NSW Rugby Union boss Andrew Hore says there won't be a World Series Rugby team in western Sydney in 2019, but he hasn't ruled out his organisation backing one for future years.
WSR backer Andrew 'Twiggy Forrest revealed earlier this year he was looking to establish a team in western Sydney for a competition involving Perth-based Western Force and sides from several other countries including Tonga, Samoa, Fiji and Japan.
The NSW Rugby Union has had difficulties establishing a strong foothold in the fiercely competitive western Sydney sporting marketplace, a challenge undermined by Penrith's axing from the Shute Shield in late April.
While Hore outlined plans to develop new school and club competitions in the region ,he was adamant it wouldn't be practical to have a new franchise up and running in 2019.
"There won't be a World Series team there next year," Hore said at a media briefing on Thursday.
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"There's a lot of work to be done in and around western Sydney and nobody is saying no to that. I think it's just making sure it's done in an effective way."
Hore said the establishment of a western Sydney team was still a topic for debate going forward and Forrest was aware of the union's view.
"We had one meeting with his representative and I think everyone is in agreement that you can't put a professional team built on sand, it just doesn't work," he said.
"It needs further discussion. We've got to look after 100,000 rugby players in our own state and with everything else going on, it's a lot of work."
