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The Western Bears, officially the Western Bears Rugby League Football Club, was a proposed rugby league football club to be based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded as a partnership between the Western Australian Rugby League and the North Sydney Bears in a bid for Perth to rejoin an expanded National Rugby League in 2027. If the club had been granted an NRL licence, the Bears would have played out of Perth Rectangular Stadium, also known as HBF Park for sponsorship reasons.
| Western Bears | |
|---|---|
| Names | |
| Full name | Western Bears Rugby League Football Club |
| Club details | |
| Founded | August 2024 |
| Colours | Primary Red Black Secondary White Gold |
| Competition | National Rugby League |
| Chairman | Peter Cumins |
| Ground(s) | HBF Park (capacity: 20,500) |
The bid was rejected by the NRL in October 2024: the league will now directly negotiate with the Western Australian government to admit the Western Bears into the NRL.
The team's primary colours were to be the traditional red and black of North Sydney, with the Bears' secondary colour of white joining a secondary gold colour (although it has been disputed whether the colour was supposed to be a nod to the history of the Western Reds, in recognition to the state colour of Western Australia, or both).
There has been no elite rugby league team in Perth since the Western Reds folded in 1997.[1] Since the Reds were not included in the NRL’s inaugural season, Perth is the largest Australian city without a team in the competition. Advocates for a Perth-based team have argued it is necessary for the NRL to consider itself a ‘truly national’ competition. The Reds name was revived in 2006 as the WA Reds, competing in the under-18s S.G. Ball Cup with the intention of eventually fielding an NRL side. The team rebranded as the West Coast Pirates in 2012[2] and continued competing in the S.G. Ball Cup until the COVID-19 pandemic prevented them from being able to compete from 2020 onwards.[3]
Western Australia had indicated they were always prepared to go it alone and resurrect the previous Reds moniker in an effort to get a team back in the top-tier competition.[4] This was conditional if they were unable to finalise a partnership with North Sydney, as they wanted to ensure the team was under the control and ownership of WA.[5] They wanted the team to be a true Western Australian one.[6]
Western Australia were also interested in aligning with Newtown Jets, however the NRL had made it clear that their preference was to resurrect North Sydney instead of the Jets.[7]
In August 2024, the North Sydney Bears and a Western Australian consortium headed by Cash Converters founders the Cumins family, signed off on an agreement to lodge an application for the Western Bears to enter a team in the 2027 NRL season.[8][9]
In October 2024, the NRL rejected the Western Bears consortium proposal, with Peter V'landys stating "the bid that the consortium has put in has been rejected" as "the bid that they put in was significantly short." He stated the NRL will continue to work with the Western Australian government on options for introducing a Perth based club, one which is required to carry the Bears moniker.[10]
The team's primary colours would have been the traditional red and black of North Sydney, with white being the club's secondary colour since the 1992 NSWRL season. Gold had been added as a tertiary colour, although it is disputed whether this was supposed to be a nod to the history of the Western Reds, the state colour of Western Australia, or both.
The Bears logo was expected to be redesigned for the new side.[11] This would have been done through an adaptation of the Bears logo to suit NRL competition requirements and full integration of the red and black colours that are synonymous with the Bears.[12]
The majority of Bears home games were to be played out of Perth Rectangular Stadium. The proposal was for the stadium to be used not only for league purposes as a home base, but shared with Soccer’s Perth Glory and Rugby Union’s Western Force.
Since 2019, the stadium is known as HBF Park after WA's biggest health insurer took over naming rights at Perth's home of soccer and rugby.[13] After a significant grant by the government to improve facilities at the stadium, the capacity was increased to 20,500. With the support of the WA Government being firm backers of the Bears, a grant of $300 million was pledged to upgrade the venue even further, if a licence was granted to a Perth team.[14]
The club had committed to playing one NRL home game each year at either North Sydney Oval, Central Coast Stadium or the Sydney Football Stadium in recognition of the club's Sydney supporter base. The match was proposed to be against arch-rivals the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles.[15] Further, one pre-season game would have been also be played at North Sydney Oval each year.[16]
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
Prior to the ill-fated Northern Eagles joint venture from 2000 to 2002, the rivalry between the Bears and Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles was arguably one of rugby league's fiercest. Manly were admitted into the premiership in 1947 with the Bears at the time being one of the main advocators for a team to be in North Sydney.
The intense feelings between the two sides continued over the next couple of decades fuelled as players switched between the two clubs. The biggest defection occurred in 1971 when the Bears life member and one of the game's greatest wingers Ken Irvine joined Manly. Former Bears and Manly player Phil Blake said of the rivalry "It was certainly a game you looked forward playing in. The ground was always packed and it was always a great afternoon".
In 2016, the Bears and Manly played their final competitive senior game against each other in the Canterbury Cup competition where the Bears won the match 32–18. The only competitive games played between the two clubs as of 2017 are between the Bears and Sea Eagles Harold Matthews Cup, SG Ball Cup and Jersey Flegg Cup competitions.[17]
The Western Bears were widely supported for re-admission into the NRL by players and fans alike.[18] Although the bid was rejected, Perth-born players in particular remain supportive of Western Australia competing in the NRL once again.[19]
The WA Government have strongly and financially backed this team and could have had the potential to have a support base of over 200,000 fans both in Western Australia and across the North Shore of Sydney and surrounds.[20]
The demographics of Perth also suggest a team will have a strong chance of survival. Perth has large expat English and South African populations that can be expected to find rugby league more appealing than Australian rules football. Western Australia is the second fastest growing state in terms of population and is flush with mining industry cash.[21]
The Bears were working with other NRL clubs and venues to allocate sections for Bears fans at East Coast away games where the majority of games would have be played. If the licence had been successful, Western Bears Foundation member packages would have been available, and proposed Bears packages would have allowed Sydney fans to attend Sydney-based regular season and trial season home games and multiple away games. Exclusive content and events would have also be made available to foundation Western Bears fans.[12]
The North Sydney Bears would have remained in the NSW Cup and act as a feeder team to the Western Bears if the bid was successful[21][12]
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