Moves are afoot to bring the NRL back to Perth, with a mining magnate announcing plans to have a team out west by 2015.
Multi-millionaire and Perth Glory owner Tony Sage has called in Balmain Tigers legend Benny Elias to drive the bid for a Perth side.
The NRL plans to expand its competition from 16 teams over the next few seasons, and NRL boss David Gallop has indicated he’d like to see a team back in Western Australia.
"Perth's clearly one of the top contenders for expansion although I believe it's still a few years away," Gallop says.
"Western Australia provides an extra live timeslot opportunity for television and would increase our national profile in an area where the economy is booming.
"Our recent research in potential expansion areas showed there is a high level of rugby league interest.
"We were surprised by the number of people in Perth who said they were avid fans of our game.
"I'm certainly open for talks with any leading businessman who wants to talk about expanding rugby league when the time is right."
Perth last had a rugby league team (Perth Reds) from 1995 to 1997 when they were sacrificed in the Super League war peace deal.
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