NRL reject Western Bears as bombshell breaks fans’ hearts all over again

Peter V’landys has dropped an NRL expansion bombshell which is bad news for long-suffering fans of the North Sydney Bears.

The NRL has dropped an expansion bombshell, formally rejecting the bid of the Western Bears to join the competition in 2027.

ARL Commission boss Peter V’landys confirmed the decision, which will be a dagger to the heart of long-suffering North Sydney Bears fans.

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The foundation club was booted out of the competition in 1999, after the NRL cut down to just 14 teams following the Super League war, receiving only a three-year stay of execution as part of the ill-fated Northern Eagles joint venture.

Since then, the Bears have been trying to get back into the competition and appeared to have finally found a path as part of the Western Australian bid to bring the NRL to Perth.

While it hasn’t completely extinguished hopes of a return for the Bears, the dream appears to be on life support after the NRL rejected the bid over the multimillion-dollar licencing fee.

Last month the federal government had “agreed in principle” with the NRL for a $600 million deal for Papua New Guinea to join the competition in the 2028 season as the game’s 19th team.

V’landys at the Dally M’s with daughter Katrina. Picture: Jonathan Ng

It appeared the path was set for rugby league to return to Western Australia in 2027.

The Western Bears, which were an combination of a Perth consortium and North Sydney, a bid that was being supported by the Western Australian government.

News Corp reported that while the bid document was comprehensive, it didn’t meet the NRL’s financial requirements.

“The bid that the consortium has put in has been rejected,” he said.

“We will still deal with the Western Australian government to try and resuscitate the bid. The bid that they put in was significantly short.

“No bid team can take the expansion process for granted. I have made this clear from day one.

“We will only expand if there is a firm business case and at the moment Perth’s business case doesn’t stack up. If we can’t stack it up I can’t take it to the members for consideration.

“All I will say their bid is extremely short. I will have more talks with the WA government, but not necessarily the current consortium.”

However, the NRL is also reportedly considering a move to own and operate their own WA expansion team, although the Western Bears consortium is facing emergency talks with V’landys to save the bid.

The Bears bid is on life support.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported the NRL has made it clear that it would be a prerequisite for a new Perth team to have a link with the North Sydney club.

The report also stated NRL officials “are privately fuming”, believing the bid was trying to “low-ball” the NRL in their business proposal, adding that the Western Bears consortium “indicated they wouldn’t stump up a licence fee”.

The setback hasn’t soiled the enthusiasm of WA premier Roger Cook though, as the state looks to have its first team since the Western Reds joined the ARL competition in 1995 before defecting to the Super League in 1997. The club was a casualty of the end of the Super League war.

“Western Australia is the obvious choice for a new team, and the NRL knows WA is a great option for the league’s expansion,” Cook said.

“They know WA is a clear market for the NRL, we offer significant broadcasting opportunities that are unmatched by the other bids and a Perth team would be ready to go for the 2027 season.”

He added the state government wasn’t involved in the Western Bears bid but had played a supporting role to work with the NRL on grounds, high-performance facilities and player development programs in schools.

Allan Fitzgibbon of the North Sydney Bears. NRL Photos/Gregg Porteous

Speaking before Sunday’s grand final, V’landys told Triple M that the game had “run into a bit of a hiccup” when asked about the nine expansion proposals the NRL had received.

“That has probably slowed us up a bit but we will certainly be trying to expand in the next few years because we need to have our content right when we go to the broadcasters to get the maximum broadcast deal,” he said.

In August, the WA bid and the Bears confirmed they would partner under the Western Bears moniker in a bid to bring rugby league back to Western Australia.

The Western Bears confirmed games would be played at Perth’s HBF Park, with a regular-season home game set to be played in Sydney, which is expected to be contested at either North Sydney Oval or Allianz Stadium in a heritage round match against old nemesis Manly.

The Bears would wear the traditional North Sydney jersey for this match with a pre-season game also a possibility to be played at North Sydney Oval.

“The Western Bears club will make the NRL a truly national competition, returning top-flight rugby league to Perth and drawing on the heritage of the North Sydney Bears, which dates to 1908,” they said in a statement.

“This will be done through an adaptation of the Bears logo to suit NRL competition requirements and full integration of the red and black colours that are synonymous with the mighty Bears.

“Western Bears, as the custodian of the Bears, consider it essential to preserve and maintain the rugby league pedigree and 116 years of history.”

The North Sydney Bears currently play in the NRL’s reserve grade NSW Cup, becoming a feeder club for the Melbourne Storm in 2024 after five seasons partnering with the Sydney Roosters.

Originally published as NRL reject Western Bears as bombshell breaks fans’ hearts all over again