Our organising committee is relieved to receive the go ahead and very excited about the challenges ahead as the journey back to the top begins.

?This has arguably been one of the most important decisions in Rugby League since 1998 when we lost the Western Reds franchise. Rugby League is a major national game and it needs to be in Perth for the sake of the talent we are producing locally and our supporter base that has been starved in recent years.?

?Based on the average crowds attracted by the Western Reds in the nineties, we know we have a good level of support in WA and we expect this support base to grow as people see our team begin to build over the next 6 months.

?Since we announced our strategy in November last year we have had to meet certain financial and planning commitments to the ARL most of which we have achieved ahead of schedule and with the official sanction we can now approach the campaign in earnest!

?Currently we have two of four major sponsorships filled and we are in advanced negotiation with a third and expect to finalise a full book of sponsorships within the next three months on the back of this confirmation.

?The WA Reds have played in 2007 as the state representative team and have taken all before them going through undefeated to win the National Championships then having 11 representatives selected for the National Affiliated Sates side which played in July.

WARL General Manager, Bill Nosworthy added that the structure around this team will see an improved local club competition and stronger pathways for our junior development program.

?In 2007 we have seen the best level of competition since the 90?s between the eight local clubs on the back of players returning to WA to stake their claim for inclusion in the inaugural Reds side.

?The WA Reds will need to recruit some strong forwards to build the side a little more prior to kick off in 2008 but the belief of head coach Chris Dever is that the talent across the field is already here and it is now more a matter of conditioning?, Mr Nosworthy said.

WARL

[Queenslander]

A step in the right direction

[Hoppy2007Dragons]

The future looks good for the national comp.

[Steve]

That's good to see.
Playing in that competition will be a great stepping stone to the NRL, but also help their local talent develop further.
When they hit the NRL, they'll have a good number of local players, although i'm sure they'll nab a few eastern players too.

I doubt that jersey in the picture will be what they use. They'll probably use the unveiling of a new jersey as an event to further promote the team.

[DIEHARD]

Has anyone got Western Reds membership for 2008?

2008 Season Membership





An exciting time to enjoy rugby league in Perth!

The WA Reds, our new Western Australian team is bringing back quality rugby league to Perth in 2008 as we kick off the inaugural season in the Jim Beam Cup. It is an exciting time for the code after ten years out of the spotlight to again play on a national stage. The Sydney based Jim Beam Cup competition is the first step in the drive to the re-establish the WA Reds as a full NRL franchise.

The Reds will play away every second week and our home games will be at Members Equity Stadium which is sure to become a huge advantage for our team.

Join us and be ready for kick off!

Season Membership lets you get involved with family and friends to watch rugby league at a national level in the comfort of Members Equity Stadium and with your own dedicated seats for every game.

The WA Reds are well progressed with recruiting and have signed our best local talent along with quality players from Australia, New Zealand and England. We are expecting to see good results in 2008 and look forward to your support.

The Jim Beam Cup will be played between 13 teams in 22 home and away games, with 11 home games at Members Equity Stadium.

We look forward to seeing you at the games…
Bill Nosworthy
General Manager
WA Reds Rugby League

What’s included with Season Membership

Entry to all home games (11 for 2008)
Reserved Seating
Season Membership Card
Monthly E-Newsletter
Priority access to home finals tickets

Membership Information

Membership Passes will be sent out mid March
Family membership is for 2 adults and 2 children under 16
Concessions applies to aged and health pensioners
Seats will be allocated as best available in reserved areas nominated.

[DIEHARD]

It was announced in today's Telegraph under Steve Mascords article about Membership that the Reds have over 1,000 Ticketed members for 2008.

[TITAN PETE]

It was announced in today's Telegraph under Steve Mascords article about Membership that the Reds have over 1,000 Ticketed members for 2008.

That shows there are still some Aussie's left in W.A & they haven't been completely over run by Saffa's

[DIEHARD]

Lockyer: Keep Perth, Adelaide in mind

THE representative launch of our centenary season last week got me thinking about what the future holds for our game.

The competition with the other football codes will be fierce. Rugby union has expanded to Perth in the past two years. The AFL is putting new teams into Queensland and Sydney. The A-League is also looking to expand in Queensland.

On a national scale, those codes have more exposure than what rugby league has.

We should be very careful if we think our heartland states, Queensland and NSW, will keep us in good stead for the next 100 years.

Revenue is brought not just by television, but by sponsorship and a lot of companies like the sports which give them national exposure.

It's important our administrators keep cities such as Perth and Adelaide in mind.

NRL chief executive David Gallop mentioned recently that the west of Brisbane and Sunshine Coast would be contenders for the next NRL expansion club.

Initially, a team in those areas would be supported more, and they should be considered seriously. But the bigger picture is if we want to make sure our sponsorship and game brand on a national scale is strong, we shouldn't limit our market to mostly two states.

In the 1990s when the game was split we expanded quickly and didn't have the resources behind the Perth and Adelaide ventures.

It's good that Souths are taking some home games to Perth next year.

I'm told a Perth team called the WA Reds will this weekend start playing in the NSWRL's second-tier competition. It's 11 years since the last season of the Western Reds.

With the salary cap as effective as it is, a new team in an expansion state can be competitive in the first season, as the Titans have been.

Source: Courier Mail

[DIEHARD]

Chester Hill Rhinos 28 defeated WA Reds 24 in a tightly contested game of rugby league which was the Reds first game in the Jim Beam Cup.

The WA Reds led 20-18 at half time.

WELL DONE REDS!

[Blazertaser]

Chester Hill Rhinos 28 defeated WA Reds 24 in a tightly contested game of rugby league which was the Reds first game in the Jim Beam Cup.

The WA Reds led 20-18 at half time.

WELL DONE REDS!

Just wondering But will they be heading for the big league soon. Or are they going to stay down in the jim beam cup. Just wanted to know to see if i should get my old jersey out from the reds before?

[DIEHARD]

Just wondering But will they be heading for the big league soon. Or are they going to stay down in the jim beam cup. Just wanted to know to see if i should get my old jersey out from the reds before?

They plan to move into the Queensland Cup in 2010. (Which will be great, because I will head to as many WA Reds games in SEQLD as possible.)

And then push for admission into the NRL in 2012.

[Blunt_Beno]

wonder if the goodwin brothers will head back west if the reds make it back into the nrl. would like to see them playing alongside each other again, they are much better together then apart.

[DIEHARD]

WARL warn Perth: Jim Beam Cup support is crucial for NRL bid

Bill Nosworthy has a sound warning for the people of Perth, support the Reds in the Jim Beam Cup and the likelihood of NRL games increases, don't and the foundations of WA Rugby League are in jeopardy.

Nosworthy, speaking to Austadiums.com, talked about the plans for the new Jim Beam Cup and suggested that corporate support will only come when the general public legitimise the team.

"We need to gain public support before we get the corporate support...The Force have become successful, because they have had public support and this has proven attractive to the corporate market".

It?s for this reason why it?s absolutely crucial that the people of Perth support the NRL bid, particularly when Nosworthy noted that the NRL are generally hesitant of granting NRL teams. "The number one issue, even with the Gold Coast, was grass roots support, the biggest objection (for granting a license) was grass roots support".

Thus support for the Reds is crucial, South Sydney coming over will bring more exposure to League out west, which apparently are walk up attendees. "Rugby League watchers are generally match day watchers...we really do not know what the average will be".

While WARL are budgeting for crowds of 2000 they are hoping that with a bit of success they hope to gather a Perth Glory type crowd. "We are budgeting 2000, but we would hope to get to a Perth Glory type crowd".

Nosworthy believes that part of the reason of South Sydney coming to Western Australia was the desire of the AFL to move into Western Sydney and Gold Coast. "It was partly the reason...the NRL have not funded any of it to my understanding".

Accordingly Peter Bauchop who is bidding to have South Sydney play at Members Equity Stadium said that South Sydney can see the revenue potential. "They have seen our market and also Peter Holmes A Court has a general affinity to Western Australia".

The WA Reds will be a separate board and budget to the WARL, so the grass roots will not suffer and will be completely separate to the functions the WARL do in running the code in Western Australia.

However with aggressive ambitions, comes a price. Nosworthy admits that financially, the WARL are suffering. "Peter Bauchop and Allia have been terrific in listening to our concerns...what our argument would be is that the KPI's Allia and Town of Vincent have set are too high".

"It is way too high for a state organisation to pay. Minimum license fee of $6000, small commission of food and beverages...If you look at the stadium how many community events are held here? Lacrosse were going to come here, but they can not afford it, Rugby Union curtain raiser before the spirit game ran at a loss...it just needs to be affordable".

Bauchop explains that they set the costings at the lowest level of the KPI figures of 0.5% and that it loses money on holding the games which are subsidised by the hire prices that major concerts spend at Members Equity.

"We would have to play 200 games a year to get any revenue from Rugby League...we have been independently assessed by Escom as doing more for our tenants than most other stadium's in the country...and that we should be losing money on the rights we have given to them".

Bauchop advises that WARL needs a large money spinning event that will bring much needed cash to the table "What I would suggest to the WARL would be to bring an event that would be a money maker for them".

While he believes that larger government grants to emerging sports would help, Bauchop suggests that the commercial reality means that the costs would not get any cheaper anywhere else.

"You have got to take the step up to a semi professional level...the reality is you are playing at a stadium not a park".

Nosworthy said that membership is not running as fast as expected, which they claim is mainly due to the nature of League supporters, deciding on game day. Yet he noted that the dependence on the Rugby League supporters to go was integral for the viability of the sport in Western Australia and any possible NRL teams.

"It is a lot slower then what we expected, but League supporters are generally not membership based supporters... However we need to make sure we get the grass roots support, to show that we are legitimate to the corporate world".

http://www.austadiums.com/

[Hoppy2007Dragons]

Reading in big league when you look at the west australian reds its WAR, which is how many western australian's feel after been cut shose years ago, they want back and are thriving to become a force in the nrl in the future.

I think thats great and the steps in place atm are only going to make them thirster and stronger