Western Reds

Club information
Full name	Western Reds Rugby League Football Club
Founded	30 November 1992; 32 years ago (30 November 1992)
Exited	1997; 28 years ago (1997)
Former details
Ground	WACA Ground (1995–1997) Perth Oval (2006–2011)
Competition	Australian Rugby League (1995–1996) Super League (1997) S.G. Ball Cup (2006–2011) Bundaberg Rum Cup (2009)

TheWestern Reds were arugby league football club based inPerth, Western Australia. Founded in 1992 as theWestern Reds, they entered into theAustralian Rugby League competition in 1995 before defecting to the rivalSuper League competition in 1997, where they rebranded themselves as thePerth Reds. However, by the end of the year the Reds had become a casualty of theSuper League War peace deal and were shut down. The name Reds was named after the nativeRed Kangaroos. The Reds entered a state of limbo for the next decade but were revived as a lower-level club in 2006 by the WARL and ARL, under the nameWA Reds.

Until thePerth Bears commences playing in the NRL in 2027, the Western Reds were the only team from Western Australia to have participated in top-flight rugby league in Australia. A bid to return the club to the NRL was launched in 2012 as the West Coast Pirates, with this bid being taken over by theWestern Australian Government, and subsequently merged with theNorth Sydney Bears to form thePerth Bears.

The Reds had recruited well in 1993–94, and signedPeter Mulholland as their first coach.St George fullbackMichael Potter (twice winner of theDally M Award), 1992 Rookie of year and CLEO bachelor of the yearMatthew Rodwell, andAustralian andNSW rep playerBrad Mackay were three of the major signings.

Their first game, played at theWACA, was watched by a record 24,392, with the Reds defeatingSt George 28–16. WhenNews Limited began its "blitzkrieg" in April 1995, the Reds aligned themselves withSuper League along with nine otherAustralian Rugby League clubs. That season the Reds were the best performing of the three expansion teams introduced, winning 11 of their 22 games, including 8 at home, which drew an average crowd of around 13,000, larger than that of many Sydney teams.

The Reds even recruited local identity and decoratedWAFL andWest Coast Eagles (AFL) playerAdrian Barich. Barich, having grown up inCanberra reverted fromAustralian rules football to rugby league, finishing his career with seasons with the Reds, however he never played in first grade.^[1]

After declaring that the club may not have the financial resources to compete in the1996 ARL Optus Cup, a major sponsorship with the Rupert Murdoch-owned Sunday Times gave the club some much needed money. By mid 1996 club support had dwindled to just over 6,000.

In 1997, the Reds became one of eight ARL teams to join the rivalSuper League during the dispute known as theSuper League war. They changed their name to the Perth Reds for the1997 Super League season,^[2] and adopted a jersey of red, white and black. Although the club had made some promising signings, such asRodney Howe andRobbie Kearns, the crushing $10 million debt that hung over the club (from having to pay the airfares for all visiting teams) at the end of the season led to Super League axing the Perth Reds on 1 October 1997.

Rugby league has continued to be played in Western Australia since the Reds left the top-flight competition with theSwan Brewery Cup continuing and NRL matches being staged at various times since 1998. On 8 May 1999,Melbourne Storm playedWestern Suburbs Magpies atLathlain Park inPerth, withMelbourne running out winners 62–6. In 2005,Cronulla took their home game against theNew Zealand Warriors toPerth Oval, and played in front of around 13,000 spectators.

TheWARL resurrected theReds in 2006 with the intent of joining the National Rugby League in the future. In 2008 the Reds joined the Jim Beam Cup and played out ofPerth Oval.^[3]

In the 2009Bundaberg Red Cup the Reds were winless until they won 3 of their 4 last games, giving them something to build on for the next season.Darwin Rugby League product Aaron Barnes was named the Reds' player of the year.^[4]
Unfortunately for financial reasons, the Reds senior team was withdrawn from the Bundy Cup for 2010.

In 2010, the WA Reds entered an Under 18's team in theS. G. Ball Cup competition. The first trial game on 30 January 2010 was against the runners-up of theWestern Australia Rugby League competition the Central Bulldogs, which they won 38–20. The WARL set up two junior academies to help develop players for a return to the NRL with the SG Ball side providing a staging ground for player development. The WA Reds juniors won their first SG Ball game beating the Balmain Tigers at ME Stadium 28–8.

Whilst the team found it tough going against often bigger and more experienced sides, they did claim a couple of scalps, and at the end of the season Curtis Rona was signed by the Sydney Roosters, earning a call up to their under-20s side during 2010.

A new bid logo was launched in 2010 and membership for fans was made available. NRL CEO David Gallop recognised the WA Reds 2013 bid on a number of occasions, speaking positively about the potential for a Perth team in the NRL, but no Perth team eventuated until 2027.

• West Coast Pirates
• National Rugby League
• Western Australia Rugby League
• Rugby league in Western Australia

• Western Australian Rugby League
• Perth Reds (archived)
• WA Reds
• RL1908's Western Reds Page
• The Official NRL 2003 Season Guide
  • Round 3V Bulls
  • WA Reds Squad 09

• 1992 establishments in Australia
• 1997 disestablishments in Australia
• Defunct rugby league teams in Australia
• Rugby clubs established in 1992
• Rugby league teams in Western Australia
• Sports clubs and teams in Perth, Western Australia
• Rugby clubs disestablished in 1997
• Western Reds

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from October 2020
• Use Australian English from April 2011
• All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English
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