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'Powerhouse': Why Perth Bears offer the best of both worlds
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Foundation Western Reds player and long-time Perth resident Matt Fuller believes the NRL's 18th team will be a "powerhouse" and described the involvement of the Bears as the best of both worlds.
The Reds entered the then ARL premiership in 1995 but became a casualty of the Super League war and folded at the end of 1997, while the Bears were a victim of rationalisation after the rival competitions came together.
However, the introduction of a new team in Perth, to be known as the Bears and playing in red and black, is set to revive two passionate fanbases who have each been fighting to return to the game’s elite competition for more than two decades.
“It is long overdue but is very welcome,” said Fuller, who moved to Perth in 1995 to join the Reds after stints with the Bulldogs, Dragons and Rabbitohs and still lives in the WA capital.
"It is huge, and I can see a great synergy between the Bears in North Sydney and the Perth Bears.
“As an inaugural player of the Western Reds I feel very proud that we have this great product, the NRL, back in Western Australia, and I just see it going from strength to strength.”
Asked if he thought the Bears were better positioned to succeed in Perth than the Reds, Fuller said: “There’s nothing surer. Thirty years ago, we had a Super League war, and I don’t ever see that happening again”.
Not that the Reds could be considered a failure; winning 11 out of 22 games and falling just two points short of a finals berth in their first season, which began with a 26-12 defeat of St George before a crowd of 24,932 at the WACA.
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A Roar is coming!
“The game is in way better shape from administration down to grass roots,” Fuller said.
“I think the NRL have done a fantastic job growing their product over the years, and WA has been great hosts when the NRL comes to town, and we always get bums on seats.
“It just hasn’t been an overnight re-entry; it is 30 years of hard work and the WARL, in particular, has done a great job through their juniors and hosting NRL games here.”
WA Premier Roger Cook, a passionate Rabbitohs supporter, drove the deal for the Perth team, while ARLC chairman Peter V’landys insisted on the inclusion of the Bears.
“Roger Cook is very proactive when it comes to rugby league and I can see this being an absolute powerhouse in years to come,” Fuller said.
“He is very passionate about getting as many kids involved in playing rugby league as possible and I think that is just enormous for the game.
We have got 6000 kids playing on weekends here in Western Australia and you can see that number tripling or quadrupling in the next five to 10 years.
“What it is going to do for the community and the local kids is enormous. It is going to give them a direct pathway into playing NRL without having to leave the state.”
The Bears are happy to now call Perth home after a long journey that began with plans to relocate from North Sydney to Gosford in 1999, only to find themselves as nomads after severe delays to the construction of their new stadium.
Declared insolvent, the Bears weren’t even considered under the NRL’s criteria to cull the number of teams to 14 in 2000 and formed a short-lived joint venture with Manly.
After just three seasons the Northern Eagles were disbanded, and the Bears have been in the wilderness since.
Yet the Bears – led by club great Greg Florimo - never gave up on rejoining the NRL in some capacity.
“A lot of people have kept the faith and that is probably a reason we are still part of this conversation and here today,” North Sydney Bears CEO Gareth Holmes said.
“For a guy like Flo, he has kept this going over a long period of time and he has always held steadfast.”
The official name and logo of the Perth-based team are yet to be finalised, and Holmes said how many home games the Bears would play in Sydney or what board representation the club would have was still to be determined.
“The big thing now is to have received that confirmation of an agreement in place between the NRL and the WA Government,” he said.
"We’ve been ready and prepared in the hope that this day would come, and that was the final hurdle.
For bolted on Bears fans there is jubilation and happiness that we are actually here.
“We have had a few false starts, we have got close a couple of times and haven’t got there so I think for some it is a relief.”
