Greg Florimo- Bears Legend!

[sharko]

I rarely watch Channel 9 except for a game of league, and it was by sheer fluke I caught Greg Florimo on that Sunday Roast on Channel 9.
Florimo is General Manager of the Bears and is fighting a good rearguard action against Union and AFL on the north side of Sydney but is getting no help from the NRL or ARL and very little from NSWRL.
It was the first mention of the North Sydney Bears on commercial tv for about 7 -8 years.
David Gallop hates the Bears with a passion as does his News Ltd colleagues on the NRL policy committee..this can be traced back to when Gallop was the architect of Super League and he approached the Bears to defect from the ARL to Super League..the Bears stayed loyal to the ARL and paid with their existence once News Ltd won the war.
The Bears still have a stake in Gosford Stadium..and the proposal was to base a Bears team out of Gosford and play maybe 3 matches at Bear Park a year..that would satisfy all parties.
The Bears stake in Gosford gives them veto over any franchsie getting a go ahead up there that does not include the Bears.

 

[sooperdooper]

the bears will not be seen back in a national rugby league comp...

 

[Southernsaint]

You have to admire Flo's passion and commitment to the club...

 

[Ziggy the God]

It was great to see those highlights of the Bears running around.

Whilst the Bears coming back in the sort term seems unlikely, who is to say that it will not happen in a decade as the population in Sydney's north continues to increase?

 

[[FKN-SIK]]

Florimo was awesome!

Always liked him as a player. Whether he was at 5/8th or in the forward pack.

p.s. He was on the Footy Show, no the roast

 

[Mr Saab]

Florimo was a champion player. Shame he never tasted GF glory, but, such is life.

 

[Scott]

Florimo was a champion player. Shame he never tasted GF glory, but, such is life.

Amen to that.

My favourite player of all time. I have a signed jersey of his in my shrine!

 

[PARRA_FAN]

Flo was very loyal to the Bears, came through the juniors, stayed there till the end.

Good player too, unlucky not to taste premiership success.

Same with the other Bears players, Billy Moore, Gary Larson, David Fairleigh, Jason Taylor.

If they werent kicked out in 1999 they wouldve had a decent side in 2000 along with coach Graham Murray.

Apart from the top 3 they wouldve also had O'Meley, Orford, Buettner, Ikin, Stringer, Morrison, Goddard.

Its a shame they went so close in 1997 and then 2 years later they were kicked out.

 

[girvie]

Greg Florimo is a Norths legend.


You can download the Greg Florimo interview from this link

http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=batch_download&batch_id=OGhmRkJheFhnYU0wTVE9PQ

The link is only available for 7 days.

 

[magpie_man]

Flo was very loyal to the Bears, came through the juniors, stayed there till the end.

Good player too, unlucky not to taste premiership success.

Same with the other Bears players, Billy Moore, Gary Larson, David Fairleigh, Jason Taylor.

If they werent kicked out in 1999 they wouldve had a decent side in 2000 along with coach Graham Murray.

Apart from the top 3 they wouldve also had O'Meley, Orford, Buettner, Ikin, Stringer, Morrison, Goddard.

Its a shame they went so close in 1997 and then 2 years later they were kicked out.

damn, that would've been an extremely handy team.

 

[girvie]

damn, that would've been an extremely handy team.

The Bears team in 2000 could have looked something like:

1. Matt Seers
2. Brett Dallas
3. Michael Buettner
4. Nigel Roy
5. Anthony Swann/ Joel Wilson/ Scott Pethybridge
6. Matt Orford
7. Jason Taylor
8. David Fairleigh
9. Jamie Goddard
10. Mark O'Meley
11. Adam Muir
12. Gary Larson
13. Glenn Morrison

14. Paul Stringer
15. Steve Trindall
16. Willie Leyshon
17. Jamie Fitzgerald

Coach - Graham Murray

That is without including any new signings they would have made.

There were also a lot of future firstgraders in the Bears juniors at the time including Matt King, Alex Chan, Michael Sullivan, Brett Kearney, Chris Heighington, Scott McLean, Nick Bradley, Luke Dorn.

 

[Macca616]

Sharko - I agree with you re the good deeds of Greg Florimo.

You need to very careful in forums not to say things like 'David Gallop hates the Bears with a passion' as it is defamatory. So is the comment that the architect of superleague was Gallop. Surely noone is naive enough to believe that this was not orchestrated by those higher than the inhouse lawyer which he was at the time.

 

[LeagueXIII]

the bears will not be seen back in a national rugby league comp...

And why is this good for RL? It is nothing short of a disgrace and travesty.

For all those who want to move teams out of Sydney have a look at what has happened in the northsince the demise of the Bears. AFL and union are supreme. This area plus Central Coast has a growing population of 800,000, if this was an isolated city people would be crying for a team.

 

[Newcastlerabbit]

A Bears Legend.One of the League's last great Clubman.

 

[mightybears]

the bears will not be seen back in a national rugby league comp...

they will mate just keep watching!

and sooky ben ikin was headed back north of the tweed for 2000

 

[Southernsaint]

they will mate just keep watching!

and sooky ben ikin was headed back north of the tweed for 2000

f**k Ben Ikin.

Does anyone else think that there aren't even any proper lenses in those glasses and he's just wearing them as an affectation in order to "appear" more intelligent??

 

[Red Bear]

f**k Ben Ikin.

Does anyone else think that there aren't even any proper lenses in those glasses and he's just wearing them as an affectation in order to "appear" more intelligent??

haha i've been thinking that for a while. Wouldnt surprise me lol

 

[sharko]

Sharko - I agree with you re the good deeds of Greg Florimo.

You need to very careful in forums not to say things like 'David Gallop hates the Bears with a passion' as it is defamatory. So is the comment that the architect of superleague was Gallop. Surely noone is naive enough to believe that this was not orchestrated by those higher than the inhouse lawyer which he was at the time.

Macca,
You are way off mate. Gallops title was not "in house lawyer"his official title was Director of Operations/Policy. This position allowed him to dictate policy and was vital in News Ltd strategy of destabilising rugby league..he developed and was privy to every action that was made against ARL clubs.
Unlike you I am not fooled by his image makeover as the common man who loves rugby league..he is a News Ltd man to the core and his first priority is to News Ltd and the monies they can strip from league..merely look to tv an radio deals done by him, salary cap debacle and player drain and English Super League.
News Ltd lackeys must be forced out of the administration of league and then clubs can start to prosper financially.

 

[LeagueXIII]

Well said Sharko.

 

[mightybears]

Macca,
You are way off mate. Gallops title was not "in house lawyer"his official title was Director of Operations/Policy. This position allowed him to dictate policy and was vital in News Ltd strategy of destabilising rugby league..he developed and was privy to every action that was made against ARL clubs.
Unlike you I am not fooled by his image makeover as the common man who loves rugby league..he is a News Ltd man to the core and his first priority is to News Ltd and the monies they can strip from league..merely look to tv an radio deals done by him, salary cap debacle and player drain and English Super League.
News Ltd lackeys must be forced out of the administration of league and then clubs can start to prosper financially.

100% correct, he was at the heart of the operational filth, the reason he got the job when they won, gods knows why but some seem to think he was a nobody lawyer that did a bit of work for news ltd and got the head nrl spot because he wasn't tainted by the conflict.