Bring back the Bears nostalgia only goes so far: Norths no certainty to be a success if brought out of hibernation

The worst part about the recently revived NRL expansion debate? The trickle of “bring back the Bears” articles will become a tidalwave. 

It’s been one of the perennial slow news day stories of the past couple of decades, up there with Billy Slater was a trackwork jockey, Damien Cook’s days as a junior beach sprint champion, the time Greg Inglis nearly joined Essendon and the possibility of the Kangaroos taking on the Wallabies in some sort of hybrid league/union contest. 

After endless stories about how North Sydney could re-emerge in Gosford, Brisbane, Perth, New Zealand and every location this side of Albuquerque, the ARL Commission’s recent proclamations about expansion have again raised hopes of the Bears coming out of hibernation. 

The North Sydney club last drew breath on its own in 1999 and wants to partner with an expansion location – one of three that are in the pipeline over the next 2-10 years, depending on how fast the game gets its act together. 

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Current clubs are not keen to see the proverbial pie of revenue carved into more slices than the status quo after the addition of the Dolphins.

Bears stalwart Mark Soden in 1994. (Photo by Getty Images)

Which is one of the many reasons why current club CEOs and chairs should be ignored as much as possible when it comes to big picture issues in the game – it’s almost like they’ve got a vested interest to look after their own backyard to the detriment of the sport as a whole. 

Norths are wisely not tying themselves to any geographical region this time around – Cairns, Perth, Adelaide, another team in Brisbane, New Zealand or even Melbourne are among the options that have been floated already in the space of a few weeks. 

With millions in the bank to help bankroll a new franchise, they want their famous red and black colours, the Bears name and a couple of matches at North Sydney Oval each year to be a key plank in any partnership they form with a prospective bid city. 

This year they have dropped North Sydney from their logo, which now just has Bears on it with 1908 and the iconic growling grizzly. They are no longer a feeder team for the Roosters, who are fielding their own side in the NSW Cup. 

Their plans for readmission all sound good in theory but will another location want to form a joint venture with the Bears, taking on their identity rather than forging one of their own.

And as noble as their bid is to come back from the dead, the ARL Commission will need more than nostalgia to convince them that the Bears deserve another shot at the premiership after what will have been at least a quarter of a century on the outer. 

For those too young to remember, Norths were generally considered easybeats for much of their existence. They won back-to-back premierships in 1921-22 with legendary Queensland halfback Duncan Thompson leading them to glory. 

Parramatta fans who get anxious by the day about their team’s 37-year premiership drought can relax, perhaps for a moment, that they’re still four decades away from matching North Sydney’s prolonged misery. 

From 1955-90 they made the finals a paltry three times before former ABC boss David Hill came on board as chairman to instil some professionalism into the club, resulting in six playoff runs in the space of eight years, falling one game short of the grand final four times.

Unfortunately for the Bears, the nucleus of that team – Jason Taylor, Greg Florimo, David Fairleigh, Gary Larson and Billy Moore – retired or were on their way out at a time when the newly formed NRL was in the process of culling a combined 22 Super League and ARL teams into a streamlined 14-club competition. 

Norths could see the writing was on the wall so they engineered a switch to the Central Coast but heavy rainfall in Gosford delayed the upgrades needed to bring the stadium up to NRL standard in 1999. 

With Bear Park unavailable, they had to play home games at Parramatta and Homebush for the first half of the season but by the time they returned to North Sydney Oval, the damage had been done and they finished in the also-rans with an 8-16 record. 

Billy Moore and Jason Taylor wth the Bears in 1998. (Photo by Getty Images)

The spiralling costs associated with the Super League war and the failed switch to what would become Central Coast Stadium meant the Bears were financially vulnerable at the worst possible time at the end of that season and after missing the NRL’s 14-team cut along with South Sydney, they became junior partners/whipping boys to Manly in the Northern Eagles joint venture.

That disastrous arrangement – featuring one of the worst colour-clashing jerseys of all time – mercifully only lasted three years before the Sea Eagles reclaimed sole ownership of the licence. 

Joint ventures in rugby league have a largely underwhelming history – aside from the Northern Eagles disaster, the Wests Tigers have missed the playoffs 20 times out of 23 as they live off the fading glory of their remarkable 2005 premiership run while the St George Illawarra Dragons have also lifted the trophy just once and seem to be constantly in a state of factional friction.  

In the AFL there has been a couple of examples of teams which were relocated out of the Melbourne suburbs to “foreign” capitals with the Sydney Swans rising from the South Melbourne ashes in the early 1980s and the Brisbane Lions following suit in 1997. 

The Swans were a slow burn that nearly burnt out before eventually becoming a powerhouse more than a decade after their big move while the Brisbane Lions are more in line with what the Bears hope to achieve.

Mario Fenech with North Sydney teammate Sean Hoppe in 1993. (Photo by Getty Images)

They had already been established in Brisbane for a decade, coincidentally as the Bears but stupidly with a koala as their logo. A herbivorous marsupial that likes eucalyptus leaves, not a bear that can rip flesh off its prey. 

Brisbane Lions pulled off a premiership threepeat, winning their first flag in just their fifth season, although they have struggled to make the finals or cut into rugby league’s dominance in Queensland over the ensuing years.

The Bears have plenty of history and North Sydney Oval is one of the great places to watch sport – rugby league or cricket.

Having a picturesque ground and a reputation for being the lovable losers of league only goes so far.

There needs to be a compelling case to bring the Bears back for the ARL Commission to consider them a viable option.