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Keen to hear where you’ve landing on Western Bears. You weren’t very receptive a few months ago. Has that changed now knowing how the model is structured with it being 100% WA owned and run?
I'll be sticking with the tigers, or possibly the magpies by then lol.
lol I haven’t been to belmore and I live five minutes away
Oh dear. There you go again. Typical behaviour of a follower of a parasite club that leaches on to a new entity in a desperate search for relevance. And more personal abuse. Deary me. Triggered much?
It doesn’t seem to have changed much over the past 40 years.
I love the last paragraph in particular. Both Victoria and WA should exceed 10000 participants in the next 5 years. The potential for growth is huge in the metro and regional areas.Proposed Bears blueprint outlined
By Justin Fris
Thursday, 29 August, 2024 - 08:53
Category:
Sport
Business stakeholders and Western Australian Rugby League diehards were given greater insight into how the Western Bears could operate within an expanded national competition.
Speaking at the 2024 Ken Allen Medal awards night at the Westin Hotel, Western Bears and WA NRL bid chair Peter Cumins candidly outlined the hard work behind the bid, which was officially submitted to the Australian Rugby League Commission on August 14.
Business News understands the final bid document was approximately 480-483 pages, with a team of dedicated people working round the clock, seven days a week, to ensure all criteria were thoroughly addressed.
Prospective WA players on the cusp of first grade with the Bears from 2027 and beyond will be given an opportunity to represent the North Sydney Bears at NSW Cup level, a second-tier competition, with Mr Cumins confirming WA would likely return to elite junior representative level.
“We will be entering teams in the Harold Matthews (under 16s) and SG Ball (under 18s) Cup competitions,” he said.
“It will give our kids in WA those pathways to improve themselves and test themselves.
“As well as being able to access players from the east coast, to be able to make sure that we’ve got a competitive squad going forward.”
The last WA-based side to compete in the SG Ball competition was the West Coast Pirates in 2020, which was operated by NRL WA, the state governing body. The Pirates didn't compete in 2021 due to COVID-19 health and safety protocols and haven't returned since.
In a letter to WA’s Rugby League community on July 2, Mr Cumins said the WA bid needed to raise $30 million in order to support its push in providing a comprehensive plan to the NRL.
“We’ve been able to raise thirty million dollars to make sure the club is capitalised,” he said on Wednesday night.
“You can imagine, we don’t kick a football until 2027, so we’ve got engage coaches, players, football managers, office staff ... all those people need to be in place when we begin pre-season training in 2026.”
Long-term, the Bears – in collaboration with the state government – would ideally move to a purpose-built centre of excellence, which would become a hub for the code in WA.
Presently, NRL WA’s office is located on King Edward Road in Osborne Park. Over the past decade, its office has also been situated in Canning Vale and at HBF Park.
Bears home matches would primarily be played at HBF Park in East Perth, with one game to be played at North Sydney Oval.
“That home will be an opportunity and place where all of our elite players here in WA can go and train, be coached and participate in all of these elite programs," Mr Cumins said.
“But it’s not just the Western Bears team. This team and club will be set up to promote Rugby League, participation levels and school programs.”
By 2029, WA is expected to have the third highest number of club-based player registrations behind NSW and Queensland.
As it stands, WA has around 4,335 registered players. However, Willagee MLA Peter Tinley, who alongside Premier Roger Cook has been a passionate advocate for WA Rugby League, told the room he believed WA could one day become a hotbed for junior talent.
“We want to have a position in the game where the Western Bears are running out there with at least five – probably more likely ten – run-on players who are homegrown,” he said.
“There’s no reason why this state can’t have 10,000 juniors and be an absolute player factory.”
Proposed Bears blueprint outlined
Business stakeholders and WA Rugby League diehards were given greater insight into how the Western Bears could operate within an expanded national competition.www.businessnews.com.au
How many registered players are there in those two places?
How many nrl players come from those areas and how many will ever come from wa
Canberra is counted in the NSWRL numbers. And, in any case, their participation is very good but easily achievable in WA with a team located there.
Canberra has about 6500 club participants. Auckland - no idea
Shifting ground mate? Are you seriously suggesting WA won’t ever produce strong local player numbers for the NRL? I suggest you look at the ever increasing number of Victorian born players in their pathway and rep teams. the model is in place for WA to follow.
www.aucklandleague.co.nz
Hang on you can’t say WA will never overtake those areas if you dont even know how many registered players they have lol. So come on tell us what the targets are.
See my worthy contribution above lol
Pad the figures all you want too
