Anytime the subject of expansion of the NRL is raised, someone is always quick to trot out the phrase: “bring back the Bears.” It is time for this nonsense to stop.
For any true-blue Bears’ supporter, the only acceptable outcome would be to have the Bears back at their traditional home in North Sydney. However, we all know that this is a pipe dream.
The Bears’ biggest mistake was not joining the Super League. When the dust settled in the war and the NRL was formed, how many Super League clubs were forced to merge? Zero.
Mario Fenech with North Sydney teammate Sean Hoppe in 1993. (Photo by Getty Images)
Let’s not mention the ill-fated, doomed-from-the-start failure that was the Northern Eagles. Or the fact that the fourth edition of the Gold Coast – remember the Giants, Seagulls and Chargers? – was allowed back into the NRL in 2007 ahead of everyone’s second team. How well has that worked?
Transferring the Bears’ logo and colours to Perth or Port Moresby or wherever does not revive the club. You cannot relocate the emotional attachment that comes from spending countless winters watching games underneath the Moreton Bay fig.
The Bears played their last game in the top flight in 1999. There has been a whole generation of fans grow up who know nothing about them unless they had the good fortune of having a relative who was a Bears diehard.
You would expect the denizens of Perth or Port Moresby to have even less knowledge of the tortured fortunes of one of the league’s much-loved clubs.
If the Bears were to come back, a reincarnation on the Central Coast would be something that most supporters would regard as an acceptable compromise. It was the original plan anyway as the club dealt with its dire financial circumstances towards the end of the 1990s.
At that time the Bears were sourcing many of their players from the region. It’s an easy drive or train ride from North Sydney, and the underused stadium fits the bill for modern NRL more than North Sydney Oval despite any romantic attachment to the picturesque ground.
So what is the way forward for the Bears? The club’s status as a founding member of rugby league in Australia entitles it to remain in the memory of league fans. Its tradition of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory was the stuff of legend. History records that the club won two premierships – hear that Gold Coast?
North Sydney only has to look across the Harbour Bridge to find the answer to its future. The Newtown Jets have evolved into a community club deeply connected to the local area. It has attracted a wave of new supporters (8972 at each game apparently) most of whom never saw the Jets lose to Parramatta in the 1981 grand final.
So the Bears need to develop closer links with their community and those further afield who still love them. Remember the history but forge a new path that all supporters can embrace.
So let’s make it clear – no more talk of “bring back the Bears.” The colours and logo will remain where they have always been – in North Sydney.
DJames
Roar Rookie
Yes I think you may be showing your age on this. I’ve been to one game at North Sydney Oval this year but been able to watch most through the NSWRL app or on Fox Sports/Kayo. It should be all through Kayo at least, but the NRL unfortunately puts roadblocks in place to make sure the NSWRL doesn’t cannibalise the NRL. The AFL kills NRL in terms of live attendance and yet V’Landys had no problem saying they’re No. 2 after the NRL’s record-breaking revenue year in 2023. The NRL is a television game made for television. The field is a big rectangle and so is the shape of every device the game can be viewed on at any time of day on demand. The distribution of the NRL today is vastly different to when the Bears were last in first grade, not to mention the gambling landscape. Wherever they end up won’t matter. Yes, there’s nothing like attending live games but there’s more than enough Away games accessible to East Coast supporters. I’ll beat my chest about how the club are alive and thriving in the NSW Cup but I will never be content with that being all there is, because quite simply they never should have been removed from first grade to begin with. The club was told by the league that relocation to Gosford would secure their future and then were still made to qualify for the 2000 season in that shoddy criterion even though they were in the process of relocating.
Harry Rooster
Roar Rookie
Merge North Sydney Bears with Central Coast to make the Central Coast Bears.It makes the most sense.
Harry Rooster
Roar Rookie
Thats right.North Sydney and Central Coast merge for a NRL team.It makes the most sense.
Leebola
Roar Rookie
The Central Coast is considered part of Greater Sydney (by the Bureau of Stats, if nobody else). Put 'em in Gosford and they could still legit be North Sydney. Bring 'em back, I say.
Brett Allen
Roar Rookie
Mate I’d have the Bears back tomorrow on the North Shore, but unfortunately Nth Sydney Oval isn’t suitable these days. It would either need to be rebuilt or a new stadium somewhere else near St Leonard’s or somewhere near Chatswood / North Ryde
Herman
Roar Rookie
Perhaps I’m showing my age but location helps build tribalism. Supporting your local team was what it was all about in my time cheering on the Bears. Nothing better than when the ground announcer relayed the scores from other games and Manly was losing - the roar from the crowd was deafening!
mushi
Roar Guru
But they aren't so it isn't.
Cockatoo Dave
Roar Rookie
Any mention of 4 games is a negotiation tactic. I don't think anyone at the bears expects 4 home games at bear park. I think 2 is the goal, with 1 the compromise. There is also very little basis in saying the bears "will want more", the bears are very aware of what the NRL is looking forward to maintain a going concern and its abundantly clear that more team/games in Sydney is not goal.
Cockatoo Dave
Roar Rookie
"Accept where we sit.. and be grateful" reeks of Northern Eagles and any bears fan should latment this statement. The Northern Eagles is proof of point that the mascot is the identify of a team and what matters, and the name of the location is secondary.
Cockatoo Dave
Roar Rookie
Completely different. The bears wouldn't exist only in memory if the "Bears" are playing every week.
Herman
Roar Rookie
Exactly what my article was about - accept where we sit in the rugby league pecking order and be grateful that we still get to cheer on the red and black at our spiritual home.
mushi
Roar Guru
Brisbane Lions weren't relocated, they merged with the Brisbane Bears. The Bears now exist only in memory post merger. Sounds familiar
Hutton's ghost
Roar Rookie
Having seen droves of Bears fans at the NSW Cup Grand Final last year, it’s hard to say that the dear old club is irrelevant. I’m perfectly happy enough to show up to grand old suburban grounds like Bear Park, Henson Park etc to cheer on the red and black as they charge to glory this season. The NRL don’t deserve to have them back.
Horses for Courses
Roar Rookie
Sure if Parramatta was 350km from Penrith, if you class this as building in their carpark then you must feel the Dolphins set up shop in the Broncos boardroom. I don't think PNG should have a team either but lets at least include some logic in our arguments.
Griffo 09
Roar Rookie
Well if a Perth Bears is a success in Perth there's pressure to get more than 8 home games, and that takes away what North Sydney contingent is seeking out of the arrangement. I think they're better off seeking a guarantee of a minimum number of away games being played in Sydney. Assuming an 18 team comp and 24 games, they should expect on average 6.35 away games against the nine Sydney based teams. If they could get a guarantee that they would all be played on Sydney, and they wouldn't play non-Sydney teams more frequently than the average opposition, that might be the best they could hope for.
Mexican Panther
Roar Rookie
Some things are bigger than rugby league - like international relations and the balance of power in the Pacific.
Andrew01
Roar Rookie
100% Herman Can’t argue with anything you have said.
Andrew01
Roar Rookie
Your last point is the key their Don. A Bears expansion club in WA (for example) comes in and the Bears are allowed 2 games at NSO. The expansion club goes well and now the Bears are pushing for 4 games... and so on and so on. If a Bears - WA franchise fails, it fails. If it is a success, which everyone wants regardless of the name, the Bears, in Sydney will want more which will just create unnecessary turbulence. Leave them out of it. If you can't come up with a business model that doesn't include a NSW club that has little relevance to anyone, then there probably isn't a viable business plan.
Gwendolyn
Roar Rookie
But i think what is missing is that it is not about the perspective of Bears fans. Or people from North Sydney. It should be about what is best for the new location- whether that is Perth, NZ2 or elsewhere. The views of some Bears fans in another city or even country should be irrelevant. If anything, tieing a new club to the Bears would be a huge detriment. It would make it much harder to engage locals. And the RL media cannot be trusted to be responsible. Every time the team has a rough patch - on the field or financially - they will start wheeling out reasons why they should be shifted back to Sydney. Completely undermining the expansion location and reminding everyone it is not really their team.
Don
Roar Rookie
We cannot have a team playing in Cairns or even based in Cairns. That is Cowboys heartland. People drive down from Cairns, Atherton, Innisfail & Ingham to see the Cowboys. It would be like building a Parramatta clubhouse in the Penrith carpark.