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Westpac NSW Blues star Kennedy Cherrington has backed the return of the Bears to help rugby league topple AFL as the No.1 sport in Western Australia.
The forward moved to Perth as a nine-year-old when her father started a job in the mines and received her first introduction to the sport through the Rockingham Coastal Sharks.
Cherrington has watched rugby league grow in the west in the years since and has regularly returned to the state to provide support for the development of player pathways.
Now they have their own team, Cherrington said the sport is primed to take off in Perth and beyond.
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"Bears are a foundation club"
"You can't call it a national game without the whole nation involved so I'm very happy for Perth," Cherrington told NRL.com. "It's been a long time coming.
"I'm proud to be a WA junior, as is my sister Rueben, [Knights centre] Shanice Parker and [Queensland hooker] Destiny Brill. We all hail from Western Australia and it's where we all started.
"You look at State of Origin games and they always sell out Optus Stadium, the community numbers are growing. There is a rugby league presence over there and it's just like you're in Sydney when you're over there for a rugby league event.
"They've been making some noise for a very long time and now they've been heard."
Thursday's announcement of the introduction of the Bears in Perth is a watershed moment for the sport, with the Western Australian government committing $35 million to development and grassroots.
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Perth welcomed back to the NRL
The funds will be used to support community participation and help upgrade facilities for junior rugby league players throughout the state.
Almost 240 WA schools currently engage with the sport, with a goal to grow that number to more than 500 schools over the coming years.
The WA Government will also work with the Bears and the NRL to grow junior participation in the game, including expanding formal touch, tag and tackle rugby league programs in Western Australia’s public schools.
Cherrington claimed the 2022 NRL Veronica White Medal for her community work and donated her prize money to the NRL WA Pathways program to ensure future players have the same opportunities she had to chase her dreams.
The entry of the Bears to the NRL, and eventually the NRLW, she said, will only enhance the opportunities on offer.
"If it's ok with Parramatta, hopefully I can help out in any way I can and give back to those juniors," Cherrington said. "The majority of us that have ties to Western Australia have always given our time to the sport over there.
"I'm glad we're seeing the fruition of that work and with the pathways now in place, it's going to filter down through all the levels and hopefully we can take over AFL in WA."
Cherrington arrived in camp on Thursday morning as the NSW Blues look to close out this year's State of Origin series at Allianz Stadium next week.
The Origin series has proved a ratings bonanza since it expanded to three games, highlighting the growth of the women's game and the teams are eager to play in front of another record-crowd in Sydney next Thursday night.
Match: Blues Women v Maroons
Game 2 -
home Team
Blues Women
away Team
Maroons
Venue: Allianz Stadium, Sydney
While the Bears will initially return to the NRL as a men's team, the long-term plan will see a Perth NRLW side introduced to the competition.
North Sydney currently have teams in the Under 17 Lisa Faiola Cup and Under 19 Tarsha Gale Cup and won the minor premiership in the 2022 and 2023 Harvey Norman Women's Premiership.
NRL CEO Andrew Abdo said the focus in Perth is on long-term success and a women's team is a crucial aspect of the equation.
"The women's game for us is transforming the game," Abdo told reporters at the press conference in Perth. "The acceleration and growth of the women's game is phenomenal.
"Since the introduction and the Commission fast-tracked the NRLW premiership, we've seen unbelievable growth in registrations at grassroots for females of all ages. We're up to almost 50,000 registered participants around the country.
"The opportunity, you have to see it to see what's possible. So the introduction in time of an NRLW Perth-based team as part of that franchise [is in the works].
"We've got to make sure it's sustainable. First things first, there's a short runway here, is to be competitive for the men's team, then the work is already underway around how we can get our established women's pathways and ultimately the expansion of the NRLW Premiership, having a team here makes a lot of sense."
