Rugby league 'must do homework'
Dual international and for-mer Western Reds winger Barrie-Jon Mather believes WA Rugby League should learn from other codes if they are granted a National Rugby League expansion licence.
Mather, the first player to represent England in both rugby codes is now NSW Rugby League football manager. He said a Perth NRL team was viable but the WARL needed to tread carefully.
Expansion talks will be held at the end of the NRL season although any changes are unlikely before 2018 when a new television deal is struck.
“Perth is a great sporting city. You’ve got the Dockers and Eagles and now the Force. The only thing that’s missing is a rugby league team,” Mather said.
“A rugby league team in Perth is certainly viable, it’s definitely do-able, but they must learn from the Force and Dockers. They must learn from the other codes.
“WA is doing a good job of keeping itself on the radar but if a decision is made it has to be done with plenty of notice. It takes money and time.”
Mather, who code-hopped several times in his 12-year career, was in Perth for last night’s Friday WARL awards where Joondalup Giants half-back Caleb Reedy won the Ken Allen Medal as player of the year.
Mather played for the Great Britain league side in the mid-90’s and England in the 1995 Rugby League World Cup before Clive Woodward called him into the 1999 England rugby union squad.
He played union for England schools but joined Wigan rugby league in 1992 before coming to the Reds.
When the Reds folded he went back to English league and Castleford Tigers before switching to union and the Sale club. He returned to Castleford in 2000 before jumping over again, playing for Coventry and then Kubota in Japan.
He had several coaching roles in union including coach of premiership club London Irish’s academy before his appointment as English league player development and team manager.
Mather said Sam Burgess, who leaves South Sydney Rabbitohs to join English rugby union Premiership club Bath at the end of the season, will be a success but may have left it too late to make next year’s World Cup.
He believes league forward Burgess will be used at inside centre.
“It’s easier making the switch if you are back than a forward,” Mather said.
“Rugby league is a simple game, catch and pass, but there are a lot of technical things to being a forward in rugby union.
“How they use him will be interesting, but I think he’ll be the set-up man at inside centre to get over the gain line and get quick ball.
“Sam is a class player and if anybody can make the World Cup in such a short time he can but he’s not leaving himself much time.
“England will pick their Six Nations squad in December and that only gives him a couple of weeks to do any-thing.
“He’s not likely to get into a World Cup squad without having proved himself, that would be a big call, but you never know, Sam could be the player to do it.”
