Auckland Warriors player Joe Vagana takes on the North Sydney Bears defence in an NRL game in 1999. It was the last year the Bears played in the top flight and now the Perth Bears will honour their legacy. Photo: www.photosport.co.nz
Australia's National Rugby League (NRL) will expand westwards in the 2027 season with the addition of an 18th club, the Perth Bears, the league and Western Australian government have announced.
The government said it had agreed to fund the new team to the tune of NZ$70 million over seven years, ensuring the return of professional rugby league to the state for the first time since the demise of the Western Reds in 1997.
The announcement is another triumph for rugby league chief Peter V'landys, who has already helped secure NZ$650 million from the federal government to fund another NRL expansion team in Papua New Guinea from 2028.
"Western Australians love sport and now they have the opportunity to get behind a Perth-based rugby league club that will capture the hearts and minds of fans across the country," V'Landys, the Australia Rugby League Commission chairman, said in a statement.
The new team's name honours the heritage of the North Sydney Bears, one of the nine clubs that founded Australia's first league in 1908 and which played in the top flight until 1999.
"As a foundation club, the Bears have a rich history in the game and automatically provide hundreds of thousands of east coast supporters for the Perth-based team," V'landys added.
"The heritage of the Bears combined with the energy of the west will have this team flying from the outset."
The last expansion team to enter the NRL was the Brisbane-based Dolphins in 2022. They finished 13th and 10th in their first two seasons.
- Reuters
