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ARL Commission chair Peter V’landys dropped one of his more bizarre proposals at Thursday’s launch of the Perth Bears by claiming the new franchise could share players with the Western Force.
V’landys and NRL CEO Andrew Abdo joined WA Premier Roger Cook on Thursday to announce Perth would become the 18th franchise, joining the competition one year before Papua New Guinea’s 2028 admission.
After the launch event, he told reporters that he had already held discussions with Western Force owner Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest about the two franchises sharing not only training resources but players during the season.
“We’ve had talks with Twiggy Forest with regards to the Western Force and there’s an opportunity here that might never been done anywhere in the world where the two teams could be combined to a certain degree and can use each other’s players in specific matches,” he said.
“So we’re going to look at that. It’s a novel idea. And who’s to argue with Twiggy Forrest, who’s a self-made man.
“As anyone that knows me, we look at the things outside the square and that’s outside the square.
“We’ll look at it. If it can help both games in Western Australia, why wouldn’t we do it?
“As I said, we’re only looking at it and naturally we’ll be consulting our member clubs back in NSW. But there’s some other availabilities for our clubs in the eastern states, and we’ll look at those as well.”
The NRL’s standard player contract prevents them from signing with a rival sport and League Central has blocked requests in the past from stars such as Joey Manu, Benji Marshall and Mark Gasnier to have short-term union stints while signed to their league club.
Perth Bears are expected to target South African rugby union stars as part of the the NRL-run team’s recruiting campaign to fill their roster.
The Force boast Wallabies such as Nic White, Ben Donaldson, Harry Potter, Jeremy Williams, Hamish Stewart and Carlo Tizzano.
However, the idea is unlikely to get approval on all sides, given the Super Rugby competition contains teams from Australia, NZ, Fiji and the Pacific Islands.
V’landys was bullish about the new Perth team’s chances of making an immediate impact.
“Everyone thought the Dolphins wouldn’t be competitive and they were competitive (on arrival in 2023),” V’landys said.
Peter V’landys (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
“I am confident the Bears will be competitive in the first year.
“They have a head start because they have a combination with an established club. They have football managers and juniors and pathways
“They will provide the players because they have pathways and juniors back in the eastern states.
“You will be surprised how good they will be in 2027.”
The NRL also have plans to introduce an NRLW women’s team in Perth.
On the financial front, V’landys said he has already been “inundated” with sponsorship requests for the Perth Bears.
“The sooner we get started, the better, because we’ve had some very big companies that want to sponsor the Perth Bears,” V’landys said.
“They can see how exciting it is, they can see the potential of it, and I’m sure we’ll announce some very big sponsors in the next month or so.”
with AAP
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