Sport and Recreation Minister David Templeman says South West ‘very well-placed’ for potential AFL team

Outgoing Sport and Recreation Minister David Templeman believes the South West is “very well-placed” to be the home of a potential third AFL club in WA. The South West is one of several WA locations to have been floated as a possible destination for a new club over the years, with civic leaders in Joondalup, Mandurah and Geraldton among those elsewhere in the State to have expressed their interest. But the region’s case has strengthened of late on the back of Hands Oval’s multimillion-dollar redevelopment and a deal between North Melbourne, the State Government and City of Bunbury which will see the Kangaroos stage a home game at the venue for each of the next three seasons. Tasmania has secured the license for the competition’s 19th team and will join the league in 2028. That is likely to pave the way for a 20th team, to avoid byes and to create a 10th game for broadcasters and there is a renewed push on for a team based in the Northern Territory. In an exclusive interview with The West Australian earlier this month, new WA Football chair Ian Callahan said the governing body did not have an official stance on the prospect of a third WA team, representing a softer stance than his predecessor Wayne Martin, who had rubbished the idea as “madness”. Speaking at Bunbury Speedway last week, Mr Templeman — after joking he would rather see a side established in his electorate of Mandurah — said the State Government was open to all future possibilities. “The population of Western Australia continues to grow, as we know, (it’s) one of the fastest growing States in the country,” he said. “We already certainly support and sustain two clubs. I think there will be continued discussions about a third club with the AFL going forward. “Will there be a third team in Western Australia? I think it’s very possible. Will it be based here in the South West? The South West would be very well-placed for that if that was to come.” Callahan did not shoot down the prospect but said establishing a third side in WA would be costly and require support from the Government to be feasible. While emphasising he could not speak for the government of the future due to his impending retirement, Mr Templeman said he anticipated “those discussions would be certainly welcomed by a re-elected Cook government”. “I think when a new team or when expansion of a code is considered, the role of the State Government is very much in the provision of infrastructure, high-performance training spaces and those sorts of things,” he said. “What we do know is sport and recreation is very much loved, it’s an innate thing about Western Australia, we punch above our weight in all sorts of codes.” As part of the deal to bring the Kangaroos to the South West, the State Government committed to an additional $5.7 million in upgrades for Hands Oval to complement the ground’s recently-completed $19.5 million redevelopment. Mr Templeman said he expected the AFL games to be the first in a suite of top-level sporting events at the venue. “I think (it will) cement an ongoing program, particularly for the AFL, and I think other codes are going to look at this closely too,” he said. “We’re very keen, for example, to achieve in the future a Gather Round, I can see that happening in WA in the not-too-distant future. Bunbury would be one of the places we’d be focusing on for those sorts of things to happen. “Bunbury’s positioned itself beautifully not only to take advantage of the wonderful ambience of this place, but also the facilities, which we’ve upgraded.” Mr Templeman played down any concerns over transport and logistics ahead of Bunbury’s AFL games, saying dealing with huge crowds coming to the region was a “great challenge to have”. “The fact of the matter is local authorities are very good at managing those sort of things,” he said. West Coast and North Melbourne will play a preseason game at the venue on March 1 before returning for a home and away clash on June 8 in what will be the first time a game has been played for premiership points in regional WA. Funding for top-level sport became a State election issue last week after Vasse MLA and Liberal leader Libby Mettam attacked Premier Roger Cook over the NRL’s reported price tag of $320 million to establish a club in WA.