Bears Coaching Chat

[Bukowski]

View attachment 106097

Cheers, I didn't realise they had a page set up.

 

[SirPies&Beers]

Perth Bears appoint key recruitment and elite pathways roles

The Perth Bears are excited to announce Dane Campbell has been appointed to the role of Player Recruitment Manager.

www.nrl.com

 

[SirPies&Beers]

Bears ready to rumble as Meninga secures key men​

Joel Gould
Wed 10 September 2025 at 3:21 pm AEST
2 min read

The Perth Bears are set to ramp up their recruitment and pathways plans ahead of the 2027 NRL season after making two key appointments.
On Wednesday the Bears announced current Brisbane recruiter Dane Campbell as their new recruitment boss and experienced Ian Millward as elite pathways manager.

While the Bears can't speak to currently contracted players until November 1, the appointment of former Newcastle halfback Campbell gives them scope to plan their hit list in conjunction with head coach Mal Meninga.

Cameron Munster, Ryan Papenhuyzen and Tino Fa'asuamaleaui are three big names expected to be in their sights.

Storm superstars Ryan Papenhuyzen and Cameron Munster are likely targets for the Perth Bears. (Joel Carrett/AAP PHOTOS)

Campbell, currently recruitment and pathways manager at the Broncos, has held similar roles at Melbourne Storm and North Queensland.

He has also been heavily invested in international footy, with roles in nations as far-flung and diverse as Jamaica and Vanuatu.

If there is a talented athlete or footy player out there who has slipped through the cracks, Campbell will find them.

"Perth is a great sporting city and I truly believe that we can build a team from the ground up that the community will be proud to call their own," he said.

"Mal (Meninga) has a proven track record of being able to unite high-performing teams and set great culture and values, which I am confident he will be able to instil in the Bears."

Perth Bears CEO Anthony De Ceglie said Campbell would bring a pioneering spirit to the job, ideal for a new frontier franchise.

"Dane's identification, negotiation and management of NRL playing lists is second-to-none," he said.

"We are very confident he is the perfect fit to help prepare the Perth Bears for a successful debut NRL season in 2027."

Millward is one of the game's most experienced operators in a suite of roles in Australia and the United Kingdom, where he twice coached St Helens to Super League grand-final glory, as well as winning two Challenge Cups and the World Club Challenge.

He said the Bears posting was a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" he couldn't wait to sink his teeth into.

For Meninga, the appointments represent a breakthrough and a momentum shift.
Former Gold Coast recruitment boss Ezra Howe was set for the same role as Campbell at the Bears until the Titans complained to the NRL about his alleged activities moonlighting for the Bears while still employed.

Now Meninga, who will coach the side in 2027 and 2028, can start planning with certainty, knowing Millward and Campbell are secured.

"The enormity of the task shouldn't be underestimated," Meninga said.
"They give me a great sense of confidence having them in our cave. In line with the Bears' values of being forward-facing and bold, we will continue to have the very best of talent within our team."

Bears ready to rumble as Meninga secures key men

Perth Bears have made key appointments in recruitment and pathways ahead of their 2027 NRL entry, with highly regarded Dane Campbell and Ian Millward signed.

au.news.yahoo.com

 

[wain]

Bears ready to rumble as Meninga secures key men​

Joel Gould
Wed 10 September 2025 at 3:21 pm AEST
2 min read

The Perth Bears are set to ramp up their recruitment and pathways plans ahead of the 2027 NRL season after making two key appointments.
On Wednesday the Bears announced current Brisbane recruiter Dane Campbell as their new recruitment boss and experienced Ian Millward as elite pathways manager.

While the Bears can't speak to currently contracted players until November 1, the appointment of former Newcastle halfback Campbell gives them scope to plan their hit list in conjunction with head coach Mal Meninga.

Cameron Munster, Ryan Papenhuyzen and Tino Fa'asuamaleaui are three big names expected to be in their sights.

Storm superstars Ryan Papenhuyzen and Cameron Munster are likely targets for the Perth Bears. (Joel Carrett/AAP PHOTOS)

Campbell, currently recruitment and pathways manager at the Broncos, has held similar roles at Melbourne Storm and North Queensland.

He has also been heavily invested in international footy, with roles in nations as far-flung and diverse as Jamaica and Vanuatu.

If there is a talented athlete or footy player out there who has slipped through the cracks, Campbell will find them.

"Perth is a great sporting city and I truly believe that we can build a team from the ground up that the community will be proud to call their own," he said.

"Mal (Meninga) has a proven track record of being able to unite high-performing teams and set great culture and values, which I am confident he will be able to instil in the Bears."

Perth Bears CEO Anthony De Ceglie said Campbell would bring a pioneering spirit to the job, ideal for a new frontier franchise.

"Dane's identification, negotiation and management of NRL playing lists is second-to-none," he said.

"We are very confident he is the perfect fit to help prepare the Perth Bears for a successful debut NRL season in 2027."

Millward is one of the game's most experienced operators in a suite of roles in Australia and the United Kingdom, where he twice coached St Helens to Super League grand-final glory, as well as winning two Challenge Cups and the World Club Challenge.

He said the Bears posting was a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" he couldn't wait to sink his teeth into.

For Meninga, the appointments represent a breakthrough and a momentum shift.
Former Gold Coast recruitment boss Ezra Howe was set for the same role as Campbell at the Bears until the Titans complained to the NRL about his alleged activities moonlighting for the Bears while still employed.

Now Meninga, who will coach the side in 2027 and 2028, can start planning with certainty, knowing Millward and Campbell are secured.

"The enormity of the task shouldn't be underestimated," Meninga said.
"They give me a great sense of confidence having them in our cave. In line with the Bears' values of being forward-facing and bold, we will continue to have the very best of talent within our team."

Bears ready to rumble as Meninga secures key men

Perth Bears have made key appointments in recruitment and pathways ahead of their 2027 NRL entry, with highly regarded Dane Campbell and Ian Millward signed.

au.news.yahoo.com

Dane used to post on these forums regularly...back in the day when he helped start the Hurricanes in Jamaica. Seems like a good bloke.

 

[SirPies&Beers]

Game-changer: The coach who will shape star-studded Samoa and the Perth Bears

He’s been part of the Panthers brains trust, will guide Samoa to the World Cup and will eventually become head coach of the Perth Bears. Ben Gardiner is going places.

www.smh.com.au

Game-changer: The coach who will shape star-studded Samoa and the Perth Bears​

October 26, 2025 — 5.00am

Sitting in the Samoan coach’s box on Sunday, Ben Gardiner is riding a blue wave that could make him one of the biggest influencers in rugby league.

A member of the Penrith brains trust during their 2023-24 premierships, Gardiner is currently overseeing the Samoan side, and will become an assistant to Mal Meninga at the Perth Bears before succeeding the Immortal as head coach. His immediate focus is Samoa’s blockbuster clash with Tonga at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday, a match his side must win to remain in contention for the Pacific Cup.

https://forums.leagueunlimited.com/javascript:null
Given his international role ahead of next year’s Rugby League World Cup and the upcoming gigs for the Bears, Gardiner has an opportunity to shape the game like few others.

“I’ve been very lucky to be in the right place at the right time a number of times,” Gardiner said.

“That also comes with busting your arse and hard work, you don’t get those opportunities without planting the right seeds.”

Those seeds were first planted at the Roosters, at the end of his playing career. He picked up the clipboard for the first time in 2004 alongside Ivan Cleary, when they guided the reserve grade team to a title.

Samoa coach Ben Gardiner will succeed Mal Meninga as Perth Bears in 2029.Credit:Ed Sykes/Getty Images

Since then, he’s been in a number of coaching and strength and conditioning roles at the Sharks, Rabbitohs, Tigers and Panthers. Often he has had to juggle university commitments – he completed a bachelor’s degree in human movement, majoring in exercise science and physiology, with a minor in biomechanics – as well as several stints as a school teacher.

“It’s like everything, whether you work in sport or in a school, they are all small communities,” Gardiner said.


“You get to meet a lot of amazing people who have a different array of opportunities in their lives. Some need help, some just need support.

“Footy and schools are similar environments; different levels of pressure, but a lot of coaching is teaching. That’s why those two jobs blend so nicely.”

Samoan coach Ben Gardiner, general manager Hanan Laban and star prop Payne Haas.Credit:Samoan Rugby League

In one of his teaching roles, he worked alongside his sister, Sandra, who died of brain cancer in 2023.

“She’s an inspiration to me every day,” he said. “I wake up every morning and think about her, think about what she would be thinking this weekend if she saw the team go onto Suncorp Stadium.

“If I’d told her that was going to happen five years ago, she would have believed it, but laughed at the fact Samoa and Tonga are going to play each other in front of 50,000 people. And that I would be coaching it.”

On Sunday, the former Maori All Stars coach will work with some of the biggest names in the game, including Payne Haas, Jarome Luai, Brian To’o, Josh Papalii, Junior Paulo and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck. When his Pacific Championships commitments conclude, he will turn his attention to setting up the Bears.

Jarome Laui and mates rip into Samo’s Siva Tau war dance.Credit:Getty Images
It will be an opportunity to bring a raft of experiences – he has worked with premiership-winning coaches Cleary, Shane Flanagan, Tim Sheens, Michael Maguire and countless others mentors during a varied coaching apprenticeship – to the role.

“Obviously the opportunity to build a club and set it up the right way based on the huge array of experiences I’ve been able to have is the first part of the challenge,” Gardiner said.

“Then long term, to be able to be the assistant coach and be the head coach of such a brilliant brand, with so many opportunities available in Western Australia and Perth to build the game and make it better, it’s one of the things I’ve always wanted to do.

“It’s about making the players better, but this one is a bigger picture because it’s an opportunity to make the game better.

The North Sydney Bears fans celebrate following the announcement of the new Perth team in May.Credit:Steven Siewert

“That’s what we’ve tried to do with Samoa as well. It’s not just about Samoa being great, it’s about the international game and the game of rugby league being great.
“If I’m able to add a little piece to that because of my involvement, it makes me pretty happy.”

Like the man in the opposition coach’s box, Tongan mentor Kristian Woolf, Gardiner’s coaching path is one less travelled. In Woolf’s case, he fought in Fred Brophy’s boxing troupes in far north Queensland during his late teens under the stage name “Afro Savage”, was part of the rise of the Tongan Test team, coached St Helens to the top of the Super League and then completed his NRL apprenticeship under Wayne Bennett, before taking over at the Dolphins.
“I look at Woolfie all the time and admire what he’s been able to do,” Gardiner said. “First of all, he started the ball rolling with the Pacific teams rising up, which he did with Tonga in the 2017 World Cup.

“He’s obviously worked with them for a long time since, but he did that in conjunction with his stuff over in the Super League and then was able to carve out a similar path going to the Dolphins, being able to take over long term.

“I look at him with great admiration because he’s the type of guy who has dug in, worked hard and been able to do things a bit differently. He’s been able to get a role he deserves to be in.”
So too, Gardiner. One of the reasons he was appointed to succeed Meninga was due to his stint coaching the North Sydney Bears, which will lend their name and colours to the new franchise.

“It’s a great synergy,” he said. “When I was asked to do the job, that was one of the things that helped. I’d had a relationship with North Sydney, I understood how the club worked. At the same time, Perth is a new franchise and their own club.

“We talked about building good relationships with the North Sydney Bears, who have provided a lot of the heritage for Perth, but at the same time Perth is carving out its own identity as well.
“Understanding how Norths works will help with that.”

For now, the Gardiner must find a way to keep Samoa’s Pacific Championship campaign alive on Sunday, in a job that is close to his heart.

“I talked to my mum and dad about it,” he said. “I’m just a small-town country boy from Yamba on the NSW north coast who is going to sit up there in the coach’s box at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday with the Samoan national team.

“If you’d have told me that when I was 15 … what I’m doing on Sunday, I would have laughed it off.”

 

[SirPies&Beers]

Bulldogs make another change amid coaching reshuffle

It comes as Adam O’Brien joins the club as an assistant.

www.zerotackle.com

There's also growing talk from the west that Taylor could feature in future plans for the Perth Bears expansion franchise, with speculation suggesting he's being considered for a coaching or management role due to his Bears connections and decades of experience.

 

[Growthegame]

Heard he won’t make the move.