NRL inch closer to possible Perth Bears expansion amid resumed talks with WA government

The NRL could soon officially announce the competition’s 18th team after a huge update in their expansion push came to light.

The Bears are back! North Sydney, WA sign historic agreement.

The NRL could soon officially announce the Perth Bears as the competition’s 18th team following urgent talks between ARLC chairman Peter V’landys and the WA government.

Despite things looking shaky last month when V’landys and the NRL knocked back a Perth-based consortium’s proposal for falling short of the financial requirements, the NRL has now held constructive talks with the West Australian government about an expansion team in Perth.

As per The Daily Telegraph, those talks went well with WA premier Roger Cook and treasurer Rita Saffioti making their case as to why expansion should go to Perth.

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The Bears are back! North Sydney, WA sign historic agreement.

Following the meeting, there was reportedly a renewed sense of confidence that the Perth Bears would be announced as the NRL’s 18th team.

With V’landys guaranteeing that the North Sydney Bears would be part of any expansion to Perth, the proud and historic club were reportedly given a positive update on the status of the bid and how much closer they were to having a team back in the national comp again.

It is understood the Perth team would initially be run by the NRL, before control is eventually handed over to members.

The progress on the Perth bid comes on the back of the 17 current NRL clubs pitching their support for a new team in Papua New Guinea.

Bankrolled by the Federal government to the tune of $600 million, PNG is set to have a place in the NRL within the next few years.

More on when the announcement of either PNG or the Perth Bears will be made will be known after next month’s ARL Commission meeting – the last of the year.

It’s likely that expansion will be the main talking point of that meeting as discussions heat up over who will be the 18th and 19th teams in the NRL as we inch closer to V’landys’ vision of growing the competition to 20 teams by 2030.

Originally published as NRL inch closer to possible Perth Bears expansion amid resumed talks with WA government