Let me take you back to Australia in the late 90’s where a war was raging between Australia’s leading Newspapers the Rupert Murdoch and News Corporation-backed and Optus Vision backed Australian Rugby League (ARL) organisation over broadcasting rights dubbed the Super League war.
It was a war for who would ultimately take control of, the-top level professional rugby league in Australia and New Zealand.
Depending on which side of the fence your team found it’s self on depended on the future of the club, some of the clubs survived and joined what we now call the National Rugby League (NRL) and came out unscathed or if you were unlucky like the Adelaide Rams Rugby League Club which found it’s self on the wrong side of the fence and being one of the teams owned by News Limited your participation was short lived.
In the case of the Adelaide Rams Club which had to compete with other South Australian sporting clubs which were going through a golden period in their own competitions made it had for a burgeoning rugby league team to lay foundations and to enter the sports market in South Australia. But also being owned by Newscorp was the final nail in the coffin for the Adelaide Rams.
The Adelaide Rams had mixed success in the two years they were competing at the top level of rugby league in Australia. For their first season they had an average home attendances of 15,330, the fourth highest of the Super League teams and fifth highest of all 22 teams in both competitions. In 1998, however, the Rams’ home attendances diminished, dropping to an average of about 7,500, the fourth lowest of any team in the 20-team competition.
The Rams highest attendance at Adelaide Oval was 27,435 set in their inaugural home game against the Hunter Mariners. Their record attendance at Hindmarsh was 7,459 for their loss to 1997 ARL Grand Finalists, the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles. In 1998, the Rams played their Round 15 home game against the Illawarra Steelers at the Bennett Oval in Whyalla, in part due to Whyalla’s main employer being BHP who were also the Steelers major sponsor. The Steelers won the game 39–4 in front of 5,153 fans.
During 1998, the South Australian Cricket Association had ongoing problems with the SARL and the Rams’ use of their stadium, Adelaide Oval. The Rams then moved to Hindmarsh Stadium, a rectangular stadium more suited to rugby league and owned by the South Australian Soccer Association. They celebrated with a 52–0 defeat over Balmain in their first match at the stadium. However, attendances did not improve after the move, falling below 7,500.
Yes, we have the occasional NRL club games and the State of Origin games in Australia, 2020 & 2023. In 2020 a COVID-restricted crowd of 25,000 people attended Adelaide Oval and in 2023 48,613 people – well surpassing the covid-restricted crowd of 25,000 in 2020 when the first State of Origin match was played in Adelaide.
The more than 13,000 out-of-state visitors heading into the state for the first match in the 2023 Origin series have boosted hotel occupancy rates, with new data indicating he Wednesday night game shaped up to be the third best night of all time.
With all of the talk about expansion and having 20 teams back in the NRL and two potential bids for NRL licences up for grabs and only one new team the Dolphins based in Queensland competing in the NRL and three licences still available and two bids from outside of Australia (Papua New Guinea (PNG) & another team from New Zealand making noises about wanting to join the NRL) does not leave much room for a team from Australia to join the NRL.
With the PNG expression of interest and bid is a controversial and politically motivated instrument being used by the Australian Government and may not be on the theme of growing the game in Australia instead protecting Australia’s assets in the Pacific region.
What the NRL seems to forget is the first word of their name “National”, how can Australia’s leading rugby league competition be called national when you do not have a top tier team in every state? I do not have a problem with international teams coming into the NRL but I want the team to come into the NRL on their own merits and not be politically motivated and at the cost of a worthy Australian team that deserves to have their place in the NRL.
We have seen recently that the bids for a team that would be made up from two states be rejected. Western Bears’ bid was rejected by ALRC boss Peter V’landys.
V’landys recently revealed their bid fell “significantly short” when it came to the NRL’s financial requirements with the ARL Commission reportedly holding concerns around the Western Bears’ multimillion-dollar license fee.
It sparked fear that the Bears’ long wait to return to the NRL could be dead in the water — however V’landys clarified his stance and hosed down those concerns.
There are a small group of Rugby League Fans in Adelaide that are passionate and want to see the Adelaide Rams return or a brand-new team in the NRL. With expansion on the lips of stakeholders in the NRL now is the time that South Australia has a team in the NRL. This small group of rugby league fans are members of the Rugby League Team for Adelaide Steering Committee. This is the official steering committee for the Rugby League Team for Adelaide.
We need more people in Adelaide who are passionate, have business experience and feel now is the time for Adelaide to take its place in the NRL. If you would like more information on how to get involved or to express an interest send an email to acting chairperson Darren Andrews at admin@ozsportsonline.com.
I am writing this piece as a former passionate Adelaide Rams fan who was a foundation member and attended every Adelaide Rams home game at Adelaide Oval and Hindmarsh Stadium (Coopers Stadium). It was hard when the news broke that 1999 there would be no more Adelaide Rams teams to support and see compete on the pitch anymore.
Living in a state that was and still is an Aussie Rules stronghold I turned to the AFL, SANFL to get my footy fix. It was not rugby league, but it scratched the itch to see live footy in our backyard, it was not rugby league, but it was a footy code. It took me a while for me to get back into rugby league and finding a club that I could get around. I still needed to feel part of a rugby league club that I could support, it was hard, but I settled on the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. I am still to this day not totally sure why I settled on making the Sea Eagles my team, it might be because I was given a Sea Eagles replica playing jersey, or if it was the players themselves. But I still dream that the day will come where an Adelaide rugby league team would run out on to the pitch at the highest level in Australia the NRL.
