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Kayo Sports NRL podcast host Braith Anasta said the Bears\u2019 task to build a team from the ground up was never going to be easy before stating the current Perth roster is \u201cmiles away\u201d from competing for a premiership. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was always going to be tough for Mal (Meninga) and his team but they have until 2027,\u201d Anasta said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s guys who have plenty of first grade experience there and some on the edge of first grade but none of them really jump out if I\u2019m honest. They\u2019re not x-factor players, they\u2019re guys you look at that aren\u2019t going to win you a comp are they?<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have some building to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cI look at this team and they\u2019re miles away. They\u2019re doing a good job with what they\u2019ve got but they\u2019re going to take years with the roster they have there.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u2018CHARACTER OVER TALENT\u2019<\/p>\n
Michael Ennis and Cooper Cronk both like the approach that Mal Meninga and the Bears have taken so far.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really like the type of player that Mal is signing. Someone like Liam Henry is everything that Mal wants his footy side to look like. Tough, no nonsense,\u201d Ennis said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNick Meaney has shown his class at the Storm.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re building from the ground up. Character over talent in the early stages which I think is right,\u201d Cronk added.<\/p>\n
\u201cMeaney, Wishart, Curran, Henry. They\u2019re in my team. They are just workers.\u201d<\/p>\n
WHO SHOULD THEY TARGET?<\/p>\n
While Ennis says recruitment is off to a decent start, he named an \u201cunderrated\u201d player the Bears should go for \u2013 Dolphins playmaker Kodi Nikorima.<\/p>\n
Ennis believes Nikorima has been crucial to the development of teammate Isaiya Katoa, who has quickly entered the upper echelon of NRL halfbacks after debuting in 2023.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe other player I really think they should go for is Kodi Nikorima. He\u2019s been so underestimated at the Dolphins,\u201d Ennis said.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot has been celebrated about Isaiya Katoa and rightly so but a lot of his education and rise to stardom has come off the back of having the experience of Kodi Nikorima around him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kodi Nikorima.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
The Bears have been unable to land a big fish in free agency, but have reportedly held talks with Titans skipper Tino Fa\u2019asuamaleaui about making him the club\u2019s marquee signing.<\/p>\n
For now, Fa\u2019asuamaleaui wants to stay put and see how the first year under the new Josh Hannay regime goes on the glitter strip, but it\u2019s worth noting that the Bears have signed Tino\u2019s brother Iszac.<\/p>\n
It led Ennis to speculate that perhaps the Bears are closer to signing the Titans superstar than most may think.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo we think Tino (is a chance)? The fact they\u2019ve signed his brother Iszac Fa\u2019asuamaleaui,\u201d Ennis said with Anasta replying: \u201cHe\u2019d be perfect and Mal is after him. He\u2019s at a club now that is struggling, he\u2019s probably going to see if they\u2019ll improve.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Iszac signing is a good play. Package deal,\u201d Cronk added.<\/p>\n
YOUTH POLICY<\/p>\n
Like the Dolphins were in their first year, the Bears\u2019 roster will likely be one of the league\u2019s worst in 2027.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s just the nature of the beast, especially when creating a team from scratch which is based the other side of the country.<\/p>\n
Cronk outlined what he\u2019d do to help give the Bears the best possible chance in a few years time.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I look at who is available, I think I\u2019d go down the path of getting five or six Queensland, NSW, NZ, Tonga under 19s. Look at the Dolphins, Isaiya Katoa 2.0,\u201d Cronk said.<\/p>\n
\u201cGo and get five or six of those guys who have played a bit of rep footy together and invest in them and get some hard, experienced heads around them. I think that\u2019s a good move.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone wants to see a big marquee player from Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne. Its cool and gets the headlines, but I think if you\u2019re going to build from the ground up and be successful, I think you pick up some gun under 19s\u201d<\/p>\n
Should Lomax be allowed at the Storm? | 07:10<\/p>\n
SWISS ARMY KNIFE<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a lot of water to go under the bridge before the Bears need to finalise their top 30, but unless there\u2019s a couple of big-name signings, Meninga\u2019s expected starting side almost looks to be complete. <\/p>\n
Meaney is set to start 2027 at fullback, while Sexton will wear the No. 7.<\/p>\n
The interesting addition is Wishart. He has played a range of positions at the Storm without locking one down with Craig Bellamy willing to play him almost anywhere.<\/p>\n
However, according to former NRL hooker Michael Ennis, Wishart should slot straight into the No. 9 jersey in Perth.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy understanding is that Wishart is there to play No. 9. I think with the way the current game is, he definitely can work at No. 9 but he needs more time there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a great opportunity for him as he\u2019s been waiting patiently at the Storm and he\u2019s done a great job with his versatility but now he wants to establish himself.\u201d<\/p>\n
CURRENT BEST BEARS STARTING SIDE<\/p>\n
1. Nick Meaney<\/p>\n
2. Luke Laulilii<\/p>\n
3. Sean Russell<\/p>\n
4. Harry Newman<\/p>\n
5. N\/A<\/p>\n
6. N\/A<\/p>\n
7. Toby Sexton<\/p>\n
8. Liam Henry<\/p>\n
9. Tyran Wishart<\/p>\n
10. Iszac Fa\u2019asuamaleaui<\/p>\n
11. Luke Smith<\/p>\n
12. James McDonnell<\/p>\n
13. Josh Curran<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Bears are steadily building their roster ahead of their 2027 NRL entry, but there\u2019s two other players…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":417305,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,689,219794,18194,11101,8089,162,32918,763,141433,4577,18387,197882,11639,41606,27288,647,32917,761,762,673,4609,158,677,220114,46,49475,60074,30384,4503,219798,85,173245,670,53259,4440,660,3439,80478],"class_list":["post-417304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-bears-roster-build","tag-braith-anasta","tag-cooper-cronk","tag-craig-bellamy","tag-dolphins","tag-footy-side","tag-fox-league","tag-harry-newman","tag-josh-curran","tag-josh-hannay","tag-luke-smith","tag-mal-meninga","tag-marquee-player","tag-marquee-signing","tag-melbourne","tag-michael-ennis","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-new-south-wales","tag-nick-meaney","tag-nrl","tag-oceania","tag-package-deal","tag-perth","tag-podcast-host","tag-rep-footy","tag-rugby-league-news","tag-sean-russell","tag-slim-jim-phantom","tag-sports","tag-swiss-army-knife","tag-sydney","tag-tino-fa","tag-toby-sexton","tag-victoria","tag-western-australia","tag-youth-policy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417304","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=417304"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417304\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/417305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=417304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=417304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=417304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}