In this instalment of the A to Z of the NRL, we’re going to look at one of the short-lived expansion team: the Western Reds, who enjoyed three years in the ARL and Super League.
In 1995, the New South Wales Rugby League became the Australian Rugby League, with four new teams: the North Queensland Cowboys, Auckland Warriors, South Queensland Crushers, and the Reds.
The Reds were cut after just three seasons (to paraphrase Homer Simpson: “Perth, I like your hustle. That’s why it was so hard to cut you.”) as the Super League and ARL reunited to become the National Rugby League. The poor old Crushers – zero hope of competing with a greedy, arrogant Brisbane at their peak – were also cut, while the Warriors and Cowboys are still in the NRL.
Many fans felt that the Reds were hard done by, and they’ve been in NRL expansion talks ever since. With the Western Force returning to Super Rugby last year, Perth has shown there’s a sporting market outside their AFL monopoly.
1995
The Reds were the only expansion team to win their opening game, beating St. George 28-16 at the WACA: David Boyd, Jeff Doyle, Matthew Fuller, Tim Horan, and Peter Shiels the Reds tryscorers. Meanwhile, Auckland had a valiant loss to Brisbane, North Queensland lost to Brisbane, and the Crushers were smashed by defending premiers Canberra.
Helped by veterans Mark Geyer, Michael Potter, and captain Brad Mackay, the Reds finished a respectable 11–11 and 10th place, just two points from the finals. They won two straight games three times and won eight games (from 11) at the WACA.
Chris Ryan (who played all 22 games) was a runaway points leader, with 136 from nine tries and 50 goals.
1996
The Reds struggled in their second year, with just six wins and a draw from 21 games (four of those win, and the draw, in Perth). The Reds, along with other Super League-aligned clubs, forfeited their opening round game, while nine straight losses (from round three to round 12) killed their season, finishing 16th out of 20.
The talented but wayward Queensland fullback Julian O’Neill scored 125 points from 18 games (six tries, 49 goals, three field goals).
1997
The rebranded Perth Reds had a poor Super League season, finishing eighth with a 7-11 record (five wins at home), and only two points ahead of the last-placed Cowboys. Even worse, their wonderful red, black, yellow, and white Cash Converters jersey was replaced with a bland red and white version, typical of the boring, cut-and-paste Super League jersey designs.
They did better in the World Club Challenge, winning four games from six. Yet, because the WCC was the worst competition ever, they finished last in Pool B behind Hunter, Adelaide, and North Queensland. Yes, the WCC was so bad that the teams who finished sixth, ninth and last in the Australian Super League could smash the Poms.
O’Neill was leading pointscorer again, but this time with only 53 from eight games (six tries, 14 goals, one field goal). Ryan was second with 44 points from 15 games (five tries and 12 goals).
The Future
While the Reds were kicked out as the game reunited, a return to the NRL has been in the mix ever since. The Reds had a $10 million debt, as they had to pay visiting teams’ airfares.
They were revived as the WA Reds for the S.G. Ball comp from 2006 to 2011, with the West Coast Pirates forming in 2012 (keeping the Reds’ red, yellow, and black colours), playing in the S.G Ball until 2020, but have “won” six S.G Ball wooden spoons since 2013. If you’re interested, you can go to the Pirates website and watch the S.G games. Go to https://westcoastpirates.com.au/latest-news/
Perth needs a footy team: a crowd of 59,721 packed Optus Stadium for last year’s Origin; the second-biggest crowd after the 2019 Bledisloe Cup game), and the two-hour time difference is perfect for broadcasters in the eastern states: a 7:30 Friday home game creates a natural double-header for Nein, while a 7:30pm Saturday home game creates a tantalising “Super Saturday” triple-header for Fox League.
While the Pirates will take a few years to be competitive in the NRL (and they’ll likely be ignored by the local mainstream media, just like Melbourne ignores the Storm), there’s enough justification to include them.
For now, we can remember the Reds.
