Diehard Bears fan Ben Horne warns North Sydney over dangerous ‘ultimatum’ rhetoric

A letter from Bears halfback Mark Soden in 1993 was enough to cement BEN HORNE’S love for the club forever. But the diehard supporter warns the club they risk blowing their NRL return with dangerous rhetoric.

When I was six years old I wrote the North Sydney Bears a letter. I found it recently at my parents’ house and it read simply:

“Dear North Sydney. I hope the Bears win every game they play. Love Ben Horne.”

It was 1993 and Bears halfback Mark Soden kindly penned me a handwritten response, thanking me for my support but also offering this sage piece of advice for any young player:

“PS: Try to learn to kick with both feet. I’m still trying to learn.”

The Bears sure didn’t win every game they played, but to their great credit, they have perfected the art of kicking off both feet.

Somehow, a quarter of a century after being brutally kicked out of the NRL, the Bears have stayed adaptable. Stayed flexible. Stayed alive. Mainly thanks to the tireless dedication of Greg Florimo and an army of passionate fans that refuse to switch allegiances and follow another team.

But now it’s time to put the ball between the posts.

A young Ben Horne (L) pictured with Bears legend Greg Florimo.

I know there will be league fans rolling their eyes at another Norths comeback story, but NRL Commissioner Peter V’landys’ unequivocal support for the Bears returning to the NRL as part of an expansion team is a moment of significance.

It’s now or never.

V’landys’ support and influence is the biggest thing the Bears’ readmission hopes have going for them, and they must execute a plan once and for all while he is still in charge.

The spirit and fibre and the 200,000 fans the Bears could offer to a new expansion team is undeniably a massive asset for the game.

The feeling was palpable at CommBank Stadium last September when the grandstands were a sea of red and black for the reserve grade grand final against Souths.

But I do think the Bears need to be careful with this rhetoric about “non-negotiables.”

As any Bear will tell you, any feed is a good one when you’ve been starving in the wilderness for 25 years.

Pitching up for four games at North Sydney Oval is over the top and only hurts the hopes of an amalgamation being successful.

Whether it’s the Perth Bears, Wellington Bears, Pacific Bears or PNG Bears, that region needs to know it’s their team.

If it’s any more than one or maximum two games at North Sydney Oval, it’s a halfway team and halfway teams don’t work – just look at the struggles of Wests Tigers and St George Illawarra.

A young Ben Horne pictured with Bears legend Billy Moore.

It’s tough to concede as a Bears fan, because we were stitched up deluxe by Manly and the NRL – but the reality is when you’ve been gone for 25 years, no one owes you anything.

I know even if it was zero games at North Sydney Oval, but the big back bear was back on the road again I’d be in heaven.

Go watch the Bears play at Parramatta, Penrith, Cronulla, Kogarah, Allianz Stadium … and yes – Brookvale Oval.

You could get eight games in Sydney even without North Sydney Oval being in the equation and that’s pretty special when you’re coming from the low base of not playing a first-grade match in the lifetime of most current NRL players.

Look at how South Melbourne fans embrace the Sydney Swans and Fitzroy the Brisbane Lions when they play in Victoria.

My kids love going out to North Sydney Oval to watch the NSW Cup, even if my two-year-old daughter gets so frightened of mascot Barney the Bear you’d think she was at Yosemite National Park.

I’ve learnt to live my entire adult life with not having a team to support, but there’s a piece missing. I love the Bears. I want to feel what I felt as a kid again and share that passion, that joy and heartbreak with my kids as well.

There’s no mightier symbol in Australian sport than the Bears’ logo. No colours more striking than the fearsome red and black. That in itself is an identity and something to uplift hundreds of thousands of dormant league fans.

North Sydney Bears star Mark Soden's letter to a young Ben Horne.

There’s been so many false dawns, but V’landys’ comments to Phil Rothfield this week makes me, for the first time in a long time, truly believe.

I know it’s become a punchline for many, the Bears being linked with everywhere that could host a rugby league team but Mars, but this has been V’landys’ advice to them.

Stay nimble, stay flexible and kick off both feet.

V’landys knows what enormous value the Bears would bring to a partnership with a region like Perth: a ready-made supporter base, history and commercial viability on the east coast for a team that would expand the NRL’s reach to the other side of the country in a sports’ mad city.

As long as the Bears don’t lose sight of the fact that they need Perth more than Perth needs them, it’s the no-brainer the NRL should be going with for the 18th team.