Well let's hope Norths used a Sydney lawyer and Perth didn't.
Doesn’t matter who North Sydney used. It’s who the NRL & ARLC use.
Again, it’s about them saving face and looking strong. De-merging clubs or clubs radically rebranding due to failures on their watch is corporate and commercial weakness.
It puts fans, stakeholders & corporate partners off and devalues the overall game, commercially.
If a merge or relocated club looks like reverting I guarantee you the NRL will take emergency, short term ownership of that franchise.
Exactly like they did with Titans about a decade ago.
So if the Western Bears ever look shaky, what will happen is that the NRL will kick out the failed owners, take control of the club and then find new owners for the club. Hypothetically, new owners could all be ex-North Sydney corporates but the club would still need to be located in and operating from WA regardless.
In short - Western Bears stay in WA no matter who is running the club.
Western Bears stay as the Bears brand no mater who is running the club.