PACIFIC BEARS
The North Sydney Bears losing $11 million in promised NSW government funding last month put PNG in the box seat, but they’re not completely out of the race.
The Bears have put together a bid that they’ll be sending to the NRL next week that reportedly involves all of the rugby league playing nations in the Pacific Islands.
The Bears would also base themselves in Sydney, with a handful of games per season to be played at the famous North Sydney Oval.
“We would love to incorporate the Pacific and we are absolutely passionate about embracing some of those territories that would do very well with what the Bears have to offer,” Bears chairman Daniel Dickson said.
“We will put forward our proposal in the coming weeks. The Bears would very much embrace those rugby league heartlands and hope we could be part of the NRL’s expansion plans.”
Dickson emphasised the Bears could offer pathways for players from the island nations.
“There is so much work to be done in those places and the expanding franchise has to be willing to think that this isn’t just an 18th team,” Dickson said.
“This is all about developing – the talent is there but the pathways aren’t.
“The current Pacific Championships proves the game needs to consider expansion into multiple territories, not potentially just one. Forty to 50 per cent of NRL players have Pacific heritage.
“Not only do people want to see the Bears return to top flight rugby league, we also have a strong desire to be a successful partner in developing the Pacific nations, who would require the skill and expertise of a club with the heritage we have.”
Samoa and Parramatta captain Junior Paulo has previously said he would play for a Pasifika NRL side.
Super Rugby has provided a Pasifika case study for the NRL with their latest expansion side Moana Pasifika.
Moana entered the competition in 2022 and is made up of players from Pacific island nations as well as Australians with Pacific island heritage.
“We’ve seen in Super Rugby that they have established a Pasifika team,” Hill said last year.
“Whilst we think rugby league in the Pacific is far stronger, it gives us the confidence to discuss what a Pacific team may look like.
“Obviously PNG would be leading those discussions, but clearly the genuine goal of the PNG government is to get more content in PNG and a licence based there.
“We’ve seen how engaged our players across the NRL are in representing their Pacific heritage, culture and families.
“That passion the players have is getting stronger and gathering momentum.”
The Bears are also willing to join forces with Perth’s bid.
PERTH
Perth was voted the most popular expansion choice in a survey of NRL club chairmen and chief executives last year.
But it doesn’t take too long a walk down memory lane to learn that breaking into Perth’s AFL-obsessed market is a tough task.
The Western Reds lasted just three seasons before they were chewed up, spat out and dissolved after the Super League merged with the ARL.
The Reds did enjoy healthy crowds and Perth’s population has since tripled, while junior rugby league participation rates are growing in Western Australia
Sold-out Origin games in recent years prove there’s an appetite for rugby league in Western Australia, but whether it’s enough to sustain an NRL club remains the big unknown.
Perth now boasts a state-of-the-art stadium with 60,000 seasons and, like New Zealand, its timezone is a major attraction for broadcasters.
NRL Western Australia chief executive officer John Sackson threw Perth’s hat in the ring last year in the days leading up to the city’s sold-out Origin game.
“I think if the commission deems that Perth will be in the conversation for the
V’Landys has declared if the NRL is serious about being a national game, it must expand its footprint. But Perth is also the most isolated city in the world and travel costs would cost the governing body a small fortune.
