Perth Bears Land First Major Signings as Sexton & Newman Commit for 2027<\/p>\n
The NRL\u2019s newest franchise, the Perth Bears, have officially announced the first marquee additions to their inaugural 2027 roster, securing playmaker Toby Sexton<\/a> and England Test centre Harry Newman<\/a> on two-year deals.<\/p>\n The signings mark a defining moment for the reborn Bears, who will return elite rugby league to Western Australia for the first time in more than two decades.<\/p>\n Perth foundation coach Mal Meninga hailed the announcement as a historic leap forward.<\/p>\n \u201cI am absolutely thrilled to welcome Toby and Harry to the Perth Bears in what is a truly historic day for our club,\u201d Meninga said. Why Sexton and Newman Matter<\/p>\n Meninga described Sexton as a \u201cproven leader who works hard to make his teammates better,\u201d praising his temperament and desire to help shape the identity of a new club.<\/p>\n The 24-year-old half has already logged 65 NRL appearances for the Gold Coast Titans and Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs since debuting in 2021. Sexton will spend the 2026 season with Catalans Dragons in Super League before linking with the Bears.<\/p>\n \u201cTo be one of the Bears\u2019 first signings is something I\u2019m grateful for,\u201d Sexton said. Newman, 25, arrives with elite pedigree. After debuting at 17 in 2017, he has amassed 135 Super League games for Leeds Rhinos and Featherstone, earned seven England caps, won the 2020 Challenge Cup, and was named Super League Young Player of the Year.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s always been my ambition to test myself in the NRL,\u201d Newman said. Bears Setting Big Ambitions Early<\/p>\n General Manager of Football David Sharpe said the club is focused on building a roster that can compete \u201cfrom Round 1 in 2027,\u201d while CEO Anthony De Ceglie highlighted strong commercial momentum following a significant apparel partnership with New Balance.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have already broken sponsorship records and continue to get interest from domestic and international brands,\u201d De Ceglie said. With Sexton and Newman locked in\u2014and more signings expected imminently\u2014the Bears\u2019 foundation squad is beginning to take shape as the countdown to 2027 continues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Perth Bears Land First Major Signings as Sexton & Newman Commit for 2027 The NRL\u2019s newest franchise, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14689,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[181264,64,63,141433,22798,760,85,4440],"class_list":{"0":"post-321969","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-2027-nrl-signings","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-harry-newman","12":"tag-perth-bears","13":"tag-rugby","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-toby-sexton"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=321969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321969\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=321969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=321969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=321969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\u201cBoth players have all the attributes and qualities I\u2019m looking for when building out our roster.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m excited for the opportunity and honoured to represent the people of Western Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a huge honour to be one of the Bears\u2019 first signings and help create a legacy for rugby league in Western Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Perth Bears are the most exciting story in Australian sport.\u201d<\/p>\n