![\"Adrian](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/1793874252_604_4ab4a6c753559951c26e831e823d71d29090f818.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
November 5, 2026 \u2014 4:30pm<\/p>\n
Save<\/p>\n
You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n
Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n No gift articles left<\/p>\n You’ve used all of your gift articles. 3 more will become available on the 1st of every month.<\/p>\n Close<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Freshly appointed Perth Bears chief executive Tony Rea has a history of ensuring rugby league gets cut-through in places it shouldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n Take, for instance, his time as CEO at the London Broncos. Working under majority owner and Virgin boss Richard Branson in the late 1990s and early noughties, no publicity stunt was too brazen.<\/p>\n Like being the only sporting team in the United Kingdom to play on the day of Princess Diana\u2019s death. Or arranging for players to pose nude in glossy magazines. Or getting some of them \u2013 including young forward Anthony Seibold<\/a> \u2013 to become drummers for the opening act of the Brit Awards in 2000, where they shared the same stage as Robbie Williams, the Spice Girls and Tom Jones.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery day was like that. From my point of view, it created a great feel and great vibe,\u201d Rea said in his first interview since being appointed as the successor to Anthony De Ceglie.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Branson stuff was great, very different, which was great moulding for me. As a chief exec, I spent about 20 per cent of my time at Virgin opening-of-envelope-type stuff and participating in everything across a very diverse business.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a different journey. You do anything you can to get a bit of profile and add a bit of value to it \u2026 Life is about stories, isn\u2019t it? You want to create as many as you can.<\/p>\n \u201cWe asked the players to do that, and they were so excited to go to the Brit Awards. I remember the marketing team saying, \u2018We can\u2019t ask a team to do that\u2019. But we thought, \u2018Of course, why wouldn\u2019t you want to do something different as a player?\u2019 They\u2019re still talking about it until this day.\u201d<\/p>\n Rea is bringing that can-do spirit to the Bears. After a varied career in both league and union \u2013 he has played, captained and coached at the top level before embarking on an administrative career \u2013 the 60-year-old is tasked with ensuring the Bears find a foothold in AFL-obsessed Western Australia.<\/p>\n If it means again doing things a bit differently to gain publicity, then so be it.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve got to be relevant to the people to attract them,\u201d Rea said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe players enjoy doing those things, going to different events. People talk about culture, environments and communities – that\u2019s part of being in the community.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re a bit stiff if you just think you\u2019re going to run out, play good every time, and they\u2019re just going to watch you. They also want to see you go to the race days, support the charity events, go out and see the kids. You\u2019ve got to mean it.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t ask blokes to do things that they don\u2019t want to do, we just explain why it\u2019s a good thing to do and important to other people in the group.\u201d<\/p>\n Rea comes to the Bears during what he describes as the \u201cbuilding\u201d phase of the business. There have been some missteps along the way \u2013 De Ceglie and football general manager David Sharpe didn\u2019t last until their first kick-off, while former Titans recruiting target Ezra Howe didn\u2019t even make it to Perth \u2013 but the Bears are now an official NRL entity as of November 1.<\/p>\n Rea has landed just before the first lot of player arrivals for pre-season training, bringing with him a storied Bears background. The former hooker made 120 first-grade appearances for the North Sydney iteration of the Bears, captaining the club and pushing Mario Fenech to prop to accommodate him in the No.9 jersey.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember Mario coming up to me at Tunks Park after training in front of [coach] Steve Martin,\u201d Rea recalled. \u201cHe said, \u2018He\u2019s our captain\u2019 It\u2019s always stayed that way and I\u2019m happy with that.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Not long afterwards, the pair went so hard at each other at a Saturday training drill that Rea thought, \u201cThis is on here!\u201d<\/p>\n However, it was just his and Fenech\u2019s way of respecting each other and the club they bled for.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been a long time for that badge to be out of the comp, so it\u2019s great for all the people who have been so supportive,\u201d Rea said of long-suffering Norths fans.<\/p>\n \u201cI also get the great sense that the Bear print is in WA, that it\u2019s there long term. If I had been coming to some other NRL stronghold club, or even in the north of England, I probably wouldn\u2019t have the same view and same fight as coming into a new region.\u201d<\/p>\n Related Article He has only just got his feet under the desk, but the former Brumbies coach is ready to bring his various experiences in sport and business to the game\u2019s newest entrant.<\/p>\n \u201cThe good word to use is experience,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve experienced what they\u2019re doing, I know what they\u2019re trying to achieve, it\u2019s not a theory. I\u2019ve set up academies, I\u2019ve worked on game-day and entertainment for a sport in a new region, I\u2019ve worked with entertainment groups \u2026<\/p>\n \u201cIn all my roles I see myself as a builder and I feel this organisation is primed and ready for the build bit. We\u2019ve done all the explorations and the politics, we\u2019ve done all of that. Now it\u2019s time to get going, it\u2019s ready.\u201d<\/p>\n News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Friday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n![\"Perth](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/a6993d0cde081df5807ad174d19e5c0ad9261e08.jpeg\")
Perth Bears CEO Tony Rea.North Sydney Bears<\/p>\n![\"London](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/ee35ad9e48660e1b1f5da5b84620ceb7be1cf70d.jpeg\")
London Broncos owner Richard Branson waves to the crowd as he leads out his team at Wembley for the 1999 Chalenge Cup final. PA Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"Tony](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/26f8f3db7d962fec438d37a7cb28287d07babcb4.jpeg\")
Tony Rea during his playing days with the North Sydney Bears.Craig Golding\/Fairfax Media<\/p>\n![\"Tony](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/78ec10fdf5e666dafe6da4932b266157df6923182db6228573dd1300d9b199bb.jpeg\")
Tony Rea during his time as London Broncos coach.Gareth Copley\/Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"Tony](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/c96b6dc03ed45140501da6f7a48f8a044fb04409.jpeg\")
Tony Rea was a guest on Sale of The Century as part of a \u201cBattle Of The Codes\u201d.<\/p>\n![\"Tom](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/3b7c87b89d9febbc1b363bb33ccd2fd6e5b9d1db.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n