Pacific bears

[Bamboozle]

lol!!!

 

https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-premiership/nrl-2023-north-sydney-bears-pacific-bears-expansion-bid-bid-to-nrl-powerbrokers-news-highlights-18th-team-newest-franchise-news-highlights/news-story/998703184f3a2845fcc9f798ec0eabd0

[Farmduck]

It's so unfortunate that North Sydney are so cashed-up and determined to get an NRL team. Any league in England or NZ would be happy to have an organisation like that and would sign them up immediately but the chance of a new NRL franchise with such obvious Sydney roots and connections must be zero.

The notion that any franchise not based in a Pacific Island country could pretend to be the Pacific franchise is a complete non-starter. Would they have to field only players sourced from Pacific Islands nations? That couldn't work because those players would all be able to sign with any club that wanted them. Any real stars would sign a 1-year deal with Norths Pacific to allow them to build up an NRL highlights package then go to open market. Norths would be left with the players no other teams wanted.

And would they have a quota of "Pacific" players? Would that include heritage players? If heritage players counted then the obvious answer would be a second NZ team. If they didn't have a player quota what would stop them from re-establishing themselves as North Sydney Bears, just another Sydney NRL team?

If only they had stayed at Gosford after the Northern Eagles folded. They would have  been a legitimate expansion team with much stronger claims to the NRL than Souths or Wests. At that stage though, the NRL had finished trimming the Sydney teams.

[Bamboozle]

7 minutes ago, Farmduck said:

It's so unfortunate that North Sydney are so cashed-up and determined to get an NRL team. Any league in England or NZ would be happy to have an organisation like that and would sign them up immediately but the chance of a new NRL franchise with such obvious Sydney roots and connections must be zero.

The notion that any franchise not based in a Pacific Island country could pretend to be the Pacific franchise is a complete non-starter. Would they have to field only players sourced from Pacific Islands nations? That couldn't work because those players would all be able to sign with any club that wanted them. Any real stars would sign a 1-year deal with Norths Pacific to allow them to build up an NRL highlights package then go to open market. Norths would be left with the players no other teams wanted.

And would they have a quota of "Pacific" players? Would that include heritage players? If heritage players counted then the obvious answer would be a second NZ team. If they didn't have a player quota what would stop them from re-establishing themselves as North Sydney Bears, just another Sydney NRL team?

If only they had stayed at Gosford after the Northern Eagles folded. They would have  been a legitimate expansion team with much stronger claims to the NRL than Souths or Wests. At that stage though, the NRL had finished trimming the Sydney teams.

If only the construction of the central coast stadium wasn’t delayed by bad weather and actually built on time we could possibly be talking about another Sydney team like the sea eagles or the sharks looking to attach themselves to every expansion team bid going instead of the bears.

[Bamboozle]

Irrespective of the past there should definitely be an NRL presence on the central coast be it the central coast sea eagles, the northern eagles or the original slated bears.

[Sports Prophet]

10 minutes ago, Bamboozle said:

Irrespective of the past there should definitely be an NRL presence on the central coast be it the central coast sea eagles, the northern eagles or the original slated bears.

I haven’t in the past, but I definitely agree today. Central Coast Bears should be an absolute priority. An ever growing population getting younger and younger as Sydney sprawl takes its effect. The Bears really should be putting all their eggs into that basket, because if they are as financially sound as they say they are, then the NRL wouldn’t blink at having a common sense Bears team in there, rather than these ridiculous gimmicks like Pacific Bears and NSW Country Bears.

[The Rocket]

What else do you think when dreaming of those sun-drenched palm-tree lined beaches of the Pacific but a grizzly Bear. Stop it please North Sydney, you`re embarrassing yourself.

[Farmduck]

14 minutes ago, Bamboozle said:

If only the construction of the central coast stadium wasn’t delayed by bad weather and actually built on time we could possibly be talking about another Sydney team like the sea eagles or the sharks looking to attach themselves to every expansion team bid going instead of the bears.

Some parts of Sydney RL history would be in the Section titled, "Ships that have already sailed." They had a good 10 year period when the Sharks would have been an obvious team to move to Perth or wherever. But now with all the development on their surrounding land, Cronulla will be financially secure seemingly forever. If Balmain hadn't allowed certain "club legends" so much influence n their Board, they might not have shot themselves in the foot (then in the head, then the other foot then several times in the chest) with their redevelopment of their leagues club site. They might have become the dominant partner in Wests Tigers and rebranded as Balmain. If the NRL had kept Souths out then Easts and Canterbury could have divided up their territory and the stronger junior leagues would have helped both clubs. (as opposed to the current Easts District League with its 4 clubs.)

[Bamboozle]

8 minutes ago, The Rocket said:

What else do you think when dreaming of those sun-drenched palm-tree lined beaches of the Pacific but a grizzly Bear. Stop it please North Sydney, you`re embarrassing yourself.

It’s hard to keep up with who the bears are linking up with next.

a few weeks back it was Perth and before that it was NZ2 and now it’s the pacific.

[Bamboozle]

9 minutes ago, Farmduck said:

Some parts of Sydney RL history would be in the Section titled, "Ships that have already sailed." They had a good 10 year period when the Sharks would have been an obvious team to move to Perth or wherever. But now with all the development on their surrounding land, Cronulla will be financially secure seemingly forever. If Balmain hadn't allowed certain "club legends" so much influence n their Board, they might not have shot themselves in the foot (then in the head, then the other foot then several times in the chest) with their redevelopment of their leagues club site. They might have become the dominant partner in Wests Tigers and rebranded as Balmain. If the NRL had kept Souths out then Easts and Canterbury could have divided up their territory and the stronger junior leagues would have helped both clubs. (as opposed to the current Easts District League with its 4 clubs.)

Thanks to the stadium redevelopment at brookvale and the building of the COE complex you’d have to say that the manly sea eagles are safe for the foreseeable future.

as for the sharks I’m not so sure as I don’t think their current stadium situation is a viable option in the long-term. The current capacity is around 12k and to the best of my knowledge they can’t expand much beyond that because of various land restrictions surrounding the ground.

[Farmduck]

6 minutes ago, Bamboozle said:

Thanks to the stadium redevelopment at brookvale and the building of the COE complex you’d have to say that the manly sea eagles are safe for the foreseeable future.

as for the sharks I’m not so sure as I don’t think their current stadium situation is a viable option in the long-term. The current capacity is around 12k and to the best of my knowledge they can’t expand much beyond that because of various land restrictions surrounding the ground.

Isn't the 12K a temporary capacity because part of the ground is/was still a construction site? Even so, over the last 20 years, a Sharks home crowd over 15K is a rarity. I don't think any NRL club is relying on gate receipts, hence the importance of the Sharks' redevelopment.

[Bamboozle]

If I was the bears I would be keeping my powder dry on the 18th team and be concentrating on becoming the central coast bears for team #19 or #20.

[Farmduck]

9 minutes ago, Bamboozle said:

Thanks to the stadium redevelopment at brookvale and the building of the COE complex you’d have to say that the manly sea eagles are safe for the foreseeable future.

as for the sharks I’m not so sure as I don’t think their current stadium situation is a viable option in the long-term. The current capacity is around 12k and to the best of my knowledge they can’t expand much beyond that because of various land restrictions surrounding the ground.

I'm amazed it took Manly so long to get funding for the upgrades. A few years back, the NSW Premier was the Member for Manly and the PM was the Member for Warringah. I don't know how they failed to get funding back then.

[Bamboozle]

1 minute ago, Farmduck said:

Isn't the 12K a temporary capacity because part of the ground is/was still a construction site? Even so, over the last 20 years, a Sharks home crowd over 15K is a rarity. I don't think any NRL club is relying on gate receipts, hence the importance of the Sharks' redevelopment.

Not quite sure but any future expansion of shark park would surely be nothing more than a couple of thousand extra seats because of land restrictions?

saying that the stadium has to be one of the ugliest and mishmashed ones going.

[Damien]

This was mentioned a while ago and I found it as laughable then as now. Such a team, trying to appeal to several countries, will never work. Like Cook Islands and its population of 15k hosting NRL games? Really?

I think a club playing in Fiji, Tonga and Samoa shouldn't be the core part of the bid of any prospective NRL club. The NRL is more than capable of having any match played in those countries anyway. NZ should be covered by a NZ2 team, or games taken there by existing NRL clubs as happens anyway. PNG ditto if they don't get their own team.

[Damien]

I also completely fail to see why any NRL bid needs the Bears to be successful and they will only hinder and cause issues with any club. For me any bid should have a core location strong enough to host 90% of their games or it seems a little pointless as an expansion candidate. In this case the only place that could do that is North Sydney/Central Coast which just means another Sydney/NSW club and there are far more beneficial expansion options than that.

Moana Pacifika in Super RU was less ambitious than this and has still failed with low sub 5k crowds because, while it tries to appeal to Tonga, Samoa and NZ, it ends up appealing to no one. The obvious comparisons are there.

When this inevitably doesn't work those those handul of games at the North Sydney Oval will only increase by stealth, which is probably the real plan.

Edited October 30, 2023 by Damien

[Bamboozle]

Can any of our Aussie posters or British ones tell me what the official team name of the bears was going to be with their proposed 1999 move to the central coast?

[Bamboozle]

9 hours ago, Damien said:

This was mentioned a while ago and I found it as laughable then as now. Such a team, trying to appeal to several countries, will never work. Like Cook Islands and its population of 15k hosting NRL games? Really?

I think a club playing in Fiji, Tonga and Samoa shouldn't be the core part of the bid of any prospective NRL club. The NRL is more than capable of having any match played in those countries anyway. NZ should be covered by a NZ2 team, or games taken there by existing NRL clubs as happens anyway. PNG ditto if they don't get their own team.

The NSW and Queensland cup competitions are more than sufficient for any potential professional pacific teams from Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and the pacifique treize.

[Bamboozle]

9 hours ago, Damien said:

I also completely fail to see why any NRL bid needs the Bears to be successful and they will only hinder and cause issues with any club. For me any bid should have a core location strong enough to host 90% of their games or it seems a little pointless as an expansion candidate. In this case the only place that could do that is North Sydney/Central Coast which just means another Sydney/NSW club and there are far more beneficial expansion options than that.

Moana Pacifika in Super RU was less ambitious than this and has still failed with low sub 5k crowds because, while it tries to appeal to Tonga, Samoa and NZ, it ends up appealing to no one. The obvious comparisons are there.

When this inevitably doesn't work those those handul of games at the North Sydney Oval will only increase by stealth, which is probably the real plan.

That’s my fear with any potential link up with the bears in that their ulterior motive and end goal is to end up playing in north Sydney/central coast as the majority holding and ultimately standalone team.

[DavidM]

I had a North Sydney Bears top . That was an iconic jersey 

[Bamboozle]

13 minutes ago, DavidM said:

I had a North Sydney Bears top . That was an iconic jersey 

Me too.

I was a bears fan as a kid from 1992 when sky sports started to air live winfield cup games on a Saturday and Sunday mornings.

favourite player was back rower Gary Larson. Great times.

[DavidM]

20 minutes ago, Bamboozle said:

Me too.

I was a bears fan as a kid from 1992 when sky sports started to air live winfield cup games on a Saturday and Sunday mornings.

favourite player was back rower Gary Larson. Great times.

Yes indeed . They had a really good side . Larson was rock hard , David Fairleigh , Greg Florimo , Billy Moore . Think Daryl Halligan was there . 

[Bamboozle]

16 minutes ago, DavidM said:

Yes indeed . They had a really good side . Larson was rock hard , David Fairleigh , Greg Florimo , Billy Moore . Think Daryl Halligan was there . 

Daryl halligan was indeed there as was Ivan clearly, Sean hoppe and Jason Taylor.

from what I can remember the bears usually finished in the top half of the table or in the playoffs during the 90’s.

[Veridical]

The Pontefract Polynesians, coming to an NRL near you.

[Tre Cool]

Polynesian Big Boppers sponsored by Brian Noble

[eal]

Just call them the Global Bears, they can be a feeder team to the world.

Perhaps the Bears should try and be an Australian Super League team instead, they could play a few home games out of Wakefield's redeveloped stadium.