Perth Bears CEO Anthony De Ceglie has played down the threat of the PNG Chiefs while revealing there are a couple of signings the club “have up their sleeve” as they continue to build their inaugural roster.
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Given the Bears and Chiefs will enter the NRL one year apart, Perth have been drawn into comparisons with PNG after the latter announced the shock signing of Jarome Luai last week.
Perth have been up against it in the battle for playing talent, with PNG able to offer tax-free salaries and also effectively having “two cracks at the transfer window” before they enter the competition in 2028.
While the Bears have so far built a solid roster ahead of their 2027 entry, they don’t have a player of the ilk of Luai on their books.
However, De Ceglie was keen to play down any perceived inequity in an exclusive chat on NRL 360 on Monday night.
“We can’t let the external noise distract us from our external KPIs. I understand the comparisons but I keep reminding everyone that PNG aren’t playing next year. We have 17 other teams to worry about next season,” De Ceglie said.
“I think PNG is a comparison but it’s not an apples for apples comparison and for us, we’re sticking to our mantra to sign the right players for the right reasons.”
BUILDING THEIR ROSTER
On those “right players”, the Bears have announced the signing of 18 so far, headlined by Storm duo Tyran Wishart and Nick Meaney.
However, De Ceglie hinted the club had agreed to terms with several other players that have yet to be announced.
“We’re happy where we’re going. We’re really confident in the squad we’re putting together and we genuinely feel we’ll be competitive come Round 1 next year,” De Ceglie said.
“Just as importantly, we’re putting together a team for generational success.
“We have 18 players officially announced, a few more we’re keeping up our sleeve and we’re active in the market so you’ll see some players announced very soon as well.”
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HOW PERTH MEDIA WILL RESPOND TO THE BEARS
When the Bears were announced as the NRL’s next expansion team, the reaction from the WA media was slammed by those on the east coast.
On the morning of the official announcement, The West Australian newspaper ran a front-page headline which read “Bad News Bears”
Additionally, in the build up to an Origin fixture in Perth last year, The West Australian essentially snubbed the massive showdown in their sports section.
At the time, Peter V’landys hit back at the WA media, calling it biased, before issuing a warning.
“The main newspaper here is owned by Seven West Media, that has the AFL rights,” V’landys said.
“Let’s be quite frank, they don’t want us to be here, because they realise we’re going to be competitive and we’re going to take some of their lunch – and we eat a lot.”
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NRL 360 host Braith Anasta asked De Ceglie, who was previously the director of news at Seven and the editor of West Australian newspapers, how the Perth media landscape will support the Bears.
“There’s no doubt that the two biggest sporting teams in Perth are the West Coast Eagles and the Fremantle Dockers but I like to remind people that it’s not so much an AFL town as it is a sports town,” De Ceglie said.
“The Perth Scorchers (Big Bash) are massive over here, the Wildcats in the NBL are massive and when the Perth Glory are winning in the A-League, they are massive as well.
“I often joke that when it comes to Perth, we’re such sporting fans, that people would show up to a game of hand tennis if it was at Optus Stadium.
“We’re confident the crowds will come out and that we’ll sell out all our games at HBF Park next year.
“If we can prove the fans are behind us and we’re selling stadiums, the Perth media will get right behind us.”
IMPACT OF MAL MENINGA
“He’s such an iconic figure. He’s not just an immortal of the NRL but the Australian sporting scene,” De Ceglie said.
“He’s taught us a lot about values and culture but people underestimate how much he’s in the nitty gritty of it as well.
“Obviously our player recruitment, Mal has been at the heart of all of that.
“For people who think that there isn’t an audience in Perth for NRL, you should see Mal walk down the streets of Perth, the poor guy gets mobbed.
“Things are ticking exactly where we want them to be ticking and we’re so grateful for the role that Mal has been playing.”
GRASSROOTS IN WA
De Ceglie also touched on the Bears’ new academy which was recently launched and how junior participation in rugby league has increased sharply.
“We’ve definitely seen a spike. There’s a 23% increase in junior participation with the biggest spike in the crucial 11-15 year old mark, which is the most important space we’re operating in,” the Bears CEO said.
“We launched the Perth Bears Tracks Academy two weeks ago. It’s the first time there’s been an elite academy for 15-17 year old rugby league players in Perth.
“We feel like the Academy is the best way for us to turbocharge good local talent into rugby league talent but there’s a lot of work to do and it’s not going to be solved in 12-24 months. This will take five to ten years.”
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