Western Reds now seem like little more than a fever dream. A team that survived just three seasons in the big time, first a beneficiary and then a victim of the overly ambitious, hedonistic rugby league scene of the 1990s. The Perth-based club were lauded for helping take a north-eastern game national before playing a key role in the great split by signing with the rebel Super League. The Reds played just 62 premiership matches but in their short existence they lived a life.
The eventual fate of the Reds said little about the prospects of rugby league thriving at the elite level in Perth, and the impending announcement that another team will soon join the premiership is welcome news. The Reds were set up to fail, astonishingly having to pay the travel costs of all teams travelling to Perth – as well as their own – while fighting for players, coaches, administrators and attention as one of four clubs added in 1995. With that kind of introduction, it was not surprising that the Reds became an unsustainable proposition.
