{"id":597331,"date":"2026-04-10T06:26:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T06:26:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/597331\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T06:26:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T06:26:15","slug":"challenges-mount-for-incoming-franchise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/597331\/","title":{"rendered":"Challenges mount for incoming franchise"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Chris<\/p>\n

April 10, 2026 \u2014 3:30pm<\/p>\n

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\u201cWelcoming our biggest signing to date\u201d, the Perth Bears posted last week on social media. \u201cOur official mascot Kodi joins the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the tone of the announcement was tongue in cheek, there was also a grain of truth to it.<\/p>\n

\"MalMal Meninga is hoping to hit the ground running with Perth Bears at their home ground HBF Park.Michael Howard<\/p>\n

The NRL\u2019s incoming 18th franchise don\u2019t exactly have the rest of the competition shaking in their boots with the 16 players they have unveiled so far.<\/p>\n

There is still nearly half a top-30 roster to fill<\/a> and a lot of space remaining in their $12.1 million salary cap for 2027, when they will be joining the league.<\/p>\n

But as the attention of the NRL turns to Perth on Saturday for a double-header at Optus Stadium, the steep challenge confronting the start-up has become clear.<\/p>\n

Perth are the first NRL team to be launched in a developing rugby league state since Melbourne Storm in 1998, but have received no salary cap concessions to help them attract top players.<\/p>\n

\"FormerFormer Canterbury playmaker Toby Sexton was the Bears\u2019 first signing.Getty Images<\/p>\n

Unlike the PNG Chiefs, who will follow the Bears<\/a> into the NRL in 2028 bankrolled by a $600 million Australian government package, they also don\u2019t have a war chest of tax-free cash to lure would-be recruits.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had to follow the same precedent we did with the Dolphins and we didn\u2019t give the Dolphins any such salary cap dispensation,\u201d ARL Commission chair Peter V\u2019landys said. \u201cWe haven\u2019t really given PNG any salary cap dispensation. All we\u2019ve asked the [PNG] government for is to give tax relief.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe salary cap hasn\u2019t changed. We\u2019ve done that because the clubs have always indicated it would be unfair if we did anything other than have the same salary cap for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

V\u2019landys believes Perth have done a good job so far with recruitment and \u201care probably doing better than what the Dolphins were in attracting players\u201d at the same stage before they entered the NRL in 2023. The Bears, too, are conveying confidence, with coach Mal Meninga this week stating their goal was to make the finals.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

They are yet to land a marquee player, though. Their first acquisition was former Canterbury halfback Toby Sexton and their biggest catches since have been Melbourne\u2019s back-up playmaker Tyran Wishart, Storm centre Nick Meaney and Penrith premiership winners Scott Sorensen and Liam Henry.<\/p>\n

There are myriad other obstacles for only the NRL\u2019s second new team in 20 years to overcome.<\/p>\n

One obvious issue is the tyranny of distance, with Perth a five-hour flight from Sydney. Not only do players have to move away from family and friends, but those in the NRL squad who don\u2019t make Meninga\u2019s line-up from round to round face travelling across the country and back every week to play for feeder teams North Sydney Bears and Brisbane Tigers.<\/p>\n

Another complication is the property market in Perth, where housing prices have surged due to chronic under-supply and renting is less affordable than in any other capital city.<\/p>\n

\"BearsBears CEO Anthony De Ceglie previously ran the local newspaper in Perth.Stefan Gosatti\/AFR<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s Rugby League World Cup in October and November also stands to impact their first pre-season with their internationals to report to training later and with Meninga\u2019s assistant and ultimate successor Ben Gardiner coaching Samoa.<\/p>\n

Off the field, the Bears have yet to launch a membership program, and the access to fans that engenders. In contrast, the Tasmania Devils reported a founding membership base of more than 200,000 in 2024 \u2013 four years before they were due to become the AFL\u2019s 19th team.<\/p>\n

They also faced a rough welcome from local newspaper the West Australian, which is affiliated with AFL rights holder Seven, and Bears chief executive Anthony De Ceglie\u2019s past role as the tabloid\u2019s editor-in-chief is said to have strained some relationships in the city.<\/p>\n

Not all has been well inside the operation as well. There have been reports this week of tension between De Ceglie and Perth general manager of football David Sharpe, although Meninga \u2013 a close friend of Sharpe, the former Sport Integrity Australia CEO \u2013 downplayed the issue.<\/p>\n

\"GraemeGraeme Samuel sat on both the ARL and AFL commissions.Oscar Colman<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just had a board meeting this morning. It wasn\u2019t even discussed,\u201d Meninga said on Friday. \u201cYou look at every week, the Dragons, they\u2019ve gone through some turmoil. The Broncos have gone through turmoil. Manly\u2019s gone through turmoil. I just think it\u2019s our turn, because we\u2019ve got a double-header over here.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Storm were an almost immediate on-field success, winning a grand final in their second season in 1999 with a team captained by legendary front-rower Glenn Lazarus.<\/p>\n

Built up with tens of millions of dollars in backing from former owner News Corp, they have secured a footprint of their own in AFL heartland and, either side of a salary cap scandal, have been one of the NRL\u2019s best performing clubs for two decades.<\/p>\n

Being highly successful helped.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Scott<\/a><\/p>\n

Graeme Samuel, the only person to have served on both the AFL Commission and the ARL Commission, believes it is \u201cvital\u201d that teams in so-called foreign markets are competitive from the outset.<\/p>\n

A former chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, he was on the ARL Commission between 2013 and 2017 but spent many more years involved with VFL and then AFL expansion in the 1980s and 1990s \u2013 including into Sydney and Brisbane, whose team was also initially called the Bears.<\/p>\n

The code\u2019s attempts to establish itself in those cities took many years to pay off \u2013 and still faces an uphill battle at a grassroots level in areas such as western Sydney, where the AFL has spent hundreds of millions of dollars since the inception of GWS Giants in 2012.<\/p>\n

One of the key lessons was how much winning matters, according to Samuel.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just a question of money,\u201d he said. \u201cYou can put in $100 million if you like \u2026 but it won\u2019t succeed unless you give them playing strength. You\u2019ve got to give a reason for people in very difficult markets to come and say, \u2018We\u2019ll support you\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Perth\u2019sPerth\u2019s association with the North Sydney Bears brings with it more than a century of history.NRL Photos<\/p>\n

After early resistance from existing clubs to giving new teams a helping hand, the AFL tipped the scales with its expansion sides by providing them high-ranking selections in its draft. It is an advantage that will be afforded to their newest side, Tasmania Devils, who will also have a \u201csign-on bonus fund\u201d of $5 million outside the salary cap to entice big-name players.<\/p>\n

In Sydney, the Swans also had a cost-of-living allowance between 1998 and 2017 that gave them more room in their salary cap.<\/p>\n

The stance taken by NRL clubs ensured the Bears wouldn\u2019t be handed any such special treatment.<\/p>\n

Perth maintain they are a highly attractive proposition for leading players including because of the warm weather and lifestyle opportunities in the west.<\/p>\n

As for funding, they are receiving $10 million a year from the Western Australia government, which will accommodate them at the refurbished WACA Ground while it builds them a $20 million training centre.<\/p>\n

The NRL, which will own the team for at least the first five years, has not said exactly how much it will outlay on the Bears beyond the $18.15 million annual grant distributed to every club, which Perth will begin to be paid from November 1. But according to V\u2019landys it is contributing more than the WA government.<\/p>\n

Perth have also made strides commercially, claiming the sponsors they have captured will make their playing strip, to be released later this year, the highest-earning in the league.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

Then there is their association with North Sydney, whose logo Perth have adopted and who have teams in the NSWRL competitions and a network of juniors, as well as 118 years of history and a ready-made supporter base.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe North Sydney Bears have a team in the state cup, they have an established junior rugby league, and there is already junior development in Perth itself,\u201d V\u2019landys said. \u201cThey\u2019re not starting from complete scratch.\u201d<\/p>\n

With an eye on the horizon, the Bears launched their \u2018Tracks\u2019 academy at the WA Institute of Sport this week.<\/p>\n

With less than a year, though, before they take the field for the first time, the focus is on the near future and the clock is ticking.<\/p>\n

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\"ChrisChris Barrett<\/a> is a senior sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former South-East Asia correspondent for the Herald and The Age.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"April 10, 2026 \u2014 3:30pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":597332,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-597331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597331","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=597331"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597331\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/597332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=597331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=597331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=597331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}