West Australia Premier Roger Cook has revealed the state will “bid hard” for the 2028 NRL grand final if a scheduling clash with Pope Leo XIV’s Sydney visit forces the game to move its showpiece event.

Sydney has staged every decider apart from the 2021 match, when the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions resulted in it being shifted to Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium. However, given the event in two years is poised to clash with the Pope’s Sydney visit, the governing body could be forced to change either the date or location.

Should a venue change be required, the Western Australia government is prepared to make a substantial financial outlay to secure hosting rights.

“Yes, absolutely,” Cook told this masthead. “Western Australia has got a track record of staging major sporting events. Just over here at Optus Stadium, we held the AFL grand Final in 2021 - huge success. It’s a great opportunity to showcase the game in places outside their traditional venues.

“We’ve got the Rugby World Cup opening game in 2027. I reckon we’re a chance, and we would certainly bid hard in relation to the opportunity to showcase a rugby league grand final in WA.

“It’d provide an extra element for the competition as well, and I think people would be really excited about it.”

Western Australia has hosted State of Origins at Optus Stadium, and there will be more rugby league content in the region when the Perth Bears become the NRL’s 18th team next year. The Bears’ home ground, HBF Park, hosted the Manly-Melbourne clash on Saturday.

“I think everyone’s looking to WA now to see how the whole Perth Bears story unfolds and the role that WA will play,” Cook said.

“Western Australians love their sport. So the Perth Bears are going to be successful. I think it’d be a really strong foothold for NRL, and they could consolidate that by bringing the grand final here in ’28.”

Perth Bears coach Mal Meninga said locals would embrace a grand final in their state.

“We’d love to see that,” he said. “They’d fill the stadium here easy, and it would be great for tourism.”

Australian Rugby League chairman Peter V’landys said Perth was an option should the showpiece event leave Sydney.

“I met with [Cook on Friday] morning, and he said ‘Mate, you can look at 2028’,” V’landys said. “So he’s genuine.”

The Pope’s address on the October long weekend is likely to be held at Royal Randwick racecourse, a significant distance from grand final venue Accor Stadium at Homebush Bay. However, it may not be practical to stage both on the same day given the pressure on police and transport resources.

Asked if the scheduling clash would likely result in a change of date or venue, V’landys said: “I’ve got to say that we’ve got a sense of loyalty to [NSW] Premier Chris Minns and Sports Minister [Steve] Kamper. They’ve been very supportive of rugby league, and loyalty is everything to me. So it’s going to be hard, but as a business, we have to look at every option. [Perth] is an option.”

V’landys said following the lead of the NFL’s Super Bowl - which is held in various cities as a travelling showcase - is a consideration.

“If you take a grand final to a certain city, the two teams that are in it, those fans will follow,” V’landys said.

“They will go to the grand final and make it a bucket-list style thing. Look at Perth here at the moment - we were just talking to the director-general of tourism here. There are so many things to do over here next year with the Bears. You can bring them over, go to Margaret River, go to Rottnest Island … It’s not going to be just a one-day visitation; you’re looking at three, four, five days. That’s an enormous stimulus to the economy.”

Adrian Proszenko travelled to Perth as a guest of the Perth Bears.