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North Sydney Bears faithful react to historic announcement
Sam Kosack • May 8th, 2025 5:28 pm
The Perth Bears were today formally announced as the NRL’s 18th team at their new home of HBF Park, ending months of speculation and negotiations.
3850km East, at Norths Cammeray, the home of the North Sydney Bears, red and black faithful stood and applauded as their beloved club found their way back to the NRL after 26 years.
The Bears were victims of the infamous Super League war and were cast into the rugby league wilderness after a failed merger with the Manly Sea Eagles.
But now, in partnership with the WA Government, the Bears will return to rugby league’s premier competition, albeit with a new name and new history to forge.
Regardless, the Bears’ faithful couldn’t care less; tears and drinks flowed as a hopeful and jubilant atmosphere radiated around the crowd while WA Premier Roger Cook and Peter V’Landys confirmed what they’d been longing to hear for almost three decades.
One of those faithful was Darren Allard, the manager of the North Sydney Bears NSW Cup rugby league side, who called it a privilege to be back.
“It’s an Australian way, it’s never give up, it’s the Bears true to form,” Allard said.
“We don’t give up on the footy field, we haven’t given up the belief the NRL would do the right thing and bring us back.
“The red and black are back. We do need to rebuild and reach out to people we’ve lost… and also to the people who have passed that worked for the bears that aren’t going to enjoy this day but I’m sure they're up there saying ‘let’s have a beer for the bears’.
“It’s a credit to all the people over the last 26 years from managers and ball boys and people who just kept coming here… today this is for them just as much as anybody else.”
The Perth Bears were confirmed today to enter the comp in 2027, forming a partnership with the WA Government to begin a new chapter in the club’s history.
Fellow Bears tragic James Patterson was hoping his side’s return would allow him to create new memories with his son and family.
“It was pretty heartbreaking when the Bears left the comp when I was 12. The fact it’s been 25 years, the fact we’re back, it means a hell of a lot to myself and also my son,” Patterson said.
“He’s a four-year-old boy and he’s a Bear through and through… I hope it becomes a family affair, but the Bears are a family club, they always have been. They’ve been the fabric of North Sydney for such a long time.
“Even me being from New Zealand originally, supporting from afar, there’s this nostalgia around North Sydney Oval, the theatre of dreams.
“They never really had a huge superstar… they just had a good team, and were an absolute staple of if you can get the team working right, anything can happen.”
For many Bears’ faithful, anything could happen used to refer to their dream of returning to the NRL. Now, it refers to their dream of their first premiership in over 100 years.
