ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys’s support for Perth Bears chief executive Anthony De Ceglie is fading after he was forced to intervene over the fledgling club’s new logo.
Coach Mal Meninga and board member and Channel 9 sports presenter James Bracey revealed the design on Today on Wednesday.
It received universal praise instead of the usual bitching and moaning that follows the release of a sporting logo.
It’s a modernisation of the North Sydney Bears’ iconic logo, which demonstrates the club belongs as much to them as to the west coast – which is precisely what V’landys wanted when he brought the franchise to life last year.
De Ceglie was nowhere to be seen when Meninga spruiked the new design on Nine this week, although he still managed to elbow his way into the spotlight.
“The Perth Bears are a new club, but that will never change the fact that the birthplace and spiritual home of the Bears in rugby league will always be North Sydney,” the former Channel 7 news director said. “We’re proud that our bear has been developed from within North Sydney but with an eye on the future.”
The reality is De Ceglie wanted a different logo altogether, defying V’landys’s instructions and engaging consultants who came up with a design that bore no resemblance to North Sydney’s.
According to those who have seen it, the logo was more polar bear than North Sydney bear. “It was a shocker,” said one NRL exec.
When V’landys started talking about expansion three years ago, breathing new life into North Sydney was high on his agenda.
“Everywhere I go, that’s always the question: when are you bringing back the Bears?” he told The Daily Telegraph in February 2024. “I didn’t realise they had so many old fans. It makes sense that we bring them back in some capacity – they’ve got to be in the equation.”
Indeed, a condition of Perth being handed the 18th club licence was that it did so in partnership with Norths, who haven’t played in the NRL under their own name since 1999 after an ill-fated joint-venture with Manly.
ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys was forced to intervene after tensions emerged over the Perth Bears’ logo and identity.
ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys was forced to intervene after tensions emerged over the Perth Bears’ logo and identity.
Keeping Norths’ colours, logos, and the Bears moniker was part of the deal V’landys struck with West Australian Premier Roger Cook last year. Those conditions are enshrined in the club’s constitution.
Imagine V’landys’s crankiness, then, when De Ceglie ignored his directive and came up with an entirely different design. V’landys immediately intervened, assuring North Sydney he was a man of his word before admonishing the Perth boss.
De Ceglie might think he’s the smartest bloke in the room, but angering the all-powerful V’landys exposes his naivety.
Remember, it was V’landys who appointed him in the first place. The Perth franchise is also a subsidiary of the ARLC for the next five years – so V’landys calls the shots.
I’m also told V’landys and NRL execs were far from pleased when The Australian revealed in December that De Ceglie was pitching a fly-on-the-wall documentary to broadcasters in which the “visionary CEO” was the star of the show alongside Meninga.
V’landys is attempting to secure the largest broadcast deal in the game’s history with the same media companies.
The last thing he needs is an NRL-owned franchise doing business with one and not the other.
While De Ceglie’s understanding of the digital space is being applauded internally at the Bears, the figure who seems to be making the most difference is legendary Australian wicketkeeper and former WACA chief executive Christina Matthews – because of her knowledge of sport and Perth.
The Bears have a good story to tell. After a rough start, they’re emerging, slowly but surely, from their hibernation.
Meninga and his football department are carefully piecing together a quality squad, resisting the urge to throw the bank at superstars in the twilight of their careers.
They’re signing players of good character, from good systems, with a preference for young blood. Fears that Big Mal was poised to walk away have been replaced with optimism he’s in it for the long haul. He should be the face of the operation, not the chief executive.
V’landys declined to comment when contacted, while De Ceglie had no clue where I could’ve got any of this from and put the whole thing down to creative tension in a Lennon-McCartney kinda way.
Former WACA chief executive Christina Matthews is playing a key behind-the-scenes role in steadying the Perth Bears’ new administration.
“The Perth Bears looked at a range of logo options during a very thorough creative process where lots of options were canvassed,” De Ceglie told me. “This included research on the most important question of all: does the iconic bear from North Sydney need to be modernised for the new digital era and, if so, how can it be done respectfully?
“We’re extremely pleased with the result, which has had overwhelming support from our fans.”
Let’s see how much longer he has the support of the man who appointed him.
That ceo is skating on thin ice ignoring what his boss wants. What a dope
