PERTH Spirit captain Michael Ruru says keeping an NRC team in Western Australia should be a no-brainer, regardless of what happens to the Western Force in the next few weeks.

Ruru’s call came as ARU boss Bill Pulver confirmed mining magnate Andrew Forrest had pledged “between 10 and 50 million dollars” to rugby if the Force were spared the axe, but that the offer came too late.

The Australian rugby community is waiting for the outcome of an NSW Supreme Court of appeal decision on whether the ARU can legally “discontinue” the Force’s Super Rugby licence next year.

The decision is expected either late this week or early next week.

Most of the Force squad will turn out for the Perth Spirit when they begin their NRC title against Melbourne Rising on Sunday, including released Wallabies Curtis Rona, Billy Meakes and Tetera Faulkner.

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Andrew Forrest at the ‘Save Force’ rally. Source: AAP

On paper at least, the Spirit would be closed with the Force if WA Rugby’s appeal is rejected but the ARU say they’ve not made any plans either way about a future NRC presence in Perth.

Ruru said it was a basic decision.

“You need NRC in Perth, 100 per cent,” Ruru said.

“It would detrimental to the game (to not have an NRC team). I mean I obviously think it would be detrimental to the game for the Force to be cut, full-stop.

“But they have to have that step in that pathway.

“It has to be there. You have young kids playing the game and getting into club footy. But if that’s it, if that’s as far as they can go, you are every chance to lose them. Maybe before they even get to that club footy level, maybe when they’re at school or uni, they switch to AFL or whatever.

“At least with NRC you are getting exposure on the east coast against good teams, and who knows who’d end up back with the Spirit? Guys would come back home for it from east. Hopefully it won’t come to that I guess.”

Ruru said the upcoming Spirit campaign had allowed players to divert their focus from the anxiety around their futures.

And the long-term retention of an NRC team in Perth has at least one backer at the ARU: Pulver.

“We really want to make sure there is the appropriate player development pathway in every corner of the country, including WA. My own personal view is that an NRC team is a very important part of that pathway,” Pulver said.

In what is sure to be an uncomfortable visit, Pulver said he expected to be hit up by Force fans when he flies into Perth next week to watch the Wallabies play South Africa.

Many will ask why Pulver and the ARU declined a reported offer from Forrest of injecting up to $50 million into rugby if the Force are not killed off.

Pulver confirmed the financial figures but said Forrest’s intervention had come too late, and even indicated there may have been a different answer if the offer had come earlier than the 11th-hour.

Bill Pulver is expected to hand over his job before Christmas. Source: AFP

“We are delighted to see Australians like Andrew Forrest get involved in the game and potentially support the game. I wish he had been involved in the process a little earlier, that would have been helpful,” Pulver said.

“I wasn’t in that particular meeting and I understand a range of 10-50 million dollars was tabled in relation to investment in the Australian Rugby Foundation. Right now, we need support for Super Rugby, so that’s our priority.”

“We are way down the track. It is sitting here about five months from kick-off in the Super Rugby competition, and we are well down the track in terms of having made commitments to SANZAAR to go to four teams. And having had an EGM where our members voted to go to four teams.

“It is a little late in the process to be making that sort of change.”