NRL market watch: Former North Sydney coach set to join Perth Bears

The Bears are set to make two crucial appointments, including a former Bears and current Penrith assistant. 

Perth Bears are on the verge of making two crucial appointments, including who is expected to be Mal Meninga’s long-term successor with a former North Sydney coach in the mix.

Samoan coach Ben Gardiner is expected to be Meninga’s right-hand man while Gold Coast Titans recruitment manager Ezra Howe is expected to reunite with Meninga at the Bears.

The impending appointment of Gardiner is a crucial one for the Bears given the likelihood that the senior assistant coach would replace Meninga once his time as Bears coach comes to an end.

Penrith assistant, and Samoa head coach, Ben Gardiner is set to be the successor to Mal Meninga at the Perth Bears. Credit: NRL Images.

Meninga has signed on until the end of 2028 which means he will lead the club off the field for the next 18 months before coaching in their first game in the 2027 season.

Gardiner will join him when his commitments with Penrith end this year before taking a hands-on role with the team. It is likely that he will takeover from Meninga in 2029.

Meninga confirmed he had met with Gardiner recently.

“He has been spoken to by the NRL and I’ve had a meeting with him,” Meninga said.

“We can’t do too much at the moment.

“I am going through some appointments with the NRL, they are keen to be part of that process for a little while until we have the board settled.

“I don’t start officially until July so there’s only two of us at the moment and the NRL are the principal owners.

“Things may heat up next week through Origin but we won’t make any rash decisions until we get through Origin.”

Gardiner has spent the past three seasons at the Panthers while he was also appointed Samoan coach in 2023. He coached the Maori All-Stars in the same year and has been part of the New Zealand staff.

Before that though he was coach of North Sydney’s NSW Cup team and has also had stints with the Roosters, South Sydney, Cronulla and Wests Tigers during a 20-year coaching career.

His link with Samoa also gives him an opportunity to target some of the biggest names in the game.

Howe worked with Meninga at the Titans with the pair playing a leading hand in enticing Tino Fa’asuamaleaui to the club.

It makes the potential pursuit of Fa’asuamaleaui to the Bears even more likely now given the multitude of options he has in his long-term deal which enables him to exit the club.

Sam Verrills, Beau Fermor, David Fifita and Jayden Campbell are other big name Titans free to talk with rival clubs on November 1.

“There’s a few crucial appointments, recruitment is one and then there’s the GM of footy,” Meninga said.

“I have spoken to the CEO Gareth Holmes from the North Sydney Bears and I will catch up with their chairman (Daniel Dickson) over in Perth.

“We need to look at how we can support them and how they support the Perth Bears.

“Once we have some sort of freedom to make some decisions, we will get into it and see who becomes a priority.

“I don’t fully understand the WA rugby league community, so I want to get over there and get to know the landscape better.”

The Bears are in the process of finalising their board which will include a Western Australian-based chairman.

Two North Sydney delegates will be appointed with Dickson and Nine Network sports presenter James Bracey and Dickson also expected to be an inaugural director.

There will be two other Western Australian appointments and two NRL independent appointments on the board.