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The NRL has vowed to put a West Australian in charge of the Perth Bears, after finally approving the state’s 18-year push to return to top-flight rugby league.
The league’s 18th team was officially confirmed on Thursday and the Bears will play their first match in 2027, despite WA Premier Roger Cook speculating on Wednesday the side’s entry could be held back until 2028..
Their arrival will headline the league’s biggest expansion period since the mid-1990s, with Papua New Guinea already confirmed for the 2028 season.
The news has been met with joy on both sides of the country, ending North Sydney’s 25 years out of the game following their doomed merger with Manly in 2000.
“Rugby League is the biggest sport in Australia and the Pacific, so a team in the economic powerhouse of Western Australia is a natural fit. Why should West Australian fans miss out on the greatest game for all,” Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V’landys said in a statement.
“Western Australians love sport and now they have the opportunity to get behind a Perth based Rugby League Club that will capture the hearts and minds of fans across the country.
“As a foundation club, the Bears have a rich history in the game, and automatically provide hundreds of thousands of East Coast supporters for the Perth based team. The heritage of the Bears combined with the energy of the West will have this team flying from the outset.”
However, not everyone in Western Australia is thrilled, with newspaper The West Australian, known for its controversial front and back pages, claiming in a scathing front page story V’landys and the WA government have drastically overstated the impact the new team will have on the state’s economy, in an article titled ‘Bad News Bears’ – a reference to a nickname given to former debt-strapped AFL team the Brisbane Bears in the 1990s.
“Treasury has watered down NRL claims in east coast media that the club would bring more than $500 million in economic benefit over the next decade to WA,” the story reads.
“Analysis of the League’s modelling by ACIL Allen showed a WA club would bring in $28 million a year once competing, rather than $52 million as initially claimed by the Australian Rugby League Commission.”
However, when launching the team on Thursday, V’landys dismissed the story, claiming the newspaper was ‘biased’ as a subsidiary of Seven West Media, which owns broadcast rights to the AFL.
“The media coverage has been a bit biased in the sense that the main newspaper is owned by Seven West Media who have the AFL rights, let’s be quite frank,” he said.
“They don’t want us to be here because they realise we’re going to be competitive and going to take some of their lunch – and we eat a lot so we’ll be talking a fair bit of their lunch.”
When asked whether the NRL had ‘consulted’ with the AFL on running a sporting team in Perth, V’landys quipped: “I don’t see KFC checking with Maccas when they open a new store.”
Iconic NRL commentator Andrew Voss likewise blasted the headline, claiming it was nothing more than ‘clickbait’.
“The headline is inflammatory. It’s clickbait,” Voss said on SEN Sydney.
“Newspapers are scrambling for attention with a clickbait headline, but does it move the needle on public opinion? It would seem not.
“In the story it says there is negligible growth, negligible presence of rugby league – there’s 6,000 juniors [in WA]. It’s a slap in the face to them.”
“The language of that headline is so damning.”
First brought into the competition in 1995, the Perth Reds were victims of the Super League war and were one of the first to go upon the unification of the NRL in 1998.
The state’s return was first put back on the cards in 2007 when they entered the third-tier Ron Massey Cup, before several expansion pushes in the past 13 years.
Twice in the past nine months the hopes of expansion were put on the backburner, when negotiations broke down with a consortium and the WA government.
But Thursday’s announcement will confirm details around the Bears’ entry, with the team expected to play the majority of home games out of HBF Park.
“This is a great day for sports fans and a great day for the WA economy,” Premier Roger Cook said in a statement on Thursday.
“A new WA NRL club will deliver jobs and new economic activity, including a boost in tourism and visitation as the WA brand is exposed to millions across Australia and overseas.
“I’d like to thank the ARLC for the robust negotiations we’ve undertaken, as both parties have sought to get the best deal for our stakeholders.”
“Perth will now join Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne as cities that host both NRL and AFL sides, and I’d back us to compete just as hard at NRL as we do at AFL.
Western Reds captain Brad Mackay with the foundation team in 1995. (Getty Images)
“So, now let’s get behind our new NRL side as we put the ‘national’ in NRL!”
It’s understood the NRL have agreed to have a West Australian to be the first chair of the club, while the seven-person board will comprise of at least three locals.
That board will make key decisions around club management and the appointment of a maiden coach, who will begin signing players from November.
Brad Arthur is already the favourite for the job, while Sam Burgess has also shown his interest and has high-profile support.
The NRL will hold the license for at least the first five years, before the Bears transition into a member-owned model.
(with AAP)
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