The National Rugby League (NRL) has confirmed the Perth Bears franchise will enter the league from 2027, after finally approving the state’s 18-year push to return to top-flight rugby league.
NRL bosses and the Western Australian government officially announced the deal on Thursday, ending six months of high-powered and at-times volatile negotiations.
The Bears will play their first match in 2027, despite WA Premier Roger Cook speculating on Wednesday the side’s entry could be held back until 2028.
It means the new Perth side will join the competition as the 18th team, before Papua New Guinea make for 19th in the league’s most significant expansion period in three decades.
“Rugby League is the biggest sport in Australia and the Pacific, so a team in the economic powerhouse of Western Australia is a natural fit,” ARL Commission chair Peter V'landys said.
“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.”
The news was met with joy on both sides of the country, ending North Sydney’s 25 years out of the game following their doomed merger with Manly in 2000.
“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 said.
“The heritage of the Bears combined with the energy of the West will have this team flying from the outset.”
For rugby league fans in Perth, the wait has been equally as agonising.
First brought into the competition in 1995, the Western Reds were victims of the Super League war and one of the first to go upon the unification of the NRL in 1998.
The state’s return was first put back on the cards in 2007 when they entered the third-tier Ron Massey Cup, before several expansion pushes in the past 13 years.
Twice in the past nine months the hopes of expansion were put on the backburner, when negotiations broke down with a consortium and the WA government.
But Thursday’s announcement confirmed details around the Bears’ entry, with the team to play the majority of home games out of HBF Park.
The NRL will also aim to have rugby league introduced into more than 500 schools, as part of the $65.6 million deal with the Western Australia government.
It’s understood the NRL have agreed to have a West Australian as the first chair of the club, while the seven-person board will comprise of at least three locals.
That board will make key decisions around club management and the appointment of a maiden coach, who will begin signing players from November.
Brad Arthur is already the favourite for the job, while Sam Burgess has also shown his interest and has high-profile support.
The NRL will hold the license for at least the first five years, before the Bears transition into a member-owned model.
