North Sydney Bears chairman and inaugural Perth Bears board director, Daniel Dickson, has denied the new NRL club will face a player shortage when it enters the competition in 2027.
Speaking to Sports Breakfast on Tuesday, an upbeat Dickson said things were moving fast for the NRL’s 18th franchise following the appointments of chief executive, Anthony De Ceglie, and head coach, Mal Meninga.
“It’s historic, being the first two-city team in rugby league, the people in Perth have been dying for this,” he said.
“Every away game for the Bears is going to be a home game for east coasters, so I think it’s worked out perfectly,” Dickson said, hinting at the possibility of some games being played at the spiritual home of the North Sydney Bears, North Sydney Oval.
“It would be packed to the rafters,” he said, suggesting the club can also expect to enjoy strong fan support at HBF Park in Perth.
“There are so many fans in Perth, and WA at large, who are looking forward to having (regular) rugby league and celebrating that.”
“The good clubs have 30,000 members, I think we can absolutely get there as well,” Dickson declared.
Sponsors play a critical role in any successful NRL club and, again, Dickson is bullish about the potential to forge strong commercial partnerships in the west.
“We’ve already had businesses in contact saying they want to be part of the Perth Bears,” he revealed.
“With the economic climate in WA, I’m sure they’re going to absolutely eat this up.
“Several of our (North Sydney) sponsors have also said ‘we want to have involvement in the Perth Bears jersey, we have business in Perth,’ so I really think the sponsorship and corporate side isn’t going to be an issue.”
With the club’s first NRL match barely 18 months away, assembling a competitive playing roster is understandably high on the club’s list of priorities.
“In a perfect world we would have loved a two-year run in to build that roster, but there’s no perfect world,” Dickson said.
“The Dolphins had less than two years and they’ve done an amazing job.
“I’ve already had a lot of players reach out to me—and I’m just on the board—Mal (Meninga) would have been inundated by now.
“There are a lot of good players coming off contract, and we’re excited for that, I don’t think we’re going to have a skills shortage at all.”
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