this bro managed to post some of the quotes behind the paywall. Thanks
@Johnny88
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How a fan’s logo design for the Perth Bears NRL franchise won over The Wiggles
The graphic designer who won over The Wiggles with his Perth Bears logo reveals the hidden meanings behind a creation that connects the club’s Sydney foundations with its future in the west.
January 18, 2026 - 6:37PM
The Sunday Telegraph
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Lifelong North Sydney Bears fan Dave Carnovale has designed the new Perth Bears logo. Picture: Thomas Lisson
He is the feel good story of the NRL off season.
The passionate fan and former professional wrestler whose graphic design handiwork is now the face of the new Perth Bears rugby league franchise.
Dave Carnovale, 39, is the sole creative behind the updated Bears logo unveiled this week as the expansion team gears up for its entry to the competition next year.
In an era when the importance of “brand” sees millions spent with marketing companies to research, survey, data dive and conduct empowering group hugs, Carnovale won over the club with a simple approach of “tradition meets the 2020s”.
Perth Bears logo designer Dave Carnovale, with wife Erin and children Finn, 5, Rocky, 4, and newborn Conan. Picture Thomas Lisson
He viewed the iconic and much-loved bear head on the old North Sydney jersey as a perfect link between the club’s heritage and its rebirth on the other side of the country.
But tweaks were needed.
“I’ve got a few Easter eggs in there,” he laughed.
“Eight ‘points’ around the head, eight top teeth … they play to the 1908 foundations of Norths and the 1948 formation of the WA Rugby League.”
There is also the Bear’s facial expression.
“Not many people realise that the original logo, which had been around since 1978, was based off the poster from a 1976 B-grade horror movie called Grizzly,” he said.
“But there were people who felt the old version looked too surprised. So I made the adjustments to make sure he looks a bit more ferocious.”
The Perth bosses were on board. So too were The Wiggles.
“My boys are five, four and two months old,” he said. “The two older ones kind of get it’s a big deal after I showed them the paper the other day.
“But the biggest thing for them was when I got a positive comment and a follow on Instagram from The Wiggles. That impressed them.”
The post read simply: “Sensational!”
While he grew up on the Central Coast, Carnovale was a diehard Bears supporter – a family legacy after his father and uncles went to school “across the road from North Sydney Oval”.
He was gutted when the Bears exited the NRL in 1999, merging with Manly.
Turning away from the game in his teens, he became a wrestling fan and then a participant, turning pro in 2006. He combined bouts with fulltime work before retiring ahead of his 2022 marriage.
“I wrestled here and a little in the States, but didn’t make a living out of it,” he said. “I’ve got plenty of friends who did, in the UK, or were signed by WWE.”
Former North Sydney club stalwart David Fairleigh playing against the Auckland Warriors in 1996. Picture: Fotopress
Carnovale’s fairytale has played out off the field.
“It feels like going to the moon,” he said of the logo approval. “This is the graphic designer equivalent of winning a premiership.
“I could never have imagined when I was a kid supporting the Bears that I’d one day be designing the face of the club. Hopefully it’s something to last the next 20 or 30 years.”
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