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"Damning clickbait": Voss slams WA's reaction to Perth Bears
SEN • May 8th, 2025 11:56 am
Andrew Voss has taken aim at the media coverage in WA after it was confirmed that the Perth Bears would become the 18th NRL franchise.
WA Premier Roger Cook confirmed the news on Wednesday afternoon after agreeing to terms with the ARL commission.
The WA Government will supply $60 million in direct financial support over the next seven years, along with $5.6 million for match day and marketing support in the same period.
The team was expected to join the competition in 2027, however, headlining the details of the new club, Cook revealed the team may enter the NRL in 2027 or 2028, not definitively 2027 as anticipated.
The news does not appear to have gone down well with the powers that be at The West Australian however who put out a front page titled “The bad news Bears”.
“Rugby mad Roger Cook forces WA taxpayers to pay Sydney NRL rejects $65m to play in Perth,” the front page said.
It did not sit well with SEN Sydney’s Andrew Voss who dismissed it as “clickbait”.
“Most people don’t read newspapers,” he said. “The cover of the West Australian isn’t on their digital.
“The headline is inflammatory. It’s clickbait.
“Newspapers are scrambling for attention with a clickbait headline, but does it move the needle on public opinion? It would seem not.
“In the story it says there is negligible growth, negligible presence of rugby league – there’s 6,000 juniors, it’s a slap in the face to them.”
Voss suggested it presented NRL CEO Peter V’landys with a golden opportunity to further infiltrate Perth.
“If I’m rugby league today I say ‘I’m looking forward to coming to Perth for Origin and we’re locking in the next three years of Origin for Perth, in the build up to the Bears coming in we’re committing the game to WA’,” Voss said.
“They couldn’t be anymore anti if we’re talking propaganda. The language of that headline is so damning.
“V’landys picking up that headline today, he will be saying forget about it when it comes to the rights sale.”
V’landys is in Perth for the formal announcement of the Bears on Thursday.
Their return to the league marks the end of a 26-year exile.
