WA BEARS

[BuffaloRules]

I need to ask since I lurk these threads while I work, but what is the deal with the bickering on these expansion threads? lol

In one corner you have Perth Red who I assume is from WA, and wants to see Perth get a team and soon, and claims to have inside knowledge from someone within/around the bid, and in the other corner you have SirPies&Beers who really dislikes Perth Red and everything he seems to stand for and is potentially a North Sydney fan?

I have no dog in the fight I just need to clarify why there's this fight ongoing in every expansion thread.

considering that anything new in relation to this bid happens about once every three months or so , if there was no bickering then this thread would be about 20 pages …

 

[Canard]

I need to ask since I lurk these threads while I work, but what is the deal with the bickering on these expansion threads? lol

In one corner you have Perth Red who I assume is from WA, and wants to see Perth get a team and soon, and claims to have inside knowledge from someone within/around the bid, and in the other corner you have SirPies&Beers who really dislikes Perth Red and everything he seems to stand for and is potentially a North Sydney fan?

I have no dog in the fight I just need to clarify why there's this fight ongoing in every expansion thread.

Have a look up sock puppet and alt in an online dictionary.

My advice is to ignore people whose only existence is to shit talk one poster, and literally post nothing about any issue or the game as whole.

 

[Wb1234]

 

[Canard]

What's doing there?

Cairns Brothers has more members.

 

[Perth Red]

What's doing there?

Cairns Brothers has more members.

Saving their money to join the Perth Bears.

 

[Maximus]

Wait I thought they were supposed to have hundreds of thousands of members and everyone on the street asks when they are coming back.

 

[SirPies&Beers]

Wait I thought they were supposed to have hundreds of thousands of members and everyone on the street asks when they are coming back.

poor minimus, no one cares enough about the sad little man who needs a booster seat. such a sad, sad little man. poor poor minimus, been invisible his whole life and now cries himself to sleep because no one shares anything with him. poor poor minimus.

anyways

'Dead at this point': Premier's crack at expansion offer

'We'll move on'

www.nine.com.au

NRL needs WA more': Western Australia premier doubles down on V'landys criticism​

WWOS staff
February 28, 2025 - 7.51am

Western Australia premier Roger Cook says the NRL needs his state to make the code a true national competition and that should underpin any negotiations with the WA government.

Negotiations between both parties are expected to continue after the state election but it's clear they're still far apart on an agreement.

At the NRL's annual general meeting of shareholders last week, V'landys told the clubs a deal was not guaranteed.

WA premier hints at push for professional NRL team

Speaking to The Australian Financial Review, Cook said the NRL needed his state more than WA needed an NRL team.
"There's no doubt about that, if the deal doesn't stack up, we'll move on to the next opportunity," he said.
"What [ARLC chairman Peter V'landys] has to understand is that NRL in WA is not a major sporting code, and it will be great for economic activity, it'll be great for WA to be part of another national comp … but it has to stack up.

"WA NRL has to be worthwhile for the WA taxpayer."
Officials within the government told the publication, on condition of anonymity, they were sceptical about a deal with the NRL.

"Any idea of money going to the NRL is well and truly dead at this point," the person said.
The NRL is pushing for expansion to 20 teams by 2030 and secure a record broadcast deal to fund the sport.

NRL expansion talk in Perth​

The time difference afforded by a Perth team would bring scheduling flexibility and more games to the competition.

It would also generate sponsorship money from mining industry, which thrives in the region.
The NRL initially asked for a $20 million licensing fee for a private consortium to head the franchise, which was initially led by Cash Coverters chairman Peter Cumins.

But the bid was rejected in early October primarily over concerns the consortium would not pay the NRL a $20 million licence fee to join the competition.

Even when the consortium offered up the $20 million needed, the NRL opted to go in another direction by lobbying the WA government to put taxpayer money into the bid.

"In WA we have some pretty unique CEOs and chairmen, all of them back to themselves, and the NRL represents an opportunity as well, so we're keen to explore it," Cook said.

 

[SirPies&Beers]

Cook’s message for V’landys: WA doesn’t need the NRL

WA premier says NRL brass must understand rugby league is a relative minnow west of the Nullarbor, and his government won’t bend over backwards to secure a team.

www.afr.com

Cook’s message for V’landys: WA doesn’t need the NRL​

Tom Rabe and Zoe Samios
Feb 27, 2025 – 5.59pm
Premier Roger Cook says the NRL needs Western Australia more than the other way around, suggesting a deal to establish an expansion club in the far west is further away than Peter V’landys might think.

V’landys, the chairman of the Australian Rugby League Commission, said last week he was confident an agreement that could result in Australian rules football-dominated WA hosting a team in the national competition of the rival code could be struck as early as next month.

Premier Roger Cook believes the NRL needs WA more than his state needs the NRL. Trevor Collens

“What [V’landys] has to understand is that NRL in WA is not a major sporting code, and it will be great for economic activity, it’ll be great for WA to be part of another national comp … but it has to stack up,” Cook told The Australian Financial Review.
“WA NRL has to be worthwhile for the WA taxpayer.”

The NRL opened talks directly with Cook’s office after a consortium bid to move second-tier team the North Sydney Bears to Perth stalled last October, with V’landys saying it fell significantly short of the NRL’s expectations.

Cook, who played both codes of rugby in his youth, has been an advocate for securing an NRL team for WA but said rugby league was a relative minnow west of the Nullarbor and his government would not bend over backwards for a deal.

Cook said the NRL needed his state more than WA needed an NRL team. “There’s no doubt about that, if the deal doesn’t stack up, we’ll move on to the next opportunity,” he said.
Officials within the government said, on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speaking publicly, they were sceptical of a near-term breakthrough in talks.
“Any idea of money going to the NRL is well and truly dead at this point,” the person said.

Establishing a new team in Western Australia is a critical part of the NRL’s plan to grow its competition to 20 teams by 2030 and secure a record broadcast deal to fund the sport.
V’landys and NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo want to achieve a record-breaking deal when its existing arrangement with Foxtel and Nine Entertainment expires in 2027. Nine owns the Financial Review.

The time difference afforded by Perth team would bring scheduling flexibility and more games to the competition that could be of value to potential partners. It could also generate sponsorship money from sectors that thrive in the region.

Plans to bring Western Australia into the national competition were initially led by Cash Coverters chairman Peter Cumins and a consortium who claimed to have secured the cash for a team and attracted interest from sponsors.

But the bid was rejected in early October primarily over concerns the consortium would not pay the NRL a $20 million licence fee to join the competition.

NRL executives also claimed they were blindsided by the decision to include Sydney Kings part-owner Paul Smith and former NRL executive Paul Kind in the ownership group. The consortium ended up offering a $20 million fee to the NRL, but the doors were closed.

The state government and the NRL have been back and forth since then, negotiating over a range of conditions including a multimillion-dollar commitment to join the NRL Premiership, investment in grassroots and an upgrade of HBF Park to give the NRL a state-of-the-art, CommBank Stadium-style facility in Perth.

At the NRL’s annual general meeting of shareholders last week, V’landys told the clubs a deal was not guaranteed and said discussions would recommence after the WA election.

Asked about the tumultuous negotiations with the NRL, much of which has played out publicly in the media, Cook said he was used to dealing with colourful business leaders in WA.
WA is home to a handful of mining billionaires including Andrew Forrest, Gina Rinehart and Chris Ellison, whose business dealings are often interwoven with government.

“In WA we have some pretty unique CEOs and chairmen, all of them back to themselves, and the NRL represents an opportunity as well, so we’re keen to explore it,” Cook said.

Cook faces a state election he is widely tipped to win easily on March 8. His opponent, Liberal leader Libby Mettam, has ruled out paying hundreds of millions of dollars to secure a team for Perth.

 

[Wb1234]

For someone that told Pvl to zip it and had an election to win he sure spends a lot of time talking about rugby league

Meanwhile the nrl is in Vegas with people around the world watching but yeh they need the 50k fans that wa will bring

 

[wb2027]

This was said in jest but unironically it's far closer to the reality than you probably realise.

My personal barometer of post-99 Norths fans is approx 5% still follow the club at a NSW Cup level as financial members, 30% follow the club at a NSW Cup level more casually without being members because they're happy just spending money on the odd game or select merch, 40% are having their allegiance babysat by another NRL club in the meantime because they still enjoy the game but not enough to care about any other grades (can probably intersperse these with the prior 30%), and that remaining 25% still can't find enjoyment in the game at all after how the club was treated. That final category was far bigger post-Central Coast bid up until around 2023 when there's been more talk of a comeback in the news.

Just remembered another thing that warrants mentioning: a staggering number of people think that being a member of the Leagues Club means you're automatically a member of the Football Club. I've had to break the news to friends and family who proudly tell me about how they were in the club at Cammeray and joined up as members of the Bears, when all they did was join Norths Collective.

Adds to the confusion that Norths Leagues has been the main sponsor on the front of the jersey and Norths Collective encompasses more than just the Cammeray venue. Don't think it's possible but if Norths Collective were to encompass the football club somehow, the Bears membership would jump up to 70k.

 

[BuffaloRules]

Does every article have to mention Cumins ? Ancient history now ….but obviously has to act as a space filler to pad out the two lines of actual new developments

 

[Iamback]

All the 3 mentioned options were NRL vanity projects.

The NRL will grow more by heading East, I am sure PVL will remind them of this

 

[Perth Red]

Does every article have to mention Cumins ? Ancient history now ….but obviously has to act as a space filler to pad out the two lines of actual new developments

It remains relevant if the the WA govt are refusing to pay a license fee and the NRL has turned down that opportunity from private investment. If it falls over due to that after the NRL has had the opportunity, well that would be very sad for the game.

Unfortunately my man has stepped down from his seat so I cant ask him what exactly the stumbling block is. It seems CofE, HBF upgrade and funding for jnrs at 24 schools plus DO's was ok for the Govt, so I wonder what else the NRL is asking for that has the Govt so riled?

 

[Wb1234]

 

[Perth Red]

For someone that told Pvl to zip it and had an election to win he sure spends a lot of time talking about rugby league

Meanwhile the nrl is in Vegas with people around the world watching but yeh they need the 50k fans that wa will bring

Unfortunately Vlad cant keep his mouth shut so everytime he is in the media saying something, like he just did about NRL being incredibly valuable for WA, media then ask Cook and he has to respond with a push back so he doesnt look like WA is being taken for a ride.

 

[Wb1234]

Unfortunately Vlad cant keep his mouth shut so everytime he is in the media saying something, like he just did about NRL being incredibly valuable for WA, media then ask Cook and he has to respond with a push back so he doesnt look like WA is being taken for a ride.

Pvl has been In Vegas being treated like a Greek god he hasn’t said a word about it for ages

Wa needs nrl more than vice versa

Already number one sport without an nrl team. Expansion into png and nz are where the real growth will occur.

 

[Perth Red]

Pvl has been In Vegas being treated like a Greek god he hasn’t said a word about it for ages

Wa needs nrl more than vice versa

Already number one sport without an nrl team. Expansion into png and nz are where the real growth will occur.

Keep up gronk. He said this on Friday: “It’s unfortunate it has been made an election issue in Perth, but when any reasonable person looks at the proposal, they will see the biggest beneficiary is Western Australia.”

Cook then gets asked about Vlads comments this week and has to respond. Like he said just shut up!

 

[Gobsmacked]

Keep up gronk. He said this on Friday: “It’s unfortunate it has been made an election issue in Perth, but when any reasonable person looks at the proposal, they will see the biggest beneficiary is Western Australia.”

Cook then gets asked about Vlads comments this week and has to respond. Like he said just shut up!

First a bid of zero, then your telling him to shut up... so do you guys even want a team or what?

 

[Perth Red]

First a bid of zero, then your telling him to shut up... so do you guys even want a team or what?

At this point the general sentiment is 'meh whatever'. Great way to pop the excitement balloon we had building last year! Been on this journey a long time and seen many false dawns, this may just be one of many.

 

[Wb1234]

First a bid of zero, then your telling him to shut up... so do you guys even want a team or what?

I like the bears but if it were up to me nz2 would be next and then Ipswich

Christchurch colours are bears colours so that’s a good fit

Perth wont produce juniors or grow tv ratings meaningfully for 20 to 50 years

Whereas nz ticks every expansion box