ANALYSIS: Lyrics from Ronan Keating's 'Life is a Rollercoaster' never seemed so fitting for rugby league enthusiasts living in Western Australia.
ANALYSIS: Twenty-five years ago, Irish pop singer Ronan Keating wrote a song called Life is a Rollercoaster, a title that mirrors what Western Australian rugby league diehards have lived over the past 12 months.
From day to day, week to week, the potential of a proposed Perth-based National Rugby League franchise in an expanded competition comes and goes.
Early last week, prior to last week’s NRL double header at Optus Stadium, talk surfaced out of the east coast that all hope of a proposed Western Bears franchise joining the competition would be extinguished.
This came amid comments from the state government, reiterating that it would “not be seen as a cash cow” by the NRL.
There were also fears this would result in a boycott of sorts by league lovers, along with protests outside the stadium.
However, by Friday and over the weekend, remarks by Premier Roger Cook indicated the dream, which seemed over, may still have one final twist.
Speaking to the media on Monday, Mr Cook said recent discussions with the NRL’s top brass had been productive.
“As I’ve reported before, we continue to speak with the NRL,” he said.
“Those conversations are positive. I met online with the ARLC chair (Peter V’landys) and CEO (Andrew Abdo) of the NRL last week. They were high-level discussions and they will continue.
“We’ve made an offer to them ($35 million grassroots and transport package). They haven’t formally responded to that offer in writing, but there is a delta and that’s obviously what those conversations are about.”
The premier said should a deal be eventually reached, ideally there would be transparency surrounding the financial nature of the process.
“It is my intention,” Mr Cook said.
“As part of these arrangements, aspects of it are commercial in confidence. But we will be as transparent with regards to any sort of agreement … if an agreement is able to be made. And I say that is a big if.”
A crowd of 31,437 attended Saturday’s double header featuring the Manly Sea Eagles, Cronulla Sharks, South Sydney Rabbitohs and North Queensland Cowboys, with both matches played in hot and humid conditions.
“Oh look, I think the numbers were pretty good and it was the second highest attended ground of the round,” Mr Cook said.
The premier also did not rule out WA bidding for the AFL’s gather round, which was held in South Australia over the weekend.
“I was the tourism minister when gather round went to Adelaide. That was one that got away,” he said.
“Look, if any opportunity comes up into the future, I’d love to be able to bring big events like that to WA. It’s part of our major events strategy.”
During the past 12 months, venue upgrades at Sullivan Logistics Stadium in Leederville and a major redevelopment of Hands Oval in Bunbury has positioned WA as a potential gather round location in future.
