‘Give up’: Sad reality of North Sydney Bears’ doomed NRL expansion bid

The NRL are undoubtedly looking for an 18th team but one of the expansion bidders continues to not be able to read the room.

Sam Walker won’t play for the Bears in the NRL. Picture: Jonathan Ng

COMMENT

Even rugby league’s nastiest opposition fan would welcome the reinstatement of the Bears to the NRL.

It’s a brand that warms the heart and packs strong corporate backing and, as its rich history attests, presents no threat to premiership aspirations whatsoever.

Sadly however, Norths’ dream of a return to a life of first-class footy and September chokes is looking more distant than ever.

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As revealed this week, their latest reboot will involve a by-committee Pasifika model incorporating Tonga, Samoa, Cook Islands and Fiji, and any other nation in the Southern Hemisphere free at 4pm Sundays.

It’s an astute proposal with an eye to tapping in to the ever-growing Polynesian market, but much like their 1994 backline, it’s another that looks good on paper but likely to never be consummated.

Not only are the Bears fighting a crowded race and 116 years of bad luck, this time they are up against various governments and communist superpowers.

With Chris Minns withdrawing funding for North Sydney Oval and Anthony Albanese pumping aid in to the Papua New Guinea bid in the hope of stymieing China, getting the Pasifika Bears over the line will require more than cheap schooies at Norths Leagues and the unsinkable grit of Greg Florimo.

How much more can the Bears bear?

After 20+ years of rejection, maybe it’s time to take the hint.

That’ll do Bears, that’ll do. Photo by Getty Images

North Sydney ain’t coming back, and the sooner we accept this, the quicker we can canvass genuine relocation plans like moving Cronulla to Perth or Souths to the ocean.

Florimo and his team should be elevated to Immortal status for their tireless efforts, but it’s becoming clear that unless the NRL wants to branch out somewhere exotic like Singapore or, even more unlikely, Perth, this plucky campaign is kicking a balloon into the teeth of a cyclone.

If whispers are accurate, the NRL will side with the PNG bid because despite the US alliance, ASIO, Five Eyes & even just brownnosing, the government insists the most effective method for keeping China at bay is 40/20s and Marcus Bai.

Sadly, the Bears do not offer such soft diplomacy.

With their offer to play two games a year at their spiritual home, it’s simply too difficult to park an AUKUS submarine outside North Sydney Oval.

Papua New Guinea fans are making a big push Picture NRL photos

Plus there’s the other elephant in the room.

After failing with the Central Coast, Manly, the Gold Coast and various other Brisbane bids, the Bears are a hobbled journeyman with two ACL’s collapsed under emotional damage.

Not only would the NRL prefer to enter a new market with a fresh brand without baggage, who would back a trepidatious fanbase to handle the unique discomfort of the North Sydney Experience?

Current Bears fans can barely speak of preliminary finals or the Northern Eagles without birthing kittens, so lumping this on a new fan is almost a breach of human rights.

It hurts to write it, but the Bears appear destined for an eternity featuring exclusively in NSW Cup and nostalgia.

The only way they can return now is to march on Redfern or pick a fight with the CCP.

– Dane Eldridge is a warped cynic yearning for the glory days of rugby league, a time when the sponges were magic and the Mondays were mad.

He’s never strapped on a boot in his life, and as such, should be taken with a grain of salt.