WA league boss wants Perth NRL team

WESTERN Australian rugby league chairman John Sackson has urged the NRL to consider fast-tracking a Perth-based team if the Western Force loses its legal battle for survival after being cut from the Super Rugby competition.

The Force faces an uncertain future after the Australian Rugby Union won its arbitration case against Rugby WA, resulting in them discontinuing the Force Super Rugby licence. Despite the decision, Rugby WA says it will consider fighting in the ARU’s decision in the Supreme Court of NSW.

If the Force fails in the courts and is axed from the Super Rugby competition, Sackson says he would like the ARL Commission to introduce a Perth NRL franchise.

The NRL has previously stated it won’t expand the competition until at least 2020.

Sackson, though, would like to see this vision revisited.

“In my opinion, nothing would accelerate the growth of rugby league in Western Australia more so than the presence of a successful and sustainable NRL franchise,” he said. “But it comes back to the appetite of the game, in terms of expansion. Yes, they have been very clear on the expansion vision, nothing until 2020, but if the Force depart the landscape is changing.”