The Bears’ long wait to return to top flight rugby league is over with the Western Bears now made official.
Months of protracted negotiations finally reached an end point on Friday afternoon with officials from North Sydney and Western Australia’s bid team signing off on the historic agreement to resurrect one of rugby league’s most famous brands.
The Bears will return to the NRL for the first time since 1999.
While the Perth Bears name was floated, the parties have agreed to the Western Bears which is a nod to Western Australia’s first team – the Western Reds.
The Western Bears will now spend the next few days finalising their submission ahead of the August 14 deadline imposed by the NRL to be part of the expanded competition.
By the end of this year, the Western Bears will be formally announced as the NRL’s 18th team to compete in 2027, with PNG introduced a year later.
It is understood the agreement between the two parties include:
– An adaptation of the Bears logo;
– One heritage match in NSW with the hope it will be against arch rivals Manly. The match could be played at North Sydney Oval, Allianz Stadium or on the Central Coast where they will wear a traditional North Sydney jersey;
– The main colours will be red, white and black, however there will be a tinge of yellow too which again pays homage to the former Reds outfit. The Reds may have their own heritage jersey;
– A pre-season game at North Sydney Oval;
– North Sydney Bears to remain the main feeder club to NSW Cup for the NRL side.
The parties met in Perth last weekend when key North Sydney officials flew to chat face-to-face with their Western Australian counterparts.
This followed crucial meetings in Sydney in June.
Late last week the deal was on the brink of collapse as they looked increasingly unlikely to reach an agreement.
But in the past 72 hours, the relevant stakeholders have ended any potential unrest by striking a deal after a deadline was set on the Bears.
Western Australia had intimated they were prepared to go it alone and resurrect the Reds moniker should they be unable to finalise a partnership with North Sydney as they wanted to ensure the team was under the control and ownership of WA.
They wanted the team to be a true Western Australian one.
Western Australia were also interested in aligning with Newtown, however the NRL had made it clear that their preference was to resurrect North Sydney instead of the Jets.
The Jets may still have a place in future expansion plans.
ARL Chairman Peter V’landys has long held the view that the Bears should be back in the NRL and has pushed their case privately and publicly.
“Everywhere I go, that always the question … when are you bringing back the Bears?” V’landys told this masthead earlier this year.
“It makes sense that we bring them back in some capacity, because they’ve got 200,000 members.”
ARLC chairman Peter V’landys has long held the view that the Bears should be back in the NRL. Supplied by North Qld Cowboys
ARLC chairman Peter V’landys has long held the view that the Bears should be back in the NRL. Supplied by North Qld Cowboys
Because of strict nondisclosure agreements with the NRL, neither side was able to comment publicly.
For the Bears faithful there have been too many false dawns since their Northern Eagles partnership with Manly dissolved in 2002.
They pushed hard for the Central Coast Bears but that never eventuated.
Since then they have been linked to the Gold Coast, New Zealand, various Queensland teams and more recently as a hybrid Pasifika team.
All while ensuring North Sydney maintained a strong presence in the relevant NSW competitions including fielding a successful reserve grade team where they sit on top of the ladder this year.
ARL commissioner Peter Beattie rubbed shoulders at the Dolphins-Roosters game with WA premier Roger Cook on Friday night as well as key North Sydney officials. Cook has been the driving force in ensuring a permanent team in WA for the first time since 1997
