‘Your bid is in the bin’: How Western Bears’ plans went south
It’s often said a week is a long time in rugby league – but what about two months?
For the Western Bears, two months must feel like an eternity.
When a consortium of West Australia businessmen in July lodged its bid document to become the NRL’s next franchise, ARL Commissioner Peter Beattie was so impressed he messaged bid chief Peter Cumins: “Your bid is outstanding. We look forward to working with you in the future.”
Last Friday, Beattie had the job of breaking the news that the consortium’s apparently outstanding bid wasn’t so outstanding after all. “Your bid is in the bin,” he told them.
The rubbish bins were collected yesterday afternoon when news broke that the ARLC hadn’t just rejected the Bears’ bid but whacked them as they walked out the door.
According to chairman Peter V’landys, their “low-ball offer” was “disrespectful”.
The Bears held crisis meetings on Monday in a bid to salvage the bid, but the decision had already been made.
Cumins, the Cash Converters owner who has been pushing for 20 years for an NRL licence, is said to be devastated.
He did not return calls, presumably living in hope that V’landys will change his mind.
On the Friday morning of Magic Round in May, V’landys told reporters that the Albanese government’s plan for a Papua New Guinea team based in Port Moresby was on the verge of collapse. He’d grown tired of bureaucrats dithering on the $600 million pledge from the Albanese, who wants a PNG team to use as geopolitical pawn in the chess game with China.
By the time the last match was kicking off on Sunday, the deal was back on.
It will surprise if the PNG isn’t finally announced on Sunday when the men’s and women’s Australian Prime Minister’s XIII teams take on the PNG PM’s XIII teams at Santos National Football in Port Moresby. The WA bid, though, is on life support.
How did it get to this? How did the Bears go from certain starters in 2027 to being rejected like a bad Tinder date on grand final weekend? Within two months?
V’landys had told the WA consortium months ago to form a partnership with foundation club North Sydney, even though they had already agreed to partner with the Newtown Jets.
Desperate to get into the NRL, they agreed and the Western Bears came to life. Their announcement as the NRL’s 17th team was imminent. They even had a date: October 10.
V’landys insists a weak financial position was the main problem with the bid but, if you dig deeper, it feels more like those involved didn’t know how to negotiate with the most powerful man in Australian sport.
When Beattie congratulated Cumins in July, it came with a rider: that a licence fee was to be agreed upon if they were to enter the NRL.
Behind the scenes, the WA bid was put together by Nick Nogarotto from business management consultancy Freshwater Strategy.
Nogarotto, who did not return calls, put together the Redcliffe Dolphins’ successful bid in 2021. He’s very guarded.
Redcliffe weren’t required to pay a licence fee because their licensed club guaranteed their long-term financial viability.
The NRL insisted the WA bid pay a fee – about $15-20m – because they were in a rugby league outpost and their financial position wasn’t as strong as that of the Dolphins.
V’landys was also blindsided by the WA bid allowing Sydney Kings owners Paul Smith and Paul Kind in as 15 per cent investors just before the document had been lodged.
Smith’s head appeared on page three, but V’landys was unhappy that new investors had been included so late in the process. Disrespected, perhaps.
While Smith and Kind’s Total Sports Entertainment was prepared to pay $4m if the licence was granted, V’landys couldn’t stomach the idea of them profiting from an NRL club that didn’t want to pay a licensing fee.
Neither Smith nor Kind were commenting yesterday, but the collapse of the bid isn’t their fault.
On the surface, it appears a group of well-intentional and wealthy league-loving businessmen from Perth have failed to appreciate how aggressive V’landys can be.
Tellingly, Cumins and V’landys have only met a few times, let alone talked to each other. The PNG bid is being negotiated by two prime ministers.
The NRL will now negotiate directly with the WA government with a view to running a new franchise themselves.
They have seen how the Tasmanian government has worked hand in glove with the AFL to create the Devils, which enter the premiership in 2028.
The idea of an NRL-owned franchise seems problematic, mostly because there is so much distrust within the game.
But funnier things have happened.
A PNG team based in another country an eight-hour flight away just replaced the Bears as rugby league’s newest team.
‘Your bid is in the bin’: How Western Bears’ plans went south
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