Western Bears’ NRL bid for a team in Perth rejected by ARL Commission boss Peter V’landy

The plan for a new NRL club in Perth is in tatters after ARL Commission head Peter V’landys said the Western Bears bid was not up to scratch just days after the grand final.

The new club, which would be an incarnation of the North Sydney Bears, was expected to be announced as the league’s 18th team for 2027 as early as this week.

But it has been reported today that the application involving a Perth consortium and the North Sydney Bears had been knocked back.

The multimillion-dollar licence fee appears to be the main issue behind the rejection.

“The bid that the consortium has put in has been rejected,” V’landys told News Corp.

“We will still deal with the Western Australian government to try and resuscitate the bid.

“The bid that they put in was significantly short.

“No bid team can take the expansion process for granted. I have made this clear from day one.

“We will only expand if there is a firm business case and at the moment Perth’s business case doesn’t stack up.

“If we can’t stack it up I can’t take it to the members for consideration.

“All I will say is their bid is extremely short. I will have more talks with the WA Government, but not necessarily the current consortium.”

The bad news was delivered to the WA Government during the grand final but the NRL is still keen to make a Perth team a reality with the help of the Roger Cook Government which had been supporting the now-rejected Perth bid.

“Western Australia is the obvious choice for a new team, and the NRL knows WA is a great option for the league’s expansion,” Mr Cook told The Nightly.

“They know WA is a clear market for the NRL, we offer significant broadcasting opportunities that are unmatched by the other bids and a Perth team would be ready to go for the 2027 season.

“The State Government isn’t involved in the consortium’s private bid. However, we have a supporting role and have expressed our willingness to work with the NRL on things like delivering top-tier grounds and high-performance facilities, an expansion of our successful nation-leading player development program in schools, and support to deliver pre-season fixtures in regional WA to help build a brand and get the community behind the club.”

The bid for a team in Papua New Guinea is understood to be in much better shape as the NRL seeks to expand its competition to 20 teams with teams from New Zealand or Queensland likely to follow in coming years.

Last month Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the Australian Government and ARL Commission were at the pointy end of securing a $600 million funding deal for PNG to enter the competition, likely in 2028 as the 19th team.

“We are just working through the final details of that,” he said.

In August Western Bears bosses insisted they would integrate the North Sydney Bears’ 116-year history into the merger.

The Bears were on the verge of becoming Perth’s first top-level rugby league team since the Western Reds’ demise following the Super League War of 1997.

WA has long been regarded the next frontier for the NRL, with neutral games typically well-attended in Perth and grassroots participation rates higher than in Tasmania, the Northern Territory and South Australia.

The Bears had planned to play one home game in Sydney in 2027, possibly against bitter rivals Manly, and playing a pre-season trial game there as well.

The club also aimed to establish men’s and women’s pathways in both North Sydney and Western Australia. This will include using the NSW Cup’s North Sydney Bears as their primary feeder club, redirecting the side’s talent from current NRL affiliate Melbourne.

“The Western Bears Club will make the NRL a truly national competition, returning top-flight rugby league to Perth and drawing on the heritage of the North Sydney Bears, which dates to 1908,” a Bears’ letter to members read.

The Bears’ possible return is set to come 25 years after the ill-fated Northern Eagles merger with Manly that preceded the team’s demise in 2002.

“The Western Bears will re-energise our passionate fan base and introduce a new market to our proud history and heritage. One club with a national footprint is great for the game,” North Sydney Bears chair Daniel said.