Ex-newsman’s tabloid past comes back to bite Bears

Anthony De Ceglie’s media career has left him off-side with many of those people he will now need to court in his role with the Perth Bears.

Anthony De Ceglie, the new CEO of Perth Bears. Picture: Julian Andrews

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One of Perth’s most prominent businessmen has delivered an excoriating spray towards former Seven West Media executive and new Perth Bears chief Anthony De Ceglie, saying he and many other senior figures across the city will be actively cheering for the former newspaper editor to fail in his role.

John Poynton – a former Reserve Bank board member, veteran investment banker and prominent company director who along with his wife, Di Bain, was the target of numerous negative stories during Mr De Ceglie’s time as editor of Seven West Media’s The West Australian newspaper – told The Australian that the NRL had made a major blunder in appointing Mr De Ceglie to the helm of the new club.

“There’s a typical sort of arrogance and hubris about this, that De Ceglie would think that he could walk into town after upsetting pretty much everybody, some more than others, and think that it was going to be an easy run,” Mr Poynton said.

“That’s the problem about making a prick of yourself – it’s hard when you have to come back and face the very same people.”

The long-lasting enmity between Mr Poynton and Seven West Media major shareholder Kerry Stokes has been the stuff of legend in Perth and dates back decades.

He and Ms Bain – who ran against Seven West personality Basil Zempilas for lord mayor of the City of Perth – were both on the receiving end of a series of negative stories during Mr De Ceg­lie’s time at the helm of Seven West’s The West Australian newspaper.

Mr Poynton, one of Perth’s best-connected business figures, with longstanding ties to many of the city’s most prominent names, said he believed there would be many other senior people in Perth who would be opposed to Mr De Ceglie’s involvement in the Bears.

“I do know there’s a whole lot of other people who either were touched up personally, or saw what he was doing to other people, who knew it was him – whether it was at Kerry’s bidding or not – and who don’t forget, and who haven’t forgotten,” he said.

John Poynton and wife Di Bain in 2014. Picture: Matt Jelonek

“He needs to be taught a lesson and taught a lesson he will be.”

Mr Poynton’s comments are the most stark example yet of how Mr De Ceglie’s appointment has divided opinion in Perth.

The 39-year-old was a shock appointment when he was named as the club’s new chief just days after NRL boss Peter V’landys joined WA Premier Roger Cook to announce the deal to resurrect the North Sydney Bears out of Perth.

While many in Perth’s corporate, sporting and media sectors believe Mr De Ceglie will bring the Perth and Sydney contacts at both a corporate and political level that are needed to help the Bears survive, others think memories of his time in the media and his lack of prior experience running a sports organisation could hinder a club that needs a lot to go right for it to succeed.

“He probably does know everyone in Perth, but half of them hate his guts because they’ve been smashed by him,” says one prominent corporate figure, who has been involved at a senior level with one of Perth’s major sports teams.

Another source close to one of Mr De Ceglie’s former targets at The West is adamant their organisation won’t be supporting the Bears because of him. “Life catches up with you and Anthony has made his bed with us,” they said.

Not everyone who was on the receiving end of the West under Mr De Ceglie is quite as negative as Mr Poynton. One Perth corporate identity who had been put through the ringer by The West under Mr De Ceglie – “It is what it is. You just get on with your life and put it down to experience. I guess,” he said – believed the De Ceglie’s appointment was a good one. “Obviously he’s got a good relationship with V’landys, which is really important. He’s the most powerful figure in rugby league and (a good relationship with V’landys) is going to be important to make this successful,” he said.

“It’s probably a bit left-field, but it makes good sense for where they want to go at the club.”

The West Australian under Mr De Ceglie developed a reputation for headlines and front pages that some of the paper’s targets felt crossed a line. The paper was ­singled out for criticism by Fortescue founder Andrew Forrest in February 2023, when the mining magnate attacked what he described as biased, inflammatory and inaccurate reporting by The West, alleging the paper’s editorial direction was a product of Fortescue’s decision to purchase electric trucks from a rival of Mr Stokes’s WesTrac.

So incensed was Dr Forrest by The West’s coverage of his company’s executive departures and the breakdown of his marriage that he took out full-page advertisements in rival newspapers attacking the paper. The ads included tear-outs from The West accompanied by the punchline “Don’t be hooked by headline trash”.

While Dr Forrest’s relationship with The West has warmed since Mr De Ceglie left the editor’s chair, he did not appear on Seven’s news and current affairs programs during Mr De Ceglie’s time at the helm of that network.

Anthony De Ceglie, the new CEO of Perth Bears, attending a Bears game at North Sydney Oval. Picture: Julian Andrews

Mr De Ceglie has a line of communication to John Hartman, the man running Andrew and Nicola Forrest’s private family office Tattarang, but it is understood the De Ceglie-led attacks on Dr Forrest and Fortescue have not been forgotten.

The Forrests bankroll the Western Force rugby union side, which is set to work very closely with the Bears. The two teams will share facilities, while Mr V’landys flagged they might even end up sharing players across the codes.

RugbyWA’s president, former Wallaby and mining executive John Welborn, who has close ties to Dr Forrest, is supportive of the move to bring the Bears to Perth.

Mr Welborn has been calling for the rival rugby codes to work together for years, and believes their main hope is to co-operate rather than cannibalise each other. “The best thing both sports could do is actually bring themselves together,” he said.

“The economy of Super Rugby is challenged. Rugby league has got a fantastic rugby economy but they need to go international, and I’m not sure getting gambling revenue by playing in Las Vegas once a year is their best pathway.

“The potential for rugby league players to be exposed to an Olympic sport and the world’s third-largest event would be really fun.”

One senior Perth sports and business figure said his biggest concern about Mr De Ceglie’s appointment was not his relationships with Perth’s C-suite but his lack of experience running a professional sporting organisation.

Mr De Ceglie steps into the role after a career as a newspaper journalist and editor followed by a brief stint running Seven’s television news that was marred by a pronounced drop in network ratings.

In contrast, the AFL appointed Brendan Gale as the chief executive of its latest expansion club, the Tassie Devils. He was an AFL captain, a solicitor at K & W Mallesons, a chief executive of the AFL Players Association, and the chief executive who led the Richmond Tigers to an on- and off-field revival that included three premierships.

“De Ceglie is a smart guy. Love him or hate him, he’s a smart operator and he’s going to learn fast,” the Perth sports and business figure said. “But to appoint a new CEO with no prior history running a club? Oh my God. That’s the fascinating thing.”

One undoubted strength Mr De Ceglie brings to the table, however, are his political connections.

On the day his appointment was announced, Mr Cook described Mr De Ceglie as a “mate” and revealed he had had informal discussions with him during the months of at-times tense negoti­ations between the government and the NRL.

“I know he knows Peter V’landys. As you know, mine and Peter V’landys’s relationship hasn’t been completely smooth throughout this whole process,” he said.

Mr De Ceglie also has a long and positive history with Mr Zempilas, now state opposition leader.

His appointment also adds an interesting layer to the Perth media dynamic.

The West – under the leadership of The Australian’s former editor Chris Dore – has been highly critical of the deal to bring the Bears to Perth, famously splashing its front page with the headline “The Bad News Bears” on the day the deal was announced. Seven holds the rights to broadcast free-to-air AFL matches and has a commercial imperative to see the NRL struggle to match the national reach of AFL.

If De Ceglie can help get The West behind the Bears, he will go a long way to justifying the V’landys’ decision to appoint him.

Conversely, Nine holds the rights to NRL and is financially motivated to see the Bears succeed. Nine and Seven are mortal enemies, and anyone in the network who still sees Mr De Ceglie as a Seven man will need to put that animosity aside and find a way to work with him.

WA has a mixed record with professional sporting teams. The West Coast Eagles and Fremantle Dockers are the state’s two dominant teams – even if their on-field results are not going that well – the Perth Wildcats are by far the strongest franchise in the National Basketball League, and the Perth Scorchers are the most successful side in cricket’s Big Bash League.

But the Perth Glory soccer team is only just emerging from administration while the Western Force has been kept alive by the Forrests since it was controversially axed from Super Rugby. Without the support of the Forrests, it would have been unlikely to have found its way back into the competition.

Many point to Perth’s strong English, New Zealand and South African expat populations as a positive for the Bears’ prospects, but those expats were not enough to sustain soccer and union ventures in Perth.

The Brand Agency chief executive Steve Harris – also a former chair of the Dockers – says the Perth Bears will be fantastic for WA and should prove a good business decision for the NRL in the long run. The value in the club will not be in the size of the Perth crowds but in the NRL’s ability to secure a bigger broadcast deal through more games and a truly national audience.

“Look at Greater Western Sydney, look at Gold Coast Suns – both of those decisions I was involved in when I was at the Dockers with the AFL, and they’ve turned out to be fantastic for the sport of AFL, they’ve turned out to be fantastic for TV ratings, they’ve added to the amount of money in the pot for players to get paid, for administrators to get paid, for tax to be paid.

“In every sense they stimulate the economy, drive tourism and drive profile and drive the spirit in the community,” he said.

“The big advertisers out of Sydney and Melbourne want to buy national packages, and that’s the strength of the Bears because otherwise if you buy an NRL package, and it doesn’t run in WA, there’s almost three million people (there) who want to buy cars and clothes and choc milks and cans of Coke who you miss.

“The TV is the missing piece and this links in really nicely with the next TV negotiation.”

Mr De Ceglie was approached for comment.