Took a while but it's grown on me and kids love it. My nephews all wear the Pirates gear I have bought them regularly even though they know nothing of RL, yet! It will be massive for merch sales and if done right and not cheesy will be great for game day branding etc. just need a club now!

Also not many people know but WA had Australia's only recognised pirate, capt black jack, and one of the most famous historical figures here was a buccaneer, William Dampier.

I loved the Reds Name and logo but can see being the only club in Australia being called the Pirates will be a marketers dream.

If your interested in following the WA bid and NRL expansion generally: https://www.facebook.com/groups/323519177733792/

If your interested in following the WA bid and NRL expansion generally: https://www.facebook.com/groups/323519177733792/

Last seasons Pirates SG Ball jerseys, brand colours look to be black, red and gold/yellow

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I am not fussed on either of those designs JB, they look like Pub team Jerseys.
Is Cash Converters on a long term sponsorship deal?

I'm not too keen on the West Coast name to be honest. It's not really a place. It's an area to describe one side of any country that borders water.

There was a lot of talk of relocations being an option on LU Forums. Of all the relations that could work from a naming perspective, I reckon Wests Magpies could have been a good one.
Bang in the Brisbane Tigers as the other half and include the Wellington Orcas and you've hit all the major expansion areas in one go then.

Cash converters have been a major supporter of WA RL since the early 90's. The perth guy who owns the company is a multi millionaire and big rugby league fan. He is putting in around $200k a year to our jnr program.

Design needs some work and I'd prefer to see the colours a bit more classy; scarlet red, old gold and black. Similar to what the Tampa bay changed to. They wanted to come up with a name that embraced the state as RL is popular in the far north and growing in the SW. It was either WA or West Coast.

Why do you think a second Brisbane team would not deliver more than Wellington?
Brisbane is a huge League market in a major City with just one team.
Many people in Brisbane dislike the Bronco's and would get right behind an alternative team.
Brisbane would not have the situation they have now where there is no game played in the city on Half of the weekends in the season.

There's already a very famous RL club in Brisbane called the Tigers...

West Coast is fine. It's what the top level AFL and netball teams are called. Everyone in the country knows it represents Perth/WA. If they went back to Perth they'd be on the same level as the soccer and basketball teams.

NRL isnt rating highly at moment but mainly due to being buried on a digital channel with no promotion. When it is promoted RL rates pretty well. The real $ value though is in the 2 hour time difference giving a whole host of live game options for FTA and PTV on the East coast.
I am sure the NRL wouldnt mind the extra 2-3million viewing figures over the course of a season when the game finally gets back here and gets some profile. This is all about growth in the key metro ratings target group and clearly there is growth happening that will only occur quicker with our own NRL team here to raise the profile of the game.

5 Reasons Wellington are way behind Perth and Brisbane2 for NRL expansion:

1. Its a pretty small city (400k). Whilst there are million plus cities (Perth 2million, tipped to be over 3million by 2030) and cities the size of Brisbane with one team, a small city like Wellington is always going to play second fiddle
2. No suitable stadium. The main stadium is poor for RL with the stands miles from the action and the likely 12-15k regular crowds rattling around in its 34.5k capacity
3. No value to next TV deal. Whilst Perth and Brisbane add direct $'s to any new TV deal the NZ tv deal is already top end heavy and unlikely to be significantly boosted by the addition of another team. The NZ deal represents less than 10% of the Australian TV value.
4. Sustainability. RU is god in that part of the world yet even the main RU team in Wellington is desperately struggling to attract fans and make ends meet. Their crowd avg hovers around 12k. if the main sport cant draw a crowd what chance the NRL?
5. Bid credentials. Whilst other bids have been working for a number of years in putting the building blocks together this hastily cobbled bid seems to be a quick jerk reaction to the NRL's potential expansion and the cowd at last years game.

I am all for a NZ2 side in the future and Wellington crowds have certainly been great. Maybe the time is right to hammer the Hurricanes by putting an NRL club in but Perth and Brisbane2 due to their TV value and the work been done in those areas are streets ahead imo.

This is going to be Wellingtons best hope of getting a club in the next 15 years.

With the success of the Four Nations and the world cup in 2017, a second team being introduced just a year after this would be a great way to encourage more fans into the sport because there is clearly some interest there. If the marketing was done properly, they could play the New Zealand derby at Eden Park and probably fill it, that would be a great spectacle.

Striking whilst the irons hot isn't a trait associated with league, but you are right. 50,000 at Eden and 35,000 at the cake tin bolted on every year.......