That's a shame. Guess the Bears will have to get a demolishing crew up to Bluetongue and bring it down since they built the bloody thing. I guess all the initiatives the Bears have done since 1908 counts for nothing and that the pathway to the NRL from the CC originally due to the Bears doesn't mean anything either.
I am sorry you feel that way.
A lot of things about the CC Bears I find interesting.
If you live on the CC and express a valid opinion that you'd like you're
own NRL team, and
not the Bears, you are vilified by people who probably don't live on the CC and are clinging to the memories of a 15 year dead team in the top flight.
If you're a CC person and you go to Gosford Stadium, you're continually reminded that it's actually 'the Bears stadium' though they appear to have a very slim chance of ever actually playing in it. Ever.
That CC juniors would
never, ever find a pathway to the NRL without all the hard work of the Bears on the CC. And that there is so much CC talent, the Bears are being perennially overlooked for a NRL team.
That unlucky circumstances and finances somehow cruelled the Bears. The same could be said for St George, arguably one of the GREATEST RL clubs EVER who had to merge with Illawarra to survive. If Illawarra, which I see almost the same as CC, couldn't survive on their own, how does CC expect to on its own? And Norths won 2 comps and hadn't won one for nearly 80 years.
The same unlucky circumstances and financial plights could be said for the Magpies and Tigers, both great clubs but time was called on them both in the top flight. Or Newtown for that matter. They relocated to Campbelltown and were culled. The same misty eyed sentiments are expressed for the Jets but we all know they are never coming back and have maintained their presence in the NSW Cup.
And Norths could have stood and fought. Souths did. They got back in...wrongly or rightly, but they did fight. They could have made a fist of the merger - Tigers and Dragons have. Both won comps.
And the merger with Manly? Geez, the day it was announced EVERYONE knew that it was the worst thing ever. But that said, Manly got the licence and rebuilt their club in to a Premiership force. I didn't see them bleating woe be me during the lean 2003-2005/6 years. They copped on the chin and rebuilt. Sure, I believe that CC should have retained the NRL licence, but who was going to take it on? What consortium would have paid for a NRL franchise with little to no build up time?
Campbelltown, arguably one of the bigger nurseries for RL players doesn't even have it's own team. Hell, they bloody share one who plays FOUR...yes FOUR games in the area. That means a stadium that the council refurbished for the Wests Tigers has FOUR days a year of NRL. How many games are there at Gosford this year? FOUR! So the CC gets as many games for an area that doesn't have a team as an area that shares a team.
And finally, I reckon plenty of the CC members are just footy fans who feel sorry for Norths and sign up. But will they be there if and when the CC Bears kick off?
Don't get me wrong, I'd like to see the Bears come back. But at the end of the day, the NRL needs to decide if they want/need a CC team. Then the CC needs to decide if they want/need the Bears. I feel for the Norths fans. But having been both a North Shore and CC resident, the Bears supporters I know moved on. The CC residents want a NRL team and not necessarily the Bears. And many RL fans I socialise/work with believe Perth and a 2nd Brisbane and/or NZ team would be better for RL than the CC.
