except that Perth is actually a bit of a rugby city with a stronger claim than Melbourne will ever have for that supposed honour.
link here to the SMH which has a soft paywall, so I'll paste the text below.
Basically, the NZ tour of SA will involve a lucrative financial deal from Supersport that NZR are keen on, but the RC will be sidelined that year to accommodate the fixture, so some sort of compensation needs to be found for RA and the UAR. At first glance the idea of an Anzac Day Bledisloe had me facepalming over the idea of going head to head with NRL and AFL fixtures centred on the day along with the disruption of trying to field a test team so far outside the regular test windows...
but Perth isn't such a bad bet for that for a few reasons. It's a surprisingly strong rugby town with a sizeable fan base and zero NRL presence to compete with (at this stage, there is talk of resurrecting some sort of WA team) and the AFL scuppered local team Freo's efforts to host a match on the day in favour of their blockbuster fixture in Melbourne. That sort of Victoria centric thinking doesn't go down well with the parochial WA crowd so there's potential for rugby to wedge some support there... while hosting the super round in Perth for the same period adds to the pull. On top of that, Optus Stadium is a seriously good venue despite being based on an Aussie rules oval ground and capacity tops out around 60K, putting it right in the errrr, ball park for hosting a large fixture.
The Australian sports market is saturated by Anzac Day fixtures already so if rugby wants to do something around the day it needs to be bloody good. An actual Bledisloe test on the day would be impossible for the other codes to top, hype wise... the AFL is obsessed with 'honouring the Diggers' to the detriment of the NZ aspect of AnzAC while the NRL can only rattle the bogan tin for change comparatively.
article here...
Australia and New Zealand are close to signing off a historic Bledisloe Cup clash on Anzac Day in 2026, which would be held in Perth and also see Super Round played at the same venue on surrounding days.
A decade after the idea of a Bledisloe Test in April was first floated, the historic fixture is set to be green-lit as part of trans-Tasman negotiations around New Zealand’s proposed tour of South Africa in 2026.
The NZR and SARU this week signed a memorandum of understanding about the All Blacks visiting South Africa for a probable eight-game tour, comprising three Tests and five provincial games, and the Springboks doing likewise in New Zealand in 2030.
Though plans have not yet been finalised, the “Greatest Rugby Rivalry” tour would serve to blow up the Rugby Championship in its current 12-match format, where the SANZAAR nations play each other twice every year, in 2026.
After South African teams were cut from Super Rugby and began playing in Europe, the two nations have been searching for ways to play each other more. But the big driving force behind the tour is a massive commercial deal struck with South African broadcasters SuperSport, according to sources familiar with the deal who requested anonymity to speak freely.
The money is enough to persuade South Africa and New Zealand to reduce their involvement in the Rugby Championship that year, and instead compensate Rugby Australia and Argentina Rugby for lost Test match revenue. World Rugby and SANZAAR both need to approve the All Blacks’ tour in 2026.
Whether the Rugby Championship is played in an abridged format is still being discussed, but informed sources said Rugby Australia are planning for the Wallabies to use the vacant weeks to play Tests against Eddie Jones’ Japan, and Fiji, to bolster their coffers.
Australia would still play the All Blacks twice in 2026 for the Bledisloe Cup, and Rugby Australia has used the NZ/SARU tour proposal to get an Anzac Day clash between the Wallabies and All Blacks off the ground.
Rugby Australia chairman Daniel Herbert revealed his enthusiasm for the idea in April on the Inside Line podcast, saying it would be a “no-brainer” for rugby to emulate the NRL and AFL and stage a Bledisloe Cup fixture on or near Anzac Day.
“It is not two clubs against one another. It is a long-standing rivalry, but also a long-term partnership, and recognised through a flagship event like that, we could develop a really big event, a prestigious event around that,” Herbert said.
“Rugby league already has State of Origin breaking up the season, so I don’t see why we couldn’t do it other than trying to get the Super Rugby schedule around it, and getting our New Zealand partners onside with it.”
New Zealand Rugby subsequently confirmed it was open to the idea of an Anzac Day Bledisloe.
Sources familiar with negotiations, who requested anonymity due to confidential nature of discussions, said the Anzac Day clash is now at an advanced stage of negotiation, with the WA government prepared to pay a lucrative sum to host the game at Optus Stadium.
There was discussion about the first game being in 2025, but it is more likely to be in 2026, and the plans – and deal with the WA government – will also involve Super Round (the Magic Round of Super Rugby) being staged around it in the same week, meaning all players are in Perth at the same time.
The NRL have a long-standing Anzac Day clash between the Roosters and Dragons.
The NRL have a long-standing Anzac Day clash between the Roosters and Dragons.Credit: Getty
It would also likely see the Wallaroos and Black Ferns play on the same card as the Bledisloe Cup match, too.
Wallabies and All Blacks players would be pulled out of their Super Rugby teams to prepare for the Test, and miss one or two rounds to prepare and play.
It would represent a vast change to the way Bledisloe Cup games have been played for decades, but as most unions continue to struggle financially, the innovative scheduling of both the Anzac Day Bledisloe - and the NZ tour of South Africa - has shown a willingness for unions to think differently and unlock new sources of commercial revenue.