Perth earns rugby league Test
A trans-Tasman rugby league Test looks set to be played in Perth in October next year.
The NRL is in talks with the State Government about staging an Australia-New Zealand clash at nib Stadium and they took a big step forward when NRL chief executive David Smith was in Perth for the South Sydney-New Zealand Warriors game earlier this month.
Smith was among the record-breaking 20,272-strong crowd for the Rabbitohs’ 36-4 win and had talks with representatives from VenuesWest and nib Stadium.
Australia and New Zealand would use the game as part of their build-up to the Rugby League Four Nations tournament in England and Scotland in October and November.
The NRL wanted to bring a trans-Tasman Test to Perth three years ago but it is understood the State Government stalled over the decision. The game ended up in Townsville.
The NRL have confirmed there are plans to schedule rugby league World Cup games in 2017 in Perth and have signalled its intention to take the showpiece State of Origin to Perth and New Zealand.
An NRL spokesman confirmed Perth was on their radar to host the Test next year.
“We’re always looking to markets outside of traditional rugby league areas and Perth is certainly an option to host Test matches in the future,” he said.
The decision to play the game at the 20,500 capacity stadium would also be a coup for the WANRL, which is pushing for West Coast Pirates to be part of an expanded competition. A decision should be made next year whether they will be admitted to the 2018 competition.
Support for a Perth franchise has come from Melbourne’s international full-back Billy Slater, who said the Pirates would succeed if they followed the Storm’s expansion template.
The Australian Rugby Union has played 14 Tests in Perth, always at Domain Stadium, but that is expected to change next year with the Wallabies playing Argentina at nib Stadium. Four 2003 World Cup games were also played at the Subiaco venue.
