As I’ve already stated, the Western Reds is the way to go,
For Bears, either Central Coast or Burleigh, with 2-3 games at NSO each year.
For Jets, Ipswitch with 2-3 games at Henson each year.
No need for Bears or Jets to explore other areas when those areas already have the respective identities. New areas need new identities, with no ties to existing Sydney clubs. I’d even go as far as to say that in the distant future when Adelaide get a team again, it has to be the Rams.
Nathan Cleary would be a dream signing
WA Bid
He sure would be a “dream” signing 
You could also call it a ‘fantasy’.
My level of distain for the North Sydney Bears has hit it’s peak… I don’t think it could be higher. Knowing full well that there won’t be a Central Coast team (with the exception of relocation) not just now, but never, the have decided to do down the route of hijacking another franchise looking to get a start. The Telegraph is just as responsible for this bullsh*t with their campaign to make this monstrosity and reality through their moron of an editor Phil Rothfield.
So instead of having a new entity (or reviving the old Red’s one), something the WA public can build a successful fanbase around, they will have the corpse of a failed club force fed in, with their worn out shitty brand slapped on the jersey of a club that now is a vessel for this parasite of a organisation, just to make a few old bleeding hearts happy.
This is the worst thing I have seen, and I genuinely feel sorry the the WA rugby league fans. All these years of bidding to have this rotten abortion of a concept forced upon them to achieve their dreams.
The whole Bears organisation should be ashamed of themselves, where they should have served in the interest of Rugby League, they served in the interest of themselves.
SHAME!
Also this grab form the article I found a tad insulting.
According to the report, the new franchise will be called the Western Bears rather than the Perth Bears with the former being a nod to Western Reds — WA’s first professional rugby league team.
Oh thank you PVL… how kind of you. Heres an Idea though… how about just calling them the Western Red’s then? The dribble the Bears and the Telegraph are putting out there is just insulting.
I would rarely say something like this but get f**ked Bears.
Having regrettably googled “Perth Bears” a few weeks ago, it’s probably a good thing they didn’t go with that name!!!
WOW, Steve, that story really got you fired up😳. I suggest Rothfield is just repaying some ‘debts’ from the past in his promotion of the bears.
I’m on the record that there should be no expansion teams, in particular, NO to PNG & NO to NZ, & I think it’s time to completely put a line through the bears in regards to the NRL.
Hopefully it’s because they want an independent bid from Perth without any “attachments”.
Just when you think PVL had come to his senses, he just disappoints all over again. 
I think the NRL need to be clear about its criteria to prevent “pie in the sky” bids.
The regions where the NRL should invest in should meet one of these 3 criteria in my option (not all are financial).
Criteria 1 - The bid can be financially viable. If the bid can show can be financially stable within 3-5 years then it would meet this criteria.
Criteria 2 - The bid can be commercially viable to the NRL. If the bid has the ability to tap new markets for the NRL and can provide an increase in broadcast and advertising revenue to the NRL.
Criteria 3 - Untapped talent pool. If the bid region is receptive of NRL investment to increase the talent pool. The NRL has a lot of pathways developed and with the integration of Mod League, OzTag and Touch Football if a bid can garner support for government in their location to co-invest then it should qualify.
Based on these criteria I feel these locations could support bids;
| Region | C1 | C2 | C3 | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perth |  |
|
|
New TV Broadcast Market. Has Govt. support. Talent Pool. |
| Adelaide | |
|
New TV Broadcast Market. Talent Pool. | |
| Central QLD | |
New TV Boradcast Market. Talent Pool. | ||
| South Island NZ | |
New TV Boradcast Market. | ||
| Papua New Guinea | |
|
New TV Broadcast Market. Has Govt. support. Talent Pool. |
Regions that should probably not be considered.
| Region | Note |
|---|---|
| Sydney | Market Saturated. 9 Teams already in region. |
| Brisbane | Market Saturated. 3 teams already in region. |
| Fiji | Rugby Union heartland. Logistic problems. Travel could be to taxing on players. |
Also… as I have already stated, don’t transplant old Sydney Teams onto a bid (ala Bears / Jets). You end up alienating the Sydney team fans as they will need nostalgia is being shoehorned to a new franchise and the new potential fans in the teams region as they won’t feel that the team is truly theirs. It’s not the NFL, you can’t move around franchises. Australians are very regional and territorial and will cling to their teams.
I think this is a bit of blame shifting. From what I have heard though, PVL is part of the problem. The NRL have not set a solid criteria and keep moving the goal posts. I don’t know how you can put together a cohesive business plan, when you don’t know what the bank is looking for (the bank in this case is the NRL).
Then you have PVL with a “captains pick” style of approval processes, all but granting PNG a NRL licence on the sniff of potential Federal Government money. I would love to see the PNG Bid business plan… because I don’t even think they had one before PVL gave it a stamp of approval.
As much as I would love to see the game expand, I am a bit concerned how PVL and Abdo are handling the process, it almost feels like they are building a plane while it’s already up in the air.
I would love PVL to justify his position and put some actual criteria (ala SL/ARL merger) on the table so some of these bids can go back and revise their plans based on something concrete form the NRL.
I think a big part of the problem is PVL announcing to the world he wants a 20 team competition in place before the 2032 Olympics.
History has shown that slow expansion is more sustainable. During the period from St George entering in 1921 & Canberra & Illawarra joining in 1982, there were only 5 teams added (Canterbury, Manly, Parramatta, Cronulla & Penrith), and only 2 teams lost (Glebe & University). Not surprisingly, the 5 teams added during that period are all still stand alone clubs within Sydney (even if one entered an ill-advised & ill-fated merger for 3 years).
The craziness of the early years, and the 80’s & 90’s saw a lot of teams come & go quickly.
Maybe PVL needs to slow things down. Get the 18th team in within a few years, then give the Dolphins & the new team a minimum 10 years to settle in before looking to expand again.
The last thing we need is more clubs who can count their entire span without taking their shoes & socks off, or worse still, on one hand!!!
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