NRL NRL Expansion

Falcon said:
Great post, and it is good to have them back. Mario is my all time favourite player - hence The Falcon moniker.
I’ll never forget the off day Daryl Halligan had with his usual laser kicking in one of their semi finals to lose by a couple.
I think North Sydney was always a 2nd fav team for for us over the Ditch because idolised kiwis like Mark Graham, Clayton Friend and Olsen Filipina played for them to name a few.
Great looking ground on TV too, especially with all the kids perched on the branches of that huge tree.
Good to see the team will be keeping the red and black colours of old too.
Keen to watch how the club is put together and who will fill key positions on and off the field.
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Bears were my team that year Hoppe played for them before coming to us. Hard to get used to them being Perthlings now, but I suppose we will.
 
Worried2Death said:
Bears were my team that year Hoppe played for them before coming to us. Hard to get used to them being Perthlings now, but I suppose we will.
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Hoppe got ditched by the Raiders didn't he due to signing with us? Then had a short stint with Norths before the Warriors started.

It's been a long time but I recall he signed with us it didn't go down well.

He played well for Norths. Would do a ton of work for a winger in those days.
 
Now that Perth has been announced we will see a lot of articles with a potential team or squad.

Most of them will be full of stars.

None of them will likely have a $ value next to the players indicating what they think it would take to sign that player. The articles would be more fun like that seeing them realise they would struggle to fit their potential teams under the salary cap. Or after the 17 they'd have nothing left.
 
Playdaball said:
I was in Brisbane for the Magic round and ventured out to Redcliffe …. 25 min drive - is that really expansion??
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Try that drive in rush hour.

Dolphins should be on the Sunshine Coast. That's V'landys' & Abdo's fault, one of the reasons I don't like them.
tajhay said:
Well the other option was Ipswich or towards Toowoomba.

Trust me you wouldnt enjoy the drive there.

Bris deserves two teams though as lots of people hate the Broncos.
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Ipswich is a hole. I've driven to Toowoomba about half a dozen times solo, it's not that bad just long. Forumers say there's still too many teams in Sydney, let's not do that in Brisbane.
 
RiceOwl said:
It has been a long time coming to have the Bears back in the competition. I feel quite emotional about it in a variety of ways if I am honest, but am still trying to work out clearly how I feel about it.

For some context, as a young boy, before 95 and the Warriors joined the competition, I was a diehard Bears fan. My uncle played for them in the 70s and was a trainer for them in the 90s. I wore Bears kit all the time, and if you look back at all my school photos I was always wearing a Bears jersey. I could (and can still) name the Bears players and great bears teams of the 90s. As I was only young I didn't quite have an understanding of how historically poor their record was as I only saw the great teams they had in the 90s, which I idolised. I remember seeing the Mark Graham book on the book shelf in his Bears jersey and thought only the greatest must play for the Bears. One of my earliest and fondest memories was going to Carlaw Park when they played Auckland and Wests in a pre-season trial game, and my uncle took me to the changing sheds afterwards to meet the players. I sat with Darryl Halligan and Mario Fenech, and from then on I wanted to be a goal kicker like Darryl. The point to sharing all of this, is that sport can have a significant impact on peoples lives, and for many, the Bears are their team and it means so much to have them back in the competition, albeit in a different form.

In some ways I felt sad that it is the Perth Bears and not the North Sydney Bears that I grew up supporting, but the realist in me knows that this is the only way for the Bears to return (although I would argue they were shafted in the first place with how they were forced to leave the competition). It will certainly be an incredibly special moment to witness them back at North Sydney Oval in 2027.

Not to worry, as much as I loved the Bears and they hold a special place in my heart, I am a dedicated Warriors fan as my number 1 team now...

Either way, welcome back the Bears.
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Great post.

Hopefully we get a Bears vs Warriors at North Sydney Oval in the near future - although I imagine they'll focus on the other foundation clubs first.
 
Playdaball said:
Surely they’ll only play pre season games at North Sydney Oval ?
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One competition game per year at North Sydney.

They'll probably keep the Bears vs Warriors game in Perth because of the ex pat's - so my dream is probably not that realistic.

The council are using it to lobby for a north sydney oval upgrade for other sports and tv broadcast.
 
juju said:
Hopefully we get a Bears vs Warriors at North Sydney Oval in the near future - although I imagine they'll focus on the other foundation clubs first.
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I'm pretty close to North Sydney Oval, and if I remember correctly, we were scheduled to play the Roosters there (a proper round game and all) in 2020, which would have been awesome.... but.... COVID ruined everything.
 
Who should be their first opponent?

Souths: Fellow foundation club, good support in Perth
Roosters: Fellow foundation club, Sydney vs Perth
Warriors: Would get a big crowd at Optus
Storm: Melbourne vs Perth, the Reds had to make way for the Storm back in the day

Should probably save Manly for later in the season...
 
I've seen discussion on the PNG big with the compound needing to be built in preparation for their start date.

They need this ready for when they start signing players.

I know a lot of money is being talked about for this bid. But I'm not sure if it will be ready by the time frame they have been thinking of.

The plan was to introduce teams 18 and 19 quickly. Introducing Perth, getting to 18, and waiting a few years if PNG doesn't work out might not be a bad thing. Get to an even number of games each weekend. Also, assess how the extra team affects the quality of the competition.
 
snake77 said:
I've seen discussion on the PNG big with the compound needing to be built in preparation for their start date.

They need this ready for when they start signing players.

I know a lot of money is being talked about for this bid. But I'm not sure if it will be ready by the time frame they have been thinking of.

The plan was to introduce teams 18 and 19 quickly. Introducing Perth, getting to 18, and waiting a few years if PNG doesn't work out might not be a bad thing. Get to an even number of games each weekend. Also, assess how the extra team affects the quality of the competition.
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The concern for me is the management appointments for PNG & their integrity. Any clues please?
 
Tokyo Warrior said:
Who should be their first opponent?

Souths: Fellow foundation club, good support in Perth
Roosters: Fellow foundation club, Sydney vs Perth
Warriors: Would get a big crowd at Optus
Storm: Melbourne vs Perth, the Reds had to make way for the Storm back in the day

Should probably save Manly for later in the season...
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Manly hands down
 
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