Reviving the Bears on the Gold Coast is a terrible idea

North Sydney people - they want the Gold Coast, Central Coast - some even want Adelaide. All they care about are some colors and a logo - to hell where they are playing, to hell about the Gold Coast or Central Coast people who either want their own team or they are existing fans of current teams - do you think a rusted on Souths fan living on the Gold Coast is going to switch to Norths ???? The Titans, yes. All they care about is that now days ( like the stupid Super Rugby ) ALL the media refers to the nickname - so it's Bears v Eels.. etc. And that Bear came from a two bit supermarket ( ie IGA type) on Military Rd in the 50's. Hardly some 'tradition'.

LTOKR I appreciate your comments and I'm sure that some of it is quite valid. But some of your comments are anecdotal, that is based on your personal observations, which will be skewed by where you live, who your associate with, your age group etc. The Gold Coast region has a Residential population of 560,000+, easily the sixth largest population centre in Australia and only bettered by Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. And though it may be a tourist location the latest census excludes tourists and anyone who has not made the Gold Coast their resident city for at least 12 months. Certainly it has a high percentage of people living there born overseas, but it suggests most of them stay. There are a lot of transients, but they would not be considered 12 month residents and therefore would not have been included. As for alternative entertainment, try coming to Sydney or Melbourne, where alternative entertainment is rife. Granted Gold Coast would have more interests for its population than say Newcastle (which has a smaller population). But I still say that you wont get the regular crowds to a Gold Coast Rugby League side, or any sport for that matter, until you develop a tradition with premiership wins and top of the line players to draw the crowds in.

Bearfax - the problem with the GC isn't that it's small or that it can't grow. The problem is that it's too geared towards tourism. The big issue for mine, that I generally see glossed over in discussions about the viability of sporting teams on the GC, is the competition that professional sports as a form of entertainment faces from other forms of entertainment. There's simply too much to do that's cheaper, especially for young families, and more readily available and accessible. The transient population is another issue. A large chunk of the people I meet here aren't Australians at all - the more permanent ones from New Zealand, but there are a surprisingly large number from Canada and the US, from South Africa, Germany, Korea and Japan. These people are never going to be interested in supporting a local team, but they -especially- are not going to be interested in a local rugby league or AFL team. Most nights, the pub across the street from where I work plays union, soccer, baseball, or NFL matches. Few people are into the local sports, to the point where you don't even notice a large uptick in pub goers around Origin or Grand Final time. The city is not interested in changing its identity, and as long as that is the case, I can't see a substantial fanbase growing.

I wouldnt be to negative about the Gold Coast in the long term LTOKR. I remember visiting Cairns about 30 years ago. A wild west town servicing sugar can, Marlon fishing and tourism. I remember locals jumping out of cars and taking pot shots at street lights with 22s. Now, along with Townsville, with a smaller, though still sizeable population, they have become one of the top league sides. Some differences I know but all they need is a Jonathan Thurston type player to stick around and lift them to the top of the League and the fanbase will develop.

I live in the Gold Coast, and to me, it honestly doesn't matter whether the Bears are brought in to replace the Titans, the Titans continue as is, or some other solution is arrived at. The reality is that no sporting team is ever going to gain the kind of traction that the population numbers on the GC would suggest are a possibility. There are simply too few people living in the Gold Coast who are here for the long haul and there are too many cheaper forms of entertainment, both for adults and for children, for a membership in a team to be a worthwhile investment. We are a tourist town, drowning in theme parks, mini-golf ranges, etc all with cheap unlimited entry membership a fraction of the price of the cost of going to see the footy. The result is even if you grow up here, your parents aren't fostering an interest or involvement with any local teams, and that's -if- you grow up here. Less than 5% of the people I meet have been here longer than me, and I've only been here 3 years. It just isn't the kind of environment conducive to the success of a sports team. Obviously this isn't a scientific measure, but it took me over a year and a half living here before I realised we even had an AFL team, and I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen people in Titans gear. This may sound like an endorsement of the Bears relocating here, but if you're a Bears supporter, heed the warning: the GC is a poisoned chalice and if you move here, it won't end any better than the franchise you took over.

Hanrahan the Rabbitohs have also only used that emblem on their jersey since 1959, doesn't mean that they haven't won 21 premierships. Bears, the club, have won two premierships.

Bring back the Bears, but not on the Gold Coast! The Bears were never responsible for their debts!!!!

the numbers on the central coast were always above manlys until the last year. when it was confirmed they were knifing norths from the comp. it was only then people on the coast stopped following them, and understandably so.

Did the Fitzroy and Brisbane bears Afl merger work in the end I think so. Like the comment of Newtown going to Ipswich. How about Glebe going to Perth instead of the dirty reds make it the western reds ?

The thing is Vincent, the ARL in 1996, which was one of the most successful years, had clubs at Auckland, Illawarra, Parramatta South Queensland, Brisbane, Canberra, Cronulla Sutherland, Gold Coast, Manly Warringah, Newcastle, Penrith, Canterbury Bankstown, Sydney City, Balmain, South Sydney, St George, Perth and Western Suburbs. Norths had spent a fortune to relocate to Central Coast in '97 or '98. Melbourne were to be brought in in either '97 or '98. The budgets were lower but the clubs were surviving adequately. Imagine how much further we would have progressed but for SuperLeague. I still think the NRL are wrong to block the Bears from Central Coast, though it should be exclusively a central Coast side. They dont have a team but they have a large interested RL population

My apologies Wingrin. You are quite right. I must be having a brain drain lapse. But the issue remains the same . They play at the Gabba exclusively not at Fitzroy.

Pretty sure you will find a number of fixtures that had lower crowds. And theres also a number of clubs who do the same thing. Im pretty sure for the paltry sum of $50pa to joing the RAS I can get into any ANZ Stadium game and bring a mate to.

The Brisbane Bears no longer exist. They merged with Fitzroy in 1996 or so.

Wingrin, I suggest you check the web site regarding colours of Brisbane Bears. The point is mate that though some South Melbourne supporters might still belong to the Swans, the game and management are here in Sydney, not South Melbourne. As it is the chance of the Bears heading to Gold Coast has been given the thumbs down by the NRL. $7 million is far too little. The league (perhaps a little tongue in cheek) suggested $100 million

As far as the Swans go - have a look on the Swans website - there are as many packages for Melbourne-based fans as there are for Sydney-based fans. That suggests there is plenty of demand in Melbourne. And you are wrong on the Brisbane Bears and Fitzroy. The Brisbane Bears were a new club. It merged with Fitzroy (Lions) when Fitzroy went into receivership. The current club is the Brisbane Lions. It plays in Fitzroy colours and sings the Fitzroy team song.

Wingrin. That's a stretch. Any reconciliation between the Sydney Swans and South Melbourne fans would be purely coincidental to the success of the Swans and their crowds here in Sydney. I dont think many South Melbourne fans would be coming to see the Swans in Sydney where they play all home games, and I doubt the Swans attracted a huge number of South Melbourne fans when they were playing away games in Melbourne. Same issue applies ti Fitzroy and Brisbane Bears. The Swans did retain the Swan avatar and red and white colours but the Brisbane side dispensed with the red, blue and yellow colours and Lion avatar and used red, yellow and white with a Bears avatar.

Will the telegraph (news) support the bears to take pressure off there being a second side in Brisbane to rival the broncs. The second side in Brisbane will never work because the mail will be against it and news will never sell...

Feel we are getting a bit off topic but to answer the egg and chicken AFL question. The Swans were a huge hit initially in Sydney - they did well with Caper and Diesel leading the way. When they left Melbourne they were ignored by their South Melbourne fans with most very bitter about the idea of them being taken away. That's how I felt about the Northern Eagles. But as soon as the results stopped coming, Sydney ignored the Swans. After a 10 year gap the club realised what a great asset they had in the old South Melbourne fans and they reached out. Coincidentally they then also started to do well on the field. By then the South Melbourne fans were ready to forgive the move to Sydney and they came back. It isn't exactly the same but I was also too angry to follow the Northern Eagles. I regret that now. But I still can't get comfortable with another league team. That's why the only national level football I go to now is AFL. I am a member of the NSDRLC and I go to all the Bears games at NSO. I want to follow NRL again. But I need the Bears back to do that. These comments show I'm not the only one

You do know that pretty much every game is saturated with free tickets on the Gold Coast. Kids in for free, 2 for 1, corporate giveaways in the dozens etc. You would want to have deep pockets to cover costs. Their 1st home game this year, and it included the star signing Hayne, only got 13,000. Have got doubts on the real crowd numbers that actually turn up. Not good. The Bears better crunch the numbers and look hard at the books. Might be a lemon.

Nitpickers corner: the Bears have never won a premiership. In 1922 the North Sydney Rugby League club were known as the Shoremen, same as the Norths Rugby Union club from which they split.