‘We will become a giant in the NRL’: New Bears’ boss reveals his blueprint
June 15, 2025 — 6.29pm
With the Perth Bears set to play their first game in 20 months’ time, Michael Chammas caught up with the club’s chief executive Anthony De Ceglie to ask him the burning questions about the NRL’s newest team.
Sitting in the stands at North Sydney Oval last week, De Ceglie addressed criticism of his appointment, a smear campaign being run by his old employer Seven West Media and why North Sydney will play a significant part in the future of the organisation.
Chammas: Let’s start with the obvious question, why did you take on this job?
De Ceglie: At the end of the day for me, I’m 39 years old and the chance to start a national sporting franchise in my home town was such an exciting proposition and opportunity. I was saying to someone the other day, it’s a start-up, right? This is basically like building it out of your garage. So the idea of being there from the ground floor with a blank sheet of paper, was just an exhilarating opportunity I just couldn’t pass up.
Chammas: When did you start having the conversations with Peter V’landys and the NRL?
De Ceglie: Oh mate, only a few weeks before. There’s been a story about a wedding we were at and talking about the Perth Bears. That’s legitimate. That’s when it occurred to me that maybe I should put my hand up for it. I’ve just been home to Perth for Easter and it was clear to me that my family missed Perth. My kids are just better kids when they’re in Perth surrounded by their grandparents. That’s when I started to think about it seriously.
Chammas: There’s not long between now and the first game of the Perth Bears. You have 20 months. How much work is there to be done?
De Ceglie: Mountains. A lot of work, but I crave hard work. I love hard work. I think [Bears’ coach] Mal [Meninga] likes hard work. Everyone that we will get around us will be the sort of people that love and crave hard work and are passionate about it. We’ll be working around the clock to make sure it’s a success.
Chammas: You mentioned Mal. There’s a lot of external criticism of him not having had club experience for such a long time. His representative coaching resume speaks for itself, but he hasn’t coached in the NRL for a quarter of a century. What homework did you do before his appointment to make sure he’s the right man for the job?
De Ceglie: Like any sport fan I know a lot about Mal from growing up and watching him play. Even in Perth Mal Meninga can’t walk down the street without everyone knowing who he is. Like any ex-journo, I did a lot of research. I think to be fair to Mal, his club record is above 50 per cent. I think people forgot that. Then his time at the Kangaroos and the Maroons - that record speaks for itself. I’m very confident that he is the right person to lead the club and set the culture of the club. I think that’s really important. One of Mal’s job as the inaugural coach is to set up the value system for the Bears. He sees it as a torch bearer kind of role to then handover. It’s that great groundwork around leadership and what we stand for and what we play for that no one could do better than him.
Chammas: We’re sitting here at North Sydney Oval. What do you know about the North Sydney Bears? How big of a role will North Sydney play in the Perth Bears?
De Ceglie: I think there is no doubt that my most important first job is to make sure we respect, pay homage to and take the North Sydney Bears fans and community with us on this journey. It’s a foundation club. I’ve been blown away by how many North Sydney Bears diehards have reached out to me excited, passionate and wanting to take the journey.
At the same time, don’t forget there is a team of passionate and proud league fans in Perth who have been fighting for decades for the same thing. They’ve been burning the candle for a long time. On either side of the country, you have these two very passionate supporter groups who just want to be unified. It’s a really powerful and unique thing to have. My No.1 role is listening, learning and paying respect to those communities to set up a good marriage.
Chammas: So tell me, are we going to see an NRL game at North Sydney Oval in the near future?
De Ceglie: I think anything is on the table. North Sydney Oval is such a beautiful, historic, landmark ground. It’s perfectly situated in the second CBD of Sydney right next to a brand-new Metro station. Something will happen here. It’ll definitely be part of the future and part of the history of us paying homage to the North Sydney Bears. I’d love an upgrade of it. I think if the state and federal governments come together to do a proper upgrade, I think the entire sporting community of NSW would welcome it and benefit from that. I think it’s a no-brainer. I can’t believe the Albanese government and the Minns government aren’t already talking about it, especially when there’s a brand-new Metro down the road.
Chammas: Do you think the people of Perth will embrace this team when there is a feeling that it’s a Sydney team being relocated to Perth. How will the locals take that?
De Ceglie: I think the most important thing to remember is that the Perth fans and North Sydney fans are pretty similar because they’ve both been treated pretty ruthlessly. They were in the league then out of the league. What I’ve found so far listening to both sides of the country is that they’re parochial, they have a chip on their shoulder and they want to get back into the NRL and prove something. I think there are a lot of similarities we can work on so that they feel collegiate.
